Number 4
Yet another boring photo of a cast.
Its number 4! Haha. This time its a fibreglass backslab. Lots lighter but loads tighter too. Kinda uncomfortable too. Anyway the operation wound hasn't really healed, still has some bleeding, so I'm back on the backslab for another week.
In the meantime, I started on and finished a book, "The Goal" today. Its kind of a business thing. Don't know if its famous, cos I never did econs or anything of that ilk, but my sister recommended it for easy reading. Part of my plan for whipping the old mind back into shape.
Think its kinda slow starting though so I'll probably have to re-read it. Feel the old gears starting to turn though!
Strive on.
On a side note, I've got nails like a girl's.
Now, you're thinking, oh no! JD must be suffering from post-operative blues! In his solitude, hes decided to become a queen!!! The horror!!!
Ahh, but look closely. The PINKY NAIL IS SHORT!
What difference does that make, you ask?
A world of difference, my naive little friend. You see, people who play classical guitar (seriously, anyway) need to have long nails to pluck the strings and achieve proper volume and tone.
Classical (and flamenco) fingerpicking style is based on the PIMA system, using the thumb (P), index (I), middle (M) and ring (A) fingers. The pinky finger, not being used in playing, does not need to have a long nail.
In fact, proper nail care is very important to a classical guitarist. From the shape of the nail (Generally, a triangle is prefered for a more accurate attack), to the strength of the nail (varnish! varnish! varnish!) there are whole schools of thought devoted to nails in the guitar world.
If my memory serves me right, quite recently, at the International Guitar Festival, a seminar was held by a world famous guitarist-cum-nail-doctor on how to prepare your nails.
Quite often, guitarists are also forced to rely on artificial nails. Its kind of like hair extenders, except that its for your nails. You end up with an extremely strong perfectly formed nail. Downside? Its damned ugly and it kills your real nails. I'd get a photo for you guys off the net, except, I'm lazy.
BUT.
I'm cutting my nails anyway. Haha. Decided to do the man thing. Use a pick, and play some heavy metal, baby.
Or I could do it Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler's way. Fingerpicking without long nails. Less power, but gays don't stop you on the street asking if you want your ass poked. (Not sure if gays really do that with other gays, but I really don't care.)
This is all in a quest to make good use of my time to do things I always intended to do but never got around to doing. Like learning some economics, picking up some electronics, making good use of my guitar magazines and scorebooks (Nirvana, Metallica, Dire Straits, Joe Satriani, can the bastards who borrowed my Eric Clapton Unplugged and Eagles Hell Freezes Over scorebooks return them)...
Ahh nails cut now. Time to grab my $1800 Jackson WRMG electric guitar (Prices courtesy of Swee Lee Music, who kindly marked up the price of the guitar incredibly since the time I bought it from City Music hence increasing its resale value dramatically) and play some Master of Puppets, baby.
P.S. If you've read until here but your still seething cos I said "girl's nails" so you think I'm stereotyping and that in this modern world, barring occupational requirements such as hygiene or working at Boom Boom Room, its perfectly fine for girls not to keep long nails or for guys to keep them, well, I've only got two words for you: You're Wrong. Now buzz off, kid, you bother me.
posted by Đirestraits @ 8:00 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home