Colin's New Instrument

Well it has finally happened. You know your kids are really getting into the teen years when they want to trade in their elementary school band instruments for rock band instruments. A few days ago, we brought Colin's alto saxophone to a music store to see if they would purchase it. Instead, they made the transition really easy with a trade of the sax for a complete beginner guitar setup including the amplifier, tuner, strap, carrying case, picks, cable and a beginning guitar lesson book. We got a better value actually doing it this way since this starter setup would have cost $400+ and we would be unlikely to get more than $250 cash for the saxophone.

Colin did all the research on making this transition and, while we were not thrilled about him giving up the saxophone, at least he would be continuing to learn music. He called umpteen shops trying to find a place that would possibly buy his saxophone. You wouldn't think it would be that hard but it really was quite the search.

Bottom line is that he ended up getting a better than average starter guitar by Lace. It sounded really good in the store and you can modify the sound of the guitar quite a bit by switching pickups and altering the amp settings. This is all new to me but this guy really seemed to know his stuff and Colin liked the look of the guitar too, which of course is VERY important.

Now, we will be looking into getting guitar lessons for him. The starter lesson book is good but he really needs someone to help him understand the basics so that he learns properly from the beginning. (I have been enjoying fooling around on the guitar too.)

We are also going to be finding a keyboard teacher for Chelsea. She really wants to keep playing music also but has decided to make the switch to keyboards from clarinet. The one area where this school seems to be lagging behind the VT school is in the band area. Band lessons were twice a week at the ridiculous time of 7am! What are they thinking?!

So maybe in a few years, Colin, Chelsea and I will be playing some music together. For now, Laurie has decided not to be the lead singer in the family band. But she says that she will help us figure out a good name for the band. Powderhounds is a leading contender so far. Haha.

Here is Colin practicing his first notes on the first string: E, F and G.

By the way, based on this latest purchase we may be moving ahead sooner than we had expected on the basement project. In addition to a nice exercise room, we will probably be planning a smallish soundproofed music room to help keep the noise down to reasonable levels. I hope to get a set of acoustic drums at some point and those will be, um, how shall I put this... significantly louder than the current electronic set.