I vaguely remember learning the recorder at some early point in my life, but I can't really place where it was. When I was in fifth grade, I had the opportunity to tryout for the band. I was really excited and wanted to play the trumpet. The band teacher said that my mouth wasn't the right shape for the trumpet, and he said I should play the tenor saxophone. I was a little disappointed, but my parents rented me a sax, and I started learning to play. I learned enough to play in the band throughout fifth grade, but at the end of the school year I had to turn in the sax.
My parents suggested that I switch to the clarinet the next year because it was cheaper and easier to carry. I really didn't like the clarinet. It was similar to play, but it didn't have the sound I really liked in the sax. Plus my friends were still playing saxophones in sixth grade, and here I was moved to the clarinet section that was all girls. I got a fair amount of ribbing for that.
In seventh grade I went to another school. I was back in the public schools, and I ended up in band again. This time there was another boy in the clarinet section, and battled hard for last chair. I don't think either one of us ever practiced, and neither one of us continued in band after seventh grade. I did however also take a music appreciation class that year.
The music appreciation class had a section for piano and a section for guitar. I really wanted to learn to play guitar. My mom advised against it telling me that she tried to play guitar when she was young, and it was too hard. I took the class anyway, and I really enjoyed playing the guitar. I could check out a guitar and take it home to practice. We also played the piano in that class, and I think I already had taken piano lessons at that point. I don't really remember for sure.
I can't remember when my parents got a piano, but I think it was when I was still in elementary school. My dad had a student who was a concert pianist who helped him pick out a used piano. They bought a Cable baby grand piano and put it in the front living room. For a couple of years my sister and I had private lessons with a man named Joe Bauer. I don't think he was a bad teacher, but the thing I remember about him is that he wore this horrible cologne. By the time my lesson was over, my eyes would be watering, and I would have a terrible headache. I learned a few things on the piano, but I hardly ever practiced.
In eighth grade, I took another guitar class at school. This time it was just guitar, and I really enjoyed it. This is where I met Chris, and she and I became close friends. We would both check out guitars and I would go over to her house to practice together. She seemed to get better very quickly, and I stayed about the same. I learned enough to enjoy playing, but it was clear, I was never going to be very good.
My parents bought me my own guitar that year from Grinnell's Music store in the mall. It was a nice Yamaha with mahogany sides and back and a spruce top. Grinnell's was really struggling by this point, so my parents got a really good deal on the guitar. I still have it to this day, and it is a nice sounding instrument. My parents also signed me up for guitar lessons at Herb David Guitar Studio in downtown Ann Arbor.
Herb David Guitar Studio was located on State State street near Washington when I started taking lessons there. It was located on the third floor of the building right across from Wazoo Used Records. There was a bakery on the first floor that sold chocolate croissants, along with a head shop. I cant remember any of the names of the teachers I had at Herb Davids, but I had several over the years. When I was 14, Herb hired me, and my job title was "The Kid". Basically I did whatever was needed, cleaning, stocking, running errands, you name it. I also got free guitar lessons.
I worked at Herb Davids until I was 16. After I stopped working there, I never took lessons again. I have always had an interest in playing guitar, and I pick mine up every now and then and play. I keep thinking I will work on learning to play more, but then something else comes up that takes up my time.
One of the problems I have is that I can never stay focused on something long enough to master it. I learned enough about music to learn the mechanics and a little bit of theory, but I never put in the hours necessary to get really good at it. I would never have been able to master the guitar or piano because of a lack of natural ability, but I could have gotten a lot better than I did. I really do enjoy having a lot of variety in my life, so I have lot of hobbies that I am okay at, but nothing that I am great at. The one exception would be computing because not only was it a hobby, but I also do it as a career. I have done pretty well with that, but I still wouldn't consider myself a master. I learned enough about music to be able to express a little bit of the music within me, and that is enough to bring me joy in my life.
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