Jazz Is

Jazz is extended, altered chords based on a logical system of scales. The simplest way to view it is to start by  imagining a major scale.  If you have ever studied any music, you should know at least 1 major scale.  Starting with this major scale, any or all tones of this scale can be altered (except for the first note, which of course would make it a different scale).

First lower the seventh tone of the scale.  There you have a normal dominant scale.  Just like a major scale except the seventh tone is lowered by a half step.  A 4 note chord build from the first note of this scale is a typical dominant chord. This chord normally can resolve down a fifth, so a C dominant chord will resolve to an F major chord.

From here any number of other notes in the scale can be altered.  Lowering the third along with the seventh creates a kind of minor scale known commonly as a Dorian, typically played over a minor chord.

The most interesting chords/scales are altered dominant ones.  Continuing from lowering the seventh note of the major scale, altering other notes creates a plethora of possible dominant sounds including:

• lowered 9th
• lowered 9th and 13th
• lowered 5th
• raised 9th
• fully altered : lowered 9th, raised 9th, lowered 4th, lowered 5th, lowered 13th

Other combinations are possible.

One fundamental skill is to know all the scales and be able to create many patterns following the contour of the intended scale starting from any note in the scale.  Then, application of this skill includes the movement of chords that might change scales quickly.

Boating vs Kayaking

Boating is wind in your face, sparkling water, relaxed driving, coasting and swimming in coves.  You can drive up to a waterside restaurant in a boat.  You have to keep your eyes peeled for other boats and watercraft in a boat since traffic on a motorized boating lake moves faster than more relaxed watersports environments.

Kayaking is floating, pulling water, direct nature experience, no coasting and good exercise.  There is no coasting in kayaking.  You can get to more remote locations with a kayak.  You can get closer to turtles and other waterside animals with a kayak.  You can see other kayaks and have plenty of time to change course.

Why Blog?

It's a good way to practice introspection.  It serves as a record of your life that is interesting for future retrospectives.  It sharpens your verbal skills.  It helps force mindfulness about your activities and thoughts.

Blogging or should be part of a daily to weekly practice if you can do it.  I have failed to remain consistent over the last few years and have experimented with a few different styles, topics and degree of detail.

I hope to pick it up again with a focus on stream of consciousness.  I believe that in the past in some cases trying to be too long and formal has discouraged an approach that would produce more consistency.

Austin vs Dallas

Austin has a much more relaxed atmosphere than Dallas.  The lakes and hills create an enjoyable landscape. Easy access to water sports makes it feel more informal - not as informal as a beach town but more than a place like Dallas.

Austin feels softer - Dallas feels more rushed and concrete.  Austin feels like a college town embedded in a major city that includes politics and business.  Dallas feels like a business town.

Austin is food trucks, coffee shops, yogurt shops, whole foods and scenery.   Dallas is highways, sunshine, downtown pockets of decay and attempted renewal.  Will Dallas ever be able to turn the Trinity River into a recreational area to rival Austin's Lady Bird Lake (aka Town Lake)?  Dallas does not have the equivalent of Barton Springs - the best city pool I have ever visited.

Downtown Dallas is on the upswing but has a long way to go.  Once all the parks are finished and if the inconsistent patchwork of sketchy areas in downtown can be turned into safe, robust and thriving businesses, Dallas may experience a revival and transformation.  Pushing it past the sins of the past and current downtown inconsistency will require a functional and aesthetic water recreation area to create a visual and spiritual facelift for the downtown core.