guitar lessons and the snowstorm

They sold the Luna! I still couldn't get over it. I started looking at other "little guitars" in the store, asked about the Little Martins like Ed Sheeran plays and fell in with a couple of different brands I hadn't explored. I say fell in, just kind of exploring, hmmm... which one to play with... the Taylor GS-mini or the Ibanez Grand Concert Acoustic-Electric? The Taylors were still there but on my next lesson, the 2 Ibanez ones were gone. I don't know if they sold both or they just moved them or maybe someone "borrowed" it for a lesson. It was fine since I'd brought my Epiphone and I met my new teacher! I will have 3 lessons with this guy, bare minimum and I should know if it's helpful enough that I'd want more or if I should end the in person lessons there. So far, it seems like we have a better structure and he hasn't yawned a single time during the lesson. He also had some pieces in a book so if I didn't have my own material, I know he has some, which is great. We settled on Landslide as the new piece to learn and I mentioned to him that my holy grail was Building A Mystery. If he can come up with a way for me to learn to play that close enough to how Sarah does it, I am so signing up for more lessons. I guess I will find out on Thursday.

He shared some warm up exercises I can do before practicing, some modified scales and I've been using Blackbird as part of that too. I've learned it but I am still playing it because I want to get to a level of mastery of the piece where I can play and sing at the same time, even if it's at a slightly slower tempo than the original. Every time I listen to it and attempt to play at the same time, I just feel like it's too fast if I'm fingerpicking it. I might actually have to learn other ways to play it or combinations of picking and strumming.

It's the night of the big snowstorm. Looks like it's the worst that we've seen since before I came to live here. No school tomorrow and the frigid temps will continue for a couple of weeks. It's pretty intense. The student, all the way out in Pittsburgh decided to go sledding with her friends and injured her teeth. I can't say I'm pleased but nothing I can do about it really. Hopefully, it can be addressed when she is back in March. I told her to look into the Amtrak ticket already. I had just seen People We Meet on Vacation, which opens with a guy and girl sharing a car ride home from college and it was a nightmare. In the end, they end up together but that isn't the point. I am a little concerned about her hitching a ride with someone she doesn't know well and I know she will have this huge suitcase that I'm wondering if maybe with 3 people in the car, there might not be enough room for all her luggage. I actually feel more secure if she'd just take the train.

Back to the snowstorm. I think it stopped snowing already but there is a lot of snow out there. I also hear the constant hum of... I guess that's a snow blower. What I don't get is why this guy is at it when it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Clearly, I'm not getting any recording done and that is ok. I just downloaded Ableton Live Lite which came free with my interface purchase. I opened it up and quickly got overwhelmed. I know it's popular but I think for my needs and given what I'm used to, Reaper might still be the way to go. I don't know what I would need all the loops and drums and all that for. If I had more time to dedicate to it, and someone who could actually teach me, I would love to learn to use it all. But hey, I'd also like a real and proper studio so we're just gonna dream on. In the meantime, here's a pic of the Ibanez guitar that looks like it's been sold. 

Playlist Recommendation: Let Her Go, Passenger