Dad3353

The music teacher, Mr Smith (for it was he...) would sit at the piano in the Great Hall, with the class of boys on the benches before him. He would play one note on the piano, and ask, sternly : 'What note was that..?'. Every boy put up his hand (myself included...), hoping not to be picked. 'G..?' says, timidly, the designated victim. 'Wrong..!' Another note; another victim : 'A..?' Wrong..! Each time, all hands would be raised; nobody had any idea of what note had been played. Another note... My hand goes up, as usual; I'm chosen. 'D...' I reply (I have no idea what note was played...). 'Correct'. Another note, another victim. Some minutes later, my hand goes up again, as always; I'm pointed at. 'What note was that..?'. 'Middle C...' I reply. 'Correct.' I put my hand up each and every time for all the lessons of the sort, but was never again picked. Had I known what the note was..? No, of course not..! What did I learn from our music lessons..? If one is confident in one's approach, and lucky enough to be right first (and second...) time, one's reputation is established for ever, with no requirement to further prove one's abilities. This, which I call my 'Middle C' principle, has served me in good stead in many applications throughout my life and career, and all thanks to Mr 'Goatee' Smith, our music teacher.

Hmm... with waltzes, javas and more in some repertoires, that could get interesting..!

I play sitting down at every gig. OK, I'm a drummer, but still... It's only convention, in your head; no-one at all will take umbrage at your playing at your most comfortable. Look after yourself, and enjoy your gigs.

All simple enough, indeed, once one has the knowledge of which terminals to use (Speakon...) and which polarity to connect to where (Speakon and jack...). No difficult, but not to be improvised. Just sayin'.

With a blanket..? ...

Yes, that works well, connecting Hartke amps to Hartke cabs... not..! ...

We'll let the Mods decide. Maybe I'm just having a Bad Day.

Reported.

Indeed.

No.

Went home and checked t'Interweb for bad grammar and punctuation. (... and, for pedagogic reference, it should be 'What exactly did you did do after your last gig..?' ...) Even then 'most recent gig' would be better than 'last gig', except for those really ending their playing career, but that's simply pedantry.

Some are.

Banana Yellow..? Burnt Peach..? Rhubarb and Custard..? (OK, strictly speaking, not fruit, but...) Rich Plum..? Tomato Red..? (Yes, it's a fruit..!) Am I getting warm..?

Indeed, I fully agree. (I'm a drummer. ...)

This one..? Amazon : 5-String Bass Guitar Scale Wall Chart ... I say 'Chapeau..!' to anyone actually learning any or all of these. Must have the memory of a troop of elephants.

... with pits in the floor for those taller than the 'same height' height..? This will go down as a date to remember. ...

And the winners are... @AndyTravis, @lurksalot and @upside downer..! Here, then, are your Winner's Certificates (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2024_03.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)...

Can you 'la la la' the melody into a mic' and post it here..? It would help, Shirley..?

Indeed, the piece stands or falls on the end harmonics. Such a shame to ruin it that way.

Not sure if it counts as a 'jam'; I made a marmalade with courgettes from the garden and clementines (bought in season in trays from the supermarket...). Despite my boiling it up to the right temperature, it wouldn't set, even after several weeks after potting up. I poured all the jars back into a pot, and added a few sachets of powdered gelatine and re-potted. It's now perfect, and stays on the toast as it should, instead of flowing off all over the table. Pleased..? Yes, I am, rather.

Well, at least it wasn't Hounslow (pronounced 'Arnsler'...), but admittedly less posh than Kingston. My upbringing was Bedfont-based; this explains a lot.

Treachery, really, as there was less innuendo with simply 'Staines' (there are no stains on the Thames there...). The original name was fine, and had a history... '... It later appears as Stanis (1167), Stanys (1428), Steynys and Staynys (1535), before the modern spelling "Staines" is first used in 1578. The name derives from the Old English stān, meaning "stone", and may refer to a Roman milestone on the London to Silchester road that survived into the early Anglo-Saxon period....'

Yeah, but I'm old, innit. T'was definitely there, but had a far dingier look than the clean, white, sterile photo of the area since. High brick walls made it a rather insalubrious place to wander, and in the dark, even frightening, with a tunnel through under the railway line back towards Staines centre. How things change, eh..?

Give the kid her pencils back. ...