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• How Many Bass Players Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?
• How a Mosquito Can Ruin Your Business
• 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less

How Many Bass Players Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? Posted: 07 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT I’m going to indulge myself today and write about music. What, exactly, does the bass player do in most bands? Lead vocalist? Easy. Singer makes the song. Guitarists? Still easy. Guitars, whether they’re playing chords behind the singer, or playing a solo with its own melody, make sense to the average listener. Keyboards? Same thing. Chords, played rhythmically, or solos, are part and parcel of what we expect in modern music. Drums? They’re that driving beat or subtle accent. Anyone can see what drums do. (While I’m thinking of musician jokes: What do you call someone who’s always hanging around with musicians? Their drummer. Ba-dump-bump.) But what about the guy or gal playing one note at a time on, well, another guitar, but with not-quite-enough strings? Why does every band have a bass player? Music Theory 101 to the Rescue I’ve mentioned chords more than once. Chords are a bunch of notes played at the same time. They can have different feelings, tied to their technically composition: major, minor, augmented, diminished, anguished (not really; just seeing if you’re still paying attention.) A major chord in its simplest form is composed of the root note, 3rd, and 5th. For example, a C major chord, commonly just called a C chord, is composed of the root note, the first in the scale of C, which is C, plus the 3rd in that scale, E, plus the 5th in that scale, G. C E G. A minor chord changes the middle note, from E to Eb, one key below E on a piano. An augmented chord raises the 5th by one key. A diminished chord lowers the 3rd and 5th both by one key. A suspended chord swaps in the 2nd or 4th (or both!) in place of the 3rd. Have you noticed a pattern here? Which note never changes? The root. Welcome to bass playing. The Hero’s Journey, Melodic Music requires structure. Even free jazz, horrified as I am to say it, has some kind of structure. The basic structure of the music y’all are aware of is the chord, in whatever tonal flavor. And the foundation of any chord is its root, the primary note it is built around. While the vocalist is singing a melody using all the notes, the guitarist playing their solo, keyboard too, one of their goals is not to overuse the root note. Even instrumental music has an emotional impact. That’s caused by musical tension being created and released. The melody has to leave home, take the hero’s journey through getting lost, getting as far from home as possible, then in a revelatory flash, finds its way home again to the root note. Without the journey, there is no homecoming, no emotional impact. You Can’t Build a House Without a Foundation All great literature makes use of the hero’s journey. One core element is the hero’s constant desire to go home. We’re constantly reminded that he’s not on vacation here. He’s struggling against his environment to return to where he belongs. That constant reminder of the search for home is the role of the bass in music. The simplest bass line possible is to play the one single root note which defines the key of the song. One single note. Now, most musicians will think that mad, implausible, at the very least, boring. If you have musical ears at all, go listen to one of the greatest bass players alive, the man who invented the bulk of modern electric bass playing. In Sly and the Family Stone’s first #1 single Everyday People, Larry Graham not only invents the slap bass technique, he does it with one single note: the lowest note on the bass, the low E string. One note. Over and over and over for two minutes and twenty-two seconds. This brilliant simplicity works because the rest of the arrangement is so complex. Multiple instruments and multiple vocal lines throughout most of the song. The existing arrangement ties them all together in a neat package, but Graham knew that a more complex bass line would muddy the waters. Instead, he kept them clear. Most of the music you hear on the radio has a slightly more active bass line, playing the root note, not of the key, but of each chord as the band changes. It’s still quite simple, but provides the foundation for each bar of the song. So What? If you’re not a musician or music lover, I can hear you thinking that… So what? I wondered this myself, long long ago. I started noodling around with a friend’s bass because it looked fun, but I never really knew what I was doing because I didn’t know why I was doing it. I struggled to learn guitar, piano, harmonica, violin. But I kept wondering about the bass, as I figured out the bass line to a few blues tunes and country songs. When a friend loaned me his college textbooks on musical theory, it quickly became obvious what the bass was doing, and why. When people ask if I play an instrument, I’ll mention that I can struggle along on guitar, mandolin, piano or drums, but that I actually play the bass. Knowing what to do and how to do it came from knowing why it’s done. Finding why makes what and how become clear. Curiosity. Starting with why. It’s not just about music. (Oh, the joke in the title? Leave a comment and I’ll give you all three answers, one per comment.)

How a Mosquito Can Ruin Your Business Posted: 07 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT Today I nearly killed 100 people because of a mosquito. Okay, maybe that's a bit melodramatic.  But that's what I was thinking as I drove to work today.  Not following?  Perhaps a flashback is in order… On my commute, I sat at a traffic light minding my own business.  That's when I noticed the little bugger.  He was flying around my windshield.  My eyes narrowed as I devised a plan. I knew that I only had seconds before the light changed and I would miss my opportunity to strike.  But it was enough.  I was confident.  So was he… because my efforts were thwarted as he refused to fly into the trap I was preparing.  Clearly this mosquito was a clever one. If there is one universal truth it's that mosquitoes are pure evil.  He knew it.  And I knew it.  As the seconds ticked down, the tension in the air grew.  Perhaps it was this pressure that led to his first mistake.  After what seemed like an eternity he made a dash for my arm.  I swatted — and missed.  He weaved towards the window, and in one quick, victorious motion, I forced him out the window. Today victory belonged to the human. That's when it hit me – I was willing to risk my life, and the lives of those around me for a minor annoyance. We do exactly the same thing with our businesses. We become obsessed with the small issues, and we miss the big problems.  We worry about customers following our procedures and don't wonder if our procedures are destroying our sales.  We focus on controlling our employee's time because we're so afraid of "unproductive behaviors" that we miss the dramatic change in motivation as employees go from being excited about work… to drones in a factory.  Or maybe you worry so much about your logo and brand image that you forget to develop your writing, products, or skills.  This list is endless.  I'm sure you can think of your own examples. Here’s the thing about little problems: They can overwhelm your thinking, because they sit on the front of your mind.  Psychologists call this the recency and primacy effects.  In other words, things that come to mind most easily (primacy) or most recently (recency) can push out other thoughts.  They dominate the conversation, if you will. Our minds become so influenced by the now, that we forget what's really important.  I was so fixated on a mosquito that I could have hurt myself or others.  Of course it didn't have to be a mosquito.  It could have been a text message, a phone call, an e-mail, or the latest financial report. Yes it's true, the little things matter.  Often it's the little things that separate good from great in your company.  But at the same time, if you don't get the HUGE things right, then all the little things in the world don't matter at all. Are you doing the small at the expense of the huge? Image credit: tanakawho

102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less Posted: 07 Jun 2012 02:00 AM PDT Book Recommendation: 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less: The Ultimate Freelancer’s Guide  by I.J. Schecter Some books have titles that make you wonder what they are about and some books have titles that state their purpose — and more importantly, urge you to pick them up. 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less has a title that says it all. Of course, lots of books are just lists of money making ideas. The best part about this book is that the ideas within will not take over your life or take years to complete. These ideas can be completed quickly and may bring you money much sooner than writing a novel or starting a blog. I love small projects, as I tend to get restless when a project goes on and on with no end in sight. If these small projects can become profitable, that’s even better. I picked up this book when I was writing a novel and needed a change from my never-ending project. It was the perfect choice. I really enjoy books you can open up at random and discover something new. I like to write in so many different ways that I knew I would find something interesting on any page. This book is perfect for the generalist and for the writer looking for one type of freelance work to break into. With 102 ideas there is something for everyone. This book can also provide ideas for other entrepreneurs. Perhaps you are looking for a unique way to gain customers. Have you thought of making a video? Perhaps you’re growing and would like to create a history or archive of your business as it changes. You'll find those ideas and many others in the pages of this book. If you’re interested in learning about the wide array of writing and business opportunities, definitely check out 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less. None of these projects will take over your life unless you decide that is what you want to dedicate yourself to doing. And these quick projects can help you come back to your larger or overwhelming project refreshed and ready to continue with vigor.

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