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The How Long Blues in the Recovery Room

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Here is the video of Dr. Lefkowitz and myself playing at my work. We did a 2nd take of this one because one of my favorite nurses of all time Bev and my favorite anesthesiologist Les missed the 1st one!

I now have a fonder respect for blues guitarist! I find the rhythms to play are difficult to master. The loosie goosie timing takes a bit of getting use to. The coming in and out of time signatures at unfamiliar times are something that I have not tried before. I am more accustomed to straight forward rhythms so I must appear to come off as a spastic rhythm guitarist, ha!

Just a question here for all you musicians out there, have you had certain challenges when you try to play the blues properly when your own style of playing is completely different for the blues? I just want to find out if it is just me who has the problem adapting to this unique genre or is it just me.

Like most guitar players I love attempting different forms of music to broaden my musical horizons and repertoire. It is also an advantage to having a number of tricks in my hand bag to pull out when needed.

This genre of music will take me a while to get a proper handle on it but I feel that I am up for the task. So a practicing I a go!

So sit back and have a laugh at my expense! Cheers!

Update – sorry had to remove the video as the doctor I work with made it private. Darn!

Keep on Jammin’





Playing guitar with the Singing Cardiologist

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Happy holidays everyone and I trust that you all had a great time off!

This year I had the chance to play in the Surgical Recovery Room that I work in with our legendary Singing Cardiologist doctor also known as D.R. Cardiac Rap! He played last year for us and also the patients that recuperating there right after their surgery. It was amazing to move patients through the area and having them say things like wasn’t that a doctor singing and playing guitar for us?

Last year he performed this reggae style song on his acoustic guitar with a drum machine running in the background. He had a few back up singers(nurses) which added to the show visually speaking. The tune was about life as a cardiologist and what goes on behind the scenes in the O.R. I must say it was fun to witness!

This year he asked me if I wanted to play with him so I jumped at the opportunity. He said that he was working on a song called How Long Blues. I’m not that big of a blues guitarist but I said why not. We both hoped to have jammed at least twice to get a handle on how each other plays but we only had a short practice right before playing in front of both staff and patients.

The song went well enough and a nurse was recording it on video. I haven’t seen it yet but when he sends me a copy I’ll post it up on this particular site!

Keep on Jammin’ in the New Year everybody!

More questions about Nail Hardener products for Guitarists

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As you all know by now my guitar playing style relies heavily on the strength and durability of my finger nails on my right hand for picking the strings when I’m playing the guitar. I’ve tried tons of nail hardener products over the years and I have yet to find the right one for me. In this post I want to hear about your personal experiences with any of the products below and find out what you think of them. Every bit of detail that you can share with us will be important to us. Learning is what drives this post!

Hard as Hoof is one product that I hear about but I personally don’t know anyone who has used it. I did find this ringing endorsement from a classical guitarist named Perfecto De Castro who uses it. When viewing a youtube video of him playing shows you the stress that he puts on his nails. He’s not a spokes person for the company and that fact makes me feel a little more comfortable about his statement. There is another guitarist named Rico Stover who wrote a book called The Guitarist’s Guide to Fingernailsand he talks about Hard as Hoof and he recommends this product as well.

Sally Hanson, Hard as Nails Extreme Wear is another one that keeps creeping up in my searches. According to the company, they have removed all 3 of the unhealthy elements that are considered dangerous to our health that is found in most nail salon products. The three ingredients are toluene, DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and formaldehyde. The effects of these ingredients are something that I did not know about until I was doing my research.

I’ve tried this product for around a week but I then found myself way too busy to get back to using this one. This was because we had just bought our home so renovations and nails don’t mix, trust me on this one! I think I might re-visit this product later on.

Nailene, Acrylic Strong is a product that I was introduced to by a nurse at work. I am so envious of this woman’s nails that it drives me crazy! When she let me take a closer look at them, they looked like you could use them as screw drivers! She says that it’s idiot proof, ah she was thinking of me, and that it is a low maintenance product. Ah, gotta put that one on the list too!

A guitarist on a guitar forum said some good things about a nail hardener by Barielle. Nail Strengthener Cream is the line that he was talking about and I really wish that I saved that article damn! As some products proclaim, this stuff was originally designed for the hoofs of horses around the world, really?

Last is this product by guitar players, for guitar players. It’s called Guitar Player Nails. This is something that has been on the market for a while but I’ve never heard of it before. It doesn’t mean that it’s no good but … well I haven’t heard of any other reviews of this one. Now this is where you guys come in!

I am pleading to you, my good readership, to help me out in the quest for the ideal nail hardener product! Has any of these concoctions, that I have just posted about, worked for you? If not then please inform me/us about the ones to avoid!

Keep on Jammin’

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