[The Bard Rocks]

It's hard to say what will work - if anything - with him. Here's random ideas.

1) Tell him that David Gilmour had to start and put in the hours to get where he is now. Yes, some learn faster and progress further than others. That's true in all aspects of life. But it doesn't mean the rest of us do not have a purpose in life. It takes all of us to make the world go 'round.

2) Ask him for critical help with your playing. Mention you wish you could be shown how to do something you are not getting. Or ask him to explain things that he knows, so you understand them too. Get interested in the music that he relates to so you have that to share.

3) Realize that for many teens the important thing is peer pressure. If friends decided to get a band together, and urged him to join them, maybe that would do the trick. And not that many teens think their parents are cool or do cool things, especially when their buddies are around. They want to be even less like their parents at those times. And it is common at that age to think your folks don't know anything.

4) Have him realize that anyone successful had to start somewhere and put in the hours. (Which relates to #1, above.)

5) Show the joy you get from your music, the things it does for you and hope that he will find something in his life that fills the same spot. That we all need that spot filled.

6) That he wants to be perfect or not do it concerns me. This may be a silver lining, however. If you can uncover it. I am sure David Gilmour finds problems in his own playing and wants to improve. Does your son realize this?

7) Wanting to immediately be good concerns me more. Life gives us few shortcuts When he began to learn about music, did he have to work hard at it and put in the time? I'd search for some success in his own life that demonstrates this. I would not want him failing to try something only because it won't lead to immediate success. He'll never accomplish much in life with that attitude. My father taught me that anything worth doing was worth working for.

8) Maybe you are putting pressure on him, pressure that he senses more than you?