Maybe You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks!
I took my first guitar lesson on Tuesday night. I've had a guitar, a gift from my parents, for years but have only fiddled with it, so when a guy at work started offering private lessons, I jumped at the chance. I was SO NERVOUS. When you're an adult, you lose that 'It's-OK-If-You-Make-Mistakes-When-You're-Learning' thing. Learning new things tends to be less about having fun and more about trying not to embarrass yourself. Once I got there, I made up my mind that I was just going to do my best and not expect to play Spanish guitar the first night out. Consequently, I had a ball! I made my teacher's eyes water a couple of times but he didn't fully burst out into a tears so I'm considering it a success.
I left having learned how to form the A, G, E and D chords. I also left with no feeling in the pads of the fingers of my left hand, but I was happy. My teacher stressed only practicing for 10 minutes a day this week to build up tolerance; for both my fingers and my neighbors. And Ben, as it turns out. He slicks his ears back and squints his eyes when he sees the guitar now, but at least he doesn't howl along! Rumor has it we're working on James Taylor's 'Fire and Rain' but I'm not hearing it yet. Doesn't matter. I'll accept anything sound that comes out as long as it doesn't have that evil 'twang' of a string not fully squashed down.
The crush at work has eased up a bit. Actually the work load hasn't let up, but I'm starting to feel that I'm over the worst part of the steep learning curve so I'm not running around like a headless chicken all the time. I'm better able to organize and prioritize. Consequently, I've even had a little knitting time to work on my Laminaria Shawl and a new tam I'm working on. That little bit of extra time with sticks and string is even sweeter now that I've experienced what it's like to go days without it.
Learning a new 'skill' as well as to appreciate the simple, little, things like a moment of time to call your own...two hard won lessons in ONE WEEK! Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!
I left having learned how to form the A, G, E and D chords. I also left with no feeling in the pads of the fingers of my left hand, but I was happy. My teacher stressed only practicing for 10 minutes a day this week to build up tolerance; for both my fingers and my neighbors. And Ben, as it turns out. He slicks his ears back and squints his eyes when he sees the guitar now, but at least he doesn't howl along! Rumor has it we're working on James Taylor's 'Fire and Rain' but I'm not hearing it yet. Doesn't matter. I'll accept anything sound that comes out as long as it doesn't have that evil 'twang' of a string not fully squashed down.
The crush at work has eased up a bit. Actually the work load hasn't let up, but I'm starting to feel that I'm over the worst part of the steep learning curve so I'm not running around like a headless chicken all the time. I'm better able to organize and prioritize. Consequently, I've even had a little knitting time to work on my Laminaria Shawl and a new tam I'm working on. That little bit of extra time with sticks and string is even sweeter now that I've experienced what it's like to go days without it.
Learning a new 'skill' as well as to appreciate the simple, little, things like a moment of time to call your own...two hard won lessons in ONE WEEK! Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!
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