If you are (or if you were) taking lessons what recent songs would you like to learn to play? I teach a lot of teenagers and so far "Kryptonite" and "What's My Age Again" have been about the only ones amidst the classic rock everyone is asking for.
I don't just show students how to play songs of course, but most songs use a technique or two that I can focus on as a lesson outside of the program.

Jim in Canada

One of my guitar players gives my nephew lessons and so far the only old stuff he digs is Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. He knows how to play every Green Day, Offspring and Nirvana tune, some Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit kinda stuff and even a Robert Johnson tune or two. He's fifteen, hope that helps.

Rage Against the Machine has some great guitar work. Otherwise, you're kinda hard pressed to find anything recent that features great guitar playing... sheeesh...

--Lee

I wish I had more asking for classic rock...
although it is reassuring to note that people still bring in Jimi and Zeppelin regardless of age...

Something strange I've noticed recently is that suddenly in the past few weeks a number are wanting to learn 311 songs out of the blue, who are from different areas of town. Was there a concert video on tv recently?

Stuff like that is interesting, because it's off the chart(s) - but obviously there's *something* going on. I don't know what's up recently with 311 but if they were to come out with a new cd in the next month I'd put a lot of money on the odds that it sells ridiculously big.

The last "guitarish" thing that happened in my area was people wanting to learn "Smooth", the Santana thing. Kind threw a wrench into my standard diatonic scale lecture... Never thought *that* would happen. Although what's curious (and not a slag of Santana, I like what he does) is that a lot of people will also say out of turn that Carlos Santana is the best guitar player, as if this is something set in stone somewhere... This is obviously the result of some sort of pop promotion, but it's interesting/scary how quickly a memetic idea can be floated out into the public...

"Enter Sandman" is now on my "Stairway To Heaven" "all time requests" list. That Blink 182 song with that pedal/pivot hook in it.. "What's My Age Again" I think - is popular. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is just as ubiquuitous as the National Anthem at this point... That song by 3 Doors Down had a good run during late November with my business.... The opening ice-cream truck melody to the Pumpkin's "Today" is always a consistent winner... A lot of people recently wanted to learn Dave Matthew's version of "Watchtower"; DMB would appear to be the guitar hero of the moment, if there is one. Creed is really popular (great guitar production...); that's another curious thing, their guy is considered by some kids to be "the best guitar player" - I've got a feeling that came out of a magazine poll, but "!!!!"...

For a brief moment people were wanting to learn GNR tunes, young and old alike; I attribute this to the recent spat of press about them getting back together?

But the interesting thing is the sudden interest in 311 again all of a sudden? I can't figure that out, does anyone have any theories? Have I missed something obvious? Nick Hexum check into Betty Ford or something silly like that? It's interesting when something pops up like that that is off the radar - anyone else see anything like that happen?
http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

are kids having trouble figuring out the ONE chord limp bisquick plays throughout the tune?

Sigh....

Let me list a few things I now have to explain as a guitar teacher that I NEVER would have thought I would have to explain, 10 years ago:

The alphabet. Lesson number one: the chromatic scale, all the notes, how to name them: the alphabet. I get kids now that have to really think about it to remember E comes after D... *but* they can do calculus....? (actually, I shouldn't have made a joke of that: that's not hyperbole, in the past few years I've started to get kids that don't know the alphabet too well, and some can't read/write well either....)

How to operate a machine head/tuner. A knob. I'm having to tell some kids that "those things" turn.

Just last week the following conversation happened:

ME: "No, put your third finger there"
STUDENT: (places 2nd finger "there")
ME: "No, your *third* finger..."
STUDENT: keeps left hand on the guitar neck, while bringing his right hand over to COUNT HIS FINGERS.

Not to mention, assuming they learn the names of the strings... a lot have to take their fingertip and *trace* the string from the bridge all the way to their fingertips to be able to announce which string a particular finger is on. It doesn't occur to them the 3rd string from the bottom where their left hand is IS THE SAME STRING THAT IS 3RD FROM THE BOTTOM WHERE THERE RIGHT HAND IS.

I get a lot of kids now that say things like "it can't be like THAT, that's too hard" meaning - it doesn't occur to them AT ALL that there are things in life more difficult than pressing a button on a Nintendo controller. I'm talking about doing something as simple as playing an open E major chord: "nobody does anything that hard!!!".

The thing about Limp Bisquick and Korn is that what really interests the kids are the noises. I had one kid last year nearly cry when he saw me do a pick slide (off hand as a joke); showed him how to do it, and I swear I think that's all he probably did for the entire week. Came back the following week and had forgotten *everything* he had learned up until that point. BUT - he was happy and content to do pick slides.

The problem with the whole drop tuned thing is that kids learn to do that, and these days think you're holding out on them if there's a part that requires single-string ability of any kind. They refuse to think anything is difficult whatsoever, that these guitar players are just serendipitously flailing away and the sound comes out. *Literally*.

I lost a student last year:

STUDENT: "This is going to be my last lesson, I'm quitting"

ME: "I'm sorry to here that - why are you quitting?"

STUDENT: "A friend of mine got a turn table last week, and already he's better at playing that than I am - I've been coming to lessons for a month and I can't play Metallica yet!"

Me: "....."

So yeah... kids are having trouble playing the simplest things these days, because they have no conception at all about the notion of something requiring EFFORT in the *least*.
What's strange is that they're all apparently spending much much more time studying and going to school sporting activities... but they spend no time on music and expect it to be there, like buying a new video game cartridge. Yet, despite all of the studying they do, they have really weird gaps in their common sense and education. Not to mention their grasp of language is almost nominal, when it comes to forming a coherent question about something they're unsure of. We're in for a very peculiar future I'm afraid.

I'll be adding a page (Travis C. - hopefully by next month!) on my home page relating more of these anecdotes: it's almost scary, but quite amusing as well...
http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald


This message has been edited by Chip McDonald on 01-01-2001 at 03:48 AM

Thanks for all the input so far everyone. I see some of the same things Chip is talking about, "I can't do that" is heard more often than I would like. Another thing that seems odd to me is the number of young students that don't know the names of any guitarists, or what kind of guitars are available. When I was learning I knew who was in each band, what kind of guitar they played etc....(still do),it seems these kids have no heroes, they just want to play.
The ones that really want to do stick with it though, I have many long term kids that are getting quite good,

Regards, Jim http://www.mp3.com/jimgraham

YIPES Chip!

That is truly scary, although I kinda suspected it. The first clue I got that things were headed that way was several years ago when I got into a band with these two brothers who were in their very early 20's. They had very little experience but had written some decent songs and I and the other band members figured in a couple of years, if they worked hard they might really have something.

Well one day when we were on our way to a gig, the subject of how long we'd all been playing came up. The two boys had only been playing guitar and singing for a year or two. "It's hard to believe it's been that long sometimes," the lead singer said. "Lee, how long have you been playing?"

"Since I was 12," I said (and I think I was only around 28 at the time).

Both their jaws dropped. It was as if somebody'd let all the air out of their balloon. "WHOA!!!" They exclaimed. Then they asked the drummer, "What about you?"

"Since I was 10," he replied.

The boys were just beside themselves. They hardly spoke the rest of the way to the gig. They couldn't believe that you actually had to work that hard for that long in order to become a good musician. Needless to say, they didn't last long in this business.

Sheeesh... I like instant gratification as much as the next person, but it sure must feel empty to NEVER have really worked and sacrificed part of yourself for something you love.

--Lee

>>Another thing that seems odd to me is the number of young students that don't know the names of any guitarists, or what kind of guitars are available. When I was learning I knew who was in each band, what kind of guitar they played etc....(still do),it seems these kids have no heroes, they just want to play.<<

Well, I don't know if that's such a bad thing (and I'm speaking as someone with many heroes ). It could be that someone who knows "nothing" about guitars or players could be the one who comes up with the most innovative sounds. U2 were very much in that camp, they had no influences to speak of and The Edge came up with some of the coolest guitar sounds that had been heard in some time. I do think they suffered later on from having no roots and they tried to get some, but for their first 5 albums or so they were very inspired and original. If nobody ever tells you you "can't" do something or "that's never been done this way" you have less reservations about playing whatever you feel.

I find myself nowadays trying to reinvent myself a bit as a guitarist and it helps to throw a lot of what I know out the window. At one point I didn't even play for about 6 months, but I focused on songwriting and imagined guitar parts in my head all the time. Then when I physically picked up the instrument again, I had to learn to play all those things in my head and in some ways it was like starting over.

--Lee

It's odd, they have one of two perspectives:

"It's too hard and impossible to even try"

or

"it's no different than learning a new Nintendo cartridge".

Things that used to take 1 lesson to accomplish 10 years ago, now is sometimes stretched across months.

I would think it was *me* - but I'll get a few kids that seem "normal" and learn as quickly as they ever did. Or I'll get an older adult, and it works the same as ever.

At recitals it becomes very obvious, and sometimes parents get mad: "why can't my kid play like the kid that's doing that crazy stuff? (Pagannini)". I want to tell them "well, your kid never practices, listens to rap music and doesn't really care about playing an instrument, and spends most of his free time at football/soccer/baseball practice, and has no motivation to do anything without being told so".

Half of the students do fine, the other half of course has trouble; but *parents* these days are screwed up as well, in that some expect after 2 months of lessons to hear Flawless Examples of Guitar Execution. They have *no* background in music or playing an instrument, but they have these massively inflated notions about how it works. You wouldn't believe the things I've been told by parents in regards to THAT...

I live in a very strange town though, and I'm hoping it's not indicative of the rest of the nation, which is why I'm trying to move this year....
http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald