alternate tuning
Something in the day lead me to a poem rather than an essay. I'm less confident in my poetry, but it is what I have to offer.
Alternate TuningPeace,
I’m confused.
I don’t understand.
I’ve played guitar a long time.
But tonight, I’m trying something new.
I press the string against the neck for a
G, but the note that sounds is B.
My fingers go where they have always gone,
Only to find notes they don’t know:
My guitar has learned a foreign language.
My hands know the chords in English, I guess --
But my instrument now converses in
Farsi, French, Urdu --- Arabic?
I am a beginner again,
Trying to recognize an old friend
Who has reinvented himself.
I recognize the shape,
The way the curve fits under my arm,
But I don’t understand what he is saying.
I stumble through the dictionary
Of chord shapes, looking for something
I recognize: a meaningful translation,
Looking for a way to not feel so stupid.
I could retune the strings back to the notes I know,
We could go back to the same old chords,
But I think I would always hear
The trace of an accent in the strings.
So I try again, forcing my
Fingers to find the notes in new
Places, to let my guitar lead
Me to a new melody.
Milton
5 comments:
Milton,
Is there anything you can't do well? You are soooo going to be OK.
Bill
Wow- what a great way to share where you are. This is very evocative, and I really enjoyed it, and in a small way, resonated with it (I don't have a musical bone in my body, but the imagery still rang true).
I love the idea of an instrument with an accent!
This really spoke to me; there's an overwhelming sadness in your imagery. Well done.
Morning commute today: "And if the band you're in/starts playing different tunes..." Pink Floyd. How appropriate and synchronicit-ish and all that.
I have a high-mileage little ebay special at home currently tuned something like E B E B G#(broken string). Keith Richards used something like that to get what he called "happy accidents".
I can relate. Or hum along, whatever!
wow, alternate tuning, eh? That is SO what this is. Thanks, again.
KQ
Post a Comment