I have to laugh at some things I find online when I'm doing searches for music-related items. I was looking for software that will take a guitar chord sheet and be able to change the chords instantly without manually going through each song to change it. As a music teacher and worship leader I often have to rewrite the chords to put a song in 1.) an easier key to sing in for me and my team or 2.) an easier key for a guitarist (usually just rewriting my part and then throwing a capo on...do I hear some gasping by other guitarists?). When I did a google search, I came across one of those Yahoo Q&A pages where someone will ask a question and others can come in and answer it. This individual was asking how he can get better at changing between chords on his guitar. He was concerned because he only moved one finger at a time and it took him a while to form the next chord. While this is a common problem for any beginning guitarist, I couldn't believe what one of the responses was: "play more Guitar Hero, it helps!" You're kidding me, right?!?

From a musical point of view, Guitar Hero does have its merits. First, it gets kids involved and interested in music. They're listening to it, and learning how to be rhythmically accurate with the notes they are given. Is it as good as playing a real instrument? I don't really believe so. It's kinda like that other little gizmo I just saw advertised on TV...you strum a little electronic unit to the beat in order to hear the riffs. Again, it helps teach rhythm and kids can gain a certain aspect of performing, but they are not really doing it on their own. Imagine with me, if you will, the following:

You are in your local Civic Center getting ready to listen to your favorite band. You have just shelled out some major cash to listen to music and to see a show. When it's time for the concert, the house lights dim and the stage lights come on in an array of colors and movement. Smoke begins rolling off the stage into the crowd and the girls start screaming while the drums begin playing; the spotlights finally rest on the band. Up on stage, you see your favorite band rocking out with their... Rock Band paraphanelia. There is something to be said for playing real instruments.

I am an owner and player of Guitar hero, and I enjoy it, but as a real guitarists, I can enjoy playing that game and appreciate even more that while the songs I am "playing" are challenging, how much more challenging would it be to play the same song, the same way on a real guitar? It blows my mind to think how good some of these guitarists had to be to play what I am struggling to play with just five buttons, and their strumming/picking patterns are so much more complex than the little back-and-forth motion I'm making on my "guitar."

All that being said, I want to remind you that I do find merit in those types of games and I think that they have been getting kids interested in real instruments in a time where music education and student involvment in music programs is on a decline. Playing Guitar Hero will help you get a better mind for being rhymically accurate, but it will not help you to change chords more quickly. The only thing that will help you on a real guitar, is to practice on a real guitar. Take it nice and slow at first, and then speed things up a little bit at a time. You will not be a Guitar Hero overnight, but with a little hard work, you will be able to succeed!
I just want to leave with one more thought....could you imagine how good these kids could be on real instruments if they would spend as much time playing those as they spend trying to conquer "Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragon Force?

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I just want to tell you how good customer relations can make or break a deal. I was recently looking to make a large purchase from Musician's Friend (website) purchasing 25 Rogue guitars, wall hangers, and method books. I sent them an email requesting someone get in contact with me so that we could work out the details of this purchase. This is the non customer-friendly response I received from them (*notice: some info has been edited for privacy purposes*):

It doesn't look too bad, but this is the only response I received from them. There was no phone call or no follow-up. I let this hang for a whole month to see when they would call me and they never did. Instead, I received this e-mail:

I couldn't believe what I was reading! My question was far from solved and it surprised me that this was the only interest they had in such a large purchase. I guess they didn't need my business after all. This is an example of poor customer relations because there was not a very personal response, nobody called me as requested, and instead of trying to follow up on the inquiry, they automatically changed the status to 'solved.' Because of these issues, I didn't push the issue and they lost a valuable customer...a band director who is always looking for music-related things. Since I needed these guitars for my general music class next year, I went to a place where I had previously ordered equipment, Sweetwater. I sent an email to them the exact same way and this is the response I received (question first, then response).

Now talk about a better response! It was truly impressive what a friendly email can do for business! I ended up making the purchase through them and will continue to go to them first for anything I'm looking to purchase. I felt so bad for Musician's Friend that I sent them a message telling them about their poor customer relations and how it cost them business from a band director...and once again their poor relations struck:

It doesn't seem like they even care they lost a customer.  Their response to my feedback was the same type of response that turned me off them in the first place! I have since taken them off my music sites links on the front page and have decided to share this experience with you. Never settle for less than good customer service, you deserve better, and if something goes wrong you want the company that was there to serve you from the beginning!

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Summer is here and I've been doing a lot of landscaping work and thinking about everything that needs to be done before the beginning of the school year. I was going through my old e-mails and I found this little gem. Since football season is approaching and NCLB is a pretty big issue in the educational realm I thought it would be appropriate:

This is football version of what is going on in education right now. For all educators in and out of the education system:

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th game. This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.

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The great thing about being a teacher is that when the summer months roll around I can be soaking up the sun and enjoying some time to myself. Now I can already hear what you're saying if you're not a teacher (if you are you are probably not even going to read this until the fall since you're enjoying your break already) "Must be nice to have the summers off." I hear this constantly and it does get annoying after a while. I'd like to throw this little bit of information out. Some people think that we teachers should get paid for just babysitting and guess what...I'm okay with that! I found this post in the Omaha Newsstand:

"Since school teachers are really just glorified babysitters, let's just pay teachers the going rate for babysitting.

Let's pay them $3 an hour per kid, and they work 8-4, with a half-hour lunch. After all, why should we pay them for 'planning' or to eat?

So that's 7.5 working hours a day, and an elementary teacher works with about 20 kids a day.

So $3 X 7.5 hours a day X 20 kids = $450.00.

And I'm sure not paying them for weekends (more 'planning') and I'm sure not paying them for summers off for 'training' or advanced 'education,' so really, we are only going to pay them for 180 days a year.

So $450.00 X 180 = $81,000.

And just to be nice, if you have a master's degree, I'll give you $4.00 an hour.

That means we are going to pay teachers/babysitters $81,000 to $108,000 a year and not a penny more!"

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the average teacher in Columbus makes $59,713. This figure is still $21,287 less than a babysitter would make for the amount of work s/he would be doing!! If you ask my opinion, I'll let you pay me as a babysitter and I'll educate your kids too! The moral of this story..."Don't walk up to an educator and say that it must be nice to have summers off."

I hope that each of you had a happy and safe summer!

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