JT Thomas

Seeting up a YouTube livestream for some practice. Also known as the moment I realize how much of a mess my dorm room is and say screw it, because I need practice. Think I'll throw in the current draft of my Kiple and fantasy songs. Link is here, provided it actually works. I'll update the link if needed after the stream's done.

Edit: stream failed first time, link replaced.

Edit two: stream split because of microphone failure. Second link here.

Final edit: links are good. First stream failed at 27:15, but I didn't know right away.
Full practice list (with credit according to the internet and my apologies for incorrectness) was:
Stream one: Shadow Stalker (lyrics Mercedes Lackey, music Heather Alexander), Rocket Rider's Prayer (Steve Savitzky, mdlbear ), Threes Take Two (lyrics Mercedes Lackey, music Leslie Fish), and There's Always a Reason (Mercedes Lackey) ((in which the audio failed majorly)).
Stream two: didn't bother to try There's Always a Reason again because I have a cold and it's cutting my range off, but did Battle Dawn (Mercedes Lackey), Dawson's Christian (Duane Elms), Greensleeves-ish (Michael Longcor / Moonwulf Starkaaderson), first part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Heather Dale), a couple tries at Hymn to Breaking Strain (words Rudyard Kipling, music Leslie Fish), first part of Midsummer (Heather Alexander), an attempt at Herald's Creed (Mercedes Lackey) that started off sounding suspiciously like Web of Light (oops), Gloria in excelsis deo, Wassail, and my two current WIP filks (Prepare to Die and Law of the Jungle).

My fingers are still hurting. That's a good sign. I think.

Prompted by the fact that Little Bear is undergoing repairs (tuning machine is corroded and the size is odd so we're ordering it), so he went upstairs and took another classical guitar down. (And then proceeded to tell me there was another classical guitar upstairs which was really only suitable for parts. I thought Little Bear was the only classical in the house until yesterday.)

1. his favorite twelve-string, Betsy. A father's day gift when I was about three years old.
2. his favorite six-string, Ross. Yes, the patriotic names are a thing. Older than me, so I'm not sure where it came from. Currently on loan to Nephew J.
3. his Taylor, a big baby which was a Christmas gift about five years ago. Nickname is Eagle.
4. his Martin, a more recent gift, though I'm unsure of the occasion.
5. Technically my sister's guitar, but he plays it more often than she does, so an Alvarez which sits on the rack next to Little Bear.
6. A Checkmate classical guitar, unknown origin but believed to have been given to him in a pillowcase. It was either this one or the classical-for-parts.
7. A Takamine twelve-string, currently under repair after at least a decade of neglect from my uncles. It currently has only six strings on it, and all thoughts of changing strings are waiting until it can be trusted not to break.
8. Ellie, who is not my dad's guitar. She's his best friend's guitar, but seeing as we live in Massachusetts and said friend only comes up from Florida during the summer and does not have space in his car for a guitar, Ellie is effectively a member of the household.
9. My first guitar, a baby steel string which broke in half when I was approximately thirteen years old. Suitable only for parts.
10. Whichever aforementioned parts classical my dad was talking about.
11. At least one of my late aunt's guitars, which my dad refuses to talk about but my mom has repeatedly pointed out are sitting upstairs, gathering dust. I believe there are two or three of these, but I'm unsure.
12. Little Bear, who is now mine.

I know I'm missing at least one guitar, which is the worst part. (ETA: a travel-size classical. Still missing one and I know it.)

This isn't touching on all the guitars my uncles bring over. One of my mom's brothers and two of my dad's play, so at any given meet-up there can be an additional four or five guitars sitting around. Adding in my brother, my cousin, my dad's other best friend, and the woman whose guitar Little Bear originally was, I'd say we have a choice of twenty guitars for ten people when we have one of our larger bonfires.

That's weird.

and I filmed it.

Currently uploading to YouTube. Dawson's Christian was definitely the highlight.

 Little Bear's original owner couldn't make it last night; she may come over in a few weeks. Still, I brought Little Bear to the party my dad had, and played not only the one song I had in my repertoire when I first picked him up but also two songs I learned yesterday. I knew Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, one of my dad's favorites, since it has only a few chords.

Yesterday, I managed to teach myself Dawson's Christian, using the same chords as Hallelujah with only a couple of modifications. I know it's still got some flaws in it, but I may end up recording it at some point, maybe posting it on YouTube if I think it's decent. Then, right before the party, my dad taught me the two chords for Horse With No Name. 

Up until yesterday, my time limit for practice was about ten minutes before my thumb was too painful to do anything more for the entire day. (This still holds true for my fiddling, which is only at a minimum right now due to hypermobility posing a problem.) With Little Bear? Five half-hour sessions, plus the actual party. I'll take it.

So far today, no absolute temptation to grab Little Bear for a round of practice. Not that I'm not tempted; on the contrary, the thrill is just going down and I'm getting into a consistent pattern of longer-without-means-more-time-with next time I pick him up. I'll probably have half an hour or so in a little while ... or as soon as I post this.

Having fallen into this connection, I don't know how to do this very well yet. But I'm going to figure this out, somehow, because I've got focusing abilities I haven't had in years as soon as I pick Little Bear up.

(Visual reference at this link. Little Bear is on the far right, a dark reddish guitar which cost $150 in 1968. The original catalog reports a solid wood top; Little Bear is weighted weirdly enough that I'm pretty confident this is the precise model, though the lighter one to its left stands a chance.)

 I've officially learned the basics of playing guitar, courtesy of my father. We disagree on plenty (he is Catholic; I am queer), but our music tastes are much the same. And other than my left thumb hurting from the neck of my practice guitar, a loaner Taylor from him, I'm liking it.

He's a guitar collector. Not in the sense one might think, however: all of his guitars are played extremely often. All except, as I discovered today, a fifty-year-old Ventura guitar from his own childhood which is sitting in the center slot of the guitar rack in our family room. This thing has what I'm pretty sure is actual gold and possibly mother-of-pearl hardware (all of it looks custom), and the neck is extra wide, fitting my oddly shaped thumb perfectly. 

I just emailed him. He says it once belonged to a friend of his, then his brother had it and it went untouched for what I assume to be at least twenty years. My dad repaired it, leaving only a few little dings on the neck. He'll be tuning it in a few hours so I can give it a try.

So here's the thing: I'm pretty sure this guitar just ... claimed me? Not sure what I'm supposed to do now except try to deal with it, because I was raised Catholic and don't have the experience yet to figure out what's happening. The guitar's name, it feels like, is Little Bear. What happens next, universe? It feels weird still, like a buzz of energy that's making it hard to focus my eyes on anything much. I can't walk past Little Bear without wanting to grab it (him?) and just play forever. I have the willpower to resist for now, especially since Little Bear's still out of tune. My dad's pretty much offered me a guitar continually for the past ten years. But I'm not sure what is happening still.

Weird note of possible relevance: I'm pretty sure Little Bear's original owner was the first one to peg me as not-Catholic and brought numerous Pagan symbols to my parents' house under the guise of gifts. I'm still the only one who knows the symbology behind them. Furthermore, she may be coming over in approximately 24 hours for a party my dad's been planning for months, all depending on whether she gets a ride. Coincidence that I saw Little Bear today, for the first time, despite the guitar rack being right outside my room?