Complicated Musical Life

While some things in our lives may be cooling down (i.e., hockey), other areas may be heating up, or at least getting a bit more interesting. A has been taking guitar lessons with her two teachers for about two years, and being the absolutely objective person that I am, I can honestly say that she has a thing for music. She can sing and learns songs like it was second nature. Sure, she lacks motivation on many occasions, but when something interests her, she really dives in. It’s cool to see. She’s a real student of music, and goes to certain lengths to understand the theory behind songs and melodies. I don’t know enough to adequately describe it, but trust me, it’s cool to see the way she describes a chord progression or song structure.

With that in mind, she has been on acoustic guitar for all this time and has hinted at wanting to play electric guitar. There is the coolness factor in electric guitar, plus the fact that a lot of her friends who cannot play acoustic guitar talk about learning electric guitar, which is probably all about talking the cool talk, because I think you’re better off learning to play acoustic first, then going to electric, but that’s just me.

I spoke with A’s teacher, EE, who is an amazingly accomplished musician, and he said he teaches electric guitar and even recommended some types and brands. We’d have to get an amp, as well, but it would be pretty cool to get her set up on her path to being a rock star. We even got a thumbs up from mom, though time will tell how this plays out.

Speaking of music, N has been progressing nicely on his drums. We’re still searching for that elusive deal on a snare drum, but we may be getting closer. I can’t say for sure. Once we get the snare, we may have a line on a drum set that we can borrow indefinitely, and then we’re in business to have the noisiest house in the neighborhood. Good thing we live in the woods, otherwise our neighbors would drive us out of town from the noise. N has also indicated that he wouldn’t mind learning bongos, and we have several people in town who could teach him that, so that would be cool.

Even though N may not be as enthralled about music as his sister, at least that’s the vibe he gives off on the surface, he’s doing a great job, and he, too, is showing a deeper understanding of music. Even his teacher has said that he’s clearly getting a feel for playing drums and isn’t simply going through the motions. Plus, when he sees or hears music, he can comment on the drum progression or pattern, so something is sinking in. It’s too cool for words.

We also just got word from KR that she’s back and ready for lessons, even though we’ve been seeing EE. I was thinking it would be cool for A to jam with KR and take electric guitar lessons with EE, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to d o l f i for the pic.