No guitar related Christmas gifts this year, although the X10 was my birthday and Christmas present to myself. ;)

There was one very cool music-related gift from our daughter and son-in-law, though. See if you can figure it out from what was in the gift box...

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ofQZNxpyD.../6GiftClue.jpg

I did get out the X10 and play a couple songs related to this gift.

Merry Christmas, CF friends!

GOT TO BE CAT FOOD!

Musical catfood?? Ummm... no.

Here are a couple clues: the pelican is Chilly Willy; the Christmas scene represents "noel."

Billy Joel ?

Ding, ding, ding! No more calls, please - we have a winner! The 4 of us will be going to a Billy Joel concert. The kids got us tickets! :)

LOL....a bottle of red, a bottle of white. Have fun !!

A recording with the Spire Studio, a cover of a Billy Joel song. Definitely, the song selection influenced by the concert tickets Christmas present.



1 acoustic guitar, 1 bass, 1 drums, 1 background vocal and amplified acoustic, 2 vocal (lead and harmony). X20 used; 1 track recorded with the onboard condenser mic on the Spire, the other guitar track plugged in to get a bit more bite.

The weather has been beautiful the past few days, so I haven't gotten in more than a few minutes of guitar playing. Just under an hour to lay down these 6 tracks this morning.

We have some instigators around here - not as many as in the Florida Everglades, but you still want to pay attention in the swampy areas. See ya later, instigator!

So, how do you like that Spire? Got anything to share with us... or are you going to use it when doing video?

Instigating minds want to know. ;)

You have to be careful what you say. A few years ago, I did a song-writing class for our daughter's middle school kids... turned out we had 45 minutes to write a song and get it on video. It was a fun class project.

Our daughter said that some of her current students want to learn to play guitar. She teaches math and science, btw. I said, "It is good to know that young people still want to learn how to play guitar. I guess if this whole being retired thing doesn't work out for me, I can busk on a street corner or give lessons like I did back in college for 25¢ per student, per class. (Yeah, that was a long time ago.)

She said, "You gave guitar lessons? Would you do that for my class?"

I said, "You know we are only here for 2 months, right?"

Apparently, she took that as "Yes." I got a call from her yesterday while Joan and I were grocery shopping... "You weren't joking about guitar lessons, were you? I mentioned that to my kids, and have permission from my principal for after school lessons..."

We already "volunteer" in her class for special projects (not sure it is volunteering when you are asked to do it) - today we will be working with the kids on building Gravity Cruisers (a science project sponsored by GM)... and apparently next week I'll be doing guitar lessons two days a week. Another "volunteer" project.

I will have to brush up on teaching techniques and come up with "age and situation appropriate" song choices. We'll see how much guitar interest there is. She sent permission slips home yesterday (she doesn't put things off).

While visiting with her last night, there was the obligatory "these are kids, not boat crew, so you have to watch your language and sarcasm..." discussion. Contrary to popular belief, I can behave in public when necessary. I do kinda enjoy making her sweat, though. ;)

Does this mean I have to learn some Taylor Swift songs?? I really need to watch what I say around my kid, not just her students. I did lay down some ground rules: let's put a cap on it, say the first 5 that sign up; they have to have a guitar that they can use at home to practice; and most importantly: she will be there with me. I would need a chair and a whip to face these kids on my own. :D Yes, kidding. We haven't met this class yet - today is our first day with them. We've been doing this work in her classes for a decade now, and the kids have been good. She drives home the point to them that we are volunteering for this - treat them good so they'll want to come back.

No, this post isn't "carbon fiber related" other than the fact that I'll be using my X10 for this class. I feel like this CF sub-forum is a tight enough group that we can share... anyone know any 2-chord songs that 13 year olds might recognize? :)

Jim;

I am a strong believer in community service and working with kids is one of the most important forms of service. It should be fun and you might even learn from the experience. Teaching is a great way to learn.

Jim;

Some second thoughts.

I think most guitar shops will offer special deals for multiple orders--could be a way of enlarging your student body.

You might want to move this subject to its own thread. While people on this forum have mentioned taking lessons, there has been little discussion of teaching methods.

The lessons might also involve a casual study dealing with carbon fiber. If you were to allow your students to alternate between their wooden guitars and your X7 would a clear preference become apparent? Would the offset sound hole lead to better hearing and quicker learning?

Interesting stuff.

Interesting, indeed, Evan. We are in the Phoenix area for February and March. The X10 is the only guitar I brought with me. My daughter is always thinking of ways to make these kids "better people"... while she teaches them math and science, she also takes advantage of any opportunity to broaden their horizons. I am realistic in what I can hope to accomplish in the short time I have: I hope to instill some enthusiasm for playing guitar, and they will have to take it from there, whether studying on their own or finding a (paid) teacher.

Back in our day, every kid wanted to learn to play guitar; a few of us stayed with it. I don't know how prevalent wanting to learn to play guitar might be these days. I guess I'll find out this next week. My daughter doesn't know if these kids that are interested have any foundation in music. My plan is to teach them how to tune a guitar, get some basic chords down, and then start learning some songs as soon as possible. I hope to have them playing some 2 to 3 chord songs by the third lesson, assuming they are willing to practice at home.

At this point, I have no idea what they have for guitars (our daughter has already rounded up a couple for those who don't have a guitar at home). This is in a school that is "economically disadvantaged" (over 80% of the kids are on free or reduced lunch). I think a discussion of carbon fiber vs wood may be a bit beyond them at this time. I will be excited if each of the guitars have all six strings. I will do what I can to get their guitars playable and we'll take it from there. Had I known about this before we left home, I would have brought another guitar or two and more of my string stash. We'll see how it plays out.

Keep us posted. I have 4 packs of DR Sunbeams, 12-54, which I'll happily pop in the mail to you if you think you can use them for this project.

Nice job!

Hey....how do you do the drums? Are you actually playing the drums or are using some software to get that part of the track?

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago