Aaron's 1st Guitar Lesson

The last several posts have been a bit on the down side. I needed to write about something more upbeat, so you guys will get to read about Aaron's 1st guitar lesson. He has been very excited about this, and very anxious to get started taking lessons. So yesterday, right after school (and a quick snack), we headed off to lessons. Of course, we arrived about 10 minutes early and then had to wait. It seemed like those 10 minutes were an eternity for my little guy. When it was finally his turn, his teacher came out and greeted us, showed us where he could sit and wait if we got their early, and showed us the "studio" where Aaron's lessons would be. Not much of a studio...more like a closet. Seriously, I think Aaron's closet is about the same size as this studio. There were 2 chairs, a music stand, an amp, and a small desk w/ a computer. And of course, his teacher's guitar.

Aaron asked me to stay for this first lesson, so Sadie and I sat outside of the studio and listened. He was taught the basics...these are strings, there are 6, this is the 1st string, this is the 2nd string, etc, and this is tabliture (sp?), these are frets. He was then taught 2 scales...I'm not sure what the 1st one was, but the 2nd scale was G major. He was taught which finger to use with each fret. His teacher was wonderfully patient and encouraging. Aaron, on the other hand, was not too impressed. You see, our neighbor taught him how to play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and I think Aaron expected to just start learning songs. His teacher explained that the scales were very important to strengthen his finger muscles that he wasn't used to using, and to teach those muscles where to go to make the different notes. He finished up by teaching Aaron "The Flintstones." Aaron had no clue what the song was, but I immediately smiled as I recalled hours of watching all those episodes years ago.

After the lessons, his teacher encouraged him to practice everyday, and that the more he practiced, the quicker he would learn. He then looked at me and told me that he has always taught "The Flintstones" as the 1st song for beginners, and that it has just been in the past 3 or 4 years that kids haven't recognized the tune. I told him maybe he should learn the theme to "SpongeBob SquarePants" instead.

Overall, Aaron enjoyed the lesson and was very proud of himself. So now, we'll see how much he practices...