If you have children and they are moaning about music lessons show them these clips and say, “Look, how easy it is for these kids. You are not trying hard enough!”
A 13 year old girl warming up
15 year old blowing away Sammy Hagar
Here is an 11 year old boy
But even a six year old can play.
Here is s slew of toddlers playing guitar
By the time your child is 15 he or she should be doing this.
And if the guitar is not your thing. Here is what a 3-year old can do on drums.
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I skip these types of video. Just proves my own failings, as well as my failings as a parent. North Korean kids are okay to watch because you can hate them for being products of communistic rule.
Find your joy in life…………..and enjoy it.
My 2 cents:
It’s like learning a 2nd language. The younger you are when you learn the better and more fluent you will be! The brain is more teachable and more wired to learn when young.
The key is getting the child to want to learn and practice. Also, even if the child wants to learn and practice; how many households do you know will put with the noise?
Yes, forceful parents may make children do things that are “for their own good”!
I like the quote from Von Steuben who once remarked, “It’s not enough to give an American an order, you have to tell him why!”
I think once a child can see and accept the “why” of learning something is relevant to them (other than avoiding punishment and their environment with inclinations are insync) and the learning is facilitated; achieving their potential can be limitless!
It takes a willing child, a willing parent and a supportive environment to make a world class achiever!
Yes, there are some world class achievers who beat the odds, but; that process is random and unlikely, but not impossible.
“Willing” is just small part of it. Parents must realize gifts and abilities of children and be willing along the paths where children can flourish. That is hard, most parents project themselves, other children, relatives and friends… Children may be willing to pursue something that does not suit their abilities at all.
My example – because it was “popular”, “proper”, my parents were gifted, my older sister was extremely gifted – they all assumed I must be gifted in music and refusing to see obvious signals from me pointing in another direction (painting, photography, sculpture,…), they assumed I was just lazy and need more music practice for FOUR years. Until my voice teacher pleaded one day with them telling the truth bluntly – please, your son has no music talent whatsoever, stop tormenting him with lessons. They thankfully did. (This was very early on 6-10 yrs old). Key is to notice such situation before you waste precious young time.
Agreed!
Yeah, I agree too. ….. but let me quibble just a bit. It might be a bit of projection to think that kiddies have abilities that are worth pursuing? It is a rare “child” that knows at an early age what they want to do. 95% are in generalist mode…just learning how to get along with others.
In fact–denying our kiddies what they are pursuing might be the best thing to do? Get off that computer and….. and….. and….. what?
Every one of us would benefit from some forced instruction here, some denial there==problem is, we just don’t know what those inputs should be as we are all special snowflakes.
I never expected my kiddies to actually have an idea until their early teens. They were right on schedule. Good news is…. a kiddie can waste 5 years of their life and still have the entire rest of their lives to recover.
Spend time with your kiddies doing nothing….. aka listening. Its hard… but you can do it.
Yea, verily.
Save some quality time to teach them well about {having faith in bankers’ science?}
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ztVaqZajq-I
but more heart-felt,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NkF05D-NJMU
Both nice songs and both representative of the fact that most lyrics don’t make any sense at all.
For some reason “Singing to the Choir” comes to mind.
….and I should have added I can’t think of a more heart felt singer than Joan Baez. A few come close, a few exceed on a particular few songs, but altogether ….. she can be tiring to listen to. HAH!!!!!
How come Lenard Cohen doesn’t wear me out the same way? Is it the warble?
Yea, bobbo. I always thought it was un-naturally forced to bring out that folksy hippie-commune feeling for that movie because, naturally, an audience in the ’70s just wouldn’t get it, otherwise. Or, maybe, just as the movie is set way in the future for a future audience, then she sang like that because an audience in 2030 wouldn’t get it. Sadly, She needs to be relegated to the back of that choir on the Jesus-Loves-You {He does} farm and wearing the trademark hand-made robes and cankle-height hair. — She can jerk a couple tears from me every now and again though.
Leonard Cohen :> most profound poet ever — interesting mix of harmonics and timbre on that voice of his, also.
Agreed. This is why straight people shouldn’t have kids. Kidding !! Sheesh
Playing a musical instrument is something everyone should try!
However, just to note, video #3 is fake. This young man’s attempt at fret-syncing defies the law of string pitch theory. If you play the guitar, you can easily see this.
That was my first thought. I can’t play anything but I knew something was wrong. I’ve watched Steve Vai enough to know good shredding is.
My mother had me take accordion lessons when I was young because she said when she was young (in the 40’s & 50’s), the guy who was the life of the party was the one who brought his accordion. I gave it up because of sheer, unadulterated, lack of talent around age 10 so I never found out if that was true.
In my dorms in the eighties, the guy who could polka got the most action!
Uncle Dave is also being modest. He was quite the clarinetist and played a mean piano. Not sure if he was forced to play this weird black-plastic flute-like thing in grade school like I had to in music class, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he comments on this post.
Yea, I had a black, plastic VETO .. I lent it to someone for his daughter, thinking I would get it back. But they traded it in for a ‘real’ one that split two years later.
Greensleeves, meh.
The 15 year old girl with Sammy Hagar is from my 4,000 person hometown of Ashford, CT…not that anyone cares.
Well, since you started, the brunette stage hand/gofer/roadie with the tramp stamp in second from the bottom is a dead (alive?) ringer for wifey at that age. Fun to look at… like a flash back. I had to show it to here and ask me if she had gone to any concerts behind my back.
I think the point that JCD is trying to make is that many a young person is better at playing these instruments, than those who grow up becoming a rock star or country music star. And I’ve had a similar opinion, concerning these talent contest shows on Tv. In that the judges involved, apply stricter standards of acceptable skill and talent, than what would permit most established commercial musical artists to even have such a profitable career. And what generally happens to these “best of the best”, contestants? Virtually nothing. You rarely, if ever hear about them going on to have a super successful recording career. But on the other hand. The music industry can “manufacture” a band or group. Simply by interviewing enough pretty faces, until they find the right mix of raw talent and looks. And then market the crap out of them. Like “Expose”, “The Backstreet Boys”, or even “The Monkeys”. While plenty of others, with genuine singing talent, get passed over for not being pretty enough, sexy enough, or passing the “casting couch” test. Or otherwise willing to sell their souls, in some way, to become a huge star. But generally speaking, most of them would never pass the standards these so-called Tv talent judges, apply to all the amateur hopefuls. And clearly, that’s not how to get into the recording industry. Because most of them are forgotten, with a year.
WTF. Is Sammy Hagar masterbating to that 15 y.o. girl? He’s got his hand down his pants right?
What is with this foolish metric, that the faster you play notes, the better musician you are. These kids are talented, but I really won’t call their music pleasing (a few of them anyway).
Watch Steve Vai in the Crossroads Duel. I watch it a couple of times a week.
check the poster
They are all fake
Second to last guy is channelling Les Claypool
If the girls keep practicing, they might grow up and join the Iron Maidens. I have a thing for Courtny Cox’s (guitar) technique. She is the one on the right.
http://tinyurl.com/9q6m8wu
Can I get whale-sperm with that?