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| The Magic Mandolin Lesson |
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I recently got my youngest son a
mandolin lesson. He was going to learn mandolin tabs, otherwise known as mandolin tablature. He has never played the mandolin before but I think he
really liked the experience and we were both very excited about it.
I
should admit that I have always pushed him a little harder to play
music. I didn't know if it would happen or not, though. The point is
that the whole family plays. My wife is a fiddler, I play the
accordion, and my older son plays harmonica and guitar, my daughter -
the banjo.
I figured if my son took a mandolin lesson he might like it
and start practicing. That's how we could all make music together. But
there was a time when my son was not willing to listen to me and he
refused to have a mandolin lesson.
The one type of music he only liked was rock and roll. I like rock and I have played it in the past but it is by no means the type of music which could teach you how to play with soul. I grew up fiddling around with an electric guitar.
I didn't care if I was good or bad at it. I only wanted to play a few chords loudly. It all comes down to ego and raucous noise. Mandolin teaches tenderness, but my son didn't even want to hear about a guitar lesson, to say nothing of a mandolin lesson.
However, one night it all changed. My whole family got together. The oldest son is a good harmonica player and a nice guitarist as well but he is too shy to play with others. He is 16 and just fell in love for the first time.
I remember seeing him coming back from his first serious date with that girl. He was really happy and in a great mood. He suddenly picked up the harp and started to play a tune.
The rest of us joined him one by one, mandolin cases opening, and finally there we were, all of us playing together. It really worked. We had never played so well until that moment. Of course, my little son didn't play then. He was juts watching at us wide-eyed.
The following day he wanted to give the mandolin lesson a try. I found a teacher for him but he was impatient to start the lesson immediately. As I can pick a little, I gave him his first mandolin lesson myself, via a mandolin tuning.
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