I've had two guitar classes so far. The instructor, Jim Flegel, is so encouraging and fun to learn from. He encouraged us to get the book that has a recorded CD accompaniment. Someone asked if we could have a friend play along instead. His reply: "If I'm playing along with you and slow down, I'll probably feel sorry for you and slow down. If you speed up, I'll speed up. If you mess up and start over, I'll start over with you. But the CD doesn't care if you slow down or speed up or start over or drop dead, it keeps going, which makes you try harder and practice more."
It looks like "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" is our next challenge. Has anyone ever seen or heard that song while NOT learning to play a musical instrument?
Speaking of "the old gray goose," I had a vision quest today on my way back from the DQ. I heard a rustling in the bushes, and a female mallard crossed the sidewalk right in front of me.. Some of you are aware of my family's affinity with waterfowl, so this sighting hit me in a primal place. I sat and watched her for about half an hour. Some roller blade jerks deliberately scared her away, but not before she gave them a Wigand-caliber dirty look.
I'm hoping to get better and louder on the guitar as the summer progresses. But I am very proud of learning some guitar note reading. Guitarists assign different numbers to the fingers than pianists, which threw me for a day or so. But I'm catching on and so far have been a diligent student.
The move to my new room was a killer--no elevator in this part of the dorm, and the deep canvas laundry cart I piled my stuff in looked like something Karen Allen would hide in while she's waiting for Indy to rescue her. I love my new "neighborhood," though. It's a coed wing also, but feels much more gender-balanced than my previous digs. I'm no longer facing the courtyard of the pounding yellers. So I'm looking forward to a restful night.
My next door neighbor, Bree, has some gutsy gospel music playing right now. Nice.
3 comments:
I heard Guns and Roses was getting back together.. I wonder..
Look out, Patty Scialfa!
Plus, you sing way better than she does. Specifically, you never sound like Snow White.
As a matter of fact, yes, I have sung "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" many times in a setting in which nobody was learning an instrument. As a teen, I used to go to "nature camp" (no, it's not what you think!) near Wheeling, WVa, and this was a tune everyone would sing around the campfire at night. Ah, those were simpler times.
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