Minor Wisdom

Unhappy anniversary

About a week ago, I wrote a post responding to those who question New Orleans’ right to exist. In a nutshell: this city did not come into existence because 1 million or so people made a lifestyle choice to live in a swamp vulnerable to hurricanes. This city came into existence because the Mississippi River happens to empty into the Gulf of Mexico near here. The site where the city was founded happens to be the highest ground anywhere near the mouth of the river. New Orleans became an American city (sort of) because Thomas Jefferson recognized the economic and strategic importance of America’s having a port city located right here.

That was last week’s history lesson. This week, I want to correct what seems to be a widespread misunderstanding about what happened here four years ago. This city did not flood just because a hurricane passed close by. It flooded because of engineering failures. The levees failed to perform according to spec, breaking in several places along the outfall canals. Result: instead of the canals emptying into Lake Pontchartrain, the lake emptied through the broken canal levees into the city.

I thought everyone knew these facts. But I’ve seen too much stuff on TV lately talking about how the hurricane did all kind of bad stuff to the city, with no mention of the levee failures. Katrina certainly did some bad stuff all by herself near New Orleans (e.g. Slidell, St. Bernard Parish, Plaquemines Parish, the Mississippi gulf coast). But the city itself would have escaped with little worse than widespread wind damage if the levees had done what they were supposed to do. Instead, the levees broke, the city drowned, and around 1,000 people died who otherwise would have ridden it out okay.

These facts are uncomfortable. Why? Because if New Orleans is here because America needs it here, and if New Orleans drowned because of American engineering failures, then America is responsible for what happened here four years ago. Hence the urge to deny the facts and concoct an alternate reality, one that redirects the responsibility elsewhere—mainly to the victims.

Tablature for “Silent Night” in key of A, standard tuning, slide optional

For several weeks, I’ve been working on a little instrumental version of “Silent Night” for guitar, key of A, standard tuning, with optional slide. Here is the tablature (PDF). It’s a minimalist version, just melody and bass notes, which works for this song. The great thing about this version is that all bass notes except one (see below) are played on open strings. This allows me to play the melody on slide, which seems to suit this song. My guitar teacher, Vincent, recommends playing those bass notes slowly, around 66 beats per minute. That equates to a nice resting heart rate, suitable for a lullaby.

One problem I’m still working on is the “Sleep in heavenly peace” line. I want an F# bass for the 3rd through 6th beats of “peace”—the only bass note that’s not played on an open string. Until today, I’ve played it on the fifth (A) string, 9th fret, because at that point, the melody can also be played on the 9th fret (first string), allowing both notes to be played with the slide. The problem is that, when the F# is played there (with or without slide), the bass note just kind of thunks instead of ringing like the bass notes played on open strings. There's a nicer F# on the 6th (low-E) string, second fret, but my fingers aren’t long enough to reach the 9th and 2nd frets simultaneously. (Probably no one’s fingers are long enough to make that reach!)

So here, to get a better sounding F#, I’ve dropped the octave on that line. This lets me play the melody down at the 2nd fret (2nd (B) string), where the F# at 2nd fret, 6th (low-E) string is an easy reach. And since both the bass note and melody are at the 2nd fret, both notes can be played with slide.

I’m not sure whether this is the best solution for the thunking-F# problem. Frankly I'm not crazy about dropping an octave for one line of the song. If any guitarists out there know a better solution, please leave a comment.

Another way to play this song on slide could involve re-tuning the guitar. I’m going to give that a try, transposing the song to the key of G and seeing how it works on a guitar tuned to open G. This may require a whole new arrangement, which could be fun to create.

How long does it take you to walk 20 feet?

This video is a lovely illustration of this blog’s tag line: “You can observe a lot just by watching,” credited to Yogi Berra. Someone should introduce Yogi to John Medina, the brain scientist in the video.



(Note the two levels of observation: Noah observing the world, and his father, John, observing Noah observing the world. Both levels are invaluable.)

Rising Tide postscript and some facts about New Orleans (#rt4 for Twitter)

Lately I’ve been reticent about expressing my opinions on this blog. I’d like to say that’s been due to humility. The truth is that it’s easier to be disengaged from what passes for the debate in this country, plus being disengaged is probably better for my mental health.

The disengagement may change, thanks to yesterday’s Rising Tide IV conference, which inspired me to resolve to be a bit more outspoken. Let’s begin with some facts about New Orleans.

Apparently there are some people out there who don’t understand why New Orleans is located where it is. “Why would anyone live in a low-lying, hurricane-prone area?” they wonder. Here’s why. New Orleans is a port city, and ports have to be located on the edge of a body of water. This particular port city is located near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is vital to the nation’s economy, and a port city located near the mouth of the river is a strategic and economic necessity. Anyone who does not understand these facts should have all their diplomas and college degrees revoked, and should be made to return to the 6th grade to repeat those history and geography classes that they apparently slept through.

Friedman’s fearless football forecast

Every year, die-hard Tulane fan Reuben Friedman forecasts Tulane’s football fortunes. No fan is as loyal to his team as Reuben is to the Green Wave. And few fans are as steeped in college football as Reuben is. So if you love the Green Wave, or if you just like college football in general, then you’ll enjoy reading Reuben’s 2009 Predictions.

40th anniversary

In most of America, it’s the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Around here, it’s the 40th anniversary of Hurricane Camille — 190 m.p.h. winds, 24-ft. storm surge.

Quotations of the day

Two quotations on the blogosphere today bear repeating:

“All we can do now is give cars away, or give US citizens free money to buy them — which we are obviously already doing with ‘Cash for Clunkers’ — which is additionally hilarious in the same nation that is deeply paranoid about the government giving anybody free health care. What a nation of morons we have become.” —James Howard Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation.

“People believe what they want to believe, crediting information that reinforces those beliefs and rejecting information that challenges those beliefs. Many of these beliefs are inextricably intertwined with people’s fears about the world and their place in it. Today’s intense anxieties about economic well-being leave people easily moved to share their fears, with demagogues standing by to exploit them.” —John E. McIntyre, You Don’t Say.

Amazing Grace, bluegrass style

Here is a little tablature (PDF) I worked up yesterday for “Amazing Grace.” Actually there are two versions of the song here: one with slide (indicated by the little arrows) and one without slide but with more robust chords. Both  versions are written for open-G tuning (the tuning is indicated on the tablature). This is the traditional version of the song, not the “House of the Rising Sun” / Blind Boys of Alabama version.

The song sounds great on my little resonator guitar (pictured at left). I bought it about 4½ months ago, hoping to learn how to play slide on it. I’ve been practicing some lessons from Getting Into Slide Guitar by Steve Dawson, which I highly recommend for anyone wanting to learn the basic techniques of slide playing. Amazing Grace is my first effort at applying those lessons to my own arrangement of a song.

Sorry, no SEB today.

Usually on Saturday, I post a blues music video. This Saturday Evening Blues streak dates back nearly two years, to November 17, 2007, when I posted Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. Since then, I've posted a blues music video every Saturday—94 weeks in a row.

Today the streak is broken. I just don’t have anything lined up for today.

But today was a productive day for me musically. I worked up two arrangements of “Amazing Grace” (the traditional New Britain melody) for guitar tuned to open G—one with slide, and one without. Maybe this weekend, I’ll work up the tablature in PDF or Word. Meanwhile, here’s something I worked up last week: tablature for Unclouded Day ( (no slide required, but tune to open G).

(P.S. I’m also testing automated cross-posting to Facebook and Twitter. We’ll soon find out if this works.)

“None of us are free ...

... if one of us is chained.” Solomon Burke and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Solomon Burke & Blind Boys Of Alabama - None Of Us Are Free
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