
Robot Composers & Horror Music
Strong Songs
Playing Left Handed Guitar
On last month's Q&A episode I also got a question about playing instruments while left handed. The great and underrated Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits like me is left handed but he plays his guitar right handed though admittedly I cannot finger pick like he does. Jimmy Hendrix played a regular guitar upside down and lefthanded but he re-strung it so that the strings would be the same with the high strings farther away from him and the bigger low strings close to him. Albert King not only played guitar upsideDown and left handed like Hendrix but he also never bothered to re-string the instrument so he essentially played it upside down.
Ever wonder what makes some music sound scarier than other music? Same.
Kirk answers listener questions about music in horror movies, Tune-Yards horn arrangements, funky drum sounds in Biggie and Paul Simon tunes, randomly generated music, and why musicians are their own worst critics. He also revisits the intro to Guns 'n Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle," and shares some listener emails about being a left-handed musician.
FEATURED/DISCUSSED:
- “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ’n Roses from Appetite for Destruction, 1987
- “Redneck” by Lamb of God from Sacrament, 2006
- Melissa Cross demonstrating different types of screaming on YouTube
- “Hold Yourself” by Tune-Yards from sketchy., 2021
- “Cissy Strut” and “Pungee” by The Meters, 1967 and 1969
- “Virtua Mima” by Masahiro Ikumi n from the Perfect Blue soundtrack
- “Pink Soldiers” by Jung Jae-il from Squid Game, 2021
- “Submarine” by Bjork from Medulla, 2004
- “Theme from Jaws” by John Williams, 1975
- "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits from Brothers in Arms, 1985
- “Purple Haze” by Jimmi Hendrix from Are You Experienced, 1967
- “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Albert King, 1967
- “Hypnotize” by Notorious B.I.G. from Life After Death, 1997
- Shawn Rivera demonstrates a Conga delizado or “Moose Call”:
- “Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard” by Paul Simon from Paul Simon, 1972
- An explanation of the Cuica on YouTube
- “Diamond Girl” by Seals & Crofts from Seals & Crofts, 1973
- “So What” by Miles Davis from Kind of Blue, 1957 and the Strong Songs episode about it
- Various compositions by @MelodyBot3456
- “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 from Joshua Tree, 1987
OUTRO SOLOIST
This episode's outro soloist is the wonderful Bay Area pianist/accordionist Rob Reich. He's got a bunch of albums you can check out and contributes to an array of interesting projects and experiments. Find more at his website, http://www.robreich.com/.
--------------------
APRIL 2022 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS
Daniel Hannon-Barry – RR Prince M. Levy-Benitez – Elliot Rosen – Ashley Hoag – Mark and Michelle – Kelsair – Rob Bosworth – Kyle Cooke – Donald Mackie – Melissa Osborne – Christopher Miller – Jamie White – Christopher McConnell – David Mascetti – Joshua Jarvis – Niko – Joe Laska – Laurie Acreman – Ken Hirsh – Jez – Melanie Andrich – Jenness Gardner – Simon Cammell – Guinevere Boostrom – Narelle Horn – Bill Rosinger – Erin – Aidan Coughlan – Jeanneret Manning Family Four – Doug Paton – Dave Sharpe – Sami Samhuri – AccessViolation – Ryan Torvik – Merlin Mann – Glenn – Jim Chokey – Andre Bremer – Mark Schechter – Dave Florey
APRIL 2022 HALF-NOTE PATRONS
Chad Hivner – Travis Pollard – Jeff Ulm – Jeff Newman – Max Dickstein – Deebs – Portland Eye Care – Adam Ray – Anupama Raghavan – Demetri Detsaridis – Carrie Schneider – Alenka Grealish – Anne Gerry – Richard Sneddon – David Judson – Julian Roleff – Janice Berry – Doreen Carlson – Mtwolf – David McDarby – Abigail Duffield – Rapha David – Wendy Gilchrist – Lisa Turner – Paul Wayper – Dennis M. Edwards – Jeffrey Ferris – Bruno Gaeta – Kenneth Jungben – Adam Stofsky – Zak Remer – Rishi Sahay – Jason Reitman – Greg Burgess – Ailie Fraser – Paul McGreal – Karen Arnold – Natalie Mistilis – Josh Singer – Phino DeLeon – Schloss Edward J., MD – Amy Lynn Thornsen – Adam W – Kelli Brockington – Stephen Rawlings – Ben Machta – Victoria Yu – Kevin Rivers – Brad Clark – Christopher – Michael J. Cunningham – Mark Boggs – Mino Capossela – Steve Paquin – Mary Schoenmaker – Sarah – David Joske – Emma Sklar – Bernard Khoo – David Blackman – Robert Heuer – Matthew Golden – David Noah – Geraldine Butler – Richard Cambier – Madeleine Mader – Timothy Dougherty – Jason Pratt – Stewart Oak – Abbie Berg – Sam Norton – Nicole Schleicher – Doug Belew – Dermot Crowley – Achint Srivastava – Ryan Rairigh – Michael Berman – Olivia Bishop – John Gisselquist – Elaine Martin – Kouroth – Bonnie Prinsen – Sharon Tree – Belinda McGrath-Steer – Liz Seger – Eoin de Burca – Kevin Potter – M. Shane Borders – Pete Simm – Susan Plein – Dallas Hockley – Jana J – Jason Gerry – Nathan Gouwens – Will Dwyer – Alethea Lee – Lauren Reay – Eric Prestemon – Cookies250 – Damian Brady – Angela Livingstone – Jeffy Thanadros – David Friedman – Sarah Sulan – Diane Hughes – Kenneth Tiong – Jo Sutherland – Michael Casner – Barb Courtney – Derek Bender – Jen Small – Lowell Meyer – Etele Illes – Stephen Tsoneff – Lorenz Schwarz – Wen – Jack Sjogren – Geoff Golden – Robyn Fraser – Pascal Rueger – Randy Souza – JC – Clare Holberton – Diane Turner – Tom Coleman – Tijs Soete – Mark Perry – Dhu Wik – Mel – Eric Helm – Jake Roberts – Bill Fuller – Steven Maron – Michael Flaherty – Jarrod Schindler – Caro Field – Michael Bochner – Duncan – Naomi Watson – David Cushman – Alexander – Chris K – Gavin Doig – Sam Fenn – Tanner Morton – AJ Schuster – Jennifer Bush – David Stroud – Amanda Furlotti – Andrew Baker – Matt Gaskell – Jules Bailey – Eero Wahlstedt – Andrew Fair – Bill Thornton – Brian Amoebas – Brett Douville – Jeffrey Olson – Matt Betzel – Mueller – Nate from Kalamazoo – Melanie Stivers – Richard Toller – Alexander Polson – Earl Lozada – Jon O’Keefe – Justin McElroy – Arjun Sharma – James Johnson – Andrew Lee – Kevin Morrell – Kevin Pennyfeather – Emily Williams
--------------------
💃STRONG SONGS LIVE!🕺
July 11, 2026 | Portland, OR
Buy Tickets Here
----LINKS-----
💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS!
Patreon | One-Time Donation
🏠 HOMEPAGE
👚 MERCH
📷 KIRK’S SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram | YouTube | Bluesky
🎧 EVERY STRONG SONG:
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music
🎨 SHOW ART:
Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics


