TOPIC: New Student

Everyone, i'll be bringing my other stepson TJ to class Wednesday. I heard him playing Beethoven's "Fur Elise", and it sounded pretty good. I've heard him noodle with my electrics playing Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", and Blue Oyster Cult's "Fear the Reaper", so i know he can read TABS well. When i heard him playing "Fur Elise" finger style, i was quite surprised. He can hammer out the intro to "Stairway to Heaven", he's been playing for about the same time as i (about 9 mos.) and plays more songs, with less practice! Geez! I told him i thought he picked it up quickly (even his brother admitted to that, which is amazing---must be true, teenagers are always right!)I told him i thought his abilities would grow in the company of other musicians. He seems excited about attending. Dave, he's alot more humbler than his brother, and embraces theory. I did explain, however, that Slipknot and Deathklock wouldn't be part of our studies. He seemed ok with that!

I hope he will play "Fur Elise" for us. I love Beethoven,but I haven't seen any mandolin tabs for his music! TJ will be a welcome addition to our class!

I know he has a few measures of this song hammered out. I was working on it last night, it's actually pretty fun to play. It's got a 3/8 time signature, finger style picking. He got the music from a guitar website. (in 15 min. of study, i was able to play 2 measures) I never thought of the difficulty you mandolin players would have finding music. Everything seems biased toward guitars. I'll bet Dave could look at the music and TAB it out.

Sounds like TJ has a natural talent for music and I look forward to seeing him in class......I love it when kids play music naturally, without formal training.

Just a point of fact: it's "Fleur de Lis" French for Lilly flower and was a symbol of French royalty used in their cresents or coats of armour. Beethoven wrote it for a student of his. The Fleur de Lis is a pattern that's still used a lot for decoration in fabrics, wallpaper and even jewelry. It's a pretty little tune.

Wow thanks for the correction. Whoever put this music to paper butchered it, cuz they spelled it wrong...i don't want to purposely butcher classical music...i'll do that when i play it! Yeah, his mind actually works faster than his hands will let him. He found out when playing finger style, that when you played 2 notes simultaneously, it makes a nice harmonic type of chime---then he goes on to say he would like to investigate harmonics,and how to play more of those bell like notes on the guitar. I had to tell him i was clueless---it was enough for me to learn the tune! He says he looks at music mathematically:dry: ....ok...i told him it's a gift, put alot into it, and the rewards will be great. (i'm not sure on the math thing---i've got a 2 year degree in electronics, and i hate math.... thats why i didn't go for engineering! go figure!

I have the sheet music to "Fur Elise" and can probably TAB it out, it will just take me a long time. The chords are simple too! I am looking forward to tomorrow's class!