Shin the Musician
Last update: November 2, 2025
The John Shinnick Web Site
The recording, lyrics, and back story to "My Brain Is Too Small", a song I wrote and recorded in 1990.
The Understudy
Not much has been happening musically. What I’ve noticed lately is that I haven’t touched my Tele (Fender Telecaster, a solid-body electric for you heretics who just don’t know!) for about a year now. I got away from even filling in as a substitute guitarist for my old band, Void Where Prohibited about a year-and-a-half ago. And the church band I’m in has lost all its other bass players. I’m the only one left. So, I don’t get to play guitar there anymore. And I’m the bass player for my secular band the Blues Daddies.
The upshot of it all is that my beloved Tele hasn’t seen the light of day for too long, but with no venue in which to play it, I just don’t have a need to break it out. But what about its understudy? Several years ago I bought a second solid body electric from the other guitarist in my band, an Anderson. Anderson isn’t nearly a prominent a name in the guitar world as Fender, Gibson or Gretsch, but they make nice, high-end guitars. Eric was selling his and I decided I really needed a backup for my Tele. An understudy, so to speak.
Paying homage to the film “The Matrix” I dubbed it “Mr. Anderson”. I don’t recall taking it on stage, there was really no need. It was too similar in sound to the Tele, but I would bring it along in case I broke a string. Ironically, it’s far quicker to change guitars than to replace a broken string. But I tend not to break strings.
But overall, I probably played Mr. Anderson more than the Tele, which never had a name other than “My Tele”. The neck and general feel of the understudy was very close to that of the Tele, so I used it for practice, thus keeping the strings on my stage guitar sounding and feeling new. I just didn’t need to change the strings as often on my practice guitar.
But now, I don’t need an understudy for a guitar I’m not using at all. So the issue comes up, should I get rid of Mr. Anderson? I’m afraid the answer is clear – yes.
I may yet get into a musical situation where I’m back playing electric guitar. My church band may yet find another bass player! But I seriously doubt I’ll need a backup. So, Mr. Anderson, it’s time to set you free. Hopefully your next owner will treat you well.
In other news, I’m finishing my book on music theory. I‘m still finishing the music theory book. It’s harder carving out time for it at home. Too many competing demands. But I’m getting there. The author has gone through chord progressions and makes some interesting points about why chords tend to work in certain orders and what chords can substitute for others in a specific context, but he seems to have abandoned examples. Grrrr…! And he was doing so well.
Right now, I’m going through his high-level view of jazz. Some people have been surprised that I’m not a fan of jazz, but it’s true. It always seems like musicians trying to impress other musicians. I liked some of Brubeck’s stuff and even had the chance to play some of it, but for the most part it really doesn’t do much for me. Still, the discussion of chord extensions beyond the 7 has been of value. The next and final chapter covers transposition and instrumentation, which should be of greater value and interest.
I’m likely to go back and review a couple of the chapters that I didn’t feel I quite understood, and I’ll keep the book as a reference. If nothing else, it will point out where I went wrong in my original songs and how I might spice up any new stuff I may write. To hear Paul McCartney tell it, none of the Beatles knew any of this stuff in their early days, yet they wrote so many truly great songs in their ignorance that I have to wonder if reading about theory will only corrupt me.
The video, lyrics, and back story of the song I wrote and performed for my retirement party in 2006.
One guitar too many?
