Jake and I feel like we're taking a step *back* in our guitar playing, as we are learning MUSIC THEORY and it is oh so challenging *at times*...just like it was when we first picked up those guitars and started learning and playing chords two years ago...
But here's a cool story (if you have a minute...if not, then just browse down...the pictures are still lovely without the stories!)...
At a conference recently, I asked a professional musician about how he learned to play guitar. I got a very long story about how he was *forced* to do so, and yet he was happy with that and he would not have, in fact, met his wife had he not been *forced* to learn to read music and play several instruments.
::ahem::
Yes, this was an unschooling conference. He was new. (And the happy part of *that* story is that he told me that it was *my* talk that put them on the *definitely unschooling* path, from *thinking about unschooling*...YAY!!)
:)
He highly recommended I *force* my kids to learn to read music because they have a desire to get better at playing the guitar.
Well, I don't do such things. I Trust My Children and I Trust Their Hearts. If learning to play the guitar better truly IS something that resides deep in their hearts, then they won't let any obstacle get in the way.
And, once again, my children have proven that Trust to be right on, as Jake really DOES want to learn how to play better, and now we, together, are learning it all...from the beginning (even though I already know how to read music) (and even if *neither* child decided to NOT learn to read music, that would be really wonderful, too, as I know their hearts would just be following *other* directions, being fulfilled in other ways, and the Universe would have WONDERFUL things awaiting for them in *those* directions, also!).
So we have gone from playing incredible, beautiful music using just the CHORDS and our VOICES to painstakingly and repetitively pluck-plucking out *Jingle Bells* and *Michael Row the Boat Ashore* (oh, but I just found *Edelweiss*, which gives us a little more variety), let alone actually *practicing* scales in order to really KNOW them (I have, in the past, argued with people who say they *practice* an instrument...I insist that they are *playing* because that utilizes *this moment* and shows they are enjoying it *now*, rather than merely *practicing* for some future moment..but I concede, with apologies, because at this writing, I feel there is absolutely no reason to be playing and learning those scales except to be better at the guitar for some point in the future... ;).
This is the view from my perspective...if you can insert both frustration and sheer JOY, that would be more accurate.
This one's for my Dad...I made his famous potato salad this morning (with slight variations and he might argue that it's not *his* potato salad anymore, but we still call it that, anyway...and I do believe Sam ate half of that salad today...a salad that had eight eggs in it and four pounds of potatoes...)...
Jake:
(Jake here, decided to actually write today. -Grins-) It stormed last night. On and off really, pouring rain for three minutes and then calm for the next thirty. A cup of buttercups tipped over amidst it all. Does this one count as another Nature shot?
