Observing a Rock Band Rehearsing

Legend Haz It, an alternative/hip hop/jazz fusion band, consists of 7 young men. Most of them--Dan and Colin, drummer and keyboardist respectively; and all but one of the other instrumentalists are jazz studies majors at Northern Illinois University, where I teach music education. The MC/frontman, Keith, is also an undergraduate student at NIU. They have been together a few years. I believe Colin is fairly new--he's a sophomore at NIU. Dan and Keith met as Freshmen in the dorms at NIU and the idea for the band was something they cooked up together.

Dan is the "go-to" person (drummer). He's an amazing musician, I can tell that from what little exposure I've had to him. Keith, the MC/frontman, is simply a shining light of a person. On stage, he is dynamite. Off stage, he is modest, funny, energized, respectful and enormously musically apt. Colin, the keyboardist, is simply a miracle. Hears a song ONCE and starts playing and playing WELL. Of course, the Beatles and most other rock musicians started their craft at young ages. I'm sure age has a lot to do with it because in the teen years, boys, especially, are quite willing to take risks. In fact, risk-taking in all forms is a common element to teenagers and you have to be willing to take risks to play in a band with no music, no instructor, no conductor, perhaps precious little training...just an ear and a lot of nerve/guts and determination. That reckless abandon never comes back in life to most of us. We get more and more cautious and aware of our shortcomings and where we stand in the world as we age. That knowledge puts a damper on a lot of experimentation and doing things wrong until we can get it right. I would guess that rock musicians in their teens do a LOT of trial and error. I could be wrong.....

The Legend Haz It guys are FUN; sweet and outgoing and respectful. I just want to hug them ALL! I think if I ever had a son, I'd want him to be like any of those guys. They are articulate; eager to share their knowledge and they didn't seem to resent my asking questions or making little suggestions. I offered them my iPod to download a few tracks I had that they didn't know, and they were appreciative.

They certainly do not fit the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" image of rock musicians. Keith is obviously a deeply faithful individual. His smile is so innocent, considering his urban upbringing and the things he's probably witnessed in his young life; Dan and the others are more the type that eat organic food and campaign for alternative energy than druggies or even consumers of alcohol. I was in the room with them for over 2 hours yesterday and not ONCE did I hear the F word, or anything like it. What I heard was things like: yeah, like.....that is so COOL! or "Hey homi! Do that again, man. I LIKE it!" My being there might have put the brakes on .... but given their rather serious and respectful manner generally, somehow I don't think that's entirely the situation.

What's amazing for me, a choral conductor and "acoustic" classical musician, generally, is that they don't talk among themselves about the music they're playing AT ALL. No one says "Key of G" or anything about what key they're going to play in. They just start playing and ... they all start playing in the same key. And we're talking transposing (brass) instruments here! I'm blown away. Never have I been in a music group that didn't discuss what key we're going to sing in or play in. Of course, they may have worked all this out beforehand but I know in at least TWO of the cases (they were learning covers), they played the track right then and there for the first time, while I was in the room. True, they knew the songs from prior listening; most of them were singing along with the recordings -- but they'd NEVER played it as a band before. Totally awesome. It's like "bush telegraph" or something. Or maybe someone lifted an eyebrow signaling concert "Ab"? Yikes.

For each song, they first got the groove going, keyboardist and drummer taking the lead. The bass guitar came in next. Keyboardist would sometimes say a word or to to the bass player as they started out. (Key maybe??) Brass instruments chimed in with accents and took solos later on. After a few measures, the band sort of "settled" into a pocket (got that term from my drum set instructor). Once that happened, they took off into the main chorus and went on into the improvisations and solos -- they are jazz musicians by training and experience so they know when to start and end solos -- part of the jazz craft. They played the first chorus and bridge and some solos and then stopped -- and mumbled something I couldn't hear, but the gist of it was "back to first chorus".....they would then break off playing that song and go on to a new track/song. They learned 3 new covers in the time I was there. Efficient and effective rehearsal technique. Little time wasted in information not needed. They signaled each other by looks from time to time and sometimes I'd hear the keyboardist shout over the music to the brass players sitting opposite. He's just say a word or two like "here! go!" But very little, really.

There were passages that didn't go so well. Particularly the brass players were stumbling around a bit. As soon as they'd break off playing a song, the two of them would work together on what I would call riffs -- working out problems they had during the song. No one yelled at them though or corrected them even. I think everyone knew that given a little time, they are all good enough musicians to work out the problems for themselves. Very democratic! And respectful. And running through all of the rehearsal a thread of laughter and joyfulness. They LOVE making music together. Their faces just light up when they hear the new song on the CD. Brass players started practicing fingerings right away as did the bass guitar player. Not making sounds, just listening to the CD and fingering where they think the pitches are.

Can we make use of that way of learning new music in schools??? Wouldn't kids LOVE that instead of always DRILLING pitches and rhythms??? Why not put our bands and orchestras into chamber size groups and let them figure it out on their own???? The teacher can move around among groups answering questions. But let the kids figure it out for themselves. I'm SO EXCITED by this idea!!!!!!!!! Revolutionize music education!

I didn't ask a lot of questions. I felt as though I wanted to just let them do their thing, make notes, and talk later. But Dan kept coming over to me and explaining things, without being asked. He's just wonderful and he and Colin are so delighted that a music faculty person is taking serious interest in their work. Lucky band who gets Dan for their drummer, is all I can say. Of course, maybe Legend Haz It will remain that band. I don't know what they envision for the long term. I will ask Dan how they know what key to play in. I mean, they match key on the recording too. Maybe there's a key that rock musicians like to use a lot?

Keith explained to me what an MC is, as opposed to a "rapper" only. I didn't know the terms. He is very critical of himself and says "I'm struggling to become an MC". I told him that his performance of Legend Has It (their theme song) had my heart RACING and I was ready to jump up and pump my hand up and down and the whole scene! He laughed and kind of did an "Aww shucks" little shuffle with his feet, and then danced across the room in a kind of joy. He's mesmerizing onstage.

I will talk with Keith -- he's eager to talk -- about rapping and his craft and how he works on new material and so on. I'm going to try and get an interview with Dan and Keith and maybe the others too taped and maybe I'll submit it to WTTV (PBS) or some other radio or TV station -- I'd like to get them some publicity as a way of showing my appreciation for the ways they are helping me out with this text project. They are so GOOD too; I want to help them in any way I can! More later.

P.S. Dan Pratt filled me in with some information after he read the above blog posting. He explained that as they are all jazz majors, they must take jazz music theory (from Prof. Art Davis) and Art has them listen to chord progressions and identify them -- their actual pitches and keys--by ear. They develop what amounts to perfect pitch and they can instantly hear altered chords, 9ths, 11ths, flatted 5ths and so on and so on. As jazz musicians, chords and chord progressions are their stock in trade. So that's part of their training. I doubt whether most rock musicians, at first anyway, will have had that kind of intense aural skills training.

I'm invited to sit in on their rehearsals this semester. I'll get a very good idea of how they function, learn new songs, rehearse and perfect songs they know and so on. I could not have a BETTER opportunity as far as my research is concerned. These men are right here, in my school and we are becoming friends, in spite of our age differences. Their lightheartedness and friendliness match my outgoing personality perfectly! It's just what I hoped would happen! Now if I could only work with a classic hard rock band such as Cheap Trick (right up the road in Rockford, IL) I'd have everything I could possibly want in the way of resources for this text!

Teaching Music with Rock and Rap

The first phase of my textbook research has pretty much gone as far as it needs to go. I may add songs, I may delete others and I will undoubtedly continue to discover more rock and rap songs that are either recommended to me by others, or that I encounter from the wide variety of sources that exists. I'm going to watch the Grammy's this year, something I've never done, and will prepare for that by making sure I've heard all of the nominated songs at least once so I have some context for what I'll observe about who/what gets awards and who has been nominated and so on. Otherwise, awards shows are just glitzy collections of famous or not-so-famous musicians or actors, gathered together dressed to the nines, to see and be seen for the TV cameras and public. With some kind of hyped up modern day Ed Sullivan show to break the monotony of people reading all those little 3x5 cards "And the winner(s) is/are...." Someone needs to come up with a new and more exciting format. How about a living roulette wheel or something? Sometimes it SEEMS like a roulette game.

Back to my text. I am now examining the songs I've chosen for the text more closely and developing ideas for instruction in a general music class (K-8). It's interesting because some songs I've chosen originally for one purpose are turning out to be better suited for another purpose. Example: I thought Michael Jackson's Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough would be a good example of the tritone interval. And of course, it is. But: why would we want to teach the tritone interval in a general music class? High school AP theory, yes. But we don't generally teach aural recognition of intervals in general music class. So I thought: maybe I need to discard this song. Then as I listened to it again, I noticed something else about the song. It is a marvelous and very clear example of polyphonic compositional technique with layered rhythms and so on. That brought me to another idea. What about a series of lessons on texture in music -- homophonic (chords supporting a melody or perhaps a melody harmonized with block chords like the Beach Boys or The Eagles did) or polyphonic (independent melodic lines that create linearly conceived harmony, in contrast with chords that are vertically conceived sonorities). MJ wrote polyphonic music almost exclusively. The Eagles are perfect examples of homophonic texture. Early rock and roll is almost entirely homophonic texture; alternative rock is predominantly polyphonic but switches back and forth a lot.

So at this stage, I'm focusing on the 30 or so rock songs I've selected for the purpose of teaching musical elements. Rap will be in its own chapter with its own history/timeline and essays by rappers on composition, sampling beats, and so on. I may include some information about the fusion of rock and rap in groups such as the Black Eyed Peas and many others. The group from my university (and from Columbia College in Chicago) called Legend Haz It is hip hop fused with alternative rock and jazz. Strong elements of jazz. But with a clearly rock beat and a lead guitar, etc. Somehow they make it work! They've invited me to sit in on their rehearsals (they write their own material) and I'm very excited and happy about that. It doesn't necessitate my traveling anywhere except to campus which is less than 2 miles from my house. And I know the guys quite well although they are not music education majors. But they know I'm a professor here and they are very pleased at my intense interest in them and in their music which I think is AWESOME. So I'm no threat to them and they've agreed to answer questions (at an appropriate time -- I don't want to interrupt their rehearsing. I told them I'd like to be a fly on the wall. They laughed and said it would be great if I were to come and sit in.)

So the materials for the text are pouring in like foods out of a cornucopia. It's very very exciting and the most gratifying project I've EVER undertaken.

Just My Point of View

I was reading some biographical information about Alice in Chains yesterday on the internet. I'd not read much about them apart from some background information on the album cover of their 2009 recording Black Gives Way to Blue. I knew that the album's songs were, almost without exception, written as various ways to honor, respect, and mostly, mourn, the death of Layne Staley who was a co-founder of the band and was its frontman and principal songwriter. Little was said in the album liner notes about Layne Staley beyond that he died in 2002 and that the band nearly disbanded as a result, and then resurrected itself under the leadership of Jerry Cantrell, Staley's co-founder and the lead guitarist and backup vocalist in the original band.

I've made no secret of the fact that I love Alice in Chains's sound, their style, their vocals, their songs, their texts (dark as they are) and their extraordinary ensemble, unity of affect. This is obviously a personal reaction and while I consider that my opinions about rock music are as valid as anyone's, I freely admit that there are groups and songs that appeal to me for what possibly are non-musical reasons.

Music preference is a much-studied phenomenon in the field of psychology of personality. My own doctoral dissertation dealt with music preferences (choral music) among 6th and 8th graders. In my study, I found that boys may have different musical preferences from girls; at least, at that age. My study in fact found very significant differences in musical preference according to gender. Mine is one of the few studies that did find such significance. The results of my study may partly be accounted for by the fact that I was studying their preferences for "standard" repertoire choral music as contrasted with their liking (or not) for a piece from the 13th century that was highly idiomatic and rather primitive and raw compared with the others. The girls greatly preferred the choral music that was traditional; the boys were significantly more likely to prefer the 13th century piece.

I had to find other studies to corroborate my own findings and the only one I found that focused on preferences according to gender was done in the early 1980's with male and female college students. That study found that women were more likely to prefer pop and R&B/soul. Men were more likely to prefer hard rock and heavy metal. The study was done in the 80's before alternative rock became known; or before rap became a global musical genre. Also of course, as the subjects were all college students in the 80's, there weren't many minorities represented who might have preferred other genres such as rap or funk or Motown/soul. The author of that study and I both concluded that music preferences are different according to gender although there are exceptions to the rule of course. I could only find information that might explain this in the field of psychology where studies have shown that males are far more likely to take risks, to search out the different, the individualistic, the non-mainstream in the arts as well as in other areas of life. That we, in our culture, encourage boys to be individualistic and adventuresome; girls on the other hand are enculturated to be in groups and to conform, to maintain the peace or the status quo generally.

Psychology aside, the fact remains that people have musical preferences. I'm no different. So my blogs and my comments on Twitter and on MySpace are colored by the lens through which I form my own musical preferences. If the results of the foregoing study can be believed, I'm one of a minority among women whose popular music preferences tend to correspond more closely with those of my male peers than with my female peers. I like some mainstream pop and R&B but now I find I much prefer rock: the harder and more metal, the better.

My close friends, those who do not love classical music best, love folk music. Not indigenous ethnic folk music, but music by Peter, Paul and Mary or Bob Dylan (although he's arguably not a folk artist), or the Kingston Trio or Pete Seeger or the Weavers. In my case, being closely associated with the women's community, most of my friends love women's music. Holly Near and Cris Williamson etc. I actually actively dislike folk music of this type with the exception of a few individual songs. For me, this music is close in sound and affect to country western music and I find it boring or annoying in the extreme. Give me a hard rock or heavy metal band ANY day. Or else give me jazz or classical music. I try to be tolerant. It's hard at times. My friends just get OFF on that folk music. Or women's music. Whatever you call it.

Getting back to Alice in Chains: what IS it about them that sets me on FIRE?? I can give all the usual musical reasons and somehow they don't answer the question adequately. Other groups have a wonderful sound, great harmonies, use odd meters, feature good vocalists who sing in harmony and so on the list grows. Of course, Alice in Chains are a total "package" and include all of those features. But so does Pearl Jam. STYX. And Yes. But THEIR songs do not reach my innermost soul the way Alice in Chains's music does. Metallica comes close with a few of their songs. But I find Metallica's songs almost self-consciously perfect examples of the genre. For all its power and drama and vibrancy, their music is neat and tidy. Theatrical in a classic way.

Alice in Chains's music on the other hand is not neat and tidy. There is an emotional vulnerability and rawness; a refusal or an inability--to "suck it up and deal"-- about Alice in Chains's music that prevents them from being neat and tidy. Oh, they are a perfectly timed and united ensemble; yet their music is not spare and clean in the mold of Metallica. Metallica's music roars in a rather polite, even stylized. way. Nothing about Alice in Chains is stylized. Maybe that's where the term grunge comes from?

If bands were photographs, Alice in Chains would be black and white photos. Not retouched or airbrushed. All of the warts and blemishes and wrinkles plain to see. No vivid colors. Just shadows. There is nothing grand opera about Alice in Chains. No; they are more like Wozzeck or Lulu perhaps. Music that is more like outward manifestations of silent screams from a tortured soul, backed by men who are totally dedicated to giving voice to this inner rawness, this terrible demon that was slowly sapping the life out of Layne Staley. His beautiful voice cuts right through to the core of my being. Strangely enough, Jerry Cantrell, successor to Layne's frontman position, has captured the essence of that inner anguish albeit with a more tenderly vulnerable tone. He is backed by Will DuVall whose pure and shining voice lends an ethereal sense of beauty to their album/requiem.

I know of Kurt Cobain's tragic death and I know other rock stars have died young from drug abuse or other reasons, including murder in at least one case. Yet none of them have captured the personal essence of suffering and slow mental deterioration in quite the same way as Alice in Chains.

As with most people, my own life has had its share of suffering. A lot of that suffering has been repressed or suppressed, whichever term you care to use. I learned at an early age that no one really cares about your sufferings beyond a few sympathetic words or a pat on the shoulder -- very few do at any rate. So I paid two therapists to care. My time with them was money well spent. But at the time, I was focused on one aspect of my life and in retrospect, I stopped working with them too soon. I should have continued until I dug right down to the root causes of my issues.

But it's happening now. I AM digging down. And what's doing it is the rock music. Particularly grunge and heavy metal. Music has been the main avenue through which I've traveled to build my self-image, my self-esteem. Music has always, since early childhood, been the one area of life that has given me more than I gave in return. My life's work has been in music. All my passion, my love, my joy has happened in connection with music in some way or another.

Unlike women who marry and have a family, I never married--to my great sorrow. Nor did I have children. My career has taken the place of a family. I never intended for that to be the case. As a young woman, I dreamed of a husband and children. Like all women. But it was not in the cards. For a woman, and maybe for a man too, this is one of life's goals: to mate and procreate. To be thwarted on both counts, for a woman especially, is to feel like a failure on many fronts. So I am quietly grieving these past few months. Paradoxically, I'm also happier than I have been for a long time partly because I feel ALIVE in a way I haven't felt in many years. Sad feelings are better than numbness.

My personal griefs find release and affirmation in the music of Alice in Chains. I cannot equate my suffering with Layne Staley's. For many reasons. But the music that is borne out of his suffering allows me to take my own griefs out and examine them and hopefully, ultimately, to find closure and resolution in a way that Layne was unable to do. He was unable because his addiction to heroin and cocaine turned his sorrow and suffering into fear and paranoia so intense he would not allow anyone to visit him in his last weeks when he locked himself in his apartment and waited for death to release him from an existence that had become intolerable. I thank God/dess that I am not addicted to substances nor to alcohol. I know such addictions are horrific and very painful. I grieve for people who get caught in such horrific traps.

My fondest dream is to somehow tell Jerry Cantrell all of this. He's a "friend" on Facebook and on MySpace and I follow him on Twitter. I don't want to intrude on his life. But I wish he could know how deeply I love his music and how much I admire him for stepping way outside his own comfort zone into Layne's footsteps as the frontman of his band, for putting out this album that cost the 4 of them great emotional pain even though it was apparently also cathartic. Of course, I have read that Jerry was in high school choir all four years of high school and was president in his senior year, so I'm probably pre-disposed to admire a product of public school music education that has made such an impression on the music world and on the insignificant life of this very devoted music lover and Alice in Chains fan.

Acoustic vs Electric Guitars in Rock Music

I'm listening to a band called Drift Effect today and this is a continuation of listening to them all last evening. I've a personal perspective on them as a result of my Twitter relationship with one of the lead guitarists (i say "one of" because apparently they switch roles from time to time). One of DE's albums to which I've been listening is acoustic. I've listened to a lot of those tracks last night and this morning. In addition, I've noted that Alice in Chains also has acoustic albums such as the MTV Unplugged one.

The fact that rock musicians record acoustic as well as electric music has been a revelation to me. I've always associated the term "rock" with electric guitars, period. Starting with Les Paul in the 1950's, it seems to me that the essence of what makes music "rock" is in the prevalence of electric guitars. Electric guitars provide the bass line; they create the harmonies; and they provide the virtuosic improvisation and countermelodies that enhance and ornament the vocal lines. One might say electric guitars "frame" the music in rock music.

The electric guitar is capable of just about every kind of sound production you could wish, thanks to advanced technologies. It can sound like a violin or a tuba or a flute, a pipe organ turned up to the full on winds or strings stops; or a human scream or a wolf's howl or even a bear's menacing growl. Jack White makes guitar sounds that resemble nothing I can even label. Unearthly sounds that cause the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck.

Nonetheless, especially in rock music of the 80's, 90's and 00's, it seems to have become quite common for rock musicians who consider themselves as indie, alternative, progrock, to produce entire albums of acoustic guitar-supported vocal music. In many ways, it seems like a retro idea -- back to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or The Eagles or Paul Simon or even some of Led Zeppelin's days -- when acoustic guitars were ubiquitous in rock/popular music.

This is not to say that electric guitars have disappeared. By no means. But it is almost as if musicians feel the need to get in touch with their roots, so to speak. Or perhaps there is an even more mundane rationale. In live performance, especially, acoustic performances in smaller clubs and venues, artists may find that playing acoustic guitars that are simply amplified via a microphone setup yields a more satisfactory sound with less equipment and fuss. Such an arrangement obviates th need for lengthy sound checks with technicians running hither and yon creating elaborate setups such as one sees in stadium performances (like the U2 stadium production I saw last Fall in Chicago).

My personal impression when I watched a YouTube video of Nirvana playing all acoustic music was that the performance seemed more "human" than others I've seen of theirs. I could really HEAR Kurt's voice. I could hear the emotion and inflection in his voice very clearly because the acoustic guitars seem to be more generous and "giving" and sharing than electric ones. Especially since he was accompanying himself much like a folk singer would, his guitar playing supported his singing without seeming to impinge on it. He could have been singing totally unaccompanied at times. One's focus was entirely on him -- the song, the lyrics -- the angst in his voice and his face.

I would have to hear/see Kurt/Nirvana perform the same songs with a standard electric guitar ensemble and then in the acoustic format to be able to really compare the two results but I think I'd find a real difference in the affect of the song based on whether it was done with acoustic or electric guitars. I must hasten to say that I find electric guitars exciting and beautiful. Much more range of sound and emotion possibilities with electrics because they can create so many kinds of sound canvasses. But the simplicity and emotion of the acoustic version of a song makes its own kind of magic.

I guess all this is by way of saying that the reason I love alternative and progrock genres is because they encompass such a vast, wide range of possibilities. The musical styles range from symphonic, highly complex forms, to grunge and heavy metal for excitement and passion, to emotional and sweet and very personal acoustic expression. I'm delighted to see the rise of interest in acoustic music because I think it signals an increasing level of listening sophistication in our culture. People want to get CLOSE up and personal to the music and do not always need a wall of sound to keep them stimulated and interested. Although the wall of sound will remain a much loved musical style for many years to come among segments of the population, I'm sure.

I'm going to start electric guitar instruction this semester. I play acoustic/folk guitar. Not very well. I probably know about 10 chords altogether and I can pick out riffs I know. I can read simple tablature. As a new music teacher when I was young, I accompanied all my classes on guitar. Beatles and CCR songs. Cat Stevens and James Taylor songs. My students loved it and pedagogically, it's far better to play guitar for elementary music classes because the instrument is soft enough not to cover their child voices while yet also providing a harmonic framework. I'm assuming electric guitar is going to require a different set of skills. Our guitar professor, Fareed Haque, who is quite famous for his own playing in his band Garaj Mahal -- will also help me with understanding the different models of guitar, amps, and other fine points.

For purposes of the text, I don't need to go into lengthy detail but I want music teachers to have a basic understanding of the guitar, both acoustic and electric, for the classroom setting. Fareed is going to write that part of the book. I'm SO excited that he will do this. Having his name on the list of contributing authors will make a huge difference in the marketing of the text.

Close

My Conversation (Imaginary of course) with Slash

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS FICTION, READERS!

I received a phone call this past weekend. I was at home working on a power point presentation for my class on Tuesday, earphones on as usual, listening to iTunes. A male voice said rather hesitantly "Hello? Uh....I'm....trying to reach ......Glenda Co...co...senza?" When I heard the man struggle with pronouncing my name, I was certain it was a telemarketing call or the Democratic Party calling me to ask for another contribution. So my voice had more than a touch of irritation in it as I said "This is she; who's calling?" There was a split second of silence and the voice said "Uh...this is Slash Hudson." I immediately thought of my friend Mark who loves to tease me about my obsession with rock music and rock musicians. "Mark! Is this you?" I asked laughingly. "No" said the voice. "This is not Mark. This is Slash Hudson." Total silence for several seconds as I absorbed the possibility that this was real. "Hello?" the voice asked. "Are you there?" "Slash!" I exclaimed. Excitement crept into my voice and I could feel my face stretching into a wide grin, a flush beginning to redden my neck and face. "How the HELL did you know my phone number....?" I spluttered. He laughed a little and said he had looked me up on the Northern Illinois University School of Music website. He'd apparently called them on Friday afternoon and told them he was a rock musician trying to get in touch with me about my research so they gave out my home phone. Everyone knows about my research. I talk about it wherever and whenever.

Slash told me he'd been referred to my blogs by a rock musician friend. He was curious about some of the things I'd said in the blogs and felt talking in person would be better than trying to communicate by e-mail. He was flying to Chicago on a Sunday afternoon, spending the next day meeting with various people and hearing a couple of musicians that were possibly going to be performing with him on his tour, and would fly back to LA Monday night. I excitedly agreed to meet wherever, whenever. I'd stand around on the tarmac at O'Hare if he wanted that.

We agreed to meet at Ruth's Chris Steak House at 6 p.m. I knew him immediately although he wasn't of course "in costume" -- he was wearing a heavy sheepskin coat and hat, jeans, boots. Hair tied back. Sunglasses. We shook hands warmly. I was shaking with nervous excitement but he quickly put me at ease with a casual, friendly, and even slightly diffident or shy manner. The hostess seated us in a booth at the rear of the second floor dining room where it was fairly quiet. I had obtained permission from Slash to record his answers to my questions so I set my BlackBerry out on the table between us and we began to talk.

I won't bother with the details of the small talk we started out with. He asked me about my life as a university professor of music education; I asked him about the new album and plans for the tour and about his family. The waitress took orders. Slash and I discussed our experiences with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. We segued into the topic of my research since my main reason for getting started at all in social networking was to help with my research. I began to record our conversation.

S: So, what is this book you're writing?

G: We want music teachers to use rock and rap music in their teaching. To use the music that their students love in order to teach them about musical concepts. Familiar to unfamiliar. Right?

But we don't train music teachers in the music of rock or rap. History or guitar or technology or drum set. Most of the students come in knowing rock music by certain bands or groups but they don't have a concept of the broadness, the variety of the music nor do they necessarily understand how to connect rock music and what is there in the music to other musical genres like jazz and classical and world music. So this is going to be the first textbook in music teacher education that will try to fill that need.

S: Cool!

G: I've had to learn about rock and rap from the ground up, you know? I'm a former opera singer and a pianist. a choral conductor. I have not listened to rock and heaven knows, I had not listened to rap at all. I've been listening every day for 9 to 10 hours a day, trying to catch up with 40 years of ignoring all this music. This WONDERFUL music.

S: (his face slowly breaks out in a wide smile) And....you LIKE it!!!

G: Yes....No. Like is too mild a word. I LOVE it. I feel DEPRIVED that I've only discovered it all now.

S: Better late than never they say.

G: Well yes. But I could have been enjoying it all these years and I'd feel much more competent writing this text. Through Twitter and MySpace, I've met rock musicians whom I've asked to contribute their thoughts and ideas and knowledge because THEY are the experts. There are four bands who have offered to write original rock pieces for the text, representing classic blues-based rock, alternative rock, rock fusion with hip hop, and heavy metal. I'm SO excited about meeting these guys! All talented and EXCITED to be sharing their knowledge and experience for this text.

S: (smiling broadly and then chuckling) I like your attitude! I had a good theory teacher when I was in high school. Don't have much formal music training beyond that.

[We talk here about his autobiography and the profound effect reading the book has had on me, personally]

S: What would you want me to write about?

G: Wow! Where to start? I guess.....can I tell you WHY you are perhaps my favorite lead guitar player -- not that I've heard them all, you realize? That might give you an idea of what to say.

S: Of course. Say on! Always glad to hear nice things about my music.

G: OK here goes.

You'll agree with me I'm sure that there are thousands of guitar players who play technically well--even brilliantly. There are guitar VIRTUOSOS on every continent by now, I imagine. (Slash was nodding at this).

But I've learned that to play rock guitar requires a far more complex set of skills and talents than I would EVER have thought before I began this research. There is, for one thing, the question of amps. Until I read your book, I had NO idea that the amp you use had any bearing on the sound result whatsoever. I didn't even know that strings matter that much or the guitar itself, its shape and configuration. I mean, I know those things matter with classical or acoustic guitars. Of course. But I didn't know that they are also crucial elements with electric guitars. Ignorance of course on my part. But I daresay 90% of the population are like me. Certainly I know most of my music education colleagues at other institutions do not for the most part know any of this.

By now I've listened to at least 50 rock guitarists. And while it's true I only began listening with focus and attention to rock music 6 months ago, we're talking hundreds of hours of listening over that time. AND: I've heard so MUCH music in my lifetime. I worked for Carnegie Hall Corporation in the early 80's. One of the perks of working there was that we could go -- free -- to any concerts. I saw & heard some of the best symphony orchestras in the world. Not to mention all the operas my voice teacher gave me free tickets to -- the Metropolitan Opera, front row. And I worked 3 years for Leonard Bernstein and during that time, heard TONS of great theatre, jazz, and classical music the world's great artists. I'm telling you this not because I want to brag but to assure you that my ears are well accustomed to hearing music of all sorts and by perfomers whose skills range from school kids all the way up to the world's finest. I think my opinions are valuable and valid.

S: Yeah! I'd say they are.

G: So here's what I think of YOUR guitar playing. It's technically fine. But there are undoubtedly guitarists in the world who can play technically up to your level; maybe beyond it, I don't know. But I've listened to your music a lot. And your guitar playing is different from any other that I've heard. I'm going to use a metaphor. Compare a painting by Van Gogh with a Japanese painting by a Japanese master artist. You'll see that Van Gogh's artwork is dramatic, forceful. Vivid colors; swirling patterns; brushstrokes so broad they are almost crude. Van Gogh's paintings make you want to look at them and you feel the excitement the turmoil of the artist and of his worldview. Van Gogh's paintings are centered on the artist. On Van Gogh himself.

The Japanese paintings on the other hand are painted with brushstrokes so fine and delicate yet so strong and confident that you are drawn INTO the painting. Into the scene there. You long to be in that place. You lose yourself in a Japanese painting because the delicate power of the images and brushstrokes inspire, excite, stimulate but also whisper "come in; I won't hurt you; you will find joy and peace and inner strength here". And the Japanese painting does not focus on the artist; rather the artist has served the beauty and power of the image created.

Slash, your music is like that Japanese painting. There is a fine-ness about your playing. You have a touch that is truly remarkable. It can be so sweet and expressive yet never weak or passive. Your music invites us, the listeners, caresses our ears and embraces, cradles our hearts. Your performance does not draw attention to YOU the player. Rather, you invite us into a beautiful little world you create with your music. Always, I feel that you serve the music, the musical texture, the music-making of your bandmates. You serve but you lead. I think your music-making reflects a deep sense of compassion and tenderness in your soul, your innermost being.

I wonder if it's hard for you at times because I'm sure other musicians, lacking your sensitivity and finesse, can easily trample on your finer instincts and perhaps even try to bring them down.

[There is a moment of silence. Slash is staring at me, we've both stopped eating and drinking during this last monologue of mine.]

S: You are making these judgments from LISTENING? You've not seen or heard me perform live even?

G: Yes. Well, you know, I've adjudicated many choral groups by listening to them on tape. You start to perceive a kind of "sub-text" if you will. You start to understand a musical performance's 'affect' or aesthetic merely from the aural image -- from listening only.

S: Hmm, yeah. (he is looking bewildered)

[more silence]

G; Well, so, having heard all that. Would you write about playing music, playing guitar to provide some insight into what goes through your mind when you are creating music or performing it?

S: (thinking, silent) Hmm....uh.....yeah....but.....can I think about this? Umm...I can send you something in writing. Maybe by e-mail. Give me your private e-mail address and I promise I'll send something. [I write it down on one of my business cards]

G: I could say more about your performances but I know I talk too much!

S: No, no. Not at ALL, Glenda. Really. I'm fascinated. Flattered too. But I'm not good at quick thinking about anything as important as this.

G: I'm glad you are on Twitter. Messages about your every day life. It gives a nice idea of what the life of a famous rock star is like, behind the scenes. I enjoy reading them.

S: Maybe I'll start following you and we can stay in touch that way. [looking at his watch] Meanwhile: I'm meeting an old friend of mine at 8:30 so I have to get going.

G: Thank you, Slash! You'll never know how appreciative I am of you contacting me and for the lovely dinner.

S: Even though you're not a red meat person, eh?

I drove home in a fog of delight, remembering every word. My 15 minutes (or actually 2 hours) of ....well not fame ... but close. I'm waiting excitedly for his essay. He's sent me an e-mail telling me he'll be sending it soon. He's very busy getting ready for the tour. Making arrangements. They are coming to Chicago! I can't wait.