Naming stuff is hard. John Lennon used to say that he had a dream in which a man on a flaming pie came down and told him that he should name his band The Beatles, with an “a”. Paul McCartney said that the guys in the band were big fans of Buddy Holly’s band The Crickets so they decided to name themselves after an insect too, but change the spelling of it so that it would have the musical term “beat” in it. Lennon’s story is probably untrue but, I think, considerably more entertaining.
It’s the best case scenario for a rock concert. The moment when the dude on stage slams together the lids of his perfectly made up, or perfectly not made up, eyes and risks the welfare of his larynx in order to deliver a guttural and seemingly all-encompassing “ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!”
If you ask any of my adult students, they’ll likely tell you that the number one piece of advice that I give to all my over-age students is that, in order to get as good as they want to get in the amount of time that they want to get it, they’ll have to give up their job, their kids, or both.
Oh man, this is hard to do… I have a confession to make.
I have purchased, I have in my possession and when the mood strikes me just right I do occasionally listen to the newest Katy Perry album.
Please, please don’t tell anybody.
If people find out about this it will obliterate any amount of street cred I may have.
So ya’ wanna’ play a musical instrument do ya’? You say you went down there to the big guitar store and got yourself the prettiest and shiniest little red electric guitar you could find and a sweet looking amp with all the blinking-red-and-green-light-adorned knobs to go with it? Or maybe you went down to the neighborhood instrument shop and bought that cool looking acoustic; the one that looks just like the one Jimmy Page played on Stairway to Heaven.
This is the busiest time of the year for us at Dace’s Rock ‘n’ More Music Academy. All the kids go back to school and want to start up music lessons. Of all the questions regarding beginning music lessons that we get asked at Rock ‘n’ More, the following are some of the most frequent. I hope this helps you get started.
I imagine that if I was going to build a house I would want more tools than just a hammer and nails. I’m sure that with the right wood, it could be done, but just think of the time it would take. With my music school, my kids, my band, and my other time-consuming stuff in which I’m involved I just don’t have the time to put in, so I don’t think I’ll try that.
Being human is pretty cool. I’m able to make and use tools, I’ve got opposable thumbs, and I’m able to contemplate my own existence. Although being human is totally awesome most of the time, there are some drawbacks. One of which is that I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that the concentration thing is great for taking math tests and escaping from 500 pound gorillas, but when I first started trying to play guitar and sing at the same time, I’ll be darned if it didn’t take away a bit of the magic.
I don’t believe in natural talent.
Show me someone who you think has natural talent and I’ll show you someone who spends an inordinate amount of time doing that thing which you think he or she has the natural talent.
