An Interview with
GasHouse Jones
by Anne Szanew
Editor's note: This would be a great drill for The Drill Machine. Use it for colloquy or Q and A. Notice how often Ms. Szanew (the questioning interviewer?) ends her "question" with a statement. Also, GasHouse often puts his "answer" in the form of a question. Get that punctuation right.
| (Somewhere in California on a payphone by a hotdog stand.) |
| Anne Szanew: Hello, Mr. Jones. Let me say how fantastic it is to do this interview with you. Your music is legendary. I've heard all of your music from your early years as a studio musician through your time with Blue Thunder and on to your solo career. This is truly a thrill. |
| GasHouse: Thank you. What did you say your name was? |
| Anne Szanew: Anne Szanew. Mr. Jones, you have built a reputation as a musician's musician. You are regarded as a master of your instrument. What is your response to that? |
| GasHouse: Well, I suppose you have to master your instrument before you master your craft. That makes sense to me; so that's what I did. What magazine did you say you were from? |
| Anne Szanew: It's not a magazine. It's Court Reporting Help. People say that you have never struck an incorrect note. Who would you say has been the musician that influenced you the most in that regard? |
| GasHouse: Clapton. He could have been flashier, but nobody can play a Clapton song better than Clapton. A lot of guitarists are so sloppy that you can't tell what notes they are playing. Did you say "Court Reporting Help?" |
| Anne Szanew: It's a stenography website. Could you explain your style of playing for us? |
| GasHouse: You know, a lot of people have asked me that question. I'm not sure how to answer it. Sometimes I use one style. Sometimes, another. Sometimes, I just jumble them up. What matters to me is whether I can create the notes that I want when I want them and how I want them. What's stenography? |
| Anne Szanew: Court reporting. We record the spoken word. You say it; we type it up. Mr. Jones, you have always used a Fender Stratocaster guitar. In fact, you have used the same Stratocaster for most of your career. Why is that? |
| GasHouse: Early in my career, I played different guitars. They all had a different feel. I was equally good at all of them. But I wasn't great at any of them. I found a guitar I liked and stuck to it. Why is a stenography website interviewing me? |
| Anne Szanew: I don't know. I don't know. Please don't blow this for me. This is my first interview. Oh, please, Mr. Jones. |
| GasHouse: Calm down; calm down. Now, I remember a lady with a little machine at my vagrancy hearing that I was once invited to attend. Is that a stenographer? |
| Anne Szanew: Yes. But Mr. Jones, all we do is take down what a person says and convert it into a transcript. We don't play music. Maybe my editor goofed in sending me to you. |
| GasHouse: Maybe, but let's give it a shot. Tell me about the machine that you use. |
| Anne Szanew: It's a little like a typewriter, but it doesn't have all of the keys that a typist would use. We use different codes to represent the letters that are missing. We take two or more letters and combine them to form a new letter, a new word, or a new phrase. |
| GasHouse: That's what I do. Different guitarists use different styles. Some use very complicated patterns. They prefer it. Others employ simpler techniques. What counts is the song. Do your students have a choice of styles? |
| Anne Szanew: I suppose they do. Everyone has to use the same general strokes, but one person might use a single stroke to represent a word, whereas another person will use several. |
| GasHouse: Then my advice is that your students find a style that they like. I tried to incorporate different styles into my music. Can your students choose the style that they will use when they write each word? |
| Anne Szanew: Yes. They can use a single stroke for one word and then use multiple strokes on the next. It depends on what strokes they have been taught. |
| GasHouse: I would say it also depends on the strokes that they have mastered. Tell your students that one of the biggest mistakes a musician can make is confusing practice with performance. The recording studio is not the place to experiment. When I learn a new riff, I don't use it until I know that I can insert it into a song and not screw it up. Your students probably have to take tests of one kind or another. Describe them for me. |
| Anne Szanew: There are different methods, but in general, a test is five minutes of dictated material at a certain speed. When a student successfully transcribes enough tests at one speed, they are promoted to a higher speed. We allow students a certain number of errors for each test. Above that number, they do not pass the test. |
| GasHouse: Errors are allowed? Doesn't that lead to sloppy writing? |
| Anne Szanew: All students write sloppy to a degree. If they are too sloppy, they can't read their notes; but if they can read the sloppy notes, they can pass the test. |
| GasHouse: If I was a teacher, I would give them hell for writing sloppy. I know plenty of musicians that learn something wrong and then try to play it fast. It sounds like crap. The only way to play a chord correctly is to learn it correctly. If a student always writes sloppy strokes and passes from speed to speed, when do they learn to write correctly? |
| Anne Szanew: Some of them never do. They graduate, and their writing is oftentimes substandard. |
| GasHouse: Wait a minute. I'm only a musician. If I goof up, the crowd might boo, but nobody goes to jail because I can't perform. It seems like the students are writing substandard strokes because you allow them to write them. Don't you stress clarity? |
| Anne Szanew: Of course, I do, but it's up to the student to listen. |
| GasHouse: That's not good enough. Tell me how a student will practice. |
| Anne Szanew: There are a variety of methods. Most use tapes of dictated drills. Some use articles from magazines or the newspaper. Some follow along with a television show. |
| GasHouse: That's not what I'm talking about. Musicians use scales. We practice playing each note. When we find notes that give us trouble, we practice them over and over. If your students have trouble writing certain words, they should practice those words. That's the only way to learn. They should practice until that hard stroke isn't hard anymore. By the way, when I asked about practice, you didn't mention schoolbooks. Don't your students have books? |
| Anne Szanew: Certainly, but most don't use them after they graduate from theory class. That is the very first class that they take. |
| GasHouse: Let me get this straight. Your students don't practice scales. Your students don't use their books. That means that they don't practice the core strokes. Let's talk about finger patterns that are more complicated. How about riffs. Riffs are almost like scales. Riffs are notes that I can play in many different songs. Some notes show up time and again in the same patterns. Are there words that show up time after time in certain patterns? |
| Anne Szanew: To an extent, we have them. There are strokes that show up mainly in one kind of drill. For instance, in a deposition, a witness is always asked to state his or her name. We know that that will happen; so we have certain strokes that we use in situations like this. We call them "phrases" These are strokes that allow us to write several words at once. |
| GasHouse: That must be a great help to the student. I'll bet that they practice these strokes over and over until they become second nature. If I was a student, I'd want a list of all the phrases that I have mastered, plus a list of all of the new phrases that I need to learn. I would master these patterns that show up frequently. How do your students learn them? |
| Anne Szanew: Some write them down. Some don't. Some use these strokes. Others write it out. |
| GasHouse: My point still applies. If these phrases are going to appear over and over, then the student should be prepared to stroke these words. It doesn't matter whether the student uses one of those briefs or not. What matters is how well the words are stroked. You had mentioned that a witness is always asked to state his name. Shouldn't a student be able to stroke those words quickly and correctly whether or not a phrase is used? |
| Anne Szanew: Yes, but -- |
| GasHouse: "Yes, but --" I can tell that you are thinking of an excuse. What you need is a solution. It seems to me that there has to be a better way. From what you are telling me, your students do not practice efficiently. They have no idea of what strokes or finger patterns give them trouble. They do not practice the basic strokes. They try to use difficult strokes at a "performing" speed rather than a "learning" speed. They don't open their books. They don't practice correctly. They do not practice the easy strokes for speed. They do not practice the hard strokes for clarity. Musicians have chord charts and scales. We practice the hard parts over and over and over. |
| Anne Szanew: You don't understand. Every deposition is different. Every trial is different. The words don't show up in the same patterns all the time. We have to hear the testimony and then instantly respond. It just isn't the same thing. |
| GasHouse: Bull. In the musical world, there are many forms of music that require the musician to find notes and patterns of notes that fit in with what everybody else is playing. In other words, we hear where the song is going, and then we play appropriate notes. And we don't accept sloppy finger patterns. Did you ever hear of lead guitar? |
| Anne Szanew: But you still don't understand. Every time a student conquers one speed, we send them to a faster class. They are always writing at breakneck speed. That's why they are sloppy. |
| GasHouse: Bull. I didn't learn to play guitar at the speed that I now perform. To this day, when I learn a new pattern or riff, I slow it down until I can accurately hit the strings. Once I learn where to put my fingers, I increase the speed. Your students seem to do it backwards. They want to perform with speed now and clarity later. It doesn't work that way. It never has and it never will. |
| Anne Szanew: I'm not sure if I have all of this down. Could you -- |
| Operator: Please deposit 75 cents for the next three minutes. |
| GasHouse: I think I'm out of change. |
| Anne Szanew: Mr. Jones, this is my number at -- |
| Operator: Please deposit 75 cents for the next three minutes. |
| GasHouse: What? |
| Anne Szanew: This is my number at -- |
| Operator: Your party has been disconnected. |
| Anne Szanew: Oh, crap. Oh, crap. What an interview. A blues musician. They're not going to believe it. They're not going to believe it. Oh, crap. |
| Operator: What? |
(This is the end of Part One of our interview with GasHouse Jones.) |
| Freelance writer Anne Szanew lives in Sacramento, California, with her husband, two children, and a variety of pets and visiting relatives. |
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