Song: Eternal Flame
Group: The Bangles
Today...
I just woke up feeling like doing nothing but working more on my cover song
(my house projects can wait).
As I tend to follow my heart on things...
what I felt like doing most on this day was nailing the intro for the song.
I have been...
as with everything...
taking it extremely slowly.
There are subtle nuances I wish to capture on the 12 string...
such as accenting certain strings on certain passages.
While I normally reserve the night for musical practice...
and writing...
I just go with the flow when it comes to inspiration.
Sitting in the loft and looking out upon the forested mountains
often makes me inspired to just practice music or to write.
The inclined foot rest is what I use when practicing with the guitars.
I hold them like a classical guitar as I find it eases the tension on my left hand.
I had ordered 5 guitar straps so I may more easily support the guitars as well.
Me in the middle of practice
(wide angle setting on the camera).
This more accurately depicts my view through the windows...
minus the naturally wide view of the eyes.
What I often imagine is that the opposing ridge before my house is a natural amphitheater...
and upon it sits a hundred thousand listeners in a state of rapture as I play
(speakers on the second deck)...
and all wildly cheering me on.
(And, yes...I know...
the EGO on me! :)
I will, though...
actually play the Bass Flute on the second deck to the birds and deer of the forest...
in the future.
Animals love good music...
but I first must get good! :)
I find playing music while feeling connected with natural beauty to be so inspirational.
I am so excited to make progress on this particular song...
as it perfectly describes the feeling of living up here.
Hint: as you can see on the computer monitor...
it is a John Denver song (not well known).
For cover songs...
I just play the song on YouTube over and over as I try to dissect the musical nuances
and apply them to my playing of the song for each instrument.
However...
I will be more free flowing on some of the other instruments...
especially with the Bass Flute.
I will only partially mirror the vocals with it...
but I will be adding many arpeggios and other fluctuations as I improvise.
That part is what makes playing music so much fun.
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Having a creative passion is the last of the sacred four of living life well
(Delicious and Nutritious Diet / Exercise / Deep Restorative Sleep / Creative Passions).
Just as the above song describes
(as applied to having a creative passion)
it is to have an Eternal Flame which burns brightly
and draws you towards it as a moth to a flame.
It is what gives life so much meaning.
Music and Writing are my creative passions in life.
And it is through them that I derive much of my deep happiness...
and what allow me to always be happy
(which then sets the stage for being in love with life...
and of deeply appreciating all of the great simple pleasures within it).
In them...
I not only have them for life...
but they are the armor of the emotions as well.
They are something which cannot ever be taken away by anyone...
and not only do they provide a buffer against grief...
but sadness only provides greater amounts of creative material
for even deeper expressions through them
(a win-win scenario...and so...you have no fear of the negatives of life).
In life...
I have known great love...
and great loss...
and through it all...
music and writing have been my sacred refuge...
my pressure relief valve...
and my Eternal Flame which continually draws me forth...
to live a deeply meaningful life...
filled with hope and great and serene happiness.
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I cannot express this enough...
it is the previous three of the sacred four of living life well...
which set the stage for the last...
Creative Passions.
When these four merge...
that is when the eternal flame lights.
