Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Fundamentals Week Four

This week it is Swingtown (and, obstensibly 32nd notes, though ironically there aren't any of those in Swingtown).

I've been trying to learn to play this song literally for years.

Here's a former Berklee student pulling it off quite well


There are two hard things in this song for me.

The main riff:

The 2nd bass note is on an off beat so to speak, which makes it a real independence issue. Beyond that...this is pretty fast...and goes on forever. It's a long time for me anyway...five minutes of a strenuous pattern for me.

The fills:

I probably can get this. I'm just not used to playing fills at all and the "ruff" and triplet figure isn't something I'm used to.

This is the kind of song that makes me want to cry. At the moment I can play the main riff at about 60% speed. If I drop the "off" bass note...I can play the riff full speed...but it is exhausting. I know that these things just take practice...but it feels like it takes me longer than it should. It literally feels like my right foot is retarded and acting on its own. The control is all over the place.

I am who I am and I am where I am and all I can do is keep trying. I think that my fear and shame makes me avoid practicing...and that's why these things take so long. And I have to remember that I've only been at this for 6 years...and as an adult with obligations. I don't have the benefit of endless hours of being a teen with a drum kit. Patience. Persistance. And in the end...it is progress to value, not perfection.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Playalong Books

On the heels of yesterday's post, here's an inventory and wishlist of my playalong books:

Have
From Alfred Publishing
Rush
Green Day

From Hal Leonard
Pop Rock
Classic Rock
Hard Rock
Modern Rock
Funk
80s Rock
Jimi Hendrix
Nirvana

Other Publishers
Led Zeppelin


Want
From Alfred Publishing

Journey
Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd (compare with below for best)
Commandments of R&B Drumming

From Hal Leonard
90s rock
Punk rock
Police
Steely dan
Doors
Weezer
Pink Floyd(compare with above for best)
Lennon/McCartney

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Additional Week Three Reflections

In addition to all of this my week three thoughts are this...

1. Structure in learning is good
2. Accountability in learning is good
3. Going at your own pace...but with a deadline...is good
4. Working on things on your own...before you have to show an instructor...is good
5. Instructor feedback is good...but really most things you can critique yourself if you take a video and watch it back.
6. My method of listen...read (or write and then read)...practice slow...is totally legit and I should keep up with it. Screw those guys who seem to pull shit out of their asses.
7. It is good to have a defined time to work on something...say a week...and then to give up. Otherwise you spend forever trying to make it perfect and get demoralized. Making it an assignment with a start date and an end date is good.
8. This class, while super great and perhaps worth the value, is over priced

So where does that lead me?

I think that I really, really hate private lessons. I don't like being put on the spot in a lesson (do it now!) and I never practice between lessons, making them essentially useless. So lessons are kind of out unless I come to a place where I have something specific that I want to work on and can't do it without feedback.

I think that...once this class is over...I should do the following.

1. Pull out all of my playalong books. Might want to try to find a Latin playalong book...and maybe a Jazz one...cause I'm missing those key genres.
2. Develop a "syllabus" that is basically that I will work on one song per week. Mix up the genres so that it is a different book each week...Nirvana one week, Jimi Hendrix the next, then Funk...etc
3. Start the "lesson" on Monday (or Sunday)...do the song for a week...video tape at the end of the week...review the video. At the end of the week...lesson over...start next song.
4. Throughout the week...use any online resources or recordings to help learn the part...just like I would for any song
5. Treat the whole thing just like I'm paying for a class. If I find that I need it...I MIGHT even be able to hire an advanced drummer to watch the videos online each week and give me a critique (perhaps half the cost of a traditional lesson?)...but I don't know that I need this...and certainly not right away.

Can I hold myself to this? Who knows? But it seems like trying for a while is worth the $1200 I'd pay Berklee? Right?

So that's where my head is going at the moment. We'll see how I feel in 9 more weeks.

Fundamentals Week Three

This week is Cold Sweat by James Brown (Clyde Stubblefield on drums) with a "fat back" beat (the back beat is displaced sometimes to the "and of 4" rather than being always on 2 and 4)...ghost notes, 8th and 16th notes, and some marginally strange hi hat opens.

Here's the Cold Sweat riff:


At first blush I thought I'd get this right away...but the placement of the ghost notes and the bass and hi hat foot ended up being just counterintuitive enough to give me a fit. I nearly learned the riff wrong...but then realized what I was doing. It didn't help that, in the video demo, the instructor added about 3 more sets of ghost notes. My instinct is to do that too...and maybe Clyde did also...but I thought this was not really a very nice thing to do in the video. He's adding things that aren't on the written page and he didn't warn us that he was going to do that. I don't think this is a useful way to teach reading. Reading means playing what is on the page. Step one. The NEXT step is adding extras.

This touches on my general feeling about the course...is that they are a bit careless sometimes. They don't make sure that what is on the videos is what is on the page...in the case of the first week etude he's playing a different song than we were given! This is just sloppy prep work on the part of the organizers. And while I feel like I can adjust to these mistakes...it just makes the learning process harder. Especially if you were new to reading...and SUPPOSEDLY this class is in part to teach you to read (though I'd say that if you couldn't read prior to taking this course you would not be able to make it through). The pre-req for the class is one year of playing. Shit...after one year of playing I would NOT have had the skills to do this stuff. They really are expecting way more experience and/or training.

Second point, they don't tell you when the chats are with enough lead time to plan. And the chats aren't very useful.

Third point, your interaction with the instructor is minimal here. That's kind of what sells the course...that you are going to get this individual feedback...but it is pretty generic.

Overall, it is VERY apparent that this course runs on auto-pilot and that we aren't much of a priority to the instructor (if he's even really the one on the other end).

That said, the course is fine. I really like the format of short video...printed material. The pacing of the videos are pretty good too...though a hair advanced (he doesn't slow down much).

They used to require you to buy Playalong books and don't anymore...which is nice from a cost perspective...but I've really benefitted from having the Amazing Slow Downer cds that have both the track with drums and without. I think that in their recommended resources they should recommend that you either buy the Playalong books...or get the Amazing Slow Downer program. I keep debating if I should buy it. It's like 50 bucks...but works, in theory, on all mp3s. They have a free version, but you only get the first 30 seconds of the song or the first few songs of a cd.

Anyway...back to Cold Sweat. I was pretty discouraged by Tuesday morning. I'd worked on it a bit Sunday (before the assignment was given, but I had the Playalong version) and on Monday and then on Tuesday while I was waiting for my oil to be changed. I avoided practicing on Tuesday night and actually went to bed at 8:30pm because I was so depressed. On Wednesday morning I was avoiding it to...then decided that I really ought to try to play it once. I put the Slow Downer on 50% and, to my surprise, got the part. Then did 70%...80%...90%...and 100%. I got it. I was shocked. I REALLY had thought I was going to have to rewrite the part and apologize to him and say that my skills weren't up to the challenge and that I just couldn't get it. In that way that things happen...if I can keep the pattern in my head and hands/feet over the next few days...it'll seem easy by Sunday when I record. I might even record on Friday or Saturday and start the next lesson on Saturday/Sunday (next week is Swingtown...a song that I've been trying to learn to play and failing for at least two years now).

It's just a weird thing. To be totally convinced that you'll never get something at 7am in the morning...and 30 minutes later to have conquored it. I'm supposed to pause and pat myself on the back now...because...really wow. I don't know if it'll always fall into place in a week...but I guess that I should have faith that if you slow something down enough...break it down...and go over and over it...eventually you WILL get it. We'll see how Swingtown goes...it has been sticking its tongue out at me for a while now.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Martin Atkins

I totally neglected to mention that last weekend RS, CT, and I went to a one-on-one coaching session with Martin Atkins at Madison Media Institute. We went to talk to him about next steps for td and cj.

Synopsis:
-after our album release show, td should record an ep every three or four months and have a party/gig where we give them away
-cj ought to learn to screen print and sell a bunch of shit. He wasn't sure of copy right issues with our logo (offered to make us part of his new book as a case study) but RS did some online research and it seems that if your logo is an obvious parody of another logo (and effectively promotes the original thing) than its aok. And that's totally what ours is.
-cj could record an album of Pixies songs and sell them so long as we pay licensing fees...which turn out to be quite affordable if you are doing a run of less than 500 copies.
-cj could and should book shows in Milwaukee, Chicago, and other regional cities. We shouldn't overlook places like Sun Prairie, Middleton...really close but not Madison proper. The suburbs, it turns out, have people in them. He and the gal with him gave us some ideas for places in Milwaukee and Chicago (he said we could name drop him).
-cj doesn't need to fall over itself to prove our value. But basically just need to not suck (we don't) and the concept sells itself. We ought to be able to book anywhere that books cover/tribute bands and doesn't have some super specific focus (like metal or country or whatever)
-td will have to work harder to book in other cities, but it isn't impossible. But we should be more proactive in building an email list and really engaging those folks. He even suggested that we send fans in other cities gas cards to come watch us in Madison!

I think that for sure the experience reassured us that there is a market for CJ and that we just need to put in the minimum work to grow. It lit a fire under us for sure. We'll see if that translates to action. I think the guys are excited about the screen printing. I think that they did all of that for The Escapists and Faghat back in the day and just got tired of all the work with no pay-back. But I think with CJ there WILL BE payback. We'll make a little money...get a little love. It will be worth it. So hopefully we'll go for it.

With respect to td, I guess I feel like that's really j's band...so lots depends on him.

SSW, 1/19/2012, Mr. Roberts

Played another Distortion Thursday at Mr. Roberts with Futebol and Brian Maiden. The Treejasons were supposed to also make their debut, but the show started late, I'd wager that Brian Maiden ran long...and well suddenly we found ourselves at 1:30am playing our last song and the bartender shutting down the show. Whoops. Though I don't feel like the show going short was our fault. Usually we are the ones who get screwed in such a situation, so it was nice at least that it wasn't the case this time.

Futebol I THINK is a novelty act. It really isn't clear. I think you'd either love them or hate them. It was like watching two Nick Murphys perform in the middle of their worst drunk EVER. That's all I can think to compare it to. Brian Maiden was fucking great. I don't know Iron Maiden, but it seemed like they nailed it. Very well performed and the audience loved them.

It was a good crowd. I'd encouraged JG to book bands that we'd never played with...and maybe some newish bands. For your first gig every friend you have comes out to watch. It's a great way to build an audience...by catching folks while they buy their buddies a beer after their first gig. It's a theory I'm operating under at the moment anyway...and it did seem to pan out last night, though I don't know for sure who the people were there for.

We didn't take the stage until well after midnight. I was awake, but was coughing alot. Probably a combo of the zero degree air outside and the poorly filtered heated air inside. Seems to have resolved this morning. I managed to get my vocals out well between coughing fits. My playing was really good for the first several songs, but I got fatigued quickly...especially my right foot. Also, as always, the stage at Mr. Roberts is 1,000 degrees. I really felt sick by the end of the show...a little like puking. By the Suspect Device I wasn't really able to get my bass doubles out very well and switched to "two beats" (bass on 1 and 3)...which is ironically what we are studying in my Berklee class this week. I also thought about Berklee because my practice setup since Blondie is different than my show setup...so I have to reorchestrate on the fly. I think that's actually good for my brain, though it kind of defeats the purpose of learning parts a certain way.

I punked out on the 2nd drum "solo" on Everybody's Happy. Just played it straight. Unless you really know the song you'd never notice and it keeps the beat better. I'd like to get back to playing it the right way (it's simple and is just a matter of independence issues), but I also kind of let it go. I'm working on doing that more often.

Had to loan out some mics and cables as per usual, but since we were there to the end of the show it didn't really matter.

I didn't drink at all (and have only drank on two nights since early November in general) and had a large late lunch of Chinese food. Brought two of my own (disposable) water bottles up on stage (stashed them in my cymbal bag)...I think that is a good practice for the future, screw trying to get water from the bartender. Forgot to bring cough drops and that was a mistake. Thought I had them in my bag but didn't. I felt pretty well rested and alert before the show started.

Setlist:
Everybody's Happy Nowadays (R)
Hate & War (D)
I Hate Rich (J)
Mr Suit (R)
Helicopter (D)
Fable (J)
I Am a Cliché (D)
New Rose ®
You Drive Me Ape (J)
Teenaged Kicks (D)
One Track Mind ®
Too Drunk (J)
Suspect Device ®
Two Pints ®
That’s How I Escaped (J)
Warsaw (D)
We Are the Ones (R)
Fucked Up (J)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Breathing and Singing

I keep remembering that I'm not doing breathing exercises and then promptly forgetting again. Really this would help my singing and my emotional life...so I ought to fucking just do it. Seriously, it takes less than 5 minutes a day.

I've noticed more so than lack of power that my voice waivers. I can't hold a note on pitch...it sounds weak and variable. The breathing thing (especially if I used a note on the exhales) would fix that.

Fundamentals Week Two

The second week of class is about the 2 beat (bass on 1, 3...snare/hi hat on 2, 4). This is my go-to basic beat...so not that hard (though of course there is room to improve). The song is Flashlight by Parliament. A great groove...but nothing technically difficult. The trick is in keeping the groove consistent for five and a half minutes.

I was pretty stressed out about class last week and had to take a step back and chill out. This is all meant for personal growth and fun...there's no need to expect perfection and to stress myself out (and then feel bad about myself) if it isn't attained. Take away what you can but be realistic. It isn't a miracle.

Got a B+ on the first assignment. The comments were basically to keep the sticks closer to the heads between hits (the intro part of Separate Ways I was pulling them away, which I'd only do in a wide open part like that. I kind of reject the comment. I understand the benefits of economy of motion...but theatrics isn't a horrible thing when performing...and that's what that felt like more than a mistake)...and that I rushed the prechorus, which I knew. He complimented me for getting back into time though. His comments in general for eveyone fell into about 4 streams and were, though personalized, generic (copy and pasted). I don't think this is going to get too detailed. On the other hand, I suppose that people tend to make the same mistakes.

Anyway, this week's lesson feels more laid back. We'll see how it goes when we get into the Latin shit.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fundamentals Week One

So I am taking an online college course (Fundamentals of Drum Kit) on drums through Berklee School of Music. Monday was my first day. So far I really like the format. The concept of having assignments due is a little terrifying, but so far so good. The first lesson was a lot of basics that I already had down...but plenty that was challenging too. It reassured me that I have a solid musical background (if you went into this course not knowing how to read music, I think you'd be lost, even though the course is supposed to cover that). It DOES make me a little nervous for future lessons...because once we hit the stuff that I don't know it'll feel crazy fast. They aren't waiting for anyone to catch up...let's put it that way. And I will pretty much need to work on this every night of the week to get my assignments turned in on time. Here's the topic outline and the assignment songs for each week:

Week 1, Basics: Separate Ways
Week 2, Basics: Flashlight
Week 3, Time and Ghost Notes: Cold Sweat
Week 4, Single Stroke Rolls and 32nds: Swingtown
Week 5, Double stroke open and bossa nova: The Girl From Ipanema
Week 6, Samba: variations
Week 7, Half-time suffle: Rosanna
Week 8, Compound meter grooves: Spellbound
Week 9, Afro-Cuban 6/8: Afro Blue
Week 10, Jazz Shuffle: Things Ain’t What they used to be
Week 11, Swinging: April in Paris
Week 12, Cha Cha: Naima

The format is...several videos by the instructor on various topics with text, sheet music and audio files to accompany. There's a discussion question...a weekly live chat (which I can probably only make some of the time due to work)...and two songs to learn (an etude and a pop song), record, and turn in. The first song is simple...but has challenging elements.

Here's the hardest part of the song for me...though this part is in the "extra credit" portion of the assignment.

Like I said, if I didn't already read music...and read DRUM music...it would be SUPER hard. As it is I'm gonna have to work on the song a bunch. I already have the book that most of these songs come out of...along with a slow-downer cd which will help...so I can work ahead a bit. I've been trying to learn Swingtown for years...so they aren't easy. The Latin grooves terrify me too...but of course that's why I'm doing this...to be challenged and go to the next level. I really like being able to work alone and at my own pace. So far they seem to do a good job with the pacing and materials (better than other online lessons I've seen)...so I think it will be good. Guaranteed freakout at some point in the next 12 weeks though. Don't say I didn't tell you so. It will probably happen the week of Feb 6th...just saying...I know myself but always forget.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Drum "Riser" Project

I've been having a hell of a time with my setup at home. Pedal problems...then bounce problems. Last weekend I put down some 2x8 boards under the kit and most of my issues seem resolved. But it's pretty unstable and looks like shit. So this weekend I'm going to try to build a more permanent solution.

My goal is not a riser so much as to have the entire drum kit and all the stands on a single piece of wood that doesn't bounce. Sturdy. And it has to be cheap and easy. I've read a bit that true risers have all kinds of good and bad sonic side-effects...and I'm just not fancy enough to deal with all of that. So I will not be looking to get any height off the floor. Just to solidify everything.

I think that I will shoot for either a (5 ft x 5ft) or a (5 ft x whatever size fits in the space and means I don't have to cut many pieces of wood) footprint of 3/4 inch to 1 1/8 inch particle board. The bottom to be reinforced by 2x4s. The 2x4s I plan to lay down on the wide edge. I might change my mind about this and put them on the thin edge...but I don't want much air space under the "riser" to avoid the aforementioned sonic side-effects. We'll see. If I lay down the particle board and it does the trick by itself I might not even worry with bracing. If I do the bracing, I'm thinking 6 - 2x4s. Much of the design concept is based on my loft bed.

Update:
Well, the end prodect seems to be working pretty good, but it didn't end up going how I thought it would. I figured out pretty quickly that I wasn't strong enough to move a huge sheet of particle board and that it wouldn't fit in my car. So I changed my mind and bought small sheets instead. Feeling cheap and lazy, I also gave up the idea of cross braces. So here it is:

What this is...is four 2 ft by 4 ft by 3/4 inch sheets of particle board. They were called handy sheets or something like that. On top of that is two 2 ft x 3 ft thin indoor/outdoor carpets with rubber backing. I bought some plates to nail them together, but have decided to see if I can avoid any kind of faseners at all. The final footprint is 6 ft wide at the front and 4 foot long for the bulk of the piece. There's an extra 2x4 tacked on the back to give an extra base for the throne and my vocal mic. It was sort of optional but makes things less crowded. I didn't put a carpet on this section. It is sort of offset...so that the back left side is deeper than the the back right side. It looks uneven because of this, but it works great for the space. I didn't have to move any other furniture and I don't need the base were it isn't...so it is actually perfect. There wasn't a single cut made, hole drilled, or nail pounded. It took 2 hours to put together from the moment I got in the car to buy the supplies to finished.

It works ok. I think it would work better if the sheets were 2 inches deep like the planks I'd been using were. I looked into that, but again...too heavy to move and too big for the car. I have the bass drum and pedal all on one sheet together. That seems to be the key. It bounces a bit on the particle board...but only at the top of the toms...the pedal and bass drum don't seem to be bouncing against each other any more. I played for 2 hours straight last night will no leg pain or difficultly in execution. Played The Drain and Green Day and crap like that with fast bass pedal to really test it.

The sheets were about $6.50 each and the carpets were $9 each. I bought too much supplies...but of what I actually used...the cost was just about $38-40.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Update on Pixies Tunes

Last night was a good reminder that people all have different ways of looking at the world. CJ discussed what songs we plan to bother learning. I've been discussing that here with myself over the last week and thought I had a handle on it. But everyone is different, and so I was a little surprised by what everyone else thought.

There was really only three of us in on the conversation, so it is entirely possible that we missed "Joey's" opinions and that those could change things again...but here's what we agreed to work on...

Ana
Wave UK
Space
Velvety
Lovely Day
Build High
Weird at My School
Cecilia Ann
Rock Music
Hangwire
Dance the Manta Ray
Motorway to Roswell
In Heaven (Kim Deal version)
Rock a My Soul
The Happening
(update: on 1/11/2012 we decided to add Santo to above list)

Bailey's Walk was vetoed for being too screamy though I feel like it is a key b-side (we'll do the Kim Deal version of "In Heaven" for the same reason). I was shocked...shocked...to see "Velvety" rise to the top of the list. I listened to it a dozen times this morning and it won't be hard to pick up...but it still surprised me as I'd totally written it off. It's a fun song though, so I'm fine with it. I was also a little surprised to see "Lovely Day" on the list...but I'll have it ready soon so that's fine. "Rock A My Soul" isn't as suprising as it might be because I've always known that EH loves it...but it will be harder to find videos (it is in the TT Bear's video, but the quality is poor) and tab for. I have some draft chords and that's it.

This leaves the following to be undone in theory...

All Over the World
Stormy Weather (though RS expressed some love for it)
Havalina
Navajo Know (CT loves this, the rest of us hate it, so it is still up to debate)
Bailey's Walk
Make Believe
The Thing
Santo (update: on 1/11/2012 we decided to add this to above list)
Bam Thwok
Boom Chicka Boom
Theme from NARC

and all the remaining covers
Winterlong (EH hates this song)
Evil Hearted You
Wild Honey Pie
Ain't that Pretty At All
Can't Forget
Born in Chicago
Hang on to Your Ego
I've Been Waiting

Everything is still up to debate, of course...and the idea of doing a "weird ass" song show isn't off the table, in which case everything is game. There's nothing left off that I have strong love for...though I DO think that we ought to play total Bossonova and total Trompe shows...so I'm probably push to learn those tunes to perform at least once.

Last night we blasted through Blown Away, Bird Dream, and D=RxT like they were nothing, though I know that CT still isn't happy with his parts. Next week we'll tackle Ana, Wave UK, Space (or at least get a start on it...since this is probably the hardest song left...maybe the hardest song period besides maybe Alec Eiffel), and Velvety.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Home Stretch

A few days ago I posted about the remaining Pixies songs left to tab. Since then I finished "Weird at My School" and I realized that "Wild Honey Pie" is essentially done too. Beyond that, let's drill down.

Remaining songs that are incomplete:15 songs

Album-based: 1 song
Lovely Day

B-sides: 7 songs
Rock A My Soul
Make Believe
Velvety Instrumental
Santo
Bam Thwok
Boom Chicka Boom
Theme from Narc (kind of a cover too)

Unreleased: 1 song
Brackish Boy

Covers: 6 songs
Evil Hearted You (Yardbirds)
Ain't That Pretty at All (Warren Zevon)
I Can't Forget (Leonard Cohen)
Born in Chicago (Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
Hang on to Your Ego (Beach Boys)
I've Been Waiting For You (Neil Young)

I am going to make a judgement call and say that the unreleased song and the covers are totally and completely unneccesary. Not that I won't still try to learn them...but really these just don't count.

So that leaves only the album-based song and the b-sides...and that's 8 songs. I'm nearly done with "Lovely Day"...so that's only a matter of time. The 7 remaining b-sides may or may not ever get done.

"Rock a My Soul" and "Boom Chicka Boom" are songs that they only played early in their career and no one but a die hard Pixies fan would have ever heard them. I think "Rock a My Soul" is only on the purple tape and that "Boom Chicka Boom" only exists in early performance video. "Bam Thwok" while being a song that I love, really isn't part of the core catalog. I don't think it was ever released anywhere but through itunes and I don't know if it is still available. The fact that they have toured widely after recording it but never play it speaks volumes. The other four...Make Believe, Velvety Instrumental, Santo, Theme from Narc...are b-sides that they've also chosen not to play in the modern era. "Velvety" Frank Black recorded later in his career with lyrics, so I feel like that's really one of his songs, not a Pixies song proper and I suspect that they feel that way too. I read an interview in which Kim Deal said that she should be killed for writing "Make Believe" even though I think it is kind of hilarious. Still it is by far the most jokey and most dated of their songs and probably better left alone. "Theme from Narc" is just fucking hard to play I think. I've not attempted the bass line, but the right foot bass drum is fast and I don't want to put EH through that. It's another "only a die hard Pixies fan would care about this" song. And that leaves "Santo"...which I recall the last time it was brought up in rehearsal being given a certain "Ah...Santo" dismissive tone. I don't know that it is such a bad song...but not well known for sure.

For my personal sense of completeness, of course, I'm never gonna feel right unless I tab all 89 songs. But reasonably speaking, I'm also getting tired of this project and know that these last few serve no purpose. We will never play them live...or if we do we'd play them once only in some special kind of "weird songs" set. Even if we did that...there are plenty enough good b-sides and rarities that these don't seem to rise to the call.

And so I'm left thinking that Lovely Day may end up being the last Pixies song that I tab. Which seems both weird and anti-climatic. At the start if one would wager what the last song would be...I doubt Lovely Day would have been the bet. That said...I didn't even know the names of all the songs at the start...so I wouldn't have been able to make an informed wager. In the end Lovely Day falls to the end because no one else has posted the bass tab on the web yet...which either means that no one cares about the song or that the bass line is so easy that it isn't worth tabbing. I don't think the latter is completely true (since it is taking me a bit to figure out)...nor has it guided whether other tab has been posted...I mean "Where Is My Mind" is tabbed in a billion places...and that's pretty damn easy. So while I'd argue that "The Navajo Know" is the worst Pixies song...perhaps the bass players out there in the world think it is "Lovely Day."

More likely...I've been caring about this far longer than any reasonable person should.

Lovely Day

Lovely Day Structure

Intro:
8 measures, probably in Bm

Verse:
Bm
At the station
at the border
an egression G F#
to the exterior law and order upward plantation


Bm
i remember your red dress
like a field full o' poppy
you were making me dreamy G F#
stunned by a love got to do what your head says could not let it stop me



Chorus:
D G Em7
they got one leaving today
D G Em7
they got one leaving today
D G Em7
they got one leaving today X 2
G F#
and it's going away

(there’s a transition of a few measures, first guess as follows: Bm F#7)

Verse:
Bm
got my feet in the stirrup
it can be kind of banal G F#
but i dream of your red dress riding down these dry canals oh baby it's not europe

Bridge (1:12):
Bm
but i'm sending you money
i'm sending you lots of money
so you can buy a ticket
you will be my martian
honey
all the
G F#
day

Chorus:
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha X 2
G F#
and it's going away

(there’s a transition of a few measures)

SOLO/OUTRO (1:45)
About 13 measures, a lot like the ends of the choruses for a while

Below is a first guess at progression in outro
(Bm F#7) x3
(Bm E) x2
Bm G
Bm (longer)

Another possible chorus prog
Bm E F#
Bm E F#
Bm E F#
G D
x3
Bm F#7