guitars on the beach (Page 1 of 2)

Thanks just don't get her singing her opera! Well I want to either get a nice guitar thats not for little kids like mine. ha ah its old. about 3/4 size is what i have now. One thats classical or just some nylon strings for it because I love the softer sound. Like my moms

A big wet sloppy Mom kiss on your cheek to welcome you to the Chordie Forum my son! 

I don't know if we sounded "great" but we sure did have a fun time!  Once the weather warms up we'll have to keep the guitars on the porch and avoid the beach as there will be far too many yahoos around kicking up sand.  It is still too cool outside to go into the lake so there weren't very many people around, but the girls had been begging to play in the sand.  The people near us were listening at first, and then sure enough Stephie stole the show with her backbends, perfect splits and round offs.  She is an amazing acrobat for only 5 years old! 

Save your money for a new acoustic, and in the mean time I think we can swing some new strings   Ahhh... now it's time to cook some dinner and someone just reminded me, I think I'll also belt out a few Italian Arias!

Thats awesome. I cant wait till my kids are old enough to jamm with.

Great story mekidsmom_son.
You guys sound like a real tight knit family. Like Topdown says never loose the passion for playing guitar. It can take you places you've never dreamed, not to mention the chicks that'll be chasin ya....when you get older of course.

Welcome to Chordie

Kenny

Welcome MKM_Son,

Next time it wouldn't hurt to take a jar along with a  "College Fund" label or something to that effect for some tips

Hey Zurf would that be like Walk sun, walks off

Perhaps three jars... "College Fund" ... "New Guitar Fund"... "Dance Class Fund" ... then you'll also have some answers to "life's big questions"

Last summer, I had a night to myself (my wife was away) and I wanted to do something atypical, so I packed a sandwich and took my junker uke and a sand chair to the local beach just around dusk. 

I'm good enough at the instrument now that I can noodle around with some "pretty" chord changes and produce a pleasant effect.  The beach was fairly empty, but there were a few people scattered about.  I made sure I was far enough away from them all so I wouldn't intrude on their peaceful sunset.  Then, I began to play, softly.

My fantasy, as I drove to the beach, was to attract a little crowd, light a campfire, and have a singalong until the Public Safety people chased us away.  Instead, people just sat and stared at the water - never even acknowledging that there was live music playing.  Eventually, I sensed that it was time to pack it in and let them all have their peace.

To my surprise, the minute I stopped playing and there was a period of silence, heads started popping up from blankets and voices came out of the dunes saying "Don't stop!" "Ahhh, that was so soothing I was just falling asleep" and "Thank you, that was beautiful!"  Suddenly, I didn't feel like the annoying jerk on the beach with his instrument anymore.  I decided to stay and play for the seagulls and the waning tide until about an hour after sunset.  As people left the beach, they all thanked me for a calming end to their day.  One Asian man, obviously new to America, saw my empty iced tea cup and put a dollar in it!  I gave it back and told him I stopped getting paid to play music many years ago.  He smiled and translated for his wife and children and they all laughed.

That night, by the beach with my $40 ukulele, I  remembered why I started playing music in the first place.

Cool, Papa Tom,
I played for my wife and another couple at dusk one fine night on a sailboat we had chartered.
We were anchored off a beach with two other boats anchored fairly close to us off our stern.
We were too far out to pick up any radio stations and I noticed people on the other boats behind us had moved up and taken seats on the bow of their boats so they could hear better. They clapped and called out to us when we finished.
The other couple made a video of some of the music. We had a rubber dinghy tied off behind us.
Seagulls by the dozens were lined up on the sides of out dinghy to hear the music as well. I knew dauphins to hang around during a concert but this was the first time I found seagulls to be music lovers.
toots

>>Cool, Papa Tom<<<

Sorry my stories tend to be a little long-winded.  I never realize how long they are until I see them in print!

>>>PapaTom - Don't even think about it. <<<

Thanks.  But anyway, this post was about mekidsmom_son.  Thanks for inspiring this thread, "son!"

In a documentary about the making of The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen (whom you may be too young to know) talks about how "folk" music was made to be played on acoustic instruments that people could carry anyplace they went and how this could lead to a magical, impromptu jam session at any time.  It sounds like you and your Mom created that same kind of magic on the beach, regardless of who seemed to be listening.  Oddly, people are much less uptight about watching a dancer or an acrobat than they are about watching someone sing or play an instrument.  You probably touched more people that day than you know.

>>>Think it'll work alright if we just knot the ends or should we head back to the store and pick up ball ends?<<<

Funny thing is, for the few years I've been playing the uke (my first stringed instrument, having been a drummer all my life) I've been stringing it with knots.  Recently, I was told this is incorrect.  It works for me, though!