Today’s post was written by Paul.
In the mid 90’s, I attended the University of North Carolina in Asheville to finish up my bachelor’s degree and earn my NC teaching license. I kept the little classical guitar you see in the video I’m sharing today under the bed in my dorm room, just so I had something to play every now and then. No case, just lying on the cold, hard, tile floor. I guess you could say that it was expendable but faithful. 🙂
I often had a lot of down time in between my classes. One day, I came back to the dorm after one of my education classes (meaning a class about teaching), and I took the guitar out from under the bed and started playing the tune in the video below.
As probably most guitar-playing Acorns have noticed, the unusual thing about this song is that it’s in B 7th, a chord that many songs pass through but few linger in. If I recall correctly, the class was ED310, or something like that.
The professor was well liked and respected, but she was also kind of legendary at UNCA for being very tough, especially at the beginning of the semester. On this particular day in class, I wound up having an extended conversation with a girl named Tonia. She was from Miami. I can’t remember what subject area she was learning to teach, possibly math. Throughout our conversation, she kept telling me that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a teacher. I remember thinking that it was kind of late in the game to be unsure. She didn’t seem down or stressed about it, but I tried to encourage her a little. She mentioned a few things that wouldn’t be good about being a teacher. I reminded her that every job has things about it that are not good or desirable.
I was still thinking about our conversation back in my dorm room when I started picking this tune, so I originally named this tune “Tonia wasn’t Sure.” I quit calling it that because I thought the title was too open-ended and might be taken the wrong way somehow. I don’t think I ever saw Tonia again after the end of that semester, so she may have chosen a different career path. However, if she was studying math, it’s possible that our paths wouldn’t have crossed again anyway, since I was studying literature and language. The class we had together was about introductory teaching concepts that apply to all subject areas.
Back when Tipper, Pap, Ben, Mark, Corie, Katie and I used to all gather at my house on Sunday afternoons and play music, I would sometimes play this tune, and everyone would play along on their instruments. Since I featured an original instrumental last week on our YouTube channel, I thought I would share another one this week.
I stuck this “Blind Pig” title on the song, hoping that it might stir folks’ curiosity and encourage more Acorns to watch. The title does seem to fit it in a way. The song is kind of bouncing, and because of the way the notes start on the half-time beat, I kind of have to bounce a little when I pick it.
I appreciate Corie playing rhythm with me for this video. This is not a song that would sound good played on one instrument alone, especially because of the way the A part falls on a half-time beat and has that kind of delay. Without a rhythm instrument, it would just sound like you’re getting out of time or don’t know what you’re doing.
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If you like the sound of this little Japanese classical guitar, below are videos/recordings that feature it. Thank you for watching!
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).
The Wilson Brothers Words of Life Album released in the 70s.