Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

I was out at Western State Hospital yesterday helping some troubled teens learn how to be in a rock band. I’m not really one of those people who feels held back in an endeavor like this—by the fact that none of them could really play an instrument. Well that’s not true exactly, there were a few who knew a little bit of guitar, and one who could play a little bit of drums, so there was a pretty good jumping off point.

Up till then, my only experience in trying to get a bunch of non musicians together and teaching them how to play, was years ago after a night spent drinking up in Seattle. I used to record in a warehouse space I called the Brown Bag Studios on 9th and Virginia and on that night I wound up teaching Sweetie and our friends Linda and hubby Rob, how to play just enough to rock out and have some fun. Of course it helped that Rob knew how to play some drums—helped some, anyway.

My friend Jeanlizabeth has worked at the hospital for years now, but just recently was able to procure some instruments like a drum set, a few Fender Squire Guitars, with amps and a few acoustics. Jeanlizabeth’s idea is to help the kids create a jam band where they can write and play there own material—a place where maybe they can use music as therapy and have a lot of fun in the process.

She had me sing a few songs solo and then we played a few together. After that I figured the first thing to do was to teach all the kids your basic standard run-of-the-mill-every-rock-musician-wannabe-from-here-to-Myanmar-and-beyond bar chord. This was met with varying degrees of success and much complaining of sore fingers. After that we moved to the drums and I showed them a standard beat and they all took turns trying to get both hands and a foot to work in unison. One of the kids could play a bit and while he was taking his turn, one of the kids who knew a little guitar started playing. So I grabbed the bass, and a girl who was sitting there showed her what to play and before you knew it we had the very start of people trying to listen to each other just enough, and to concentrate on what they were doing just enough, to make what might be considered jamming to a song.

Jeanlizabeth wanted me to show the kids some lead guitar, so we did a few more of her songs and I explained a little bit how to play what I’d been playing, and then all of a sudden, it was time for them to go.

In the end I don’t know how successful I was, but it was only the first time. I think they all had fun and maybe even learned a few things. I think I’d like to go back after a while to see any progress. Maybe I could even teach them a minor chord this time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listing

Image
We’ve started making The List. Somehow lately in trying to keep our head above water, we’ve forgotten the usefulness in keeping up the Big Check List. There are things that need to be done and like all things that one keeps trying to juggle in the air, errant balls will veer off their trajectory and disappear under sofas and wing-back chairs for weeks until cleaning day where they manage to get swept back out into the open. Sometimes it to late and the moment’s past and sometimes they never get found again. So Sunday night we gathered up our calendar and tried to put all the balls back in motion. Of course today is only Wednesday, and while we have achieved some degree of juggletude, there are still many balls to get up in the air. The best part of this new approach is that the Disney Trip is back on. We’ll be heading down to Anaheim for the Halloween weekend, taking the boys out of school for a few days to take advantage of the midweek rates. Sweetie is also ...
Read more

The To-Do List

Well it’s been a few days since I last posted, I know, I know. What with Sweetie being out of town this past weekend and the calendar being all stuffed full, there just hasn’t been all that much time to write. Not that there hasn’t been things to talk about. Both boys had their first ride on a pony, I got in an argument with another parent dropping the older boy off at school after she had a fit that I had parked to close to her car. The older boy got to hold his new cousin and we all got a good meal out of the deal. Met with Colin Saturday morning and got the artwork back (finally!) for the Prairie Dogs upcoming CD, Brand New Heart, It looks GREAT, now I just need to find out how to pay to get them made up. Started working on a switch-activated Lazy-Susan for Ike so he can sit and spin himself in his chair. Called the paramedics to come and rescue my mom after she fell off the last step leaving the trailer Sunday morning. We all wound up in the emergency room commiserating...
Read more

Breaking up in the fog

I noticed them as I was getting Ike’s wheelchair out of the back of the 402. A young couple; her standing about five feet or so from him and facing away, looking down, and he, sitting on the park bench, shoulders down and elbows on knees. She was crying. The Older Boy took no notice of them, and was asking if we could go into the park after the party, but since I was trying to both listen to his question and suss the couple’s situation out it took me a while to answer. Later, while we were at the party in a house that overlooked the park, I saw that they had moved to another bench, but that she was still crying and he was still seated with his elbows resting on his knees. The party was a surprise birthday celebration for Heather that Earl put together at the last minute the day before. We drank Mojito’s and red wine, and Earl’s mother put some chicken and potatoes in the oven to bake. Both Heather and Earl’s mothers have been staying with them for the past few months since He...
Read more