Often times when I am teaching throughout the year I am asked to make gift certificates for people that are bought by friends or relatives. It is funny how often those recipients don't claim there presents. I often never hear from them. I am sure there are myriad of reasons that I have never even heard of as to why they couldn't use their gift certificate. Perhaps bought by the lover who is now an ex and it goes without saying the last thing you would be caught using is a present from your ex partner. Some people are too shy to call you for their lessons. In many cases they were given lessons to encourage them out of their shell and music is an accepted way of doing that and is much cheaper than a therapist.
I received a call from a lady whose husband was just turning 50 and she thought it would be good for him to experience music before he died. To possibly relieve some of the stress of being a high level businessman along the way. She ask me how much the lessons were and asked if she could pick up a gift certificate to give him on his birthday the following weekend. I generally use quite informal wording in my gift certificates to lighten them up; 'Because you are a good boy
and will continue to be a good boy an elf has granted you a ______lesson at Keith Bennett studios.' She left with the present printed on the best paper I had. The day after his birthday the birthday boy called to arrange a time for his lessons. She had bought him 2- one hour lessons and he was eager to get started.
He knocked on the door, I introduced myself and we got down to business. I showed him what I call the " entry level" lesson. History of the harmonica, some simple rhythm playing and the 12 bar blues explained and then explained according to the harmonica player and what he or she would play in it. He was fast learner and very keen; nodding his head after each important idea that he understood. He left quite excited and I closed the door after him thinking that times like these make me feel that it was a good thing to get into teaching after all. Helping someone to find a voice. The next week he came back at the same time for part 2 of his gift certificate and I noticed he now had 3 harmonicas with him and a book. I asked him what harmonicas he had bought he showed me and I noticed that they were all in the same key.
It customary to buy different keys of harmonica of which there are 12 but no one had told him that and he
wanted some more so now he had 3 in the key of C. I suggested that if he was going to purchase additional harmonicas he might consider the key of A followed by the key of D or G. He wanted to continue his lessons and on the following week he showed up with 3 C's, an A , a D , and a G harp, 3 books and 8 blues CDs.
Each week his collection grew and he carried everything in a plastic shopping bag. I finally decided to get him a present for his next lesson. I stopped by the Salvation Army store to buy one of those 1950's ladies overnight cases with the little elastic pouches on the inside and the mirror in the lid. I thought it would be better than a plastic bag - somewhere to put his harps and paraphernalia.
He was outwardly thankful when I gave it to him but didn't say much after I think it had something to do with the fact that it was pink. The very next week he arrived with the most expensive soft pouch camera case I have ever seen. He demonstrated it to me with all it's hidden pouches and zippers and padding. Each and every pouch was filled with either a harmonica
or a microphone or a cord or a book or a CD. He even bought a mini sequencer which he had spent some big money on. I was starting to get the idea that the store manager of the music store he went to must know his name and have instructed all his staff learn it. When I started to play I waited months for my next harmonica and it took me years to amass such a horde of harmonica stuff.
There are those that do and those that collect things. It didn't take me too long to see that his heart was really in possession of the accoutrements and not so much in the practicing of the instrument. We plugged along and month after month he would show up at my door with his collection. He did start to show marked improvement after I suggested he play in his car while driving and before too long was playing through the songs I had given him.
He told me that recently he had been on his way to a very important board meeting about 70K away on the freeway. He was having a great old time playing blues harp along with some backing tracks I had made for him. He drove right past the exit for his meeting and kept going down the freeway in the wrong direction. When he finally noticed, he realized that the next place he could turn around was 8K away so he was very late for the meeting. When he finally arrived to a large board room table filled with people waiting for him he turned to the president of the company and came clean. "I'm sorry I'm late I have to tell you that I was playing harmonica in my car and drove right by the turn off". The president, who up to this point wore a scowl demanded " You play harmonica? I play harmonica too. What kind of harps do you use?....... Needless to say the meeting was a success and another musical bond was formed that day.
About a year into teaching him I had to make a schedule change so I could record on a Doug and the Slugs CD so I called him up to change the time. His wife answered the phone. "Hi it's Keith. I need to change the lesson time this week so I can.." "It's you! She interrupted. He's driving me crazy! He plays harmonica in the morning, he plays harmonica at night, he plays harmonica in the car, he plays harmonica in the bathroom, he's driving me nuts with that thing!"
Then there was a silence. After about 5 seconds she said calmly:
"Can you teach me to yodel" I really want to learn to yodel."
I thought about it for a few seconds and as I always do before I properly think things through. I said: "Sure I can do that, it's just like singing” I lied. "When can I come in" she said and I found her a spot on another day from her husband and hung up the phone.
The next week she arrived for a yodeling lesson and her husband appeared later for his weekly harmonica lesson. I had to do some quick research at the library on the art of yodeling and was surprised to find out exactly how difficult it really is.
Can’t you just picture those two lovebirds at a campsite in the summer sitting around the campfire. He plays his harmonica and she yodels and every so often they look into each others eyes and sigh and look back at the fire. It would be very quiet there as they would no doubt be surrounded by deserted campsites.
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