Pink Floyd Cramer

Meet "Pink Floyd Cramer."

But let me back up.

While I've been galloping around in the snow the last couple of weeks yelling at my house while making videos and running contests that I have to beg people to enter, my teenage daughter has been acting like a mature adult, spending her spare time teaching herself to play Pachelbel's Canon in D, which I very immaturely refer to from the other end of the house as "Play that Taco Bell song again, Baby Girl!" Oh, I slay me.

And it is that kind of remark that gets me this look:

I noticed at one point that she was doing something different in certain chords, and since I don't know music, I was trying to tell her that I liked what she was doing, but I couldn't find the words to describe it. And then I remembered--Floyd Cramer.

So I said, "OH--I know what it is--you're playing like Floyd Cramer!"

Please refer to the picture again.

My dad used to love Floyd Cramer's distinct style, which had a sort of tinkly, twangy ring to it by using a certain technique. So I thought, "I know what I'll do. I'll go Google Floyd, and maybe, just maybe, Al Gore's Internet Genius will enable Kristin to hear Floyd and recognize what I'm talking about."

Well, who knew there was so much information about Floyd Cramer. We probably know more about him than his mom did. And so I called Kristin in and made her listen, and as soon as he did that one twinkly thing, recognition flashed across her face, and she said, "Oh, I get it!"

Upon further reading, I learned that Floyd perfected the "slip note" or "grace note," as notated at the left.

And so I felt like a musical research genius. [Note to self: add "musical research genius" to resume.]

Funny, but Kristin doesn't seem to enjoy it when I lovnigly call her "Floyd," even though boyish names are trendy right now for girls (Alex, Charlie, Riley, Logan, etc.) I guess "Floyd" does sound sort of middle-aged, 1950s, mutton-chop masculine. So I thought, "How could I soften up 'Floyd' and still have a great nickname for her?" And then it hit me, "Pink Floyd + Floyd Cramer = Pink Floyd Cramer." LOVE IT!

And do you know, for some reason, I Googled "Pink Floyd Cramer," and someone already coined that name. Unbelievable!

There is nothing new under the sun. And the scope of the Internet is getting scarier and scarier. But don't be nervous. Let a few seconds of the slip-note artistry of Floyd Cramer soothe you back into sanity. (But no more than a few seconds, or you might find yourself heading back toward insanity. It's a strange style.) And one of these days, maybe I'll talk Pink Floyd Cramer into letting me post her stylings, as well.

PS: Tomorrow I'm posting a letter to myself in my 20s, when my kids were small, as requested by Missy of It's Almost Naptime. It's one of my favorite things I've written. I hope you'll stop back by.