A waste of hard earned money

[journeybear]

... I don't know a single musician that doesn't wish he or she started earlier and practiced more.

Well, you know me. Of course I wish I'd started earlier - 15 was so late - but I hardly ever wish I practiced more. Practice is a bit of a chore, and I've pretty much got the basics down. Sure, sometimes in the middle of playing I'll wish I'd taken a bit more time learning the piece or my part, usually just after I've flubbed something, but time spent at home playing is more often for fun than practice, unless I'm trying to learn something. But we're talking about practice, right? Practice! Practice?!?

[Mandoplumb]

Someone once asked Earnest Stoneman, who had a house full of kids that all played, how he got them all interested. He said he had the instruments, he tuned them all up, laid them on the bed and dared the kids to touch them.

[acousticphd]

Notice the wear in the fingerboard; regardless of the "waste of money comment", one or probably several owners spent a lot of time playing this mandolin!

[MikeEdgerton]

The wear probably came after the comment was written.

I have a friend that always leaves whatever case candy is in a case when he passes that instrument along. It's nice that the documentation remained with this one.

[Timbofood]

There was a "family rule" that all the kids had to do two years of some kind of music. None of my siblings kept up any of it, my oldest sister was relieved of this through her choice of violin(no one could endure her screeching) I started playing the guitar at about twelve dropped it after two lessons, crappy guitar and not a very interesting teacher. Then I found the mandolin.......

[Jeff Mando]

I started my 11 yr old granddaughter in a rock and roll based music franchise that includes one hour of private instruction and three hours of band practice a week.

When I was a kid (50+ years ago) we called it music lessons and jamming with friends......

I got a chuckle, Charles with the use of "franchise" -- reminds me of the current use of the word "brand" as it applies to the Kardashian brand, Trump's brand, etc., I guess I've seen "franchise" used with movie sequels, such as the Mission Impossible franchise, etc......hard to stay "current" these days.........

[objectsession]

Isn't "franchise" used in the regular sense (like Subway or McDonalds)? Or am I just missing the joke?

[Jeff Mando]

Isn't "franchise" used in the regular sense (like Subway or McDonalds)? Or am I just missing the joke?

The joke is probably on me, actually. The term sounded too "grown up" for an 11 yr old, to me. Or maybe, just too formal. Rather than, "she takes lessons at Bob's Music Store" it struck me like saying, "after attending the franchise, she also interns at Merrill Lynch three days a week."

[objectsession]

Oh, like, using the word "franchise" in place of "band"? Heh. That is funny . . in a dark comedy sort of way.

Although, I'm sure Apple is planning something along those lines for Apple Music version 5 or so.

[Jeff Mando]

Yes, that's it. I think it depends on your age demographic, somewhat. As a kid in the 60's, the last thing in the world a band would want to be associated with was something corporate--a band represented freedom, rebellion, purity, protest, at least in my eyes. Most musicians back then looked at their music as art and would never consider licensing a song to sell beer, cars, or whatever.....now, of course, most musicians probably think differently. So, to use a term like franchise to describe a band today is probably not such a stretch.