Daniel Learns Guitar

There comes a time in every parent’s life when you realize no matter how strong your desire to teach your children everything they need or want to know, that what you know is simply not enough.

I sing with my kids, play music endlessly, keep their English curriculum up and teach them everything I know about gardening, cleaning, cooking, blah blah blah. Today the tools are readily available online to truly give your children a well-rounded education over and above the mandatory schooling. At seven and nine, my children are officially smarter and wiser than I am. Nevertheless, even thus said, I cannot, no matter how hard I have tried to learn the guitar. It is not in my realm of understanding, or more so in my interest spectrum. I will stick to the keyboard.

Angelina has developed a love and understanding for the piano where Daniel wanted to be cool like our friend Flo. Therefore, when Flo asked if Daniel wants lessons, our family jumped at the opportunity!

Flo happens to be part of a popular band called Goulamas’K here in southern France. This young man has notable musical talents and his on stage presence keeps everyone’s eyes on him. It may have something to do with his Mohawk! The group’s sound is energetic folk Celtic rock that sounds metal at times- if I were to describe it.

Daniel is about a month in to guitar lessons with Flo and I am wondering if Angelina and Alfonz are learning as much as Daniel is? After each lesson Daniel teaches what he learned, not only reinstalling the lesson from the am but also becoming the teacher, trying to see it from Flo’s point of view. Any leadership opportunity for Daniel is a first-rate thing, as they have no headship opportunities in French schools. All learning is downward which is sad when children really have so much to teach us.

Daniel’s musical talent started when he was still in diapers when he mimicked my singing and then the Disney songs on his DVD’s. Early on, we noticed he had perfect pitch and his love of music has only become more established as he matured.

He often spends his days on the Voice app on the iPad that rates his singing and earns him points to buy more songs. Both kids love the app and whoever invented it, is a genius.

If only they had stuff like this when I was a kid. I remember recording songs off the radio to a tape, after playing them back to learn the words. Often I listened to the recording so often that the tape would break.

I would buy my favourite songs from a local studio that would record music without the words for a karaoke style recording to sing to. After, I would go back to the recording studio to record myself singing to the music. However, you only get one shot at the recording, and I spent all my money from my paper route on these tapes. I really had to be careful what songs I picked, make sure it was in my range or else I was stuck with an expensive and useless recording.

Kids today have so many awesome tools to help them cultivate their natural interests. Back in the day, it was much easier to feel overwhelmed by the slow progress of things. Now, Daniel can have dozens of interests and get good at them all.

YouTube is an excellent tool to learn systematic lessons from, on anything from drawing, piano, cooking, origami, changing a carburetor, planting a bio intensive garden, etc.  You get the idea!

These kids are growing up in an interesting time indeed!

That’s Hamori!