Wasabi
Well-known member
My boy/girl twins are 10 years old. My son has been playing percussion for about a year (African music with djembe and then Latin music with congas and bongos), and his instructor started him on drum kit. The kid is going to be good...he has the gift.
My daughter has bounced from instrument to instrument, never wanting to practice, having no patience for it. As a matter of fact, a couple weeks ago, she asked me if it's okay if she isn't a musician. I said "Of course. What you love to do is what you love to do. Make sure, though, that you love to do at least some things that are worth your time."
Well, several days later, she caught the bug! She wants to be a bass player. She is practicing, reminding me of our lesson times, etc. She has the bass (a Squier Bronco inherited from her brother, who, of course, has switched to drums) propped against the beanbag chair in her room, and picks it up often.
Part of it the motivation has been that the son of the singer in my band and my son are starting their own band, and my daughter wants to be in it (beating out the neighbor kid who also wanted to learn bass for the band). But she's been working hard, and finding it fun to play and practice (she's learning Back in Black and a few other songs).
She also now has her heart set on a Stingray...black cherry burst to be specific. I told her if she works hard and is stil playing for a year, and she knows it's what she wants to do, I'll get her one.
So last night, we went to Downingtown, PA to see the School of Rock branch there do a tribute to Queen. I kid you not...9-17 year old kids doing 30 or so songs...everything from the obvious (We Will Rock You and Crazy Little Thing) to the ridiculously challenging (Killer Queen and Bohemian) to a ton of obscure stuff only Queen-heads would know.
Well, this older teenage girl, probably 16, played bass on about half the songs. And she was playing a Stingray. And NOW my daughter is hooked, because she has now found in her mind who she wants to be...
And my daughter met another female bass player last night, Julie Slick, who was in the "Rock School" movie, who along with her brother, Eric (a drummer) is now touring at age 20 with Adrian Belew. As a matter of fact, the staff at the school were calling my kids the "next Slicks." So my daughter was EATING UP the attention from these "celebrities."
Now I know that motivations come and go, but I remember that it was very small encounters that started me on the path to music....yes...my original motivation at 8 years old was a clarinet player in a klezmer band at a bar mitzvah! But my guitar motivation was a good friend, who at 15 was writing songs and actually pressed a single, and I wanted to play so I could be in a band with him. That was enough to get me started, and along the journey, I continued to find new motivations to keep going.
So here's hoping there will be a black cherry burst Stingray being ordered in about 9 months in anticipation of my daughter blasting through that one year mark as a motivated and dedicated player...
My daughter has bounced from instrument to instrument, never wanting to practice, having no patience for it. As a matter of fact, a couple weeks ago, she asked me if it's okay if she isn't a musician. I said "Of course. What you love to do is what you love to do. Make sure, though, that you love to do at least some things that are worth your time."
Well, several days later, she caught the bug! She wants to be a bass player. She is practicing, reminding me of our lesson times, etc. She has the bass (a Squier Bronco inherited from her brother, who, of course, has switched to drums) propped against the beanbag chair in her room, and picks it up often.
Part of it the motivation has been that the son of the singer in my band and my son are starting their own band, and my daughter wants to be in it (beating out the neighbor kid who also wanted to learn bass for the band). But she's been working hard, and finding it fun to play and practice (she's learning Back in Black and a few other songs).
She also now has her heart set on a Stingray...black cherry burst to be specific. I told her if she works hard and is stil playing for a year, and she knows it's what she wants to do, I'll get her one.
So last night, we went to Downingtown, PA to see the School of Rock branch there do a tribute to Queen. I kid you not...9-17 year old kids doing 30 or so songs...everything from the obvious (We Will Rock You and Crazy Little Thing) to the ridiculously challenging (Killer Queen and Bohemian) to a ton of obscure stuff only Queen-heads would know.
Well, this older teenage girl, probably 16, played bass on about half the songs. And she was playing a Stingray. And NOW my daughter is hooked, because she has now found in her mind who she wants to be...
And my daughter met another female bass player last night, Julie Slick, who was in the "Rock School" movie, who along with her brother, Eric (a drummer) is now touring at age 20 with Adrian Belew. As a matter of fact, the staff at the school were calling my kids the "next Slicks." So my daughter was EATING UP the attention from these "celebrities."
Now I know that motivations come and go, but I remember that it was very small encounters that started me on the path to music....yes...my original motivation at 8 years old was a clarinet player in a klezmer band at a bar mitzvah! But my guitar motivation was a good friend, who at 15 was writing songs and actually pressed a single, and I wanted to play so I could be in a band with him. That was enough to get me started, and along the journey, I continued to find new motivations to keep going.
So here's hoping there will be a black cherry burst Stingray being ordered in about 9 months in anticipation of my daughter blasting through that one year mark as a motivated and dedicated player...
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