Mental | Physical | Spiritual

Songwriters’ Exchange with Jason & Jess – Replay from June 18, 2024

Jess Baldissero is not only a good friend, she is one of my favorite songwriters. I was honored that she sat with me earlier in the week to discuss the discoveries and accidents of the creative process. We shared some laughs, talked about good times and hard times and we each played a few songs.     Audio and Video Audio Only Getting to Know Trees knowingtrees.com · Songwriters' Exchange with Jason McInnes and Jess Baldissero Three tracks from The Hermit, my debut solo album are streaming during the pre-order period. The full album will be released June 28, 2024 on Bandcamp. http://joybird.bandcamp.comPick up Jess’s music, featuring her band Joybird, at Bandcamp also. 

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Don’t Know What to Play? Put Your Worry Away and Try Dreaming

Musical Dreaming – it’s a practice that I took part in, but had never really considered until some great chats with my old friend John Donahue. I think about John and his musical dreaming a lot when I meet with frustrated students.  https://vimeo.com/949795666?share=copy Dreaming with Your Guitar .pdf They wanted to play more. They’re just too busy. They’re frustrated with the pace of their progress. They’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to practice. I get it. I feel that way about music all the time. Thankfully, I’ve developed some strategies to get me out of such a funk and this is one of them. Next time you don’t know what to play, or are bored or frustrated with the same old songs, try some dreaming.  The video is the best description I can make of this process.  I’ve also made a .pdf that has some drawings that can be useful, but there’s very little instruction on it. I hope you find this useful.

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Guest Post – John Mead Teaches the Guitar Solo from Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones

“This is a great solo to start on—it’s simple, clear, and articulate; it will teach you how to hear clear phrases and how to hear bends (which make up a significant part of the solo). It will teach you a couple of fairly sophisticated ideas while being very simple and satisfying to play.” John Mead We’ve been working on Dead Flowers in some recent Guitar Crew meetups and recently a student asked “Do you know how to play the guitar solo?” I thought, I don’t but I know EXACTLY who does. Check out this killer lesson from one of my very closest friends, and a truly gifted educator, John Mead. Sure missing hanging out with this guy! Download the pdf. You’ll notice that John makes the point that, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a ‘pentatonic major scale.’ Now, if you know me and my teaching, you’ll know that soloing with the major pentatonic scale is a core skill of  my introductory improvising lessons. Ha!But, I totally get where he’s coming from and there’s a lot of truth to it. If you’ve had those introductory lessons from my, I highly recommend digging into this lesson to put some of those concepts into practice and to take you’re playing to a new space.   John is an incredible teacher, player and music philospher. Give him a shout if you’re looking to turn up your guitar playing. John’s there to help you make that happen. Contact John

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“How do you do THAT!?!?!?” Learn a Song By Ear: An Approach (Free Self-Guided Lesson)

When I was first taking guitar lessons my teacher told me to bring in a cassette of any song that I wanted to play. I was so blown away when he’d hear it, having never heard it before, and by the end of the lesson have written down how to PLAY THE SONG. How did he do that?!?!?!?!?!? He taught me some stuff, but he definitely never taught me how figure how songs for myself. In the years sense, I’ve gleaned a lot about how people learn by ear. And, being on the other side of the teacher/student dynamic I often hear my student bewilderment as to how I can play by ear. And, I found that while many hear me be able to do it, they didn’t have a grasp of WHAT I was doing. At first the task seems quite daunting but once it’s broken down into a few manageable steps, it’s really not so difficult. It does take time and effort, but I am fully convinced that it doesn’t take any special talents or innate abilities. This is a self-lead lesson where I present very short videos that describe the exact process I use to learn a song by ear.   Give it a try and listen to how it goes. Drop me a note to let me know how you do, and if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy! Learn a Song by Ear by Jason McInnes

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Playing By Ear Demo – Hold Music

I have a thurough self-led lesson about playing by ear in the works. For now, I thought I’d leave you with this. My advice on how to learn to play by ear. https://vimeo.com/902038361?share=copy How to Play by Ear First, seek out financial institutions who provide one minute of music on repeat when you’re on hold. Next . . . OK. While that video is just kind of a kidding around, playing by ear is a goal of many of the people I work with.  Here is a video I made awhile back demonstrating one of the processes I use to learn a song by ear.  Blog Post: How I Learn Old Time Tunes – Learning to Play the Tune, Nancy, from a Recording by Jonas Friddle

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“Let’s start something loud! Can you hear it?” – Cherishing the Music We Made with It’s a Girl

. . . standing backstage at our album release show and hearing the sold-out crowd stomping and chanting,

“It’s a Gril! It’s a Girl! It’s a Girl!”

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Practicing Greyscales cover

Revisiting My “Practicing Greyscales” Sketchbook

I stepped up to the paper and realized, almost immediately, that I did not have control of the necessary skills to complete the piece as I wanted. I could understand the process intellectually, but it wasn’t going to come out of my pen without more practice.

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The bulldog Toro sleeps while Maria sings and plays guitar.

Can I Sing You to Sleep? – Maria McCullough Shares a Sweet Moment with a Dear Companion

The sweet moments in this video took place on June 5, 2021. Toro was one of my dearest companions and rest teachers. Can I sing you to Sleep? was inspired by and written in a workshop guided by Octavia Raheem. Amongst all the layers in the world that might have you feel and do otherwise… May you feel loved. May you find rest. May you experience moments of ease. May you sing. Maria McCullough (she/they) loves to share and explore with others through music, movement, laughter, love and rest. Maria is grateful to be living on Tiwa Land/Tewa land in so-called Albuquerque, NM and is at the beginning of a relationship-building journey with the land and beings here.You can contact Maria and learn more about her offerings here.

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Slideshow – Celebrating Tradition Retreat 2022

Maria was one of the teachers at this year’s Celebrating Tradition Retreat in Spring Green, WI and I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along. What a rare gift to visit without the responsibilities of being a organizer, a teacher or a student! I thought I would take that opportunity to document the retreat. The slideshow follows, more or less, the unfolding of events. I did make the amature mistake of leaving my battery charger in New Mexico, so I missed much of the last day, and the goodbyes. It takes a moment to load, so if you see a black screen at the beginning wait 5 seconds and the first photo will come up. If you would like hi-res jpegs of any of these photos, feel free to download them at https://photos.app.goo.gl/o4MM4juVk7tg1R66A Thanks to the Peggy, Maura and Lou and the kitchen staff, and the friends old and new for making me feel so welcome.  

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Common Bass Walks for Guitar with Alternating Bass

A student and I were working on finding ways to play these bass walks more naturally, rather than having to think through them. I made these short videos (all under 2 minutes) with that in mind. This is a play list of five videos. Each video features a different duo of chords and their bass walks. A to D and Back to A A to E and Back to A C to F and Back to C G to C and Back to G G to D and Back to G These videos are recorded with a priority of watching my hands and listening to the sound of the music. You can scroll through the videos to find the one you want by clicking the three lines and arrow in the top right corner of the video player. Sometimes it’s important to intellectually examine these concepts. Other times it’s advantageous to concentrate on the sound and let the music come out of our fingers. If you would like a handout component to follow along with, or use to practice with later, download this .pdf which has all the bass runs that are covered in the video. One thing the video does not cover is why you might use these in a song. If you are interested in learning more about that, drop me a note at gettingtoknowtrees@gmail.com and we can set up a time to meet over Zoom. Enjoy!

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Getting Familiar with Intervals

We measure the distance between two notes using intervals. Here is a worksheet to help you get familiar with some intervals. When you’re done with the worksheet, compare the drawing that you made. What do you notice? Add your question to the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

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Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments for Sale

Today, I am honored and humbled to offer for sale pieces from my Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments series. Between now and early July 10, 2022 you can purchase a piece of one-of-a-kind artwork made specifically for you or a loved one. Jump to the order form. The Listening Wide-Eyed series is an outgrowth of my visual art, musical and mindfulness practices. Each one-of-a-kind piece from Listening Wide-Eyed is created through a limited-sight process, where I make a drawing on a sheet of bristol board without taking my eyes off the subject. I don’t look at the board until I am done drawing. Within the messiness, the structural knowledge and spiritual essence of each instruments expands.  Each drawing is a made-to-order, one-of-a-kind piece of visual art. They are created with wax pencil and bristol board. Each purchaser is invited to customize their piece, in regards to which instrument, the use of color and matting. There are also options specific to gifting one of these drawings to a loved one. This process started as a way to strengthen my visual record abilities. As my practice bloomed, this limited goal fell away and the drawing practice engendered more connections between the parts and the whole of both the instruments and myself. How do we move? Where are we sturdy? Where are we delicate? How do those and other qualities affect our presentation to and relationships with others?  Considering these questions allowed me to hold and play each instrument in a more open, inviting way.  We see and hear ourselves, and others, every day. I hope having these drawings in our living space, practice room, or at a family dining table prompt us to notice moments when we are making assumptions about what we know about both ourselves and others. I hope that they can act as a guide to remain open, curious and to foster connections in musical spaces and all other relationships. This round of sales does end on July 10, 2022. Order form for Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments

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Practicing Presence with Cyanotypes and the Robledo Mountains

This spring, I’ve been developing my skills with cyanotypes, printmaking with a sunlight-sensitive wash, which I had previously only dabbled with. The idea of working on a specific cyanotype piece emerged from my natural curiosity and delight in process experimentation and my desire to share a wide range of a pieces at a art exhibition I am a part of in June, 2022. Cyanotypes originally caught my eye because of my love of photography, the satisfaction I find in working within a process and the contentment that build inside of me when I work in greyscale. In early 2022, I took this photo of the sky while I was visiting the Rio Grande arroyo where I live in Las Cruces, NM. I was delighted how the photograph so clearly expressed the sky gradation and a project emerged. I wanted to recreate this gradation using an underexplored cyanotype kit in my supply shelf. With further reflection I decided to work with a more traditional landscape. I returned to the arroyo and took this photo with the Robledo Mountains and the dry riverbed under the blue sky. Over the past two weeks I’ve made over two dozen cyanotype prints from a negative of this photo. In the process, not only have I become more confident with my skills, but I also developed some of my own tools to support this production and created a process that I can easily replicate, day after day, in the bathroom of my apartment. The clear blue sky, the Robledo Mountains and I have gotten to know each other quite well in this time. As I continued to work on the process and examine the photo, the mountain, which I generally consider so big and ever-present, becomes humble against the vastness of the sky. And I started to see the mountain as myself. My Presence. My stillness. My humbleness under such a big blue sky. As I continued to explore these prints I found myself thinking about the yoga posture Tadasana, also known as mountain pose, which I’ve worked with many times. Once I connected the sensations of printing with the sensations of my mindfulness practices, my process of developing these cyanotypes changed considerably. What had been fairly chaotic, with spilled chemicals, broken glass and a bathroom covered with blue splatters, began to coalesce into a more elegant and manageable set of instructions that I was presenting to myself. A voice in my inner ear lead my movements, which reminded me of my yoga teachers and their gentle reminders to “move with your breath” and “root yourself into the ground.”   Like finding comfort in a rooted and stable mountain pose, or any dedicated mindfulness posture, my cyanotype process has required a lot of experimentation. I’ve used exposure times from 1 minute all the way to 20 min and have kept notes on various paper textures, application brushes and time until sunset. As my thoughts about this mountain and about mountain pose broadened, my life waiting during the exposure time became more still. Rather than trying to multitask and “efficiently use” the 10 or 20 minutes it takes for exposure, I’ve found myself just breathing; sitting next to the papers baking in the sun, taking in the bird songs and the shifting shadows created by our revolving planet. With practice, my desire for the “perfect print” which was the goal when I started this process, faded away. Today, I see these prints in relation to my work with mindfulness practices. When I began these practices I would get frustrated when I was unable to remain still and focused. The cyanotype process presented similar feels when I rushed and didn’t give the sensitizer time to dry, or I got distracted with my multitasking and forgot to set the timer. My meditation and yoga teachers showed me that the skill isn’t to not have distracting thoughts while I am doing mindfulness work, but to have the thought, notice it, and let it go. There is no need to follow it. Now I bring a kindred energy to these prints when find the signs of wayward fingerprints on the glass, leave uneven streaks in the sensitizer wash, or when I unwittingly splashed water on the not-yet-exposed paper. I’ve grown to be able to notice these imperfections, think, “Oh.” and then move on. I don’t have to celebrate them, but I also don’t have to condemn them or myself. Here is a slideshow of some of the prints. Click on the photos to move to the next one.

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Artist Statement for June 2022 Exhibition

I have been invited to show several pieces at the upcoming exhibition, Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water (details follow). It’s the first time that I will have multiple pieces at a show, which is very exciting. I was asked to provide an artist statement to accompany the work. It’s been a long time since I’ve written an artist statement and I’ve never written one based on my visual art. I’m very happy with my final statement. Here it is. Thank you for reading. Jason McInnes Artist Statement Spring 2022 Gather sustaining provisions. Reinforce the tunnel walls.  Chip away the stone, blow by blow. I work like a miner pursuing a vein of gold; the precarious notion that, through the mastery of materials, I become the master of my own existence. I was built, broken and rebuilt in the midwest of the United States, although I now reside in New Mexico. I am a music-centric teaching artist by vocation.  I build systems of learning in my visual and music-based artmaking, which I use to fortify my resolve to “be here now”.  I am drawn to uncomplicated mark making materials. I gravitate toward simple tools like pencils, charcoal and erasers because they are readily available. I dig for universal truths in the tip of a common ballpoint pen. I work alongside the sun; freeing it to develop its greyscale along with me. I choose media that can easily fit in a backpack, be pulled from a pocket on a walk through the desert foothills, or can be worked with in limited studio space.  A mixture of celestial light and human-made light, like street lamps and illuminated signage, dependably grab attention. So does the crisp edge of a line of mesquite trees cutting into a blue sky. My work reflects these relationships as a way to offer reverence to the cosmos as well as serving as a path to keep nourished and grounded.  Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water, Opening Night Reception Exhibition – Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 26 Opening Night Reception – Friday, June 10 – 4:00 – 6:30 The Anchor Building at Trader Todd’s Marina, 24030 Jefferson, Saint Clair Shores MI 48080 This exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of KB Studios, Chicago IL and is curated by artist and educator Kaye Buchman. This show demonstrates various artists’ interest in honoring and preserving our most precious resource – water. A portion of proceeds from the sale of work will go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The show will open on June 10 and run through June 30.Featured Artists are:Jason McInnesMary RidleyMary GombergSusan GamermanKatharine HathawayKathleen MaltesePhyllis RabineauSue TellerJanet WishinskyJoan BaerVirginia CarstarphenKay Buchman

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Stuff I Keep Track Of- Totals for 2021

As you may know, throughout the year I keep a running total of days that I perform activities that are important to me.  Over my many years as an artist, musician, and active person in the world, I’ve found that this process of counting has helped me maintain focus on aspects of life that are very important to me. I wrote more about the counting works in a blog post called Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2019.  In addition, I more fully explain this process in my zine, Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice which is available in my Etsy shop. Background 2020 was a year to begin to settle into some outward and inward changes. First, and most obviously,  since 1998, this was my first full year outside of Chicago. I now live in Las Cruces, NM in the foothills of the Organ Mountains. This prairie is directly outside my front door and I spend a lot of time there. Second, after a lot of personal struggles in the spring, my doctors and I determined that I am someone who is affected by ADHD. WOW! What an important recognition. While some of these struggles came to a head in the spring of 2020, I actually think that I’ve been wrestling with these challenges for my entire life. The diagnosis has given me a peace of mind that I have never had. This knowledge and acceptance has fostered many welcome changes in my day-today life. Final Numbers for 2020 My Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2020 was a bit incomplete because I lost some of my data during so much moving. I was able to keep track of it all in 2021. Music-Making (non-teaching) = 275 days = 75% of all possible days (Down 13% from from 2020).  It’s interesting that the total is down because I feel MUCH better about the music I made in 2020. A highlight has been playing with a group called the Demming Fusiliers during a recurring afternoon session at the Spotted Dog Brewery. Visual Art = 349 days = 96% of all possible days (Up 26% from 2020). So cool! I predicted that, “I think that this will be stronger in 2021”. Wow. It was a lot stronger. This makes so much sense. I’ve let go of a lot of mental blocks, and the tools I now have to work with ADHD have helped immensely in allowing me to focus on, and enjoy A LOT more, the visual art work I have been working on. Body/Mind Work = 285 days = 78% of possible days (down 2% from 2020). Interesting, but not surprising. I think that some of the changes that I made during the 2nd half of the year allowed me to be more centered in general, which made some of the physical work and meditation sessions less essential. One change in terms of counting the numbers is that I went for and counted a lot more short walks to clear my mind, along with strenuous workout classes and meditation sessions. Business (non-weekly lesson teaching) = 277 days = 76% of possible days. This was the first year I kept track of this number. I did a lot of work on, and even led my first session of, Harmonica Orchestra. I also worked with  consultants to build a stronger website and improve my marketing materials. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out.  Quarterly Focus Words Quarter 1 = Home Quarter 2 = Root Quarter 3 = Sprout Quarter 4 = Attune Goals for 2021 Music-Making – I have written a bunch of songs over the past 18 months and I have an undeveloped plan to record them. I want to do that. Visual Art – I feel so free and confident in my art making. I plan on continuing to strengthen this foundation. Business – Oh yeah! This is the area that I am a) least experienced in and b) least confident about. I really, really want to sell the Harmonica Orchestra. Sales. Not what I like to do, but I’m going to learn.   Body/Mind – I’m very unclear what will happen with this category in 2022. Because of some of the changes I mentioned above, I’ve been able to bring so much of these practices into my moment-to-moment living.  The number may go down. Or, I may develop another way to acknowledge and count this work.   Thanks for reading. See you next year! Jason

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“Did you draw those yourself?”

I’ve been looking into some of my limiting beliefs about both my ability to create art and about how we all create art in general. This memory – a mix of good and bad feelings – is prominent enough that I think about it often. In the 3rd grade I read a book called Dominic, by William Steig. I don’t remember much about it, except that I really, really liked it.  Turns out, it’s a book about a dog who kind of hits the road. That the book resonated so much is interesting in and of itself, considering how my life has taken shape. We made diorama for the book we were reading.  It was during this process that my dad showed me how I could draw a graph over a drawing and then draw the same graph on another piece of paper and use it to copy the original.   I drew a bunch of the books’ characters that way and handed in my diorama. I was thrilled that I could replicate the characters in a way that made the diorama look like a pop-up version of the book. I remember very strongly that the teacher asked, “Did you draw those yourself?”  I remember that she seemed skeptical when I answered yes; like she thought I was lying. I don’t want this to be the story of an evil adult squashing my creativity.  I liked this teacher, and she liked me. Looking back, I assume she was surprised at what I had made because I had probably never made something that looked like that before.   Why does this memory, of all the moments, stick so strongly in my mind? It’s strong enough that I’ve thought about it many, many times over 35 years. This memory has affected choices I’ve made a beliefs I have about what tools I am “allowed” to use when I create art and how much I can say that a piece of work is mine. That, “Yes, I made this.” How will this story change now that I’ve brought it out into the light?

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A circle drawn on newsprint with charcoal

Drawing Circles – Counterclockwise/ Clockwise, Eyes Open/Eyes Closed

This is the continuation of some thoughts I’ve been thinking and discussions I’ve been having around the idea of talent. As a guitar teacher, I spend a great deal of lesson time on the mechanics of playing the guitar.  The sounds that musicians are able to achieve from the guitar are wildly varied, and it can take some work for students to expand their physical habits to allow for those sounds to be achieved. In my limited time as an art student, there hasn’t been much talk of the physical movements needed to achieve my goals.  It really caught my attention when my art teacher mentioned an exercise a teacher had her perform in art school where they had to draw circles on a piece of news print.   I took some time this morning to try it out.  I stood arms length  away from the paper and just drew circles. The first one is one that I unconsciously “completed”. I drew to the counterclockwise to make the first half and then started again and completed it at the top. The rest are made with one continuous movement; standing an arm’s length away from the paper. Some things I noticed: Starting at the top and drawing counterclockwise, the charcoal slid right along the page. But, when I needed to swing up to complete the circle, my arm had a much more difficult time controlling the line.  Instead of being loose, the line would skip. As my arm tensed to gain control, the line would become too shallow or to wide. I started to close my eyes. This is something that I know from guitar playing.  We, as musicians, can play a lot more accurately than we might think with our eyes closed.  Sometimes, we’re even better with our eyes closed.   I closed my eyes and got a picture of the circle I wanted to draw in my mind, and then I’d draw it. If completing the circle was the goal, I was MUCH more accurate than I thought I would be.  If I drew counterclockwise with my eyes closed, I was able to complete the circle almost every time. If I drew clockwise with my eyes closed, it was much more challenging.  I almost never completed a circle. On drawing clockwise – I thought it was very interesting that I had to be very, very deliberate if I wanted to draw clockwise. Many times I’d think, “OK. I’m going to draw this one clockwise.” But, then I’d put the charcoal down and end up drawing counterclockwise. This happened several times in a row. I realized that I had to be much, much more deliberate if I wanted to draw counterclockwise.   What do you think? Do people have a talent for drawing circles? How good do you think one could become as a circle drawer?  Do you like them? Are the completed circles the only ones that you like? 

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Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2020

I keep track of the number of times I do certain activities in my life. This comes from a pretty severe case of perfectionism/”fear of the blank page”. Keeping track of this stuff has helped me immensely over the years, and is actually how I developed the Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice. You can read more about the process from last years’ blog post Stuff I Keep Track of – Totals for 2019. Here are the totals for 2020 Background This year saw a lot of change in my life. I moved to Marquette, MI in last November of 2019. Between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31 of 2020 I lived in five places for at least a month and, including other travel, all total I slept in about 15 different beds. And, then there’s the pandemic. Basically what I’m saying is, that is why my numbers are not as complete as I would like them to be. I know that I kept track of my numbers for all the months, but I can’t find where I wrote them down! I only have numbers for seven months, which is SUCH A BUMMER! Final Numbers We’ll say that there were 215 days available (in the months that I have data for) Music making = 189 days = 88% (This is the first year of collecting this data) Visual Art/Writing = 150 days = 70% (Down 16% from 2019.) Body/Mind Work = 169 days = 80% (Up 53% from 2019). Skateboarding = Well, this is a sad one. I got 30 days in, in the late spring and early summer, BUT, I broke my shoulder on July 10, 2020 and I have retired from skateboarding. In addition, I started collecting some data on how many days I work on my “business” (that is not my actual teaching.) This is a very new category and I’m still not sure how to keep track of it. I hope to have more conclusive data next year. Quarterly Focus Words for 2019 (I got this idea from the Being Boss podcast.) Quarter 1 = Nurture Quarter 2 = Patience Quarter 3 = Prepare Quarter 4 = Clarity Goals for 2021 Music-Making – I’d be happy to maintain these numbers. It was so helpful to re-engage with the Dozen a Day piano books. It’s so helpful to have a concrete set of musical exercises to play in the mornings. Visual Art/Writing – I think that this will be stronger in 2021. I am much more confident with my work as a visual artist. And, I’ve found many ways to “break through” in those moments when I am feeling unsure. Body/Mind Work – I mean, I could actually see myself being able to get to 365 days. That would really be something. I wonder. 312 days would be six times a week. 300 days would be 82%. I wonder. See you next year!

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How to Play Twinkle on your Harmonica Zine

Here is the zine for How to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on your Harmonica. Also, this zine contains a very fun song about everyone’s favorite snack, a Juice Box! You can learn the Juice Box song here. And, here is a video that will show you how to fold your zine, once it’s printed. How to Fold a Zine with Jason

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Básquetbol en el Barrio – Theme Song for Basketball in the Barrio Camp

Every year I teach the Music Station at an incredible sports/art/music/community-building camp called Basketball in the Barrio, in Segundo Barrio, El Paso, Texas. We couldn’t hold the camp in 2020, so Coach Denisse Franco and I wrote a theme song which, hopefully, we’ll all be able to sing for camp in 2021. Give it a listen and we’ll sing it at camp next year!

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KB’s Theme – song for my art teacher

I take visual art classes with the most amazing person; Kaye Buchman. Her art classes have moved online and it has been a highlight of the week to meet with her and the other students. I’ve been saying that the pandemic has taught me that, “A good teacher in person is going to be a good teacher online,” and Kye certainly proves that to be true. Kaye and I always talk music almost as much as we do art, so I wanted to write a theme song for her art studio; KB Studio. Building community is the name of the game at Kaye’s studio, so I was thrilled when one of the other students, Mary Ridley, agreed to sing the song I wrote. Enjoy the music and take a look at kbstudio.us if you want to build your visual art practice. She is fantastic. You can listen to the song right here. And, you can download the notation of the song, here.

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The Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice

This fall I published my latest zine, The Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice (available in the store). This is a method for taking a lot of the stress that can come with being a learner/do-er out of our lives. I’ve developed the method over my lifetime as both a teacher and a student I am a user of The Sticker Method and one of my favorite aspects of it is that the method can be used for anything. If you’ve heard my music, seen my drawings, watched my skateboard videos, or if we’ve talked about developing a habit of going to the gym, then you’ve seen The Sticker Method in action. What are you going to practice? I’d love to know. 

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On Practicing – Sept. 2020

I’ve been playing guitar for a long time. And, I teach a lot of guitar players that haven’t played for very long (comparatively). Learning to play is a lot of work, and for the most part it’s very solitary work, so “the public” only sees the “finished” product. As a teacher, I can tell that it is difficult for students (especially adult students) to believe that I have had, and continue to have, all those same challenges that they have. I’m not special, I’ve just been doing it for a long time. The work isn’t any easier, I just know how to do the work. Here is a short excerpt of a tune I recently wrote. It has a part right in the middle where my fingers need to make a move that they are not familiar with. Now it’s time for me to take my own advice! Slow down. Play with intention. Don’t let your habit take over because your habit doesn’t know it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this very short section over the past couple days. Finally, it’s starting to come together. It’s taken a lot of work. The work is the thing to do.

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Amigos de Basketball en el Barrio – New Song

We can’t have camp this year because of the pandemic. So, Coach Denisse Franco and I wrote a little song to share with the campers. Today, in Segundo Barrio, El Paso TX, some of the coaches will be distributing care packages with books, sports equipment and a zine with this song. It’s called Amigos de Basketball en el Barrio. Since 2016 I’ve been the music director at the best summer camp. It’s called Basketball in the Barrio and it is the most amazing sports, literacy, health and fitness, music, poetry, social justice, visual art camp you’ll ever experience. I wrote the tune and made the zine. Coach Denisse wrote the lyrics. I think you’ll agree that they are very fitting for this challenging time in our society. Here are the lyrics. Download a zine to help you learn the song here. A recording of me singing and playing the song is after the lyrics. Pronto jugaremos, sí. Yo te cuido y tú a mí. – Coach Denisse En Español Escribiendo, saltando, comiendo, Y canciones componiendo, Disfruto lo que aprendí, Todo lo que compartí. Aunque no esté en Armijo, Aún tengo a mis amigos, Basketball en el Barrio, Basketball en el Barrio. Hasta volvernos a ver, Cuídate y que estés bien, Pronto jugaremos, sí, Yo te cuido y tú a mí. Aunque no esté en Armijo, Aún tengo a mis amigos, Basketball en el Barrio, Basketball en el Barrio. In English Writing, jumping, eating – yum! Making songs is so much fun, I enjoy what I have learned, All the moments that we shared. Though I’m not in Armijo I still have my amigos Basketball in the Barrio Basketball in the Barrio Until we can meet again, Hope you’re well, take care my friend, Soon we’ll play, oh yes, indeed, I’ll care for you as you for me Though I’m not in Armijo I still have my amigos Basketball in the Barrio Basketball in the Barrio

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Lunch Time! With Hibbard Elementary Room 208

I don’t know about you, but as the social distancing continues, I sure am missing eating lunch with my friends. That made me think of this song that I wrote with some 3rd graders at Hibbard Elementary a few years ago. It’s rockin! Here is a recording of the song and a lyric and chord sheet that you can download to help you learn the song. Let me know if you learn to play and sing it!

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Why do you play video games? Why do you play music? Why make art?

Why do you play video games? Make music? Draw pictures?
Is it Skill and Achievement? Social? Money? Role playing?

Reflecting on a recent episode of Imaginary Worlds.

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Let’s Have a Pizza Party! – Songwriting with 2nd Grade

It’s Saturday and for many people that means pizza! Here’s a fun song to go along with your pizza party. Some second graders from Hibbard Elementary and I wrote this song in 2018. Here is a lyric and chord sheet that you can download to learn to play the song yourself!

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How I Learn Old Time Tunes – Learning to Play the Tune, Nancy, from a Recording by Jonas Friddle

For someone who is relatively new at playing music, learning a new tune, or a bunch of new tunes can be overwhelming. Because of this, I thought I would share my process for learning tunes. Maybe you’ll find it helpful to see how I do it. In this video I learn the tune Nancy on my harmonica. I learn an arrangement from my good friend, Jonas Friddle. I highly recommend checking out more of his music at jonasfriddle.com Enter your email address here to receive a free .pdf that accompanies this video essay.

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Rain, Rain Go Away – First Guitar Lesson

Here is a quick guitar lesson for total beginners. This is my usual first lesson for both youth and adult musicians. If you can do this, you can do anything on the guitar! This will get you started. If you do get started with this lesson and are looking for some more in depth study, let me know! I’ve moved all of my teaching online for the time being and would love to meet with you. We’ll have you playing in no time! Here’s the Rain, Rain Go Away video lesson and here is a free download of the lyric and melody sheet.

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How to Find the Minor 2 (ii) Chord in a Major Scale – Video Lesson

During this challenging time of life I’ve been inspired by the Marquette Makers’ Project to keep busy with some creative work. I’ve made a lot of lessons like this, but this is the first one where I used a virtual whiteboard and recorded my voice along with the drawings I made on the whiteboard.  It turned out pretty well and I learned a lot! In the video I mention two songs that use the minor 2 chord.  Here are lyric and chord sheet for those to songs Old Devil Time by Pete Seeger Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen [vimeo http://vimeo.com/400364601] Here is the weekly schedule for Marquette Makers’ Projects during the physical separation from our communities.  Cool stuff.  I’m excited to see what people are working on.

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Recap: Family Harmonica at Winter Roots Festival

Wow! What great musicianship at the packed house for Family Harmonica Workshop at Saturday’s 2020 Winter Roots Folk Festival! Most of the attendees had never played the harmonica before and they plowed through ALL of my teaching material for the day. Three of the songs were the classics – Hot Cross Buns, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Boil ’em Cabbage Down. The last was an original song by me called Juice Box (which you can learn to play here.) We even had some juice boxes at the end to celebrate our music. Looking forward to another opportunity to play together! Photos and video by Susan Rutter Divine, Katy Divine and Sue Demel. [vimeo 392247139 w=640 h=1138]  

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Juice Box – A Harmonica Song for Youth Musicians – Notation Download a Audio Recording

Hi everyone, Today I’m teaching my first workshop as part of Winter Roots Festival in Marquette, MI.  In honor of this big day I wrote a new song for you to learn on your harmonica!  It’s called Juice Box and it’s all about everyone’s favorite drink . . . a juice box! Here is some recordings of me singing and playing the song. The first recording is just the harmonica part.  The second is my harmonica, my guitar and my voice. You can download a FREE .pdf of the notation of this song.  Print it double-sided an cut the paper along the dotted line to make your own zine!  The zine also has the notation to another favorite song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  

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Snowy Day – A Song for Young Musicians – Video and Zine

Recently, it was a very snowy morning here in Marquette, MI.  I was waiting for some of my students to have their lesson and I wrote this song. I made a video of me playing the song, and there is a .pdf of a zine that you can print out to help you learn it.  Print it double-sided and then follow the instructions to make the zine! The zine contains the lyrics, standard music notation, and specialized notation for harmonica, guitar and ‘ukulele.  I was wondering, what would happen if we changed the lyrics from “snowy day” to “cloudy day” or “sunny day”.  What changes would you make in the rest of the lyrics so that the song is about your day? Download the Snowy Day Zine here. Be sure to print it double sided and then watch the short video below to learn how to fold your zine. Thanks to Ore Dock Brewing Company for letting me use their beautiful community space to make some music.

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Harmonica Orchestra in Cedar Lake, IN – January 2020 – Wrap Up

Last Friday, the 3rd graders at Jane Ball Elementary in Cedar Lake, IN and I had a great time starting up our Harmonica Orchestra .  We got right down to business, learning how to hold it and learning how to play only one note.  Then we dove into some Hot Cross Buns and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Reports are that it went over very big with the students.  One grandmother wrote to me and said, “He’s played it every day since.  Thank you for inspiring him to enjoy music in a different way ”   That is awesome to hear.

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Evening Session at Fargo Skateboarding

[vimeo 387363157 w=640 h=360] Fargo Skateboarding January 2020 from Jason McInnes on Vimeo.   It was a packed session tonight at Fargo Skateboarding. These photos are from later in the evening when it was starting to slow down. Something interesting happened that I wasn’t anticipating. Because I was so full I had to make the most of my opportunities. When I went to drop in for the first time (my first drop in since spring 2019), I just had to do it. I didn’t have time to talk myself out of it. I found that I could just GO and I didn’t need to psych myself up nearly as much. Cool! This was my first long session since I broke my elbow. It felt a little strange to be the only one in full protective gear, but I’ve decided that I’d rather look a little out of character and be safe, than look cool and either break something, or be too nervous to really skate. Last year I dropped in 100 times, which was a big accomplishment because I was so scared. Today, I dropped in countless times, and I think I can kind of do it now, at least on the medium size half pipe. Still trying to get my kick turns to be more compact. I don’t have video of it, but I can feel that I kind of bail out of a full 180 turn when I’m going fast, and end up doing two 90 degree turns. Just got to keep working. Check out this video. I feel very accomplished! (It’s hilarious to watch the video because it seems so slow, but when it is happening, it is terrifyingly fast!) #workinprogress #workandprogress

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Teaching Station at Ore Dock Brewery

Originally posted on Facebook, Jan. 11, 2020 My teaching station this morning at Ore Dock Brewing. I have just a few lessons today, but I sure hope to do more here. It’s been a long time since I taught a chunk of lessons on a Saturday and I am feeling nostalgic and loved. Thanks to everyone who helped me get here. I’m thinking of you. #JAMuary2020 #musicmakesmesmile

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Tackling Marquette Mountain – First Snowboarding Lesson

Life has been so full of upheaval that I feel like I haven’t really been able to take advantage of the natural wonders I’m living among. I made an “artist date” with myself today to go snowboarding at Marquette Mountain. I’m REALLY missing skateboarding, and I figured that this might quench some of that thirst. It didn’t 🤷🏼‍♂️, but I still enjoyed the experience. I am super sore! The first pic is from the top of Tyro, the “bunny hill”, which kicked my butt all day. The clouds are the beautiful scenery you see when your backside smashes into snow that a moderate speed. It’s just that the snow is harder than it appears. Ouch! I’m going to feel that one for at least a week. Snowboarding is a more “all-around” physical activity than I had anticipated. It’s different than skiing because there are no poles to aid with keeping still and standing up after getting strapped into the board. My arms are exhausted from picking myself up from the ground, and my neck is sore from the two times I fell trying to figure out how to use the tow-rope. Hilarious! The video is at the end of a lesson that I took. It’s supposed to be an “S” curve, but dang, that is difficult to do. I did it earlier, I just need to practice. Then, I went to the bar for an après-snowboard of Two-Hearted Ale, which is on tap everywhere here. You could say I was relaxing, but really I was so exhausted I could barely get the money out of my wallet to pay for the beer. I could not move at all. You’ll notice . . . no coaster (why?). No photo of the bottle of ibuprofen I bought, or the salt water bath I took the second I got home. #workinprogress #workandprogress [vimeo 385110912 w=640 h=480]

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Join the Band! – Music with Jason at Ore Dock Brewing

Award-winning music educator, Jason McInnes, will be leading youth, family or adult music lessons this January at Ore Dock Brewing. Sign up for a 30 minute lesson in: * Guitar * Harmonica * ‘Ukulele Beginning, intermediate and advanced students welcome. Jason has over 17 years of experience leading music lessons that empower students to find their own musical voice. Space is limited! Contact Jason at 773-369-8268 or jasonplaystunes@gmail.com for details, to schedule a Saturday lesson, or to find another time to make some music. More information at www.jasonmcinnesmusic.com

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Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2019

I keep track of several things during the year.  Here are the final numbers.  A brief description of what these numbers mean and their relationship to last year follows. The Chalkboards I keep track of this stuff on a chalkboard.  In the past, I’ve used a HUGE chalkboard which took up most of one of the walls in my apartment.  Now, I’m couch surfing for the foreseeable future, so I’m using a much, much smaller chalkboard. About 50% of what is on the board is inspired by Being Boss and they’re Chalk Board Method and podcast.  Check it out. The Numbers Drawing Days* = 303 days = 83% of possible days (a 32% increase from last year) Workouts** = 170 days = 47% of possible days (4% decrease from last year) Skateboarding Days*** = 56 = 15% of possible days (First year of data collection) Some Background Drawing Days – This was a HUGE increase over last year.  The feels great.  In particular, I was pushed forward in the last quarter of the month by a former student who had a concert when he reached 1,000 straight days of practicing his violin.  I’m currently on 74 straight days of drawing. Workouts – This is the first thing I ever kept track of my workouts since November of 2014.  This year was really tough for two reasons; 1) I quit my job and moved out of state and 2) I broke my elbow in a skateboard accident. The job quitting and moving things threw me off my gameplan in a major way that I was not expecting.  I just didn’t have the mental energy to get myself to the gym.  There was one month were I didn’t go to the gym almost at all.  But, I needed to find a way to steady my mind.  So, I started counting meditation sessions as “workouts.”  This is not a solution that I want to maintain for the long-term, but in the short term, I’m satisfied with this solution. Another thing that made the workouts category interesting is that I broke my elbow on July 31.  My workouts, which we already in trouble, took a big hit with that.  I did go to physical therapy three times a week and I had about 12 exercises that I needed to do six times a day, so I did count each physical therapy day as a workout and each day I did my elbow exercises as a workout.  That really saved my totals in the fall. Skateboarding Days – I was already well behind in my skateboarding goals for the year, but the broken elbow REALLY destroyed my yearly total.  I’m only been back on the board 3 times since it happened. Now that I’ve moved to a part of the country with so much snow (Marquette, MI) I wonder how I can get those numbers back up.  There is a skate park here, but it’s covered by a 1 1/2 feet of snow at the moment and my understanding is that it will stay that way for the next three to four months.  I had an advantage in Chicago in that, while it may have been cold, in February I could usually find a tennis court or stretch of blacktop in Winnemac Park that didn’t have snow or ice on it.  In that way I could skate most of the winter. Goals for 2020 Drawing Days – I will be very disappointed if I don’t make it 365 days this year.  I have expanded the range of “drawing” a little bit.  I’ve decided to include painting and what I’m going to call “intentional photography”.  That is photos that I take during an intentional trip to make art.  Not photography that I happen to take while I am doing something else.  Those can be art, too, but I want to make a discussion between the two so I don’t get lazy. Goal – 365 days Worksout Days – I’m not sure what to do about this yet.  I no longer belong to a gym, which is disappointing, but I’m still too unsettled by this move.  Hoping to get back to a gym, soon.  I don’t NEED a gym, but I find it very helpful to stay motivated. Goal – 365 workouts with 100 of them needing me to go to a gym or some similar place Stakeboarding Days – this is trashed right now.  My board is in storage and there is no indoor skateboard less that an 6-hour drive away.  I’m not sure what to do about that. Goal – 24 days?  That’s one day a week, every week during the warm months.  I think that’s a good goal.     * Drawing day = any day that I draw.  It can be for as little as 30 seconds. ** Workout day = any day that I workout.  It can include meditation, physical therapy or yoga.  As little as 30 counts ***Skateboarding = any day that I get on the board.  Time at the gym working specifically on balance, on a balance board or the flat part of a half-Bosu Ball counts as a skateboarding day.  In that way, a workout day and a skateboarding day can be the result of the same activity.

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Learn to Play Auld Lang Syne for the New Year!

Here is a copy of my newest zine, How to Play Auld Lang Syne on Your Harmonica!  Auld Lang Syne is one of my very favorite songs.  I actually wish that it was socially acceptable to play it all year long. If you’d like to play it with me, I sure would love that. Print it double-sided so you can make this little booklet. And, here’s a video I made this morning during a snowstorm here in my new home, Marquette, MI.  That’s the ore dock that I recently wrote about on my instagram. [vimeo 382136048 w=640 h=360] I love Auld Lang Syne for many reasons, including it’s about spending time with friends, raising a glass to our good health, looking back on the year gone by, and it’s Scottish origin always makes me think of my grandpa, who was born in Scotland. If you learn to play it, please let me know!  And, drop me a note if you have any questions. Auld Lang Syne is a great song to share with friend and family.  I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I do. Happy new year!

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Some of Jason’s Thoughts about the Grateful Dead

The summer/fall of 2019 has been a time of great upheaval in my life.  I was glad to have a set of music together to help process these experiences. On Sept. 24, 2019, I presented a set of music by the songwriting duo of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter at the Grafton Pub, in Chicago, IL. This is a live recording of essay I read at the top of the show.  The text of the essay follows. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/706146877″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]   Sept. 24, 2019 Some of Jason’s Thoughts about the Grateful Dead By Jason McInnes Hi everyone.  Thanks for coming out to the Grafton.  And thank you for to the Pickin’ Bubs for inviting me.  I am very honored to play for you. I’ve made a lot of music in this room.  I basically learned to play back here. And I bet that I’ve become friends with many of you back here. This set of songs is a bit of a musical essay for me.  It’s about a collection of songs, a group of musicians and some of the energy that brought me to this show.   First a recap.  If we do already know each other, you probably know that it’s been a wild few months for me.  Recently, I resigned from the Old Town School of Folk Music, ending a 17 year career there. Peggy invited me to play tonight as a sort of parting gig, because I figured I’d be moving out of Chicago.  That may still happen, but for now, I’m still here. What will the future bring? It’s hard to know.   Do I have to know?  Good question and it’s one that I’m trying to get to a clearer answer to, partially through the work of this very gig.  Robert Hunter wrote, “Recall the days still left to come.” So here I am, recalling the old days, hoping that their memory weaves a magic spell that conjures up some powerful new days.   Robert Hunter also wrote of a road.  “No simple highway.” I’m on the highway, I suppose.  And the path of that road is for my steps alone. But, while my steps are alone, I know that I am not alone.   Which brings me to another event that pulls us together tonight.  About two months ago, I fell off my skateboard on a literal path, as opposed to the metaphorical path, and ended up with a broken elbow.  I took about 6 weeks off from guitar playing and I’m not fully recovered. That is one of the reasons that you hear this wonderful backing band tonight.  They’re here to help me out.   Please make them feel welcome.  Lindsay Weinberg, Jonas Friddle, John Mead and Andrew Wilkins.    Back to my point at hand.  Physical and metaphysical metamorphosis.   I’ve had a lot of time to look back on life.  “How did I end up here? I didn’t even know this was a destination!”  The story of what has brought me here has many strands, but I want to focus on only one tonight.   I attended my first Grateful Dead concert on August 1, 1994.  Aug. 1 was Jerry’s birthday by chance. I did not enjoy the show.  “Why aren’t they playing any of the songs I know from the classic rock radio station?  What’s with the 20 minute drum solo in the middle of the set?” What was this I was listening to?   But I could tell that something was up, something I desperately wanted to be in on, but I just couldn’t grasp.  But I self-identiefied as a “classic rocker” and I was determined to enjoy the experience, so I went back again the next year.  Nope. Try as I might, I just didn’t get it.   Jerry died on August 9, 1995.  I was rolling dough and listening to the radio at Pretzel Time; my job at the mall.  WDET DJ Martin Bandyke broke the news and then the opening notes of Uncle John’s Band took flight.  I burst into tears. I really freaked me out!  Why did I start crying? Why did I care so much?  At this point, Jerry was far from being a hero of mine and, in fact, and I had just heard him play a few weeks back and didn’t particularly enjoy the experience.  What had happened to me? I was a little dazed for the rest of my shift and, when it was over, I walked over to the tape store at the mall. I bought a tape of the only Dead album they had; American Beauty.  I popped it into the car stereo on the way home, still very confused as to what had happened. Life went on.  I move to Chicago to attend a music conservatory.  Two weeks into my new life I freaked out and I dropped out of college.  I didn’t really play music for about 5 years, outside of noodling around in my bedroom; stumbling through a few tired classic rock riffs and the intos to Blackbird and Brown-Eyed Girl.  I did notice that I started to pick up the chords to some of those Dead tunes on American Beauty; a first memory of learning a song by ear. In the summer of 2001, through a combination of many people, coincidences and a feeling that a depression was taking over my life, I enrolled in classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music; my first music classes since I dropped out of college.  Class taught by this unkept guy Steve, with baggy jeans and a white pony tail. He talked about music more like a spiritual advisor than any music teacher I’d ever had. He gave us all these wild handouts, explaining the cosmic aspects of music theory and songs seemed to magically tumble from his fingertips at the mere mention of a title or theme.   I was only a couple weeks into class when, during a discussion, Steve mentioned the Grateful Dead song Tennessee Jed.  This time,

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A New Understanding of Fear

“If you go ahead, if you keep on running, wherever you run you will meet danger and evil, for it drives you, it chooses your way.  You must choose. You must seek what seeks you. You must hunt the hunter.” – Ogion the mage to Geb from Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea I have a new understanding of fear.  A new fear of mortality. It’s happened because of a few aspects of my life have come together over the past month or so Last week I was in the hospital for a prolonged bout of atrial fibrillation (a-fib); a heart condition I’ve had since I was about 16.  I have grown up with a-fib and I thought I knew how to manage it.  I was wrong. Basically, for 28 hours, my heart was beating at a pace like I was jogging the whole time.  I spent two nights in the hospital which was a new experience for me. I’d like to never go back. Now, I’m living with the fact that I could have an a-fib episode at any moment, and that if it did happen again, it could lead to a stroke, or it could damage my heart to be beating that quickly for that long.  Maybe I would end up back in the hospital. [wpvideo qvf7zmHz] In addition, about a month ago I went to spend the weekend at Fargo Skate Park in De Kalb, IL. for what I called “Skateboard Immersion Camp.”  I had two days of nothing to do but skate for eight hours a day. I was pushing myself way past the limits of my ability and While I was doing that I crashed A LOT.  Over and over and over. [wpvideo 2G4MFKwD] It was what I was there to do. But then, after returning to Chicago, I kind of couldn’t skate for about a month. I had some busted up ribs. I was bloodied and bruised and my legs were weak from strained muscles that had never worked this hard.   That was in late April.  I just got back on the board this week. I got on my board for the first time and I immediately stepped off.  I was scared. I had never been scared this scared. This 9 months of learning to skateboard I’ve had some falls, but never like I did at Fargo Skate park.  And, before my time in the hospital I had no idea what it would be like in the hospital. I had an attitude of, “Well, if I have to go to the hospital, then that’s life.  I’ll manage.” Now, when I get on my board I think, “Now be careful.  You don’t want to end up with busted up ribs, struggling to breath, like you did after Fargo,” and “Be careful.  If you really hurt yourself you’re going back to the hospital. And you know what you think of that.” It’s fear of pain.  Fear of missing work.  Fear of hospital bills.  Fear of looking foolish; of seeming reckless.  Now I know about the pain; when it hurts to take a breath, sneeze or get up from bed.  I know about being in the hospital, connected to a million tubes, unable to go to the bathroom without asking someone to help me, lying there alone, too much energy to sleep, but too tired to do much of thing else.  I do not want to go back. The first time I got back on my board, I returned to the tennis court where I practice my drag stops and basic pushing, I actually had a small panic attack.  I couldn’t do it. My body was ready to skate but my mind wouldn’t allow it. I went home almost immediately. It’s been four days since I’ve gotten back on my board.  I broke down and bought some new pads and I’ve been wearing my helmet more.  I’ve gone to the skatepark three times. I’ve working on my ollie, my drag stop and my kick turn to fakie.  I bit it hard for the first time since Fargo today; crashing as I was practicing my drag stop. The hesitation I was hoping to lose over the spring has actually gained power, but I’d dedicated.  I want to skate this thing. I have a new fear.  I’m learning to hold it and be honest, “You are correct.  This is scary and things could go badly.” But, I’m not going to let that fear overtake me.  I’m going to learn to move past it. [wpvideo vIIEWGzc]  

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