Get off Your Ass and go to Class!
by Torch
Are you one of those people who has the house loaded up with shiny new guitars generally purchased at Guitar Center? You know those people, and it is not just guys who sit there saying, “Yeah, man, I’m going to put together a band one of these days.” Well the days are passing, the beer gut is growing, the long rocker hair is thinning, and the dream lives on. They can generally pick up a guitar, crank up the amp and play the first few bars of “Iron Man,” “Smoke on the Water,” and if they’re really talented, “Sweet Home Alabama.”
I am guilty of this. I have a piano, drum kit, two basses, six guitars, three banjos, and a conga drum. It is like a bachelor’s refrigerator; lots of condiments just in case some food shows up. Well, I have all the parts and pieces just in case a band shows up. I have taken lessons in all of these instruments, and they are expensive! So I can play a little bit on each one; banjo, “Cripple Creek;” piano, I can play the entire “1972 Patriotic” primmer with only a few profane words interjected per song. I am starting to get somewhere with the guitar, if it just wasn’t for that damn F chord, as I have completed guitar 1 A, and 1 B with Citrus at Swallow Hill, and am signed up for guitar 2 A!
In an interview I had with a rather renowned guitarist he shared a story. He had been in a band for a few years and was having some success; he then went to New York and talked to his uncle, who was a singer on Broadway. His uncle was a well-educated man and told him that it was nice that he was out living his dream to be a musician, but that the truth was he didn’t know anything about music. That shook his world and he enrolled in Berkley School of Music.
There are a lot of musicians out there who don’t really know the first thing about music or the music business. Here are two things to think about: first, there is a lot of competition, especially with the Internet playing such a big part in the music business; and second, if you really love music, you ought to educate yourself. Now this guitarist asked me what I wanted to do. I love to write songs, so I told him I wanted to write at least one great song. I don’t want to be on stage, that is someone else’s job, but I want a better understanding of how music works, and theory, and songwriting. My fire was back. I have been writing songs ever since we spoke, about one a week, each with a little something to offer. What I do know deep down is that I, too, don’t know anything about music. I am continuing my guitar lessons, starting piano again to get my sight reading going, and heading back to college to study Music Theory 1.
The dream is only worth the effort you put into it, and to make your dreams come true you need to have the respect for yourself to turn off the TV or computer, and learn and practice. You are never too old or too young to learn something new. It is time to sign up for class! There are a lot of schools out there. If you really want to make a career out of music, locally, you should go to UCD, they have an excellent music program. If you can’t quite afford it, Arapahoe Community College teaches some classes, and that is where I will be studying theory. There are tons of smaller music schools like Swallow Hill, and then there are private lessons from great teachers like Alameda at Home. Take your tasty dream and eat it, drink it, love it, nurture it, and socialize with others who want to do the same thing; inspiration can come from competition.
Or, you can sit on the couch like a lump and occasionally dust off your neglected instruments as “some day” passes you by. Do you want to sit there, and a year from now, while that guitar you got for Christmas is waiting, and still have no better understanding about how to play it?
Category: Shop Talk
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