Musings on music, sports, life in general from Quincy, Illinois.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Guitar Lessons

I'm starting guitar lessons with a new student and it's very interesting to hear motivation and inspiration for learning.

Most of my students have been younger. They pick it up in a hurry and quickly move on.

Right now I'm working with two students. One is a girl in junior high who is playing the bass and really rocks, she's at the point where we just basically play a few songs and she experiments.

My new student is a mom in her early 30s who has always wanted to play. She says she's always been frustrated when siblings try to teach her.

I taught myself and I'm living proof you don't need to be a musician to play an instrument. Certainly you want to play well, use good technique, learn your craft. The Funions have really good musicians, but our band is about energy and the vibe, not how well or perfectly we recreate a song.

So I'm looking forward to a new challenge with this gal and I think it will be fun. She wants to learn. She's already shown she can do it. It's up to her to see how far she can go — I'll get her started, and she can zoom from there.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought playing an instrument at an acceptable level MADE you a musician. You also are a musician in that you are a pretty fair writer of songs. Being a musician isn't a BAD thing, is it?

Rodney Hart said...

When I think of musician I think of somebody who can read and write music, someone who is an artist and good at their craft. Not sure what "acceptable level" means. I'm an average guitar player who likes to play, that's all. And I hold musicians in high esteem.

Anonymous said...

The chorus you have given in your post is correct.Finding the best guitar class can be very frustrating. we might end up being taught by someone who is not adept with the subject, and might teach us certain disciplines that will forever marr our basic foundations.