I had a nice time with my son today.

[Redstone]

He's been wanting to start guitar lessons, so we went to the music school in town, found their rates to be reasonable and their teachers good, so I signed him up to start next week. (And before you ask, no, I'm not about to try to teach him myself. Musical instruments and driving are the two things that parents should NEVER teach their children themselves.) So I bought some strings, and when we got home, I got out my old veteran guitar (the one that has a thousand dings from being with me since 1970, and has been everywhere in the country with me...and the case has the stickers and decals to prove it).

We went out on the screen porch, and I showed him how to remove the strings (showed him one, and had him do the rest). Then I had him clean and polish the guitar (Lesson #1: You can't play cleanly with a dirty guitar).

Then I showed him how to put the new strings on (Lesson #2: Don't be a lazy, folksinger-looking dipstick: Cut the excess off the ends of the strings, don't leave them sticking out in all directions).

Taught him how to do both relative (string-to-string) tuning, and how to use the Sabine tuner. Then the parts of the guitar, and the most important thing; how to carry one (Lesson #3: If I ever see you carrying that guitar with its neck across your shoulder like Bob Dylan on the cover of that album, I'll take that guitar and hit you with it).

Then Mrs R came out and informed me that I was going to play the damn thing and sing for her, and right now. My God, the old lady (the guitar, not Mrs R) still sounds great, after all the years and all the miles. And it wasn't even an expensive guitar to start with.

And, to top off a nice couple of hours, our new next-door neighbors were in the house with their windows open while I was playing and singing. The wife next door came over about a half-hour later, and asked Mrs R which CD we had been playing out on the screen porch, because she wanted to buy a copy but couldn't figure out whose CD it was.

God Damn, I still got it. My head is just now getting deflated to its original size.

Just thought you all might enjoy seeing a happy post from me instead of my usual bitching and whining.

Redstone

[GenDem]

1. That's great

Sounds like a perfect day of family bonding.

I love those kinds of special moments. They are memory makers.

Hope your son enjoys his guitar and lessons, and glad you still got it! Nothing feels better than knowing you still got it. :hi:

[Redstone]

6. Thank you. Mrs R was actually in tears when I did "Shenandoah." It was quite touching.

Redstone

[lost-in-nj]

8. Shenandoah

has a special place in my heart...
I posted this before BUT
when my daughter was in jr. high she was in chorus and the went to a competition EVERY
year, well they sang this song and I was in tears but they won the ESPRIT DE CORP trophy for this
The kids were so young they had NO idea what that meant....
Only because they had come in first the year before..
I LOVE that song... always have and always will.....


lost

[Redstone]

15. Well, the jury's still out as to whether I'll be able to start playing the guitar again

on any consistent basis ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=6478883&mesg_id=6478883 ) but if I am able to, I'll ask you to PM me with a mailing address and I'll send you a cassette.

No promises. But if you like that song, you'd like my version of it; it's a real "two o'clock in the morning while you're in the middle of a four-hundred-mile drive" rendition.

Redstone

[wildhorses]

2. you better watch out ---

some people might actually think you are a pretty sweet guy:hi:

[Redstone]

7. Let just keep that between us, OK? I do have a reputation to protect, after all.

Redstone

[lost-in-nj]

11. To late Wildhorses

We know......


nothing like Redstone..... :)

lost

[wildhorses]

16. he is rather special, isn't he?

dayum!! there goes his head again:P

[Redstone]

25. You two stop it RIGHT NOW!

Or don't...

Redstone

[wildhorses]

27. we will stop right at that point when your head will still fit through

the door:P

[lost-in-nj]

3. I love guitar music

Joe Cocker sings "I who have nothing" a Tom Jones song.
It has a guitar solo in their that is to die for...
I also LOVE a song from Focus... and old group they did Hocus Pocus in the 70's
I don't remember the name of the song but it was awesome....
"Teach your Children Well"

:hi:


lost

[Kajsa]

4. What a great experience, Redstone!

You and your son had a great time
AND-- your neighbor thought you were
recording artists.

;-)

Very cool, all around.

:thumbsup:

[Redstone]

9. I like teaching. And my son really needs to do this. And for the ego, it's not the first time;

Mrs R and I were eating lunch at the bar of a Mexican restaurant a few months ago, and I was trying to remind her of some song or other, so I sang a few lines a capella. A guy down the bar said; You MUST be a professional singer. Do you have any CDs out?"

Damn, that felt good. Especially because I have NEVER considered myself to be much of a singer. I always relied on songwriting and "stage personality" to carry me when I was doing music for a living.

Redstone

[Shell Beau]

5. I could've told you you still had it!

I can just tell!

[Nevernose]

10. Speaking of the old lady (guitar not the wife)...

I have this drum set, see. It was my dad's (actually my stepdad's, but that's a whole 'nother thread).

He's gone now, but his drums still remain. I still have them.

He had three sets -- a nice looking one for formal events, a nicer looking set for events in which people only cared about looks, and a beat-up, old, nasty looking set that he literally bought from Woolworth's in the early 70s.

I've still got them all. I've considered giving them away, but haven't found anybody who really appreciates them yet.

I set up all three sets. One is really nice looking. The other has about 25 different drums and cymbals. The third one, the Woolworth one, only has a snare, a tom, a bass, and a high-hat -- and is clearly the finest sounding drumset of the three.

When someone hits a beat on the Woolworth snare -- when they can say, with neither hesitation nor prompting -- "Wow, that's a really clear hit" -- I'll know I've found my drummer.

For the record, I played saxophone. An old -- more a work of art than a modern instrument -- Martin tenor. I was once granted an entire year of playing a silver Martin bass saxophone. I thank God for my child, my life, and for that saxophone.

[Redstone]

18. You understand, don't you? I have a special-edition guitar, handmade and signed by K. Yairi himself;

looks like a Martin D-45 with all the abalone inlay and such, God knows what the Yairi might be worth these days, but that battered old Elger that went everywhere with me? I'd NEVER part with it. If it needed a thousand dollars worth of repairs, I'd have it done in a heartbeat.

I took it apart and rebraced it when it developed an alarming bulge in the top, just below the soundhole. I re-fretted it and reset the neck angle three times, and made it a new saddle and nut out of fossil ivory from Alaska, and installed a Martin Thinline transducer in the bridge. Hundreds of hours of painstaking work through the years to keep that guitar playable.

Not that it was worth all that work, over all those years, really, in any rational sense. I never even gave it a name. It's just an old, inexpensive guitar. Kinda like those Woolworth's drums of yours, yes?

Redstone

[no name no slogan]

12. Sounds like a great day

Your son is very fortunate! It's very cool that you're encouraging him with music. He will definitely appreciate it when he's older, if he doesn't right now.

:D

[merh]

13. I'm jealous

I want to hear the best of Redstone and his stringed lady. x(

It sounds like a glorious afternoon.

:hug:


edited to correct typo :silly:

edited again in the hopes that I can get on the mailing list when the tape/CD is made! :hi:


:loveya:

[Redstone]

20. You're on the list. Again, no promises, but if I CAN do it, I WILL do it.

Ten long years it's been, that I haven't played.

GOD, I miss it.

Redstone

[merh]

22. And I bet that your stringed lady has missed you

keep in mind, do it for the pleasure, screw perfection and don't hide your light under a bushel ;)

:hug:



edited for stupid typo

[Redstone]

24. Lord, no...I'm a perfectionist about my work, but NEVER about music. That's one of the great

things about playing Irish music in bars; you screw up, you just say "oops" and have a drink of Bass Ale, and start over, and nobody cares.

God, I miss it. Performing music in public for a good audience is better than cocaine. It's better than ANYTHING. God, do I miss it.

Redstone

[MichiganVote]

14. Don't teach him, just play with him

Hey Redstone!:hi:

[Redstone]

21. Excellent advice, indeed. I'll practice along with him, if I can. I will try, I promise you that.

Redstone

[KitchenWitch]

17. That is so cool!

:)

[Redstone]

38. Thanks, KW. It really WAS a good few hours.

Redstone

[SeattleGirl]

19. Sounds like a wonderful time, Redstone.

Everyone in my family, except my mom, played a musical instrument, as did one of my uncles and several cousins. We would often get together for a "family garage band" session, and it was always so much fun.

I think it's great that your son is learning the guitar (and dang, I wish I could have heard that "CD" on the porch!)

[Redstone]

23. Someday, you may hear it. Mrs R is keeping the pressure on me. But we do have to remember

that I may just not be able to bring it back to any meaningful level.

Crossed fingers, though, OK?

Redstone

[SeattleGirl]

26. You got it!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. Yay for Redstone!

Congrats! Don't be in such a hurry to deflate your head... :)

[Redstone]

30. No, I won't be in a hurry. It felt DAMN good.

Redstone

[Drum]

29. Sounds like quite a nice day!

...And here's to many more such.

[Redstone]

33. Thank you. Those days only happen if you remember to make them happen, yes?

I'll remember to do so from now on, I will.

Redstone

[Drum]

37. So true.

And so will I...thanks for the wonderfully-told reminder.

:hi:

[huskerlaw]

31. I'm so glad you had a good day.

Now I really want to hear you play and sing!

:hi:

[Redstone]

35. Thank you, HL. Maybe some day. Maybe.

Redstone

[Wetzelbill]

32. my advice for when you make an unusually happy post

is to go out and kick a dog or berate an elderly lady just to make up for it. I mean there has to be a balance, you know?

But yes, it sounds like you had a great time. That's what it's all about!!!

[Redstone]

34. How about if I fistfight a badger or two? THAT ought to provide me some perspective.

Or at least some real torn-up knucks, anyway.

Are you done with your college for the year?

Redstone

[Wetzelbill]

36. oh I'll be done next week

I just have some finals and I'm good to go.

Yeah, I'm not too sure what kind of perspective fighting a badger will give a guy, but I suppose it's one of those things you have to do to find out. I prefer to crack jokes about it instead, haha.

[reyd reid reed]

39. Sounds like a wonderful day

Tomorrow's going to be just as nice.

:hug:

[Redstone]

40. I know that you want me to have nice days, because you're such a good friend. Here's hoping, m'dear.

And here's hoping that your days are good ones as well.

Redstone