I’ve made no secret of my unabashed fandom for multi/talented musician Mike Keneally. I’ve been talking about him and his work since I started this site, beginning with calling him a “personal icon.”
Mike is not only an incredibly gifted musician, he’s also one of the finest human beings you’ll ever meet. He was not only kind enough to let me interview him for my first book, but he also wrote its foreword (as I’ve said time and time again). Over the years, we’ve gotten to be friends.
While I haven’t officially chosen a favorite Keneally album, Dancing is definitely among them. I get a real kick out of a tune called “Lhai Sal” (pronounced like the cleaning product). It’s a 2 1/2-minute instrumental absolutely packed with musical information. In a way, it reminds me of Frank Zappa’s “The Black Page.” Which, when you think about Mike’s resume, only makes sense.
The first time I played guitar, I had no real interest in learning other people’s tunes, since I wanted to create my own works with the very limited skills I had. My skills are still limited, but I’m not pushing as hard to come up with material. Each challenge will reveal what it wants to in due time. Meanwhile, I’m reveling in learn other people’s material. It’s a great way to improve my skillset.
With that in mind, I wanted to learn “Lhai Sal.” There was just one problem: it’s too damned hard to pick up by ear!*
Last fall, Mike and I were having a casual chat. I mentioned that my birthday was coming, and asked if he would consider teaching me “Lhai Sal” as a gift. I was half kidding, as I know how incredibly busy Mike is. So, imagine my surprise when he replied on par with, “Sure! As soon as I have time, I’ll put a video together for you!”
Seriously? How cool is that?
Time passed. Mike was in the midst of releasing his latest solo album, The Thing That Knowledge Couldn’t Eat, as well as readying to go on the road with Devin Townsend. To say nothing of the other musical irons he had in the fire. I knew it might be a bit before he got around to making the video. Every couple of weeks, I would get a text saying something like, “I haven’t forgotten about the video.” I would tell him not to worry about it, since I knew he was busy. So am I, for that matter. My goal is to pick up my guitar for half an hour a day, no matter what. The efforts have been … mixed.
A few days ago, I was working on a review for Prog magazine. I took a break to check my emails, which have a way of piling up quickly. Let’s see: requests for reviews, concert announcements, assorted junk, and … what’s this? It was an email from Mike. Wonder what that’s about?
I opened the email to find a kind note and a video link. Sure enough, there was Mike speaking directly to me me and walking me through the paces to playing “Lhai Sal.”
I won’t lie — my heart fluttered a little as I opened the link, which was actually two videos, totaling a shade over 15 minutes. As I expected, the degree of difficulty is … high. It’s gonna take me a while to learn this one!
Which led me to my next thought: what am I gonna do with this piece once I learn it? Turns out I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Oops. As I write these words, I’m still not completely sure. But somehow, I’m gonna make it part of the Break’s Over recordings.
Mike asked me if I minded him sharing the video with his Patreon supporters. I told him that as far as I was concerned, the video was his to do whatever he wanted with it. So, if you’d like to learn “Lhai Sal” or be a part of other things Keneally, head over to his site and do what you need to do to make it happen!
Meanwhile, wish me luck. This is gonna be a tough one!
* — Sadly, I haven’t read music since junior high school, which was a LONG time ago. I simply haven’t had the time to reacquire this very perishable skill. So, I try to learn by either ear or guitar tab. It takes a bit longer, but I usually get there.
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I’m currently at work on my next book, The Wizard of WOO: The Life and Music of Bernie Worrell
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