Repetition. When I'm learning a new song, it's unavoidable. As I mentioned some time ago, I pretty much fail at reading sheet music, so the only way I can really learn is by ear. And the only way to really learn something by ear is to listen to it. Many, many times. And then when I can figure out the fingering, to divvy it up into little sections and play each phrase. Many, many times. When I'm learning a new song, my life becomes the musical equivalent of Groundhog Day.
At the moment I am about halfway through What If by Emilie Autumn, a pretty, flowy kind of tune. I'm veering between the version by this harpist on YouTube (although she's playing pedal, which somewhat screws things up), and the recorded version, twisting my face into bizarre expressions as I struggle to hear the exact notes the piano is playing underneath the layers of strings and vocals. I tell myself that it will be worth it when I can play the full song smoothly. This is what I tell myself as my (bleeding, broken) fingers clamber up that stupid broken A chord for the umpteenth time.
I have already stated that repetition is the best way for me to learn. Unfortunately, the idea of anything repeating endlessly drives me crazy. Stairs. Wallpaper patterns. Carousels. Songs...
So, even though it's in the name of learning a song well, the sound of my own fingers playing the same chords over and over gives me the feeling of being in a recurring nightmare. I must be a masochist, though, because if I'm impatient to learn the song I keep at it, and at it, convinced that just one more repetition will make it perfect.
This must be how people go crazy...
Showing posts with label in which I rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in which I rant. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Abnormally attracted to... mediocrity?
Let me say this first: I'm a fan of Tori Amos. True, I don't happen to think she's a goddess and I don't take her half as seriously as most of her fanbase does, but I do appreciate her music and I enjoy listening to or reading her interviews because she sometimes has interesting things to say about music (and often befuddles the interviewer, which is always fun to watch).
Sadly, Tori albums tend to be hit-or-miss affairs these days. She hasn't produced really great albums for a long time. To be fair, there were some great tracks on those albums, but they were ultimately overpowered by the mediocrity. Her latest, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, continues this unfortunate trend. If she wants to reverse it and start making good albums again, there are two things she's got to work on.
Number one: as another pianist and singer-songwriter says, "You can write, but you can't edit." Tori can't edit. At 17 tracks, AATS is shorter than the 23-track behemoth that is American Doll Posse, but it's still needlessly bloated. Tori has to figure out that sometimes less really is more. In my opinion, her best album was From the Choirgirl Hotel. It only had 12 tracks, but not one of them was a throwaway. In contrast, half the stuff on AATS could easily be labeled "filler." Just like her previous two albums, there are some great songs here. The shimmering, spare "Flavor," the powerful piano outro of "Lady in Blue," the quirky "That Guy" and a few others are all proof of that. But because she either can't or won't edit herself, the good ones get buried beneath tracks like the trite "500 Miles" or the chaotic mess that is "Police Me." Please, Tori, either get better at editing yourself or get somebody who isn't afraid to say no to you.
Number two: be more genuine. This album is a tired rehashing of every theme she's ever covered. I cringe every time I hear "Strong Black Vine" because it's exactly the kind of song that Tori has done to death. It's a paint-by-numbers "the patriarchy is evil" song, a pale imitation of something like "God" from Under the Pink. Where "God" was intriguing and powerful, "Strong Black Vine" falls flat because of its utter predictability. Sorry, but singing about saving soldiers from their "evil faith" is no longer shocking. Try again.
I get the sense listening to this album that Tori's gotten stuck in the mold of her image: I am Tori Amos therefore I must write about feminism and religion and spirituality. I'm not saying she should suppress or change her beliefs, but writing about them isn't convincing if there's no emotion behind it, and these songs, to me, often feel emotionally lifeless. The "visualettes" she released with each track on the album, in which she parades about in wigs and couture looking bored, add to the impression that her heart's not really in it. Choirgirl wasn't a great album just because it was short. She was going through a difficult and painful time in her life when she recorded it, and you could feel that emotion clearly in the music. On AATS, it sounds like she's phoning it in. Let's be clear here: I have no desire to see Tori suffer for her art, but I'd like to see some honesty.
So please, Tori... take the wigs off.
Sadly, Tori albums tend to be hit-or-miss affairs these days. She hasn't produced really great albums for a long time. To be fair, there were some great tracks on those albums, but they were ultimately overpowered by the mediocrity. Her latest, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, continues this unfortunate trend. If she wants to reverse it and start making good albums again, there are two things she's got to work on.
Number one: as another pianist and singer-songwriter says, "You can write, but you can't edit." Tori can't edit. At 17 tracks, AATS is shorter than the 23-track behemoth that is American Doll Posse, but it's still needlessly bloated. Tori has to figure out that sometimes less really is more. In my opinion, her best album was From the Choirgirl Hotel. It only had 12 tracks, but not one of them was a throwaway. In contrast, half the stuff on AATS could easily be labeled "filler." Just like her previous two albums, there are some great songs here. The shimmering, spare "Flavor," the powerful piano outro of "Lady in Blue," the quirky "That Guy" and a few others are all proof of that. But because she either can't or won't edit herself, the good ones get buried beneath tracks like the trite "500 Miles" or the chaotic mess that is "Police Me." Please, Tori, either get better at editing yourself or get somebody who isn't afraid to say no to you.
Number two: be more genuine. This album is a tired rehashing of every theme she's ever covered. I cringe every time I hear "Strong Black Vine" because it's exactly the kind of song that Tori has done to death. It's a paint-by-numbers "the patriarchy is evil" song, a pale imitation of something like "God" from Under the Pink. Where "God" was intriguing and powerful, "Strong Black Vine" falls flat because of its utter predictability. Sorry, but singing about saving soldiers from their "evil faith" is no longer shocking. Try again.
I get the sense listening to this album that Tori's gotten stuck in the mold of her image: I am Tori Amos therefore I must write about feminism and religion and spirituality. I'm not saying she should suppress or change her beliefs, but writing about them isn't convincing if there's no emotion behind it, and these songs, to me, often feel emotionally lifeless. The "visualettes" she released with each track on the album, in which she parades about in wigs and couture looking bored, add to the impression that her heart's not really in it. Choirgirl wasn't a great album just because it was short. She was going through a difficult and painful time in her life when she recorded it, and you could feel that emotion clearly in the music. On AATS, it sounds like she's phoning it in. Let's be clear here: I have no desire to see Tori suffer for her art, but I'd like to see some honesty.
So please, Tori... take the wigs off.
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