Lorraine's Diary

Year 2024

09 December 2024 - Spirituality of Music

I have been looking at a few books in hope to find the true meaning of spirituality. It has been a bit of a mystery to me for quite a while, though ultimately I discovered that it is conceptually one's own perception. Although I value to a certain degree books on such a topic, I equally value real experience, too. I have always associated spirituality with music, and still do, whether I am in solitude, or with a small group of people, or an extraordinarily enormous congregation like The Who's concert I attended on 11 March 1976 at the MSG in New York. It was at this particular concert I attended which gave birth to my experience with spirituality. During those hours I felt a strong connection to The Who and their audience who also, like me, had a deep reverence of spiritual love for them through their music which brought everyone together. This particular spectacular musical experience brought a sense of meaning to my life, like an Avatar who has always journeyed with me to guide me in a world of music. Perhaps this transcendent experience is a personal perception of spirituality. Nonetheless, it cultivated a positive emotional well being. Whether it be various genres of rock, including The Who, orchestra, classical and even opera, music can be quite spiritually enlightening!

Have a Merry Christmas.

02 December 2024 - Charity

I have opened the doors to my closet and drawers where I keep my wardrobe, and have decided to donate quite a few of my clothes to the community charity recycle collection centre. Since I have purchased many new colourful cotton button shirts for myself, I decided to discard some of my older shirts. It is difficult to part with these clothes because many of them are well kept and still in good condition. But being I have limited room for harbouring all my previous clothes, some of which are a bit sentimental to me, I thought it would be best to donate them.

Mostly throughout the autumn and early winter I have made several excursions to the donation centre, each time with these clothes folded neatly and placed in clean packaging. Hopefully, such contributions go to some form of 'good will' whether it be dolls clothes, theatre, to the impoverished and needy, and even use for fuel for heating homes.

25 November 2024 - PodCast Release

Podcast Episode 1 * 8.46 minutes

How I Became An Artist

by Lorraine Juhl

Lorraine Juhl, songwriter and solo guitarist, talks about how she became an artist. Intertwined with wonderful music excerpts of her works of music and monologue, Lorraine talks about who inspired her, the songs she wrote and style, the highs and lows during the span of her involvement in music, and the projects she is currently working on.

Play Podcast Transcript

17 November 2024 - Waffle Weekend And Library Books

On a cold autumn day a sweet way to warm up is with waffles. My granddaughter and son came to visit for an afternoon after they had been to the children's main library in the city. I had prepared some homemade waffles just before they had arrived, then simply warmed them up. Self-chosen toppings of natural maple syrup, marmalade, and confectionary which I place on a neatly set home table. I happen to like the natural maple syrup topping - it really enhances the taste of my homemade waffles.

I am glad my granddaughter is taking some interest in books while she is enrolled in kindergarten. As for classic children's English books, a few I became engrossed in were 'Alice In Wonderland' by Lewis Carrol, 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' by Richard Bach, and for something a bit poetic 'A Child's Garden of Verses' by Robert Louis Stevenson.

15 November 2024 - Collaboration

Sometimes I like to try out new ideas. I have considered a collaboration on a music project. One idea which I came up with as a relatively simple music project is co-composing a 12 bar guitar solo where one musician records their rhythm guitar part on a track while the other musician records their lead guitar part on another track. Thereafter the two tracks are mixed creating a guitar solo which can be listened to with a player. This can easily be accomplished using a multitrack recorder app, such as SoundTrap, even if the musicians are located in different countries. The only thing you have to do is to meet management requirements. Then you can if you want it.

Although, I have been offered to collaborate on music projects and prompted for ideas, up until I have worked on my own. After many years of experience I became capable of songwriting, composing music, and even doing the engineering/production myself, and have actually become used to it. I enjoy songwriting and composing music for pastime fun, self expression, and even sometimes for therapeutic reasons. However, I do like to keep connected with artist musicians. The exchange and flow of ideas through a chat, or letter, or even a posting is enormously mind opening. Perhaps, this is a form of collaboration within itself.

1 November 2024 - New Songs Release

I am delighted to announce my release of 4 new song tracks along with sleeve notes. To listen to the songs tap the track title below. Enjoy!

Tracks:

All Time Traver

Wandering Here And There

Round In Circles

Night Time Dreamer

Sleeve Notes:

I have released a new collection of songs which I composed: I wrote the lyrics for the vocals and music for both rhythm and lead guitar. I immensely enjoy playing guitar as a soloist and doing recording sessions of my music in my home studio on my own. I am delighted to share my song tracks with others for the enjoyment of listening to my music.

Although my songs are original, like many of my other works of music which I have been composing from 2002 to 2024, my songs draw their influence from a wide range of genres of legendary classic rock, orchestra, and classical music. Various parts of my songs borrow elements for rhythm and lead guitar which are blended and played in my own style, and acoustic and electric resonating sound.

Although I feel a sense of enrapture as a guitar soloist, songwriter, and making recorded works of my music, I find these particular music projects fun, enjoyable and even therapeutic.

- Lorraine

21 October 2024 - Don't Forget Your Health

Once in a while I have to take a day off. I took a trip to the city. While there I stopped in the pharmacy for a flu vaccine and over - the - counter pharmaceutical products, such as hand and body moisturising cream - you need them, especially when the weather gets cold! It takes 3 weeks before a flu vaccine is effective. In my case just in time before the flu season arrives.

Afterwards I went out to lunch and treated myself to a delicious sandwich, just before heading back to the studio.

Lorraine doing sessions in her home studio, autumn 2024

01 October 2024 - Sessions

Spending some time alone certainly has set the mood for expending some creative energy and self expression. During the past couple of months I have been composing songs. Now I have been playing them back, listening to what I have composed. Not only for self enjoyment and sharing with others, but also self improvement as a songwriter and guitarist. I receive instant feedback when I can playback what I had composed.

Being rather focused and enthusiastic simultaneously, I have been doing quite a lot of sessions in my home studio, making recordings of the songs I have composed for guitar and vocals. With state of the art equipment, doing sessions in a home studio such as mine is relatively convenient, however I would not say sessions are easy.

Doing sessions requires quite an enormous amount of patience and concentration. Often I have to do several takes before realising a decent track which can be enjoyed listening to. I prefer to be satisfied with the track first, before sharing a track with others.

Sometimes doing sessions can be exhausting, taking hours to complete a decent track for, say, a five minute song. Of course, after some experience I have discovered that I can complete a session for a track in less time. Being familiar with equipment usage and track production helps immensely to cut down the amount of time used in a session. And of course, but not least, practising the songs before entering a session.

I hope to release and publish my songs along with an overview about my music, including questions and answers, later this autumn. So stay tuned....

24 September 2024 - Busy Weekend

My weekend was just about completely taken up with hosting my son and granddaughter. So, I was a bit swamped with extra cooking and tidying up. But, now I have finally been able to catch my breath. My granddaughter is growing quite fast, and has started kindergarten while my son is now working and has bought a townhouse.

Signs of autumn have arrived. The cooler weather is starting to set in and the Oak tree leaves are beginning to turn colour from solid green to yellow, red and orange. The past weekend was the last of the warm weather so my husband and I took a few long walks fulfilling the necessary daily exercise.

Lorraine working out chord progressions for a song while making a note of the chords.

13 September 2024 - Some Creativity

Every once in a while I get into a creative mood while finding I have an enormous amount of energy for songwriting. Since early August I have composed a few songs in the classical rock 'n' roll style genre: I wrote the lyrics, composed music for guitar and vocals, and wrote the form.

I find the most enjoyable part of writing songs is actually working out the music for guitar. I love working out various chord progressions in a particular key, as well as the rhythm. One addition I have made to some of my more recent songs is writing a guitar solo for the rhythm and lead guitars, and placing guitar solos in different sections of a song, such as the middle or end. It certainly gives a song a different effect.

'Last Night At The Proms' concert at The Music House in Aalborg. Thursday 29 August 2024 at 7:30 pm.

30 August 2024 - Last Night At The Proms

Upon entering the hall of the Music House, my husband, Peter, and I were handed a libretto and offered paper British and Danish flags. What fun walking through the grand hall with these flags. But, I was wondering if it was appropriate for me to be waving their flags and not an American one. Despite the surprise, I thought it was exciting.

I had a most enjoyable evening out at the Music House in Aalborg to see the live performance of 'Last Night At The Proms' conducted by British conductor, James Burton, and the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra with special guest Aoi Tomioka. Smooth playing violinist, by the way.

The orchestra performed a lovely selection of familiar and popular British and American orchestra music while we and the rest of the audience participated in the orchestral performance waving flags and clapping to repetitive motifs and rhythms in specific movements when our conductor waved his arms at the audience in a particular manner. I found it rather exciting and fun, really. I just love to participate in playing music.

But that wasn't the only amusement. I also found the summarised biography stories of each composer and their compositions presented in English by conductor James Burton, enlightening and entertaining. He really captures the audience's attention and gets them interested and involved in the music and performance.

Lorraine Practising guitar playing The Who's song, 'I Don't Even Know Myself.'

20 August 2024 - From My Studio

I immensely enjoy playing rhythm guitar, especially on an acoustic guitar. A while back I was looking for a few new songs to play as a single guitar part which combined both strumming and tones as a part of the rhythm. I have not practised playing this type of rhythm very much in the past. Astonishingly, I came across a track new to me that I took a fancy to for both sound and rhythm guitar while listening to a recent release by The Who, 'Who's Next - Lifehouse', titled 'I Don't Even Know Myself.'

Enthusiastically, over the summer I had been practising with acoustic guitar 'I Don't Even Know Myself.' At first the track was a bit challenging for me to learn to play, especially the intro because of the rhythmic variation, but I am eager to learn what I have a passion for, and with persistent practise the song became rather easy for me to play. Now I can play it along with The Who's digital album track and have added the song to my repertoire song set along with another song I learned to play this past summer, too, by The Who, 'Now I'm A Farmer.'

I have updated my repertoire to include these additional songs - Tap here, making it 21 songs I am able to play with guitar by The Who. Although I have learned to play many songs by The Who, I would rather not say that it will be the last one. I prefer keeping an indefinite plan, as I never know what will inspire me next.

18 August 2024 - Final Summer Day Trip

I took the day off to take a final summer day trip with my husband, Peter, to Aarhus to meet up with Bjarne and Marian one last time before they return to New York City. After arriving there, we had lunch at the Rådhus restaurant before heading off to take a long walk through the Marselisborg forest. In there we stopped to visit the botanical gardens of the Marselisborg royal's castle which happened to be open to the public when we visited it. I particularly liked the rose gardens for its lovely fragrance and garden structural design.

From there we headed off for the afternoon cafe. There was not any vacancy at the forest outdoor Viking cafe, so instead we went to the cafe at the Moesgaard Museum where coffee is served 'ad libitum'. Thereafter we shopped at the museum's shop where Marian went along with me and I finally found a lovely decorative silk summer neck scarf with purple colour in it to match with some of my clothes while Bjarne and Peter shopped for books. We ended our day trip with an evening dinner at a restaurant all together before heading home.

11 August 2024 - Invitation To Wedding And Reception

I was up at 2am this morning to catch a 40 minute flight on an aeroplane to attend a family wedding and reception with my son and husband and his mother, who's son, the groom, was getting married. Although I was a bit overtired from a lack of sleep for the occasion, I managed to find a bit of delight for a few moments to chat with a couple of people from the bride's family about music, one of them who was another guitarist who plays country music. Otherwise, the people from the groom and bride's families attending the wedding were polite, the food was good, but quite a lot, and the hotel lodging where the reception was held and we were staying overnight was quite nice.

28 July 2028 - Hosting A Small Party

At this time of year I tend to receive the most invitations. Not this one particular occassion which occurs once a year, however. Instead, I hosted a birthday party for my son. Every year I prepare a special recipe of Moussaka and bread from the bakery. I am encouraged to prepare this homemade Greek recipe a few times yearly. Apparently, it is a favourable recipe. Although, I, too, find the recipe delicious.

Lorraine, front, with the hat, with her husband and friends looking toward the bay along Aarhus

25 July 2024 - Day Trip to the City

Summer holidays are often filled with a bit more social contact and activity. My husband and I drove south to Aarhus to meet up with some friends, Bjarne and Marian, who are originally from Denmark and England, and are now living in Manhattan, New York. They typically fly over here and reside in Aarhus for a while, to escape the excruciating summer heat in New York. The four of us spent the day eating out at indoor restaurants for lunch and dinner in the centre of the city of Aarhus,both with delicious food, and at an delightful outdoor cafe in the Moesgaard forest with up to hour walks through forest and along the coast in between meals. Since this social event is typically held only once a year, there is a lot to catch up on, making it a day of extensive conversation. Unusually, my husband and I did not arrive back home until just about midnight.

Lorraine and her husband at the beach by the Svinkløv Badehotel

Here are a couple of songs I wrote about the beach and trip to the beach:

Tap Midday At The Beach to hear it

Tap Road With No Name to hear it

20 July 2024 - Beach Day (story and songs)

What a perfect day to go to the beach. The sun was shining bright while the sea salted air was quite still. I packed a picnic of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee and headed to the beach, by the beach hotel, with my husband.

After picnicking, we took a long walk along the sea coast bare footed heading a half hour south and then a half hour north. I find the sea water to be so soothing on my feet, and the still sea air and sound of the waves crashing along the beach is quite calming to my head. There were a few people bathing while others were tanning. But, mostly a rather tranquil beach of refined sand, small colourful stones, calm rolling waves and sand dunes covered in grass along the coast. I saw only a few seagulls out at sea, but no boats to be found, at least not today.

The beach has brought me great delight. I have many memories and joyful experiences of it, as I have come to this particular beach many times with my husband, son, granddaughter and even friends.

I have written a couple of songs about a splendid day I spent at the beach and delightful trip to the beach:

Tap Midday At The Beach to hear it

Tap Road With No Name to hear it

Lorraine in the lunch dinning hall at the beach hotel restaurant at Svinkløv Badehotel

17 July 2024 - Beach Hotel Restaurant

After weeks of pouring rain, the shining sun appeared. At last, I was able to take a trip out to the beach with my husband where there is a beach hotel which serves excellent seafood platters. I really enjoy the smell of the sea salt air, especially when first arriving at the beach and inhaling the first breath of it before entering the beach hotel restaurant for lunch. From just about any seating in the lunch dining hall of this restaurant, the view of the grass covered sand dunes and the sea are splendid.

In mid summer, the sea water is rather chilli here, although it is quite pleasant taking a long walk along the water. I find the sound of the crashing waves and the feeling of the light breeze upon my face along with the peaceful natural surroundings to be pleasant.

The beach hotel area is a rather nice place to be on a summer holiday with family and friends.

Lorraine's excerpt of a poster taken of the original painting, Kollektiv Poesi, by Francisco Blanco

16 July 2024 - The Art Museum

The weather has been rather dreary. Clouds painted dark grey and pouring silver coloured rain. I spent the afternoon at the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art with my husband, son and granddaughter. On exhibition was modern art for adults while simultaneously a workshop for kids. What a good way to brighten up a day with family, friends and even loved-ones.

Being mostly familiar with artists from the Italian Renaissance such as French Impressionists and the colourful broad brush strokes of Vincent Van Gogh, most of the modern artists are rather unfamiliar to me, let alone their artwork rather incomprehensible. I only see blobs of colourful paint, and wonder if that is what it is supposed to be. Nonetheless, the colourful paintings certainly distracted me from the dreary weather and brightened up my day.

While at an earlier modern art exhibition which I once saw at this art museum back in 1993, I acquired a poster from the museum's shop originally painted by Francisco Blanco. I especially like it for its colours, brush technique, and that it is vivid enough for me to see what it is about. I particularly liked the theme, being that I play a guitar and I enjoy music.

This art museum also houses a library of art books, including such artists known to me as Monet and Picaso. But, to my surprise, the most grand of all, the library housed an enormous grand piano! - And I was so temped to play it!

14 July 2024 - Invitation to a Party

Every summer my husband and I are invited to the residence of Birger and Marianne who host an afternoon and evening party with quite a lot of food and conversation, and a long walk. They live in a residential community a bit outside of Aarhus and an hour and half drive south from my house.

Lorraine (with the tan hat, last row, second from left) with the Culture Travel Group at the Palace of Ferdinand & Isabel in Seville, Spain

18 June 2024 - Touring

I have been touring Andalusia, Spain through Granada, Cordoba, Seville, Ronda and Malaga with the Culture Travel group, visiting historical sites from the 700 A.D. to 1400 A.D, hearing street music - flamingo, orchestra and Rock & Roll, tasting Spanish tapas and the local spanish food, walking through fantastic gardens, and swimming in indoor and outdoor pools. It was an enjoyable, delightful and insightful trip.

19 May 2024 - Fun Afternoon Gig

Amazing. I actually met someone, my son's friend, Enni, who knew a few songs by The Who and was a good singer, too. So, I got my acoustic guitar out to play and we did a gig in my studio, playing 'Behind Blue Eyes' and 'Baba O'Riley' by The Who. Afterwards we listened to a whole bunch of British music via streaming. What a fun and delightful afternoon.

By the way, it is Pete Townshend's birthday today.

Lorraine's Les Paul electric guitar along with albums: 'Empty Glass' by Pete Townshend, 'The London Years' by The Rolling Stones, and 'Abbey Road' by The Beatles.

01 May 2024 - The Songs Are Over

It was enjoyable playing guitar in a seven member ensemble and band this winter and spring, working out, practising and rehearsing songs from various genres of Rock and Pop. Below is the song set list I played guitar in with the band.

I have also made a page dedicated to the ensemble and bands I play guitar in for both past and any future sessions. Tap here for all the details: Ensemble and Band.

Song Set (winter and spring 2024):

Pete Townshend - 'Let My Love Open The Door'

The Rolling Stones - 'Wild Horses'

The Beatles - 'Two of Us'

Duran Duran - 'Ordinary World'

Robert Plant - 'Harm's Swift Way'

The Cardinals - 'Erase/Rewind'

Rammstein - 'Don't Die Before I Do'

28 April 2024 - There's More At The Door

The past few weekends I have been hosting guests. The spring is usually a good time of year for this type of occasion, as the weather gets a bit warmer and the sun shines more. I had a chance to practise guitar just before the guests arrived last weekend, but this weekend most of the morning was spent preparing moussaka.

23 April 2024 - Repertoire and Sessions of Spirituality

When I really like a particular song, especially if it is a song by The Who, I make an effort to practise it on guitar, as I have done with over 30 songs by The Who. One such song I recently learned to play on guitar is 'Let My Love Open The Door' by Pete Townshend. Although it may seem at first a bit challenging to learn to play primarily because of the fast tempo, it turns out that playing the chord voicings that Pete Townshend uses allows a guitar player, like me, to play in time with the fast tempo! Now the song has become rather simple as well as enjoyable to play on guitar. So, I have added 'Let My Love Open the Door' by Pete Townshend to my repertoire.

Sometimes I practise songs by other artists in music, as I have been doing a lot more since February of this year when I joined an ensemble and band, and will be involved in until mid May this spring. Playing in an ensemble and band is a bit different from my solo practising in my home studio. When I practise at home I am more conscientious and particular about mastering a song. When I play a song by The Who in my home studio, I try my best to emulate Pete Townshend's style, playing his songs on guitar more precisely like him; I tend to play all the guitar parts to a song both rhythm and lead as well as playing the entire song; And I continue to practise them - making the songs a part of my repertoire and fulfilling me with a sense of 'spirituality' with The Who! When I play in an ensemble and band, I play one guitar part, typically rhythm, join in playing chosen ensembles by me or the band, and I tend to improvise. Most of these songs I play solely in one or two sessions, and they rarely become part of my repertoire. I have an entire thick notebook of these types of one-time session songs which have accumulated from the year 2002 until present.

The last session I played in with the ensemble and band was the rhythm guitar parts to 'Harm's Swift Way' by Robert Plant. And this week I have been learning to play 'Wild Horses' by The Rolling Stones in my home studio in preparation for the next session. I try to do my best to work out the rhythm to the song along with the track before the upcoming session. Hopefully this method improves the quality and 'spirituality' of the session.

11 April 2024 - What a Workout! Yet, Worthwhile.

I have learned to play a little over 30 songs by The Who since 2002, in which 19 of them remain as part of my repertoire. Recently, I have had the urge to learn a new song, only this time one of the solo works by Pete Townshend, 'Let My Love Open The Door' from his Empty Glass 1980 album. For the works of The Who, I had an elegant authentic transcript (A-Y), guitar recorded version, by Hal Leonard to conveniently practise from. But, I don't have the same type of transcrip for Pete Townshend's solo works. So, I did a bit of volunteer work interpreting and creating the tablature for Pete's track.

It might seem like a simple task at first, but in essence it can be a bit challenging, especially when figuring out which chords to play on guitar. Luckily I had some help from various guitar tablatures online which presented various somewhat non agreeing versions. I ended up choosing, what I thought to be the best versions, from thewho.net and ultimate guitar tablatures, in conjunction with the Empty Glass, 1980 album by Pete Townshend to create my own interpretation and tablature to follow the track, hopefully, precisely.

At first the chords seemed rather straightforward to play on guitar, until I learned that Pete uses a capoed guitar to play this particular song. So, I spent extra spare time translating the sounding chords in the original key to chords played respective to the capoed guitar, which led me to discover new voicings for these chords quite different from the typical open string voicings. But, after practising these new voicing formations, my fingers began to learn them.

I thought it would be best, as I have seen in other professional guitar tablatures, to create the tablature with lyrics, the actual sounding chords and the chords respective to the capoed guitar, as well as presenting the complete form of the song. The tablature I created ended up being on two sheets, but can easily be used to play guitar along with the track.

To complete and verify the tablature, I brought my interpretation along with me to the ensemble and band I joined to play guitar in, with a note on the tablature that it can be used for private studies as I have seen on other tablatures, where the interpretation was practised with not only guitar, but also drums, keyboard, bass and vocals. I got positive feedback for the tablature, claiming they were good notes. Although the session turned out to be a real workout!!

02 April 2024 - Lots of Easter Eggs

I get a bit interrupted and distracted from guitar practise when the holidays are around. But, then again so do many others. Although, it is a good thing that once in a while doing something different from the usual weekly routines are suppose to be beneficial. I should not complain, I did enjoy the Easter eggs, special meals for the holiday occasions and all the guests. And, I don't mind doing the extra volunteer work to make the holidays pleasant and enjoyable for everyone.

Tomorrow, I will be getting back into the weekly routine. I am looking forward to playing guitar in the ensemble and band I joined, and also learning a new song by The Who which I will be practising in my home mini studio.

29 March 2024 - Songs By Memory

I play guitar along with many songs by The Who. Up until now I have used the guitar tab to guide me through playing these magnificent music compositions. Although I can read guitar tab quite rapidly and play at the same tempo as The Who, I have been amazed while watching of videos musicians, such as Pete Townshend, playing along with guitar songs by The Who purely by memory. Pete certainly gives an admirable performance. I have aspired to do so myself. At least, to give a better performance. Recently, I am amused myself, when after playing songs by The Who by practising them repeatedly, I have actually been able to memorise a few songs myself. Memorising songs certainly makes playing guitar more enjoyable.

27 March 2024 - New Chords and Voicings

Every once in a while I obtain a new cover song which uses a whole different set of chords that I typically play on guitar. As an enthusiastic guitar player of the songs of The Who, my set of chords I play on guitar are primarily the same chords as Pete Townshend's. Recently the ensemble I have joined, handed out a song with a few new sets of chords for me to play by Duran Duran, 'Ordinary World'. So, I have been exploring a few new sets of chords for guitar. I prefer to choose my own voicings for the chords. I choose voicings which I am comfortable with as well as for the sound and efficiency. Inspired greatly by the intro to the song 'Amazing Journey' by The Who, I have chosen to play triads, although a different set, which can be played with guitar between the 5th and 12th fret. I have learned from Pete Townshend's works of music that he makes use of triads in many of his songs and compositions. I kind of like them, actually!

Double CD, 'Quadrophenia' by The Who and sheet music 'Sea and Sand' words and music by Pete Townshend in The Who

17 March 2024 - A Part For Everyone

I have been practising a few songs which are composed with a diverse variety of music constructs for guitar. Such music components as rhythm, arpeggios and lead guitar, I have been practising both independently and with the ensemble and band I joined. With the ensemble and band I have been playing in, I have been playing 'Don't Die Before I do' by Ramstein. When playing in a band, the arpeggios, lead and rhythm guitar and chords can be played by different musicians, taking the challenge away from a solo guitarist playing all the music constructs in a particular song. On the other hand, when I play a song such as 'Sea and Sand' by The Who, independently along with The Who's track, I play a good deal of the parts: rhythm, chords, and arpeggios. Usually, I have to let Pete Townshend play the lead guitar part to the guitar solo for the splendid song, 'Sea and Sand' while I play the Rhythm part.

Lately, I have been practising some lead guitar, playing the lead guitar part to 'Sea and Sand' by The Who. I particularly like this song as a choice for playing arpeggios, rhythm and lead guitar as well as for its sound and variety of musical expression and moods of stirring, softness, peacefulness and excitement. But, a song like this can easily be played with an ensemble and band, too. There is a part for everyone.

10 March 2024 - A Huge Bite to Eat

I was amazed by the huge portion of food I had for lunch while eating lunch out just across the street from where I play guitar in the Ensemble and Band I joined recently. I felt a bit empty handed not carrying my guitar with me while walking by, yet pleasantly memorable of the delightful moments playing guitar in the band. But I have to say that lunch was quite delicious and fulfilling, And to be honest I was not able to eat for the rest of the day - Incredible!

07 March 2024 - It is My Turn

I experienced a sense of delight playing guitar in the Pop and Rock Ensemble and Band which I joined. The last few times were remarkably fun and fulfilling. The band plays mostly cover music from the Pop and Rock genre. Being new to this group, up until now I have been rather quiet about proposing a song to play, allowing others in the group, who have been in the group before me, to make the choice of one or more songs to play. I enjoyed playing guitar to the songs that the group proposed, 'Erase/Rewind' by the Cardinals and particularly liked playing guitar to the song 'Two of Us' by The Beatles.

But, now it is my turn to make a song proposal for the band. After hearing the band talk about the songs 'Substitute' and 'Acid Queen' by The Who after the last practice session, I am looking forward to playing guitar to either one of those songs or any other song by The Who with the band.

04 March 2024 - Sweater Shopping on Sale

I donated a few of my old sweaters to the clothes recycle. Although armless sweaters from over 30 years of wear and tear, I thought that perhaps the thick wool could be reused for dolls clothes. They were among the last of my thick sweaters. So, I went sweater shopping and luckily I found some quite good quality thick soft woolen sweaters on sale. I was surprised nobody wanted them! Being in such a need of sweaters and so reduced in price I bought three of them.

17 February 2024 Music Ensemble and Band

I joined a Pop and Rock Ensemble and Band in which I can play guitar. I attend once a week for a few hours practising with the ensemble. I really love playing guitar with others, especially interested in playing musical instruments and vocals.

The rest of the weekdays I practise guitar at my home mini studio. Still, I am practising my repertoire from The Who. And, I include as part of my practise the songs from the band.

6 February 2024 - Swimming

I started to engage in some swimming at a local indoor olympic swimming pool. I found swimming to be a good therapy for my knee pain. In the water I can do light leg and knee exercises as well as full body swimming which works well for relieving knee and leg pain. The water is quite refreshing and revitalising, actually.

Since I decided to swim more regularly, I had to shop for some bathing attire, such as a bathing cap and swimming bag to carry my swimming attire in. Perhaps, a new bathing suit too, as my bathing suit is starting to show signs of wearing.

Lorraine playing 'The Real Me' by The Who with electric Les Paul guitar.

4 February 2024 - Ready for Music Band

I feel ready to play guitar in a real music band again. I have been practicing guitar regularly with The Who's albums and I feel confident that I can play with a band as I did between 2002 and 2007.

I set up my mini home studio, rendering it a comfortable place to practice guitar. I hung up some really splendid posters and photos of The Who on surrounding walls, some of which I framed already, and speakers and players which I use to stream The Who's music from.

During the past few years I have been using my Gibson studio acoustic guitar to practice with. I have taken out my electric Les Paul guitar which I use to play with in a band, and Marshall mini amplifier, which is especially ideal for a room such as a mini home studio. I am quickly becoming acquainted once more with my electric guitar: the feel of the fretboard, string gauge, standing up to play, adjusting the controls, and the sound. Really, I feel rather ready to play with a real music band.

22 January 2024 - Repertoire Updated

Back in 2002, I played on guitar the entire rock opera 'Tommy' by The Who. However, over the past year I have been slowly building up a new repertoire of songs which I play on guitar by The Who. This new song set which I play consists of a collection of songs from several different albums by them. I have conscientiously chosen a variety of songs, which range from slow to fast tempos, in the hope to include various musical instruments, sounds, moods and emotions, styles of guitar playing, and simply because I particularly like the song.

Recently, I added two more songs to my songset by The Who, 'Blue Red and Grey' and 'Too Much of Anything.' I have posted an update of my songset which includes these songs on the page Repertoire .

14 January 2024 - Stretch

I typically sit rather still while playing acoustic guitar, but inevitably use my fingers, hand, wrist and arm muscles. Of course practicing guitar regularly enhances quicker and flexible movement of them. On the other hand it is equally a good idea to stretch the fingers and hands backwards, twist the arm in the opposite direction and stretch the legs. The body stretch exercises that I do enormously help to prevent these muscles from becoming stiff.

My day now includes body stretches, arm and hand, and leg and knee exercises. They really work fine for treating stiffness and strengthening muscles. Actually, I feel rather physically better after completing these exercises. I prefer doing them at least a few hours before guitar practice, and one simple body stretch after my daily guitar practice. I feel quite a bit better, really.

Lorraine Juhl with sheet music 'Sqeeze Box' words and music by Pete Townshend, and CD 'The Who By Numbers' by The Who.

02 January 2024 - Warm Up Songs

I have taken over a whole week's break from guitar practice to hosting the busy Christmas and New Year holidays for the company. Although, I did provide a bit of musical entertainment playing on classical guitar a Christmas song to company on Christmas Eve. Still, I am gladly getting back into the swing of guitar practice.

As for a start, I thought I would embrace playing on guitar a couple of songs which I had not played before. So, I selected a few songbooks, 'The Who, Definitive Collection' from my bookshelf which contained an enormous collection of songs to choose from The Who, most of which the lyrics and music is written by Pete Townshend, songwriter and guitarist in The Who.

I thought I would start off with learning to play on guitar another song from 'The Who By Numbers.' Last year I learned to play 'Squeeze Box' and 'They Are All In Love', where I would play on guitar along with The Who's banjo and piano player, Pete Townshend, respectively. This year I am starting off with learning to play a slower song 'Blue Red and Grey', where I play on guitar along with The Who's mandolin player.

Also, while glancing through these songbooks I came across the song 'Too Much of Anything.' This song is among one of the earlier works of The Who and originally produced as one of the tracks on the album, 'Odds & Sods.'

After listening to the tracks from both albums via streaming, I found the songs to be rather attractive songs and ideal for slower and more calm songs to strum along on guitar with The Who. I had been longing to add a few additional slower songs to the song set I play by The Who as to provide more of a variety of works of music.

Lorraine Juhl' s bookshelf which includes The Who's deluxe 'Who's Next - Life House' box set. Photo December 2023.

01 January 2024 - Addition To My Who Collection

My collection of works of music by The Who and Pete Townshend have increased enormously over my lifetime. Recently, I acquired the Deluxe 'Who's Next - Life House' box set, a quite wonderful collection of hardcovered books, memorabilia, and CD's.

When I first opened the shipping package in which the box set came in, I felt a sense of delightful excitement and nostalgia, reminding me of the 1970's when I first gladly acquired the album 'Who's Next' by The Who on LP records. I became quickly eager to get acquainted with the 'Who's Next - Life House' works enclosed.

In this regard, I have spent quite a few winter evening hours already reading two enjoyable hard covered books, 'Who's Next -Life House' and 'Life House Graphics Novel,' in which a couple of the interesting writers such as Pete Townshend and Matt Kent are familiar to me.

I have also been working my way through the eleven CD's from the 'Who's Next - Life House' enthusiastically listening to the various track versions from the demos, sessions and live performances when I get the opportunity to use the common household Hi Fidelity stereo CD player. I am enlightened and entertained and, at the same time, greatly appreciative by these extraordinary works of music by Pete Townshend and The Who.

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