Thanks for visiting. This site is currently getting redesigned and things are a little messy. If you are looking for something and can’t find it, please email Jason at jason@knowingtrees.com . He’ll do his best to be helpful!
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.
If you want to play, you’ve got to start somewhere. And there is no better place for you to get started.
Thursday, Aug. 18 – 7:00 to 9:00
Live in Chicago!
Borelli’s (pizza and drinks) 2124 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
> Single Player or Bring a Friend/Bandmate tickets available. <
What You’ll Receive
Guidance to begin soloing THAT DAY, and for your continued study for years to come.
Play along MP3s, so you can continue to grow your new skills outside of the workshop.
PDFs of all the material covered
Complimentary access to Jason’s Creating and Understanding the Guitar Notemap online lesson.
Schedule – This 2 hour workshop will be broken up into two sections with a 10 minute break
80 minutes – the heart of the lesson
10 minute break
30 minutes – Jamming along. We’ll play through a ton of familiar tunes and have a lot of space to explore everything we just learned about.
Cost
Single Player – $35
Bring a Friend/Bandmate! – $60 for the two seats
Registration and Payment
Please fill out this registration form and then make a payment using one of these payment systems. If these do not work for you, please mention that in the notes and we’ll figure out how a payment can happen. (FYI- my first name is William. I think Zelle and Paypal comes up as William McInnes. That’s me!)
You're Registered! Your First Guitar Solo, Aug 18, 2022
If you haven’t already, please make a payment using one of these payment systems.
Venmo – @jasonplaystunes
Zelle – jasonplaystunes@gmail.com
PayPal – jasonplaystuens@gmail.com
ApplePay – 773-369-8268
(FYI- my first name is William. I think Zelle comes up as William McInnes. That’s me!)
Here is the link for the Creating and Understanding the Guitar Note Map lesson.
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 ofone-of-a-kind artwork made specifically for you or a loved one.
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.
Piano
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.
BanjoVioling
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.
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.
Jan 19, 2020 – The Foothills of the Organ Mountains, Las Cruces NM
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.
The Demming Fusilers, Last Gig of 2021 with Jerry Grandle, owner of the Spotted Dog
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.
Foothills, 2021, Charcoal, 20″x28″
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.
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.
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.
“Campamento que amo yo, donde están mis amigos. Básquetbol en el Barrio. Básquetbol en el Barrio!”
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!
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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