Tag: guitar

Square Lines Flashback

~ oneletterup ~ 12 Comments

BeckyB’s 2021 October Squares Challenge – PastSquares

  • Wednesday Window
  • Song Lines
  • Tree Lines
  • Ponding Lines

October 2019 was the second month I participated in Becky’s Squares Challenge. Taking a look back, I chose a few favorites to share once more…as we are challenged to do this month.

“Wednesday Window” was a shot taken at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. The museum is actually an amazing array (45 acres!) of 39 buildings, artifacts and gardens. I want to return once they are fully open again. Maybe next year. It is truly a photographer’s paradise.

“Song Lines” featured my first (and only) acoustic guitar…purchased in 1967 for $28. I learned simple chords to such classics as “Blowing in the Wind,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and “Home on the Range” via group lessons taught by a local folksinger. My friend Wendy and I would sing (or some close facsimile to singing) with great gusto as I strummed the chords to “King of the Road” – our classic duo act. I made a cassette tape recording of this venture, which I still have and will never share in public. You’re welcome! My guitar has been on quite the journey since those days. My son used it in college for a class and returned it years later when we gave him a guitar for his birthday. It now rests comfortably in a closet…very close to antique status.

“Tree Lines” was taken in the woods behind my condo building. It’s always a new discovery of light playing with nature back there. My getaway. Time of day, of course, making all the difference.

Last but not least – and actually my favorite – is “Ponding Lines.” I found “my pond” along the path in those same woods near my building…partially hidden behind a wall of trees. I have followed the goings on there since moving here almost 5 years ago. It’s been a delightful privilege. I have to step carefully and push aside prickle vines and such…but the view doesn’t disappoint. Especially in October.

Playing Perspectives

~ oneletterup ~ 28 Comments

BeckyB July Squares: Perspectives

Today is the last day of Becky B’s fantastic month long challenge. Every photo has to be square – and in some way portray this month’s theme: perspectives.

It goes without saying that life around the world has changed in the last few months – and our perspectives along with it. I can only speak for myself as to specifics – but along with the isolation, restrictions and fear…there has been at least one silver lining in my family life.

My husband teaches guitar for a living – has been doing so for over 40 years. Both of our children have guitars and have benefitted from his influence and guidance over the years.

Our son’s interest in the guitar began during his senior year in college and he made do with my old acoustic from childhood. He started his post-college life in the Washington DC area and during a 2014 visit, Dad was able to give him a few lessons.

While I obviously snuck around taking photos…as usual…

March 2014 guitar lesson
March 2014

We gave our son a new guitar for his birthday shortly thereafter.

However, as a busy young finance professional, he hadn’t had much time to really dive into it. Until COVID-19 hit and changed everything.

Quarantined at home in Washington, DC, he picked up the guitar again this past March. He has been connecting with Dad on a weekly basis for lessons and conversation ever since.

Guitar lessons and connections during a pandemic…a new perspective.

guitar lesson
June 2020

 

Take it easy as you can…

~ oneletterup ~ 12 Comments

BeckyB April Square Tops

I am hoping our April theme will keep our heads held high and help fill our lives with social connections and squares filled with joy….The theme is top, and you don’t have to go outside to find topping squares…Create your post with a square photograph

SixWordSaturday

~~~

Guitars have a top, which I always figured was actually flat. You know…the part with the hole in it. That’s as much a I thought I ever needed to know.

Well! Apparently…some guitar tops are NOT flat. Who knew?

Jazz guitars have an archtop! And there happens to be one living in our condo. It is part of my husband’s collection – and according to him (a folk musician) – it adds another “voice” to his repertoire. In guitar speak that has something to do with the top’s curve and the deeper mellower sound it is capable of producing.

For such cool classic songs as Take Love Easy and When Sunny Gets Blue. Which he has played many times with beautiful results.

This Epiphone Zephyr Regent Archtop Electric Guitar (with a sunburst finish) was purchased in 1998.

archtop
Epiphone Zephyr Regent Archtop Electric Guitar

 

Lens-Artists Challenge: Treasure Hunt

~ oneletterup ~ 27 Comments

Inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #85: Treasure Hunt

This week we’re going on a Treasure Hunt! The challenge is to search for specific items – either from your archives or newly captured – from the list below. Extra credit items are a bit more challenging. Focus on quality over quantity and hit us with your best shot(s)!  

    • Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall.
    • Extra Credit Items:  An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image.

~~~

A photo scavenger hunt!

This reminds me of party activities when I was a kid – going house to house asking for odd items. Like a feather or a paper clip. We also searched for items in the yard. The object of the game was to complete your collection before anyone else did.

For this challenge, I scavenged through my archives and found these photos.

A bird…painted on the side of a building in Burlington, Vermont.

bird on wall

 

A dog…missing his humans on Christmas Day in Washington, DC. (also substituting for a person in the “expressive portrait” category).

dog

 

A waterfall…flowing in a park in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Guitars in the making at the Martin Guitar Factory…in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Guitar Bodies in Rows

 

A fish at the entrance to a seascape…in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

seascape fish

 

A sunset behind a mountain landscape. Boats settled in for the night…in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont.

vermontbay

 

The End

 

 

 

 

Guitar Action

~ oneletterup ~ 15 Comments

Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Action

…there are multiple interpretations available to you, so feel free to represent the action of your choosing.

~~~

I was intrigued.

Action…I could use one of the many cute and adorable action shots of my cute and adorable grandson. Or…from the dusty archives…my cute and adorable children…back in the day when they were little. I have plenty of those.

Nah.

It’s been cloudy and drizzly and snowy today. Flat even light filled my open concept living room. Lots of windows.

Perfect for a pseudo photo studio setup…

Which takes a certain amount of action on my part. Clearing off a presentable surface in front of a suitable window. Pushing furniture to the side. Finding a step stool to stand on. Two actually – one for each foot for balance – so I don’t tumble through the plate glass window.

All before what’s left of the light disappears.

Then figuring out there are five latches on my husband’s guitar case. Why that’s necessary, I’ll never know. Time passes.

For those not familiar with all things guitar…

Acoustic guitar action refers to the height of the strings above the fretboard. It is also used to describe the general feel and playability of a guitar. Generally a guitar’s string height is measured at the 12th fret….Action is also measured at the first fret.

guitar action one copy
The 12th fret marker

It is generally frowned upon if your guitar action is set too low (the strings are too close to the fretboard). Strings may then buzz during your rendition of – for example – “This Land Is Your Land” or “Good Morning, Blues.” I’m not sure how it would affect the opening to “Stairway to Heaven,” but if it did…not good.

Obviously action is very important when it comes to guitars.

That’s the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

guitar action three

I am sure this guitar – which has seen a lot of action – is not set too high or too low.

Making beautiful music…it’s just right.

Twisted

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

Inspired by Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week Challenge. The prompt: Twisted

 

All it takes is a simple twist. Or two. Or three. Of wire, silk and nylon.

Six strings stretched tight. But not too tight. The ends threaded into post holes. Then twisted…little by little…with the turn of a peg. Carefully. Adjusting the tension.

Until each one – when plucked – sounds…just right.

On a simple guitar made of wood.

twisted strings

 

My first – and only – no-name guitar shows its age. As do I.

Bought with saved up allowance for $28 on September 29, 1967.

I headed to guitar lessons taught by a local folk singer. For weekly group lessons with other aspiring young guitarists…struggling together to strum chords…

G  and D7…to play through Ain’t Gonna Study War No More.

C, F, Am and G7…for Blowin’ in the Wind.

Added Em and B7…and we managed to make it through Cruel War.

By that point the fingertips on my left hand were sore and complaining. From pressing down on those strings…especially strings 4, 5 & 6…the thickest ones.

three strings

Those twisted strings were replaced many times. As I sang and played through a thick looseleaf binder of mimeographed folk songs assigned by my teacher. To which I added my carefully typed copies of Homeward Bound, Hey Jude, It Was a Very Good Year, Leaving on a Jet Plane…among many others. Guitar chords written or typed in red above the words.

I did not sing or strum with much finesse, but it was the 60’s after all – and it was fun.
It never occurred to me to take it more seriously. I never saw any female guitarists on Ed Sullivan or American Bandstand, heard any on AM radio or in my stack of 45s.

This guitar went to camps and college with me. It was then retired to a closet…until my son tried it out after his college days. It traveled up and down the east coast with him for a few years…until he had a guitar of his own. Like his dad…and his sister.

And now it is back here with me.

my guitar

Ready for its next chapter.

 

 

Harmony

~ oneletterup ~ 16 Comments

This post inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #44

The prompt: Harmony

Color harmony is achieved when a piece of art includes complimentary colors, typically two or three colors side-by-side on the wheel, two colors directly opposite each other on the wheel, or any color combination found in nature. It can also be used to incite different emotions in our art. Monochromatic or analogous colors (side-by-side on the wheel) create a more soothing feeling, while complementary colors (directly opposite each other on the wheel) can create drama. Allowing a single color to dominate, especially a primary color, can create a very powerful image….This is (also) your opportunity to share your favorite harmonies. Give us your best yoga pose, or your favorite musician at work, or perhaps a happy couple arm in arm – whatever floats your boat (especially if it’s on a warm yellow/orange sunset or a cool blue sunrise 😊)

 

~~~

harmony ties

 

When I married a musician – a guitar player – I knew I was also marrying his guitars. It wasn’t in the vows, but I knew it all the same. I was okay with that. Even though, now, after 40 years I still wonder at the need for 8. But never mind.

They are first loves…especially his very first guitar…from the Harmony Company. The guitar he wrote his first songs on. Teenage angst, love and heartbreak. The guitar he has kept to this very day.

What does a guitar player/guitar teacher often receive as a gift? In his case…ties. Bright colorful music themed ties. Guitar ties. Beatles ties. To name a few. Some piquing the curiosity of his teenage students.

Creative color collages from all around the color wheel. As harmonious as the music he has created and shared with us. All these years.

 

tie

 

 

 

 

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Cute Factor

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

This post inspired by Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge. The topic: Cute Factor

Cute Factor! How could I resist this challenge? Absolutely impossible.

 
As soon as my daughter became mobile, she’d crawl…and eventually run…to the front door when she heard her daddy come home from work.
Carrying his guitar. After a long day teaching teenagers how to play notes and chords and…eventually…What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor.

She was ever curious about this guitar which was so often in her daddy’s lap. Capturing his attention. As he practiced and made music. While he sang. To himself. To her.

At times – apparently deciding that enough was enough – she’d toddle over to wherever he was strumming. Press her fingers on the strings…silence the music…and demand, as only a tiny child can…No tar daddy!
Daddy would take a short break.

When he left the guitar case propped open next to the living room wall…
our little girl often made use of this just-the-right-size-for-a-toddler seat.

guitarcase call

 

Play

~ oneletterup ~ 6 Comments

This post inspired by Ragtag Daily Prompt: Play

Playing music was always front and center in our home.
Whether it be playing a record, a tape or, as years went by, a CD.

But the best playing happened in person.

At the end of one oppressively hot September day in 1988, we huddled around our only air conditioner for an impromptu concert. After a long day of yard work.

The 6 year old playing my old guitar from childhood.
The 10 month old plucking strings on his daddy’s guitar.
And the daddy playing, singing and offering advice on note fingering.

Keeping cool…

guitar trio 1988012
This trio played together many times over the years.
Guitar. Flute. Recorder. Clarinet.
Such fun.