The Duel
Walking onto the stage, seeing my challenger; thought not much of him, then I glanced to my left; hundreds upon hundreds of people have come to see this. My nerves shot to hell, I picked it up, plugged it in, waiting for the challenger’s opening riff.
“Just one more time, I’ll get it this time, for sure!” I was tutoring some twelve year old; his name, David Ellison Mai. I was trying to teach him how to play the guitar. I have been playing for so many years, I cannot even begin to think how it is like for a beginner, all those new chords, scales, getting your fingers used to the touch of cold steel; set adrift on memory bliss. The only reason I got into this type of music is because of my brother. He meant to pack up his guitar when he moved out to his student home, he did not have enough space for it, and so he left it a week, and said that his friend would drop it off. Of course, seeing it sitting there in my room, I couldn’t just leave it alone; the shiny black surface, shimmering the light, almost giving it a warm glow. Every day, I would just look at it, and I was just getting into the whole rock music scene, so I knew a lot of inspirational guitarists. I couldn’t just sit around anymore; I picked it up, and started to learn. I did not know what to do for the first week, it was only when my brother came back that I started making progress. My brother came back for a week, to tie up some loose ends before he moved out for three years, to get his degree. It wasn’t long before my parents were supporting me to learn, they were always buying me books, strings and anything I needed to progress. I can still remember my fingers getting to the point where they would bleed, due to me playing for so many hours on end. When I wasn’t playing, I would just sit down and imagine myself playing on a stage, with thousands of people cheering me on. That dream was very far off; I was still having trouble holding the thing. Many of the guitarists I knew of all taught themselves, and I could see how good they were. I wanted to be just like them, I vowed never to get a teacher.
Doeden, Matt. Gun Control: Preventing Violence or Crushing Constitutional Rights? Minneapolis: Lerner, 2012. 7- 61-63. Print.
In reviewing John Lukacs, The Duel, I noticed that the author has other intentions in mind besides the facts. Lukacs gives a very precise account of the actualy events during those eighty days but in my opinion he wants the reader to grab the bigger concepts. One of these concepts is that Lukacs wants the reader to honestly consider just how close the Allies came to losing the war. Another of these notions is the idea that the main difference between Churchill and Hitler concerned nationalism versus patriotism and a third idea is just how greatly history can be effected by the courageous decisions of a few people.Lukacs makes strong mention of how close Hitler came to victory.
of how difficult and time-consuming it may have been. Playing an instrument is a great way to take one’s
To understand a musician’s work, one might need to understand their personal journey. While delving into the effects of musical therapy, I had a chance to interview Matt Jennings a songwriter/musician who plays piano in a worship band at Bear Creek Community Church in Merced, California. On Saturday, February 19, I sat down with Matt ...
So that year July 10th I left with the fifty dollars I had previously earned and saved up over the those last six years, and I left. I left a note telling them I'd write them when I could and I'd come back when I had found my self. I left the note on my bed, climbed out my window taking my guitar a...
“You pushed the limits of playing the guitar, you had young musicians on the edge of their seats waiting for your legendary guitar solos. Hendrix sat in silence for a short period thinking and contemplating the realization of his impact on the world.
“We have a special song that Mr. Christy doesn’t know about – sorry Christy.” Nothing like Fishers light hearted humor and clumsy grin to help shake off my nervousness. He continued. “In honor of everything Mr. Christy has taught us the last four years, we want to play him this song. It is called “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” We changed the lyrics to Mr. Christy for obvious reasons.” The remaining crowd chuckled. “I will now give the mic over to Skyler to give a few words.” I was on the stage, flute in hand and a microphone in front of my face staring into a very familiar audience. Everyone else had left except for the proud students and parents of band. I spoke, now feeling warm and
He pushed me to let my voice be heard, not just to receive the A that I desired, but because he believed that I had musical talent. It was from his encouragement that I received attention from other peers and my teachers. Finally, I had been noticed for doing something remarkable- other than certificates that I had previously been awarded for academics. Now, when I spoke- or sang, rather,- people began to listen. I had haphazardly discovered a talent of mine that may have gone unnoticed if I allowed myself to switch classes to one of a higher academic rigour to assuage the fears that came with being a perfectionist.
In West Virginia, the names of Hatfields and McCoys are the well known families involved in one of the most famous feuds. The biggest misconception of this famous feud is that the factor of why these two families do not get along, it is not family rivalry but instead social and economic factors. In reality, many McCoys were on Hatfield’s side and vice versa or some family members did not even participate in the events concerning the feud. “Apparently, family solidarity is not a sufficient explanation for feud alliances.” For example, “Although less than half of an identifiable thirty-one supporters were related to Devil Anse, twenty six---or a striking 84 percent--- were tied to our dependent upon him through land purchases or timbering.” These points tie in to the question on what determined what side of the feud someone would be on. As it is known, the Feud started ten years after the Civil War was over, stopped and then was ignited again with the death count of twelve. From the first part of the Feud to the second part, changes were happening in the Tug Valley, socially and economically. In terms of socially, the society went from a local community to having social elite and in terms of economically, it went from small businessmen such as Devil Anse to big time companies wanting to build railroads to dive into the coal and timber business. With these changes, also came the transformation of the legal system, state politics, and industrialization fueled the frustration of the families and heightened the violence of the Feud ultimately.
At the age of nine, I grasped my very first bat and it felt so, incredibly natural. After taking countless guitar lessons every Tuesday night for several weeks, I had discovered my true calling. At least, that’s what I thought. I started at the recreational level, learning step by steps the basics of the game. It was a work in progress, but I was determined to go competitive with it.
Kurt’s parents divorced when he was nine. He lived with his father after the divorce. On weekends, he visited his mother and sister. When his father remarried, Kurt held resentments with his stepmother Jenny and her two children. One of the bright spots of this difficult time was a present he received from his uncle, a guitar. Kurt lost himself playing the guitar. He received some kind of solace in the midst of his unhappy living situation.
People of France were suffering because taxes were high and food was low. “The King and Queen treat us unkindly.They treat us as if we are animals instead of humans.” stated a French citizen. On June 17 1789, rumors of King Louis sending the military force to attack the National Assembly, spread like wildfire. The French people were outraged and decided to rebel. This is now known as the start of the French Revolution. “I was on duty when it all went down. I was looking out the doors when I see this huge mob coming towards the Bastille.” said Bernard-Rene Jourdan. “ We were on our way to attack, but we realized we had no way of starting our guns and cannons without gun powder, so we went to the Bastille.” another French citizen stated. While
The story behind the guitar is the most bizarre story on its own. I was over at my grandparents on my mom’s side of the family, when my grandma told me to stay in the living room. She walked away, and when she came back she was holding a guitar case that looked really beat up. I didn’t know where it came from, and then she told me that someone had stopped by her house asking if I was her grandchild. Confused, yet not afraid, she said yes. The man then handed her the guitar and told her that it used to be Scott’s, also known as my dad’s. In complete shock on how this came to be, she didn’t question it because she felt that God took the situation in his own plans to somehow bring that guitar back to me. When my mom found out, she was very shocked and she just sat there looking at it and finally said, “Your dad used to play that guitar for me.” Even though I can’t actually play guitar, I sometimes take it out of the case and mess with the strings and listen to the sounds it makes, amazed that I’m recreating the sounds that he used to make on that very
For the sake of conformity, I had to accomplish this task so that I could put a smile on my parents’ faces, even though I despised that guitar with all my heart. I went week after week to the instructor, and week after week, I would come back distressed and tired of the lessons and of the incredible amount of practice hours required.
Without warning, the lights went dark. This was the moment I had been waiting for. My adrenaline went through the roof. The time had finally come that I would get to see and hear my first live concert.