2021 Holiday Gift Guide
Dear Friends of the Guitar,
Learning an instrument, performing and recording music requires many tools. Passionate musicians are constantly seeking to perfect the sound they are striving for, and December is a great time to gift the musician in your life with one of a whole host of musical necessities. Learning an instrument and being on the path of musicianship also requires attentive listening to music, and starting a personal CD collection is a great gift for that purpose.
Let’s start out with smaller purchases you can’t go wrong with. I am not going to get into any specific brands but will say “you get what you pay for.” Don’t worry too much if you are not exactly sure about the specifics since finding the best fit for your needs is simply trial and error. Different brands and string gauges need to be tried out to discover what works best, and even each guitar will respond differently to various string gauges. All of the listed items come in many different shapes, sizes and colors and simply need to be experimented with.
Gift Ideas for Aspiring Guitar Players:
-a variety pack of guitar picks
-new strings
-string cleaner with a cloth
-a guitar slide
-a capo
-a good instrument cable
-a custom guitar strap made out of a recycled seat belt!
-containers to store slides, capos and organize your picks
-a practice planner and a musical journal along with a nice pen to track your progress
-a music stand that won’t fall over
-a sturdy guitar footstool
-a quality set of fingernail clippers and nail file along with some hand sanitizer
-a self-help book that offers good advice on how to realize your goals. Learning to play an instrument requires a lot of discipline, structure and maintaining a positive mindset.
I highly recommend purchasing old school devices when possible despite that so much is virtual and offered as an app. I have noticed that objects that can be held and operated with your hands intrigue especially younger students. A wind up metronome, a tuning pitchfork and some manuscript paper with a good set of pencils are tried and true. Seeing how things actually work and can be manipulated by tweaking real mechanical knobs helps students with the learning process.
Lastly, I want to encourage all students and parents to start their own CD or record collection. Many CDs are now available at an affordable price, and hopefully, you still have a local record shop in your town that offers a wide variety of music genres. I find it invaluable to invest and identify with one’s own collection rather than hearing music only online from a few select channels. So much information gets lost, and I am saddened that many students know so little about the music they are listening to. When you listen to a song, ask yourself the following questions: Who composed the music and wrote the lyrics? Who are the musicians on the recording? What country, city and studio was the album recorded in? What is the record label? Who were the producers and engineers? Who made the photography and artwork that go hand in hand with many albums? Who owns the copyright? You will only be aware of these informative aspects if you hold and investigate the product in your own hands. In my teenage years, my father subscribed to a monthly shipment of 3 random CDs chosen by a Jazz critic. This somewhat risky endeavor turned out to be a highlight of each month. I was super excited to see what might come next, and it certainly broadened my listening range. Thanks Dad, I still have and listen to all of those incredible albums!
I hope these suggestions come in handy and may this season of giving gifts be meaningful and from the heart.
Happy Holidays and Frohe Weihnachten!
Chris
