One thing I hate as I get older, is how harder it gets to find time to play music. Serves me right for not choosing what I love years ago.
— Ty Martell (@denofmusic) January 9, 2014
Category: Stuff I’ve learned
Sad Songs Say So Much
Remember that song by Mr. Elton John?
Sad songs says so much? No?
Never mind. You’re too young.
Anyways,
I have always been criticized,
for as long as I can remember,
that I play a lot of sad songs.
Well, I disagreed at first, of course.
I like Rock!
I play a lot of Rock.
I listen to a lot of Rock.
But over the years,
and as I look over my recorded tunes and covers,
I guess I really do.
I play a lot of Sad Songs.
Sad Ballads, if you call it that.
Then I realized, because it makes me feel better.
It makes me cope.
Sad songs have more substance than…let’s say
a happy, fast song full off Yeah, Yeahs or Baby, Baby’s.
Also, my voice is not made for Rocking and screaming.
I can’t. I really can’t.
I sing and play ballads with ease, compared to
hours and hours of trying to make a happy song work.
I don’t necessarily play sad songs because they’re what I feel.
I don’t even pay attention to the lyrics most of the time.
I just like how the music flows.
Let’s say my feelings flow more on the music rather than the message it conveys.
Then I read this article from Huffington Post,
Sad Songs May Actually Elicit Pleasant Emotions
So, that helped me understand.
I don’t mind being criticized now.
I like sad songs.
It makes me happy.
Except Country Music.
That one is just depressing.
(I kid, I kid.)
“Sad is happy for deep people.” – Sally Sparrow
I found it again
I played around with 4 chords on my guitar last night and I remembered why I fell in love with it again. That’s all it took. Four Chords.
— Ty Martell (@denofmusic) July 19, 2013
I felt it.
I remembered why I worked hard to learn the instrument.
I love it.
I really do.
I’m not a guitar nor a music expert.
But I just really love how they both make me feel.
Cheesy as it may sound, I know.
But I remembered why I stood by it in the first place.
And that is why I’m still playing it all this time.
Thank you.
If I may be serious for a moment.
A couple of months ago,
we had some troubling news within our family.
It has been challenging, to say the least.
Not just for me, but for every member of our clan.
Without going into details,
I would like to say that things are looking up.
And we have been given more hope.
I would like to take this opportunity
to thank everyone who have given their sincerest support,
thoughts and prayers.
Even to those whom I have only known by name
and not really acquainted with, offered a helping hand.
It is still a long journey ahead,
but at least hope is in sight.
Thank you.
You would think…
You would think,
for someone who loves and is very passionate about music,
God would surround me with people who have the same thing.
Or at least bring me close enough to make it happen.
Nope.
Father’s Day 2013
Some of the things I remember about my Dad
are his lame jokes.
Some of it were good,
but most of it were… cringe worthy.
He would tell the same jokes over and over
and all of us would just sit there and let him deliver it
and pretend that it’s our first time hearing them.
Allow me to share this one joke of his to you
that he told me when I became a father myself.
I will write it in Filipino first
since it was told to me that way
then I’ll translate it for our “Habla Inglesa” friends.
Keep in mind that we were on the phone,
talking very seriously.
Here it goes:
“Isa ka nang Tatay, anak.
Marami kang dadanasin at haharapin na pagsubok.
Pero eto ang tandaan mo.
Sa isang pamilya,
Ang Nanay ang ilaw ng tahanan.
Sya ang nagbibigay liwanag sa inyong lahat.
Ang Tatay ang haligi ng tahanan.
Ikaw ang pundasyon ng inyong pamilya at kabuhayan.
At ang pinaka importante,
Ang mga manugang ay ang mga anay,
na dumudurog sa pundasyon!”
Hahah!! I am still laughing about this joke
after all these years.
And now I’m going to translate it …….
You know what..
I’d rather not.
I may get in trouble for this.
I miss you, Dad.
Happy Father’s Day
Quote of the day
“Music doesn’t always help me heal.
But at least playing is my way of talking to myself.
My Guitar listens. She agrees with me.”
–TM
Abuse
This is something I learned a long time ago from a friend who told me how to define “abuse.”
“Once is enough.
Twice is too much.
Thrice is a poison
that can kill a person.”
Where do you set your limit?
Friends are friends forever?
It’s funny while I was writing that previous post,
I was thinking of how I was texting and messaging
my friends and loved ones in the Philippines.
Making sure they were alright.
Of course, I have to sweep through my phone address book
to see who I can contact and ask them how they were doing.
Despite the fact that it was a little scary what reply I would get
or if I would get one at all.
You can never know how bad the situation is.
Or was.
Luckily, most of them are alright.