peteb

As I understand it, the 'head' is the main theme of a piece of music, which you are likely to return to during the piece. The chart is simply the piece of paper that you have on a music stand in front of you (or these days, a file on an iPad). For example, in Jaco's 'Portrait of Tracy', you get the all harmonics intro, then you play the head (the main melodic bit that you remember about the tune) before a B section and then back to the head for the outro. I'm sure that Rob can correct me if I haven't got that quite right.

I get cramp when I try to play with a pick these days as well. I went back to fingerstyle after playing with a pick for several years because I realised that I was a more fluent and had less limitations using my fingers. I was just a better player that way. I do occasionally meet people who remember me as a pick player. I actually started out playing fingerstyle because of the cool looking, smiling black dude with the afro and P bass in the instructional book I originally learnt from. If he played with his fingers, then obviously I should...!

Yea, but Chris Squire and many others did! Both can be great - whatever works for you...

I originally learnt to play fingerstyle, but a band leader persuaded me to play with a pick (very much a thing at the time), which I did throughout the 80s! About 1990, I reverted back to exclusively playing fingerstyle, which I've carried on with to this day. To be fair, I was always a far better fingers player and these days I very much doubt I could play anything like a full set with a pick!

So, played the Farmyard Party at the weekend - pics above on @casapete's post a couple of pages ago. The Friday was very hot and sticky. As we were staying over, I had to put up a large tent pretty much on my own (the missus is recovering from an operation on her hands) in rock hard ground - hence me managing to look sweaty, pasty and sunburnt all at the same time in the picture of me and Pete above. Great to meet Pete before the gig - I was obviously pretty busy trying to get everything ready for our show, so I only managed to see a couple of songs from his band, but he is obviously a very tidy bass player. There was a bit of a groan from backstage as they played a song on our setlist, but fortunately that seemed to be the only one, so we managed to avoid too many duplicate songs! The gig itself was a bit hit and miss. We had a (very good) dep guitarist and it had been sounding brilliant in the three rehearsals we managed to get in before. However, live there were a few adventures starting and (particularly) ending songs and a fair few missed cues. Endings became a bit of a negotiation between me, the guitarist and the drummer, with the poor keyboard player trying to work out what was happening from the other side of the stage! However, we got a pretty good audience reaction and had a lot of very positive feedback after the show (with a couple of gig offers thrown in), so it can't have been too bad - amazing what you can get away without the audience noticing when playing live sometimes! Gear wise, I was using the 78 P bass and the usual set-up of a Shure GLXD wireless, Thumpinator, Cali76 bass comp and Caveman pre into a Handbox R400 and Berg CN212 cab.

No, I'm afraid that might (marginally) help to keep you fit, but it isn't going to do anything to maintain muscle mass or bone density. The only way to do that is to regularly lift weights.

The jabs work, but they do have side effects and they won't give you too many of them. I had one when I was a teenager and about to do my O levels. To be fair, my hay fever used to be much worse in my teens / twenties

Nice one Pete - I will see you later

This I believe that lifting weights also helps to maintain bone density, so if you slip when you're old you just get up and brush it off rather than requiring a hip replacement.

It's always fun to be part of these big events, even if you're not on the main stage.

Fortunately, the only time I've ever used Preparation H was to put on a new tattoo years ago! Summerfest looks like a great event - shame we don't really have anything similar this side of the pond. The bike rally I'm playing (the Farmyard Party) is one of the biggest ones in the north of England, not quite as big as Stormin' The Castle in the North East, but still about 6,000 people on site. They have a blues tent (stage) for the old school bikers who still like their blues - will probably have a few hundred people or so in there. Maybe a 2,000 for the main stage (that I last played ten years ago with a rock band).

I've been taking prescription anti-histamines (not the ones you get in a shop) in hay fever season since I've been a teenager. I do have some special beeswax type thing to wipe inside my nose, along with nasal sprays, etc. I once did a big blues festival type gig in Dundee once while having a major attack. It must have looked a bit strange to any eagle eyed punters to see a box of tissues on top of my rig, with the cover behind the cab half filled with used tissues - not exactly rock n'roll! It was actually a great gig in a pretty big packed venue, but I was relieved to get through it...

My concern for the blues gig at the bike rally tomorrow is the high pollen count and what it will be like in the marquee @ 8:30pm...! I have played a gig before while having a hay fever attack and it's interesting to say the least! It is forecast to be in the mid 80s at the rally - not bad for the north of England. My missus wants us to camp out and stay the whole weekend. That will depend on how bad my hay fever is...

That looks cool Daryl...! I'm playing a big bike rally with the 'occasional' blues band this weekend. It's a big event, but not anywhere as near as big as that!

I'm afraid that I find exercise bikes deadly boring. I really need to get out on the MTB again, even if its just on the canal towpath. The trouble is that I find even the slightest hill a bit of a problem now. Lifting weights is the best thing to do, especially as you get older and you start to lose muscle tone and your bones become weaker. I pay £16 per month in gym fees these days, which by any account is very good value!