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Bookswithtea
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Ds started guitar lessons after years of going it alone. According to his teacher (a celtic performer as well), he is unusually talented. I didn't know...I just thought he liked to play. 
I keep thinking...what if he decides to pursue music school after graduating? Its not like he will be playing in a symphony as a guitarist...The best I can hope for is Christian pop music??? I can't think of ways to channel this gift that don't end up in the scarey media saturated music world.
I know its not my place to direct his life. And I know God has given him a gift for a reason. But I don't even know where to begin to look for heroes. The only person I can think of is John Michael Talbot, but ds doesn't exactly see himself as a monk! 
Can anyone help?
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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vmalott
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"The best I can hope for is Christian pop music???"
Oh, goodness...absolutely not! There is a whole incredible world of classical guitar. Naturally, that would mean looking for soloists to listen to and emulate. Try looking up "Classical Guitar" on Amazon to find names of performers or do a Google search to discover more.
Perhaps listening to this style of guitar playing would inspire your son. To me, when I first heard classical guitar, I was absolutely stunned that so much music could come out of those six strings that we usually only hear strummed against a good back-beat.
Something to think about...
 Valerie
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stefoodie
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don't know if this will help, books, but i found the following links for dd when she started learning the guitar... kinda like a "throw it out there" --
Catholic Music Network for inspiration?
ChristMusic - this one's Catholic too.
Catholic Sound - they take artist submissions, but i haven't read through all the requirements yet
Apostle Music/Catholic Jukebox - this one has a forum
disclaimer: i have not personally spent a lot of time on this sites so i don't know if there's anything objectionable, especially the forum -- but so far what i've seen looks good.
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marihalojen
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Classical guitar is amazing - Andres Segovia has a great kids book out that I really enjoyed. (Caveat - produced in 1979 so photos are of that era) But the music is great and presented very clearly. Segovia: My Book of the Guitar no picture or peek inside here, but our library has a copy, perhaps yours will as well?
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Mrs.K
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Do you know of Martin Doman(Regina's Brother)? He is a wonderful example of how God is using someone's musical talent for His glory. He sings and plays guitar. You can read a bit about him on his website - www.martindoman.com He also has his cd's available. He is now the diocesan musician and he does things like retreat music, concerts and leading Eucharistic Adoration Holy Hours with his music. He has I think five children and they are just beginning to homeschool. Check him out!
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stefoodie
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Martin Doman is the founder of ChristMusic, I forgot to mention.
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stef
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Bookswithtea
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Thank you so much! I will check out the links for ds, and we'll see about picking up some classical guitar cd's, too.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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MacBeth
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Books, one never regrets classical training. Midori (the violinist) has a violinist brother who is at Harvard now. When he was at the pre-college conservatory with Libby, he took secondary lessons in classical guitar, but loved rock music. And our long-time music teacher has a son who studied cello for years, but now plays electric bass professionally. Libby's summer teacher last year, Rachel Barton Pine, is a heavy metal violinist as well as a classical violinist. I think Linda Ronstadt is a classically trained vocalist, too.
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Bookswithtea
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MacBeth wrote:
| Books, one never regrets classical training. Midori (the violinist) has a violinist brother who is at Harvard now. When he was at the pre-college conservatory with Libby, he took secondary lessons in classical guitar, but loved rock music. And our long-time music teacher has a son who studied cello for years, but now plays electric bass professionally. Libby's summer teacher last year, Rachel Barton Pine, is a heavy metal violinist as well as a classical violinist. I think Linda Ronstadt is a classically trained vocalist, too. |
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Thank you! I feel validated! This is what I've been trying to communicate to ds...that no matter how he uses his skills in the future, a *traditional* training is still the best way to go. So far, I don't think he's buying it, but I shall persevere!  He's pestering me to death for an electric guitar. I keep refusing because
1--I don't consider it a real instrument (that is, one that has been around for centuries...its a newfangled thing)
2--I'm sure that if we do allow one in the house, he'll never play the acoustic one again. 
He recently informed me that its possible to hook up an acoustic guitar to an amp with a mic. Sigh...I feel a battle coming on. I hate to be a stick in the mud, and I don't want to create forbidden fruits, either. I've told him endlessly that there is plenty of time in life to pick up an electric guitar after he graduates and he will be great at it for practicing all those years on an acoustic.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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MacBeth
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Well...
Guitar has been around for centuries. 
Libby has an electric violin (Fender) and an electric bass, but she still plays on the traditional instruments because they sound better. You can get a pick-up for the guitar, and he can have the fun of an amplified sound, and sill play the acoustic instrument.
And one great advantage...an electric can be plugged into headphones for silent practice. 
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Bookswithtea
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MacBeth wrote:
Well...
Guitar has been around for centuries. |
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LOL. I know guitar has been around, but the electric guitar??? To me, that seems like such a narrow window for play, compared to the acoustic.
MacBeth wrote:
| Libby has an electric violin (Fender) and an electric bass, but she still plays on the traditional instruments because they sound better. |
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How old is Libby? I think I'd feel better about all of this if he weren't so young...he's barely 13.
MacBeth wrote:
| You can get a pick-up for the guitar, and he can have the fun of an amplified sound, and sill play the acoustic instrument. And one great advantage...an electric can be plugged into headphones for silent practice. |
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Actually, the only advantage I see to getting an amp is that he can practice silently! My ears are so worn out from his guitar and then plunking on the piano every spare opportunity, along with dd who just started flute.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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MacBeth
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Bookswithtea wrote:
How old is Libby? I think I'd feel better about all of this if he weren't so young...he's barely 13.
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She's 16, but she got her electric violin when she was 13.
If I were in your position, I'd opt for the pick-up rather than get him an electric guitar. I wish I had done this with her violin, but it was actually my dad who got the electric for her.
More info--my brother is a life-long electric guitar player, but bought his wife an acoustic to learn on as he says it's just better training. He regrets his lack of classical training big time.
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Rachel May
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My brother played both, but he had to buy his electric guitar and amp etc with his own money. Maybe that could be part of your solution? Also, he and another brother and some friends used to spend hours and hours practicing and playing in our garage throughout their highschool years. I can think of worse things (I can think of better things too ).
Now, he's a college prof and plays only the acoustic for his own pleasure. The electic stuff was sold a long time ago.
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guitarnan
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You know, as a lifelong (almost...started at age 10, over 30 years ago) guitarist, I have only recently learned to appreciate my long-suffering parents, who survived my endless practicing, improvising, playing songs over and over on the (living room) stereo so I could figure out the chords...it really does take patience to raise a musical child.
But it's such a gift to be able to express myself musically. I'm not super-talented and don't compose or improvise...but I do try to use my music for God's service and was originally inspired to learn my instrument through listening to liturgical music. Now my ministry connects (and re-connects) me to people in each new parish...
...and now my daughter is plunking out tunes on the piano, guitar, etc. and I REALLY appreciate my parents!!!
I'd definitely start with a pick-up and tiny amp (much easier and cheaper); I do like the idea of making him save up for an electric. (Or, you could match his $$ once he had a certain amount saved...)
It may be, too, that guitar will lead to an interest in other traditional instruments. This happens often. Once you know how chords/strumming/picking patterns work, it's easy enough to pick up mandolin, banjo, acoustic bass, etc.
If he's gifted musically, some traditional training is definitely good. However, in the case of guitar, "classical" guitar (like Segovia) is not much like "traditional" folk-style guitar. One uses individual notes (classical) and the other uses chords, strum patterns and picking patterns (traditional). Studying classical guitar is great training, because you learn to read all the notes, and the sound you produce is beautiful...but I do need to point out that you need a specific type (nylon stringed) of guitar, and that the right-hand techniques are not very similar to those used for folk/traditional/rhythm guitar.
At the risk of annoying some members, I also would like to say that I believe there's a place for the guitar in the panoply of instruments used to glorify God. For example, our Church could, perhaps, use more Catholic-specific summer programs for children (an alternative to VBS), and good music is definitely needed for programs of this type. Some locations might not have a portable piano or keyboard, and a guitar is a good alternative when you don't have a keyboard instrument to use. (Think what Maria von Trapp did with her guitar!)
I also think there's something to be said for staying home and practicing one's instrument, as opposed to hanging out at the local strip mall parking lot or on MySpace. When your child is at home, practicing, it might be loud, but you'll definitely know where he is.
Perhaps the musical instrument fund could be stretched to get a set of noise-cancelling headphones...for you!
Also, you might want to consider, if affordable, family outings to (safe) concerts, so your children can experience various types of music for themselves.
I'm so glad you recognize your son's gift and want to help him nurture it in a way that will please God. People have been praising God with music since, well, the time of Genesis. David's instrument (harp) had strings...a good sign, yes? 
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Cathmomof8
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Since dh and I both are not musically inclined, and never played any instruments, I was thrilled when our eldest wanted to start playing guitar. His friend taught him some and then we paid for some classical guitar lessons. Soon though it wasn't enough for him. He wanted an amp. So he bought an amp for his acoustic. But then that wasn't enough. He bought himself an electric guitar. I too thought - great - plug her in and at least I don't have to hear it - but alas, no - he never uses headphones. And to continue, those things weren't enough so he bought an even better electric guitar and then a great big amp. sigh. He spends every dollar he makes on cds now too. He is 17.5yo, and a senior in hs. He has not one cent to account for years of working. I don't know when and how it all got so out of control with his music. Looking back I'm really not sure what specifically I would have done differently - we had so many battles going with ds these past 4 years - I think I had too much battle fatigue and way too much ignorance about music and what is out there. Maybe a much longer stretch with only the acoustic would have helped - or setting an age or time limit before the electric guitar could be purchased.
Sadly, I cringe at the thought of any of the younger kids wanting to take up guitar - precisely because of the direction we allowed our eldest to take. Believe me - I know it doesn't have to be this way, and plenty of people play and love classical guitar without ever getting into hard rock and all that it entails.
I would like to see all of our children play some sort of instrument but time, money and our lack of knowledge and experience with musical instruments has contributed to that not happening. Dh has no interest in our children playing. I am hoping to see about getting a keyboard maybe for Christmas - really want a piano but right now money and - even more importantly - a place to put it just aren't there.
rambling...
Theresia
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Bookswithtea
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not rambling at all, Theresia. Thank you. This is exactly what I'm concerned about. The boys at the hs group ds hangs out with (nice boys, btw) are all into music and bands (Christian rock, but rock nonetheless). Whenever I even mention classical guitar ds makes this awful face. I guess I need to pray more. But I'm definitely not feeling any peace about getting either an amp or the electric guitar.
Thank you all so much.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Topic: nurturing musical gifts???
