Guitar Player

Ever since A got back from camp she has been inspired on guitar, and it’s really cool to see. It’s one of those situations that you really hope will happen but you can’t force the issue, or you can, but they end up hating or resenting it. This is great because she’s gravitating to the instrument on her own, sort of. When she was little I did everything I could to inspire and encourage her to play an instrument, any instrument, but guitar has the cool element, more so than piano. I even started learning myself, and got her a little guitar. She was lukewarm on the whole thing, and didn’t really find her groove with it until we did some lessons with other kids, and suddenly she realized the cool factor of playing guitar.

That sparked a little interest, but it wasn’t until she hooked up with our friend KR for lessons when it got to be fun for her. KR plays a lot in the area, she’s an outstanding guitarist and singer, and she’s always been nice in inviting A to come up and sing/play with her. I think A likes to be on stage performing, so it inspired her even more. We eventually moved on (at KR’s suggestion) to a new teacher, EE, and even he commented on A’s guitar abilities. It’s good because he’s a guitar officianado, and challenges A to try newer, more difficult and technical pieces. Best of all, she embraces the challenge. Plus, he gives his students many opportunities to perform.

The final piece of inspiration came when she went to camp and played at the talent show. Some of the other kids were apparently very good at guitar, and A came home truly inspired. She couldn’t wait to get back to playing with EE, which is too cool for words. Now she plays all the time. Often when she has free time, she’ll pluck away up in her room, which is music to my ears, literally and figuratively.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Alex Lenkei for the pic.