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Author Topic: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss  (Read 15778 times)

mouser

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Nice short comic strip on coping with loss of someone close to you.
It's just a one page thing, not an ongoing series.  Nothing new here but it's still nice and may touch a nerve.

If Only Once, If Only For A Little While is a comic about loss, coping, and the ways we deal with grief.



from http://waxy.org/

tomos

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2015, 06:14 AM »
touches a chord alright  :up:
Tom

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2015, 07:43 AM »
||: G♭min9 | G♭min | G♭min9 | G♭min :||  :(
« Last Edit: January 06, 2015, 07:59 AM by 40hz »

TaoPhoenix

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2015, 10:48 AM »
||: G♭min9 | G♭min | G♭min9 | G♭min :||  :(

Uh oh, that sounds like a complicated key!

I was always fascinated how certain keys had varying levels of difficulty on different instruments. G Flat Minor is one of the trickier ones on the piano! Instead, A minor is all the white keys! (The mirror minor pair to major key C.)

What's the difficulty level on a guitar? Or one of the string instruments?




superboyac

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2015, 11:12 AM »
Nice comic, had a great feel to it.

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2015, 12:32 PM »
What's the difficulty level on a guitar?

No harder or easier than any other key really. On a piano, the notes are in fixed positions. So the fingering changes with the key being played. On a guitar or other stringed instrument the same note can be found in multiple locations. So the fingering doesn't need to change to play in a different key or scale. Just move up or down the neck to the appropriate position (or fret) and Bob's yer uncle.

There are practical limits to that however since sustain and harmonic complexity start to be attenuated the higher up the neck you go. So there are also multiple ways to finger any given key, the two most common being what's usually referred to as "starting on the 6th string" and "starting on the fifth string" patterns. That gives the guitarist the option to select the scale pattern and fingering most comfortable for any given song. The better guitarists also try to select the neck position that sounds the best even if it makes it more difficult to play for them. Or change the pattern(s) and the neck position(s) for the same key at different points in a song to get a desired effect or sound.

IMO Guitar is paradoxically easier and more difficult to play than a piano or keyboard. Which is probably why some people gravitate to one or the other depending upon how their brain works.

superboyac

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2015, 01:33 PM »
IMO Guitar is paradoxically easier and more difficult to play than a piano or keyboard. Which is probably why some people gravitate to one or the other depending upon how their brain works.
This seems very true.  I've tried guitar a little, played piano a lot.  From what I've seen, the guitar brain seems to lean towards the artistic/abstract like geometry, while the piano brain seems to be much more algebraic.  At least to me.

On the piano, everything is linear.  The higher note is always more to the right, the spaces between them are equal everywhere.  Unfortunately, that means I have to learn 12 different "things" to master all the keys.

On guitar, it's almost the opposite.  Notes are layered on top of each other and you have several options as far as paths to take for the melody.  On piano, one melody = one option...guitar is one melody = several options.  Same goes for chords.

If you don't know anything about music, i feel piano is easier to get into.  because it's all linear, so that's easy.  And if you press a key, you hear the sounds, no practice needed.  On guitar, just to get a decent sound might take a while, as you have to develop calluses, learn how to get a clean pick.  And (IMO) it's more difficult to get into the theory because you're immediately dealing with complex layers and patterns vs. straight linear thinking.  Also, a lot of guitar players tend to get stuck in the chord strumming phase and never are able to pick a melody because of this.  I think the good guitar players think in patterns and shapes because one or two patterns will cover all keys, unlike a piano.  So piano players think more linearly or use their memorization skills to really get good.  Although a girl recently told me she thinks in shapes, which i thought was interesting.  I'm all numbers when I play.

superboyac

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2015, 01:40 PM »
 ;D oh just remembered my favorite pianist vs. guitarist argument.

Regarding the chords for a song, a piano player wants to know the exact chord...don't just say F or F7...iit might by F9 or Fb9 or F7 or F13, they are not the same!!!  Then your realize the guitar player just cares about the F bit, and the rest he just makes up whatever he feels is "right".  So the pianist is playing the exact chord, the guitarist is playing something similar, but it sounds off.

the worst example of this was the song 'I'm Beginning to see the light".  because it's seemingly a simple 1-6-2-5 song.  But it's unorthodox in that it starts on the 6 instead of the 1.  man, I got into this whole thing with a guitar player for like a week on that.  because the fake books print it incorrectly, and the songs we listen to play it correctly.  So it just sounds off, but the difference is very subtle.  Am7 and C6 are the same exact chords.  Anyway, I spent an evening listening to the classic recordings to confirm and recreated a song chart for it, sent it to the guitarist, who I think was a bit offended at how big a deal I made of it.

damn i love music.
ok back on topic.

TaoPhoenix

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2015, 01:50 PM »
There's some interesting things here.

I think I agree at a very broad level that piano theory is "easier conceptually" - a note is a note, and it doesn't show up anywhere else or morph into something else either.

Leaving aside reading music which I never really learned, just from playing my own arrangements of the few pieces I learned, the difficulty of piano is all in the manual version of "finger twisters" - you don't have any doubt (once past artistic elements) that you need to get to X key at X time, you just have to somehow not "trip over yourself" to get there and only there, and on time and only on time.

One of the fun/funny/exasperating low level tidbits of piano playing is the fingering and the muscle memory. When you play pieces with expansive ascending and descending sequences, or with just intricate local-key elements, it's fun/funny/exasperating to feel like you almost got there, up until like a game of twister you're missing a finger to hit G Flat!

 :o  >:(  :-[

And unlike C or even the keys with just one black key, things like G Flat minor feel bewildering because it feels like a big jumble at first!
« Last Edit: January 06, 2015, 01:59 PM by TaoPhoenix »

wraith808

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2015, 02:48 PM »
IMO Guitar is paradoxically easier and more difficult to play than a piano or keyboard. Which is probably why some people gravitate to one or the other depending upon how their brain works.

As someone who plays both, I'd agree with that assessment.

I think I agree at a very broad level that piano theory is "easier conceptually" - a note is a note, and it doesn't show up anywhere else or morph into something else either.

Wrong on both counts... (1) the easier conceptually, which is my opinion.  (2) doesn't morph into anything else... well b/c♭ and f/e# want to have a talk with you.  ;D

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2015, 03:13 PM »
Leaving aside reading music which I never really learned,

Interestingly, the only accurate way to notate guitar music is with TAB. Going off a normal staff arrangement doesn't tell you which A, for example, you should be playing. Is it at the 17th fret of the E-string, the 12th fret on the A-string, the seventh fret on the D-string or the second fret on the G? Although technically the "same" note (at least on a staff), they each have a noticeably different timbral quality, a slightly different response time, and a significantly different sustain-decay ratio. That's due to the difference in string sounding-length, gauge, tension, and construction (i.e. wound vs unwound).

That difference is something that's routinely used to good artistic effect by masters of the guitar. It's not just what notes you play, it's also where and on what strings that makes a difference. Bass players too, where the differences between neck position and string being used are very audible. Even to an untrained ear.

Then there's how you play a chord...

As with single notes, there are many different patterns to get the same chord. But some work better than others because of the specific inversion found in the triad; or because of which notes happen to be doubled in the chord, and where and on what strings it's played. That is what makes the biggest audible difference in sound between the "exact same" guitar chords. And to get an accurate chord transcription you also can’t use traditional music notation. You need the actual chord diagrams to duplicate what the guitarist is playing.

TAB and chord diagrams...their use is often mocked by "classically trained" musicians. But the simple truth is: they're the only closest to accurate way to notate guitar music.

 8)
« Last Edit: January 06, 2015, 03:28 PM by 40hz »

tomos

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2015, 03:31 PM »
For us non musicians, what does that music mean in the context of the thread?
I guess this may answer that:
https://en.wikipedia...t.27s_use_of_G_minor
Tom

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2015, 04:13 PM »
Although a girl recently told me she thinks in shapes

I think most guitarists and electric bass players do. Guitarists are almost always taught the "chord shape"CAGED system today. Which was probably one of the biggest breakthroughs ever when it came to teaching the instrument. It's close to being the periodic table for the guitar neck.

Just throw in the Circle of Fifths - usually approached as the Circle of Fourths with guitar (it's the same thing actually) - because of the dominance of I-IV-V and V-I chord progressions in guitar music. And finally add in the seven modern Modes and you have 99% of all the "theory" you'll ever need to become a good guitarist.
 8)
« Last Edit: January 06, 2015, 04:55 PM by 40hz »

TaoPhoenix

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2015, 04:36 PM »
Wrong on both counts... (1) the easier conceptually, which is my opinion.  (2) doesn't morph into anything else... well b/c♭ and f/e# want to have a talk with you.  ;D

Heh well maybe we have Schrodinger cat meaning!

If you consider a key as "that key", and you start plunking it, you don't end up with anything other than "that note" and you can't get "that note" any other way except maybe truly strangely set up prototypes where you can change the pitch manually with a bar by hand while playing.

The nomenclature thing just reminds me of something like American/British English or maybe Parisian/Canadian French - just a little nomenclature memory and it can't go very far like the English units/ Metric conversions.

You don't get any/much of this stuff per 40hz:

Interestingly, the only accurate way to notate guitar music is with TAB. Going off a normal staff arrangement doesn't tell you which A, for example, you should be playing. Is it at the 17th fret of the E-string, the 12th fret on the A-string, the seventh fret on the D-string or the second fret on the G? Although technically the "same" note (at least on a staff), they each have a noticeably different timbral quality, a slightly different response time, and a significantly different sustain-decay ratio. That's due to the difference in string sounding-length, gauge, tension, and construction (i.e. wound vs unwound).

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2015, 08:04 PM »
For us non musicians, what does that music mean in the context of the thread?
I guess this may answer that:
https://en.wikipedia...t.27s_use_of_G_minor

And here I thought I was being obscurely clever. Or cleverly obscure picking G minor. But Mozart did too? Wow! Who knew?

So... yeah. I've always been firmly convinced that the different keys each have their own unique personalities and moods. Hence me selecting G♭ minor in response to Mouser, as opposed to choosing A minor - or even G minor for that matter. To my mind, the key of G♭ minor is the embodiment of melancholia and heartache. Your ears may hear it differently. ;)

« Last Edit: January 06, 2015, 08:11 PM by 40hz »

40hz

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #15 on: January 06, 2015, 08:23 PM »
More OT - that was a very sad little comic. I especially liked this panel:

truth.png

That struck me as both sad and rather profound. Not too shabby for such a simple panel in a comic strip. 8)

Deozaan

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2015, 04:35 PM »
Weird. None of the images will load for me.

tomos

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2015, 05:06 PM »
Weird. None of the images will load for me.
it's loading okay here atm.

Someone close to me died last month. I didnt get to meet them that often, maybe once, or twice a year if I was lucky, but we phoned fairly regularly. It could have been a lot more difficult - they were ready to go, and it happened quickly. But I think it's always more difficult for those left behind (or maybe not).
Then my elderly neighbour across the road died, his wife seems pretty stunned. Met another elderly woman today at a small birthday party, her partner died recently after 46 years together. That must be hard - it was for her anyways. Funny, my father died a few years back, and my mum didnt find it that difficult - she felt like he was still in the house (not like as a ghost, more like a feeling, I guess).

What I wanted to say in my first post above, (but didnt), was that sometimes it's hard to let the feelings out, to express it, whatever-it-is: pain, missing, love. And that the comic helped. Thanks :up:
I find people sympathising difficult, maybe that's why I didnt write anything about this earlier. But, like with the comic, sometimes it's just gotta get out there.
'Night all.
Tom

Deozaan

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2015, 05:24 PM »
Weird. None of the images will load for me.

I figured it out. All the images on that site are hosted on another domain which OpenDNS has blocked because it (the domain) is in the category of "Nudity."

I found a link to the "art tumblr" and read it there. Thanks for sharing.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 05:36 PM by Deozaan »

TaoPhoenix

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2015, 09:56 PM »
But I think it's always more difficult for those left behind (or maybe not).

Well, that's grazing THAT question again. So I think a lot of people know what side of it I am on.

wraith808

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Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2015, 10:07 PM »
But I think it's always more difficult for those left behind (or maybe not).

Well, that's grazing THAT question again. So I think a lot of people know what side of it I am on.


Some questions, even if grazed, should be left alone, no?