Playing The Guitar

My father was a rodeo cowboy who came to visit me at my grandmother’s house six or seven times a year. One of the highlights of his visits was when he would pull out an old guitar that he kept stashed under my bed. He would carefully tune the guitar and take it out to the front porch and sit, with his ever-present cigarette dangling from his lips, playing “Under The Double Eagle”, “Wildwood Flower”, and a few Johnny Cash songs. The scene of a cowboy sitting with his guitar on the front porch of a house in the largely African-American neighborhood of inner city Los Angeles must have been quite a sight to the local denizens, but they never even turned their heads to notice. I would sit at his feet and try to memorize the movements of his hands. After a few days he would leave and I would clandestinely take the guitar out and attempt to replicate the sounds he made. I’m still trying today and I want to invite you to give it a try with me. Starting May 1st at 6:30pm I’ll be teaching a guitar class at the church. The classes will run six weeks until June 5th and we will meet in the Sanctuary. There is no cost for this class and I even have a few guitars to loan out if you don’t have one but want to give it a try. Just call me at the church or at home (245-6497, drop me an e-mail at RSAP@AOL.COM or stop by my office at church to let me know you’re coming so I can have the materials ready. I guarantee that you’ll be playing three chords by the end of the first session and in the words of Bob Dylan all you need in life are “three chords and the truth.”