4 years ago, in the 2011 Women’s World Cup, the United States lost to Japan in the final game. To all the players and coaches it was a depressing time. You may even say that they might have felt diminished in their outlook. They were certainly criticized and vilified by all the pundits and commentators of the time. The United States lost the game by penalty kicks after playing to a 2 – 2 tie at the end of the overtime.

However on July 5th, 2015, the team with 9 returning players from the losing team of 2011, they found redemption in the form of a 5-2 win over the Japanese team. The USA team scored early and by the 16th minute had scored 4 goals including a hatrick (3 goals) by Carli Lloyd. What a win!

What’s the lesson that you can learn from this? The answer is, Never Give Up! You keep on trying. You keep the faith. You keep on practicing and one day you will succeed. I believe in God who never gave up on me. So I KNOW that things will get better just as it did for Team USA during the World Cup. This gives me Hope and thus I will keep Playing It By Ear!

There is this chord structure in music called the 7th. I refer to it as the 7th element. It adds some beautiful tension to chords that make them pop onto your ear drums in quintessential exquisiteness that makes you go, “AH!” You may see it in chord charts and other musical forms as C Maj7, Am7,  D7, of F Dim7. These chords are examples of the 4 most common types of 7th chords in use today.   But What is it really? What is this thing the 7th?

Let us take a look at some of the chords that exist in common usage today. For example the C Major 7 is made up of C, E, G, and B and is formed when all the notes are played simultaneously. This is how it works. In the key of C, the scale is listed as C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.  C is counted as #1 and each successive note  in the scale gets the next position in the scale. So for the C Major Scale, C is 1, D is 2, E is 3, F is 4, G is 5, A is 6, and B is 7.   C Major is usually C E G (1 3 5)  and adding the B (7) adds a lot more color or tension to the chord.

Before your eyes glaze over with all the the Math of Music I want to let you know I will explore the other types of 7th chords in a later post. Earlier I mentioned that 7th Chords are used to make music more interesting as they add musical tension to the music they are a part of. As the chords resolve to the next chord, they can release or strengthen the tension as the composer or performer interprets it.

Similarly in life you can sometimes see the effects of the “tension chords” of our lives, those intense moments that can be seen as stressors or stepping stones. I view these moments as stepping stones. On of the Stepping Stones is Faith. I have faith that God will see me through. I also Have Hope that when things seem Diminished I know that it is just a passing phase. This is one the the things that make it easier to keep on Playing It By Ear.

FREEDOM!!! Here in the United States the Fourth of July is a very important day. It signifies and denotes a day of Freedom. It is a day when we gained our independence, and is called Independence Day. Each country has its own Day of Independence and this day happens to be ours. I am glad for it.

I am glad that I have the Freedom to live in peace and the Freedom that comes from a belief in a loving God that loves every man. That freedom was hard fought for by the men in the Armed Forces and I am forever grateful. They still stand on the borders today to defend the land that I call home. I am forever grateful. I thank you! Happy Independence Day!

Playing by ear also comes with its own freedom.  It gives me freedom to interpret songs that I hear and re-harmonize them as I am playing it. Since I have been playing music for a number of years, when I play a simple tune, I have the freedom to play it in a variety of styles, using alternate chords and rhythms. It is awesome. I hope and pray that we will always have the Freedom to Play It By Ear.

The concept of playing by ear in music is a very interesting thing. Some people may have the idea that it is a haphazardly constructed process whereby you play notes and chords as you feel like it. I have found that this is not the case at all. In fact the truth is exactly the opposite. It actually mirrors life in a lot of ways.

For example, if you have to do any task in life, you have to follow the rules of completing that task. A GOOD carpenter just doesn’t nail the pieces of wood that he or she has in any manner that he chooses. A GOOD electrician just doesn’t connect wires in any way that he happens to feel like on that particular day. A computer technician just doesn’t create ethernet cables in any color combination that looks good. NO! They all have to follow the rules or the plan that they have been given in order to complete the tasks.

Similarly, playing by ear, whether in music or in life requires you to follow the rules of music. It may be that the carpenter, electrician or computer technician is so good that they don’t need to “look at the paper” in order to follow the rules. This is because the know the rules so well that it seems like they don’t have to think about what they are doing. But they still have to follow the rules.

I have been playing the piano for a long time, and recently I have been playing the guitar as well. I can play the piano much better than the guitar because of the length of time that I have spent learning the rules of the piano – where the notes are; what the scales are; how to make chords using the scales; and how progressions and patterns are derived by playing the chords in different sequences. So to get better at recognizing the patterns, I have to practice the patterns according to the rules of music.

Life is the same way. It’s like the saying goes – Art imitates Life and Life Imitates Art! You have to know the rules intimately and keep practicing so you can Play It By Ear!!!

What does it mean to be diminished? Does it mean that I’m less than desirable? Does it mean that I don’t belong? Does it mean that it’s bad? These are all questions that people ask all the time, both in life and in music. The answers are actually very similar. I’ll tell you what I mean.

To be diminished in life sometimes mean that you may be in a place that seems to offer no hope. But as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, “There’s Hope For Everyone“, there’s always a way out of your situation. You just have to look hard enough, and the answers will be there. In other words, your situation is TEMPORARY or is just a passing phase. Similarly in music the diminished chord is more often than not a PASSING chord! Most musical pieces do NOT end on a diminished chord, but rather on a Major or Minor Chord. I will elaborate on that later.

The diminished chord is a chord that has equidistant spacing between the notes. Each note is a minor 3rd away from the other. For example, the C Diminished 7th chord is made up of the notes C, E flat, G flat and A. Each one of these can be used as a passing chord at least 4 different ways. So the diminished chord becomes the conduit to four different solutions in music.

Similarly I believe that many of the ‘diminished’ situations we face have more than one solution. We just have to look for the way out so we could continue to Play It By Ear.

Hello World. It’s me again. I haven’t written anything for awhile, not because I didn’t have anything to say. I have a lot to say, but sometimes I don’t get to say it. However I am writing to say that just as I can begin writing again about Music, and Life and the world, then you can know that there is hope.

I have struggled with the thought that I don’t seem to have the time to write and make a statement with my music. I have struggled with the thought that I don’t have what it takes to make a difference with what I am mainly writing about, and that is playing music by ear. I have recently come to the conclusion that you do not have to be perfect to make a difference. You do not have to be the most eloquent person on the internet. You just have to be WILLING!!! So with that thought I have decided to pick up again and write. Who knows if this is the time that it sticks… (I Smile).

The mere fact that I’m here is a testament to HOPE! When I came to this country (USA) I had very little money and no idea how it would all play out. I had the will and the determination to succeed and here I am 21 years later and I think that I have made progress towards my life goals. I have a beautiful family and fulfilling job and my family works together with me to help fulfill that goal. Our main goal is to help people through music and also in whatever way we can, spreading the message that no matter what your circumstances, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how dark it seems, there is a way out. There are people out there who are waiting to help you. Just keep looking and keep on Playing It By Ear.

I could never do what I do without great support. I’m just saying. You are usually able to do better when you have great support. When I’m out front on stage singing or playing it’s usually the result of the support of my support network.

Who is my support network? My support network is my wife and family. As today is my wife’s birthday and it’s also the weekend we celebrate the armed services of our country, I want to say thanks. To all who wore and who wear The Uniform I say, “Thank You!” To My family and friends, I say “Thank You!” To my wife I say, “Thank You!”

I. Thank. You.

And to you I sing this tribute, You Raise Me Up:

You. RAISE. ME. UP.
And that’s why I’m able to Stand On Mountains as I Play It By Ear.

Rhythm is the life force of Music. It drives the music and keeps it moving along. In reality you can’t have good music if your rhythm is off, especially in a band, group, or orchestral setting. But what is rhythm exactly?

According to Wikipedia, Rhythm is defined as “the timing of events on a human scake; of musical sounds and silences.” This means that rhythm encompasses what you do play as well as what you do not play. It is just as important as what you do play. I’ve even had one drummer tell me that the spaces of silence is more important than the spaces of musical notation. This really needs to be expanded on. Managing silence – what a concept!

This concept of managing silence as it relates to rhythm is something that a lot of musicians would do well to heed. In a lot of instances just knowing that “you can do something, doesn’t mean you have to do it. For a lot of musical situations, the old saying of,” Less Is More,” is true. The older I get, the more this concept resonates with me and I hope it resonates with you as well as you continue to Play It By Ear!

Harmony is one of my favorite musical terms. When I think about it, it brings joy on so many levels. But what is harmony? According to Wikipedia, Harmony, is defined as the simultaneous use of other pitches and chords. Now these pitches and chords are used to support the melody.

From as early as I can remember I have  always loved harmony. I grew up in a house where we always sang in harmony. We would gather around the piano for family worship and sing together. While listening to gospel choirs and quartets, my brothers and I would pick out the various parts and sing them. My ear training started way before I could talk.

What do you mean? I mean that I was surrounded by musical people from my parents to my brothers, and someone was always singing a “second or third” part. So it became a natural thing for me to hear the notes from various harmonies as I grew up.

I would like to think that those early days also helped me learn to live in harmony with my blood brothers so much so that i became My Brother’s Keeper. Living in harmony is even more important than singing in harmony. When you sing or play in harmony you have to listen to the other parts to make sure you blend in with the ones around you. Similarly, we should live our lives in harmony with nature and with each other. Sing in harmony and live in harmony as we Play It By Ear!