No Apologies Necessarry

[Chris "Citrus" Sauthoff]

Howdy!

I can't tell you all how many times I get to hear "I'm Sorry" every day....

missed notes or taking too much time to change from chord to chord, no practice time...etc..

You don't have to apologize to ME.

We are lucky in a way at SHMA...no grades. No passing or failing. I am lucky that I don't have to grade you as well...I would hate putting a subjective letter to your personal progress.

Guitar isn't life and death...it's called... PLAYING GUITAR/MUSIC...... for a reason.

Don't forget to PLAY the guitar. From day one, I give you the tools to play music.. The major scale.

I appreciate that you don't want to let ME down.....but just know that I see improvement in you all that you won't see...because I can see you and hear you.

Remember that I am trying to give you the tricks and concepts that I WISHED I had when I started out Twenty Six years ago!

Meaning...the things that I studied, or fought for, Stole and begged to get from my elders over years and years of study...I am giving you at the beginning. You have a MASSIVE head start!

This weekend at Kendo practice....Sensei urged us all to commit %110 to every action that we tried during our session. He said..."hey, if you are a new student and you hit your opponent too hard on his wrist...don't apologize. Instead think.. I just cut your hand off!"

You see...there is etiquette at the Dojo...we TRY NOT to injure each other and with proper technique and form there is absolutely NO pain...

Just like the martial arts...we have etiquette when playing with each other musically. We try to stay in tune. on time and on the right notes...

but if you are a new student thinking about the thousand and one things it takes to make such a correct sound, you may end up making a mistake....it's OK...that's what we are here for! You don't need to apologize...it takes too much time and energy...just continue on...note the mistake in your own mind and try to do better.

IF I mention something that you are doing "less than"....well...it's still ok. I am NOT mad at you. I am just trying to help you play to the full potential.

Enjoy life! Play Guitar! Have fun!

See you in class.

[Sarah K.]

Ha! Ha! I came on here to see if anyone else was having trouble with "Always on my mind". Yeah, I am having trouble jumping up to this song. So, I have kind of ignored it and have played around with some other things that make sense to me. In the meantime, I found a really fun Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson album. I look forward to getting some understanding in class...and I will be sure to eat lots of food before I come so my brain so I don't have a blood sugar drop like last class :)

[Kathleen Hickey]

What she said! About to tackle "Always on my Mind" again once I cut the brownies I just baked and finish the dishes. I think we just jumped up a level with this song. I need the reminder to have fun with my guitar. Sometimes it's hard for me to find the music in the struggle to get it "right."

[Molly Livaudais]

I'm sorry for saying "sorry" all the time... God, no wait. Sorry.

PS This "always on my mind" song is crazy hard.