My goal is partially based in spite but the purpose is to remedy my total and absolute lack of music theory. I want to teach myself using the Feynman Technique (which is essentially autodidactism through rubber duck debugging + attempting to teach something you do not yet know). I intend to write a

man page

• Pitch


• Scales and Modes


• Consonance and Dissonance


• Rhythm


• Melody


• Chords


• Timbre




• Dynamics


• Articulation




• Texture


• Structure


• Expression


• Notation

Lost Dog Street Band, "Coming Down," featuring Thirteen Strings and a Two Dollar Bill // Take Away - Youtube link to a live recording (because I require that SOVL)

The same song on bandcamp, for purchase

At first, I didn't think this was a very good song. Upon listening more closely, it was incredibly moving. This version has an evolving chorus which was incredibly compelling to me. The change of a single word entirely drives the decline from dopesick and desperate to delirious and withdrawing.

Upon the first iteration of the chorus:

And in my dreams, there's a needle and spoon,
And there's a pair of dice, a loaded gun, maybe me and you
And you're sawing on a fiddle and I'm wondering which to choose
Everything's so complicated now I am coming down

And in my dreams, there's a needle and spoon,
And there's a pair of dice, a loaded gun, maybe me and you
And you're sawing on a fiddle and I'm wondering which to shoot
Everything's so complicated now I am coming down

I am wanting to write a post about the music albums I listened to this year. There aren't many (6) so I don't think it will be worth the effort of re-listening in order to write a competent review.

The last 3 years have been filled with silence and the occasional podcast to stimulate my brain. I try to listen to whole albums. Listen 1 is new information, listen 2 is a deeper listening, listen 3 is for enjoyment, and on listen 4+ the track skipping begins. When I find myself skipping tracks I stop listening to the album because there is no new information to be gleaned. At listen 5+ the music becomes annoying and, frustratingly, loathsome.

The ability to listen to music constantly no matter the context is an entirely foreign concept. I do not understand how others accomplish this feat while maintaining sanity.

For me, it's silence.