Lost Angeleno

Guitar player

Last week I started guitar class.  Beginning Acoustic Guitar, being taught as part of Glendale Community College’s Community Services Program.  I got one of those little brochures in the mail for their night classes, and saw the guitar class, and thought, “Well, it’s cheap, and I’ve always wanted to get some real instruction, so why the hell not?”

I had fears, though.  I always have fears, of course.  Fears included (but were not limited to):

1. Class would be “too easy.” It’s a beginner’s class, after all, and I’ve been fooling around on my own with the guitar for about two years or more, so I know chord progressions and so forth.  I was worried the class would teach me things I already knew.

2. Class would be “too hard.” Advanced finger-picking techniques that I couldn’t pick up or something.

3. Class would be full of teenagers.

4. Class would be full of old people.

5. Instructor would be a dork.

So last week I ventured out to the wilds of Glendale (a mere 2 miles from my apartment) to have my first class.  And even though in the first class we didn’t cover anything I didn’t already know, I do have a good feeling about it.  Our instructor Greg (who is not a dork) is going to start teaching us how to read guitar tablature, something I’ve wanted to learn forever.  Greg also gave us a good mnemonic for remembering each of the strings on the guitar:  “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.” I always knew the two E strings but was fuzzy on the middle four—no more!

The age range in the class runs from around 19 or 20 all the way up to the woman who sat next to me, who was 53.  The experience level seems to run the gamut between people like me who have been playing around for a while but haven’t had any formal classes, all the way down to this one guy who, I swear to you, had just walked out of Guitar Center with a brand new guitar, never seen a note of music in his life.

So it’s a good mix, and I feel like I’m just about in the middle.  I had a jump on the first class, having already tuned my guitar, and knowing already how to read staff music.  I will be a blank slate when we start tablature, though.  Which is hopefully this week, but I can be patient.

At this rate, I expect I will be available for weddings and bar mitzvahs in the next few months.  Book me now before my schedule fills up.

Oh, PS:  I got all my CD’s out in the mail yesterday too, they are winging their way towards participants even as we speak.  I’m looking forward to everyone’s CD’s!  I’ll get my track listing posted by Monday—maybe on Friday if it looks like everyone’s receiving them.

1. the cds are out and mailed as of today. i’ll post the tracklist on friday as well. i know i teased about having two cds made for this, but i didn’t have enough time or cds to make that happen this go around. so you all only got 1 cd. i’ll save the other songs for another mix.  :)

   i can’t wait to get all the cds! YAY!

   Posted by river selkie  on  05/08  at  05:02 PM

2. i’m a slacky-assed slacker and will be late, as usual. but not as late as last time!

   awesome about your class, stenns! i’m going to do one this summer and i’m really excited/anxious. can’t wait to hear your updates.

   Posted by kirsten  on  05/08  at  06:11 PM

3. Rock on, Stennie! Woo-hooo! [raises lighter]

   All my CDs went out Monday. Mike’s mix arrived today. Judging by how much like a kid on Christmas morning I was about opening and playing it, I’m looking forward to a fun--if unproductive--week as the rest arrive.

   Posted by Mr. Middlebrow  on  05/08  at  07:27 PM

4. i neglected to mention earlier...that it’s great that you are taking the class. i hope you have a lot of fun and get learned!

   Posted by river selkie  on  05/08  at  09:22 PM

5. Sweet Stennie!  I’ll be getting married in 2035, so can I book you now?

   :)

   Posted by Kelly  on  05/09  at  10:15 AM

6. Q - How do you make a guitarist’s eyes light up?
   A - Shine a flashlight in his ear.

   Q - How does a guitar player change a light bulb?
   A - He lies on the bed so that the room is spinning around it.

   Q - What’s the difference between a guitar player and a bag of garbage?
   A - The garbage gets taken out at least once a week.

   Posted by duke  on  05/09  at  11:53 AM

7. We always used the mnemonic “Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears” which prompted many strange exchanges when I was playing in the band such as “Crap!  I broke a Donkey!” or “Do you have any extra Elephants?”

   Have fun at class!  Tab isn’t hard to figure out, but it takes practice, just like anything else with the guitar.  It helps to be able to read music, though, because tab just tells you where to put your fingers, not how long to hold them there.  Or it’s good if you already know how the piece goes. 

   I’m glad the class isn’t full of teenagers.  That was my big fear when I went back to school and walked into the classroom at the community college.  Please don’t let me be the oldest one!

   Posted by mishkriz  on  05/09  at  06:46 PM

8. 53.  wow.  that’s old.

   Posted by  on  05/09  at  09:06 PM

9. How DO those 53-year old fingers pluck a guitar string?

   (You go on your guitar class takin’, girl!)

   Posted by Bet  on  05/10  at  09:03 AM

10. 53....old?.....HEY!!!

    Posted by Duke  on  05/10  at  01:53 PM

11. You know, I’ve read my entry over and over again, and I can’t find anywhere where I said that I consider 53 to be “old.” I just said the oldest person in the class (I think) happens to be 53.

    Posted by  on  05/10  at  02:29 PM

12. Umm. I was just wondering if anyone got two cd’s from Michelle ‘cuz my envelope was empty (dramatic tear falling from my left eye....)

    Posted by  on  05/10  at  03:55 PM
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