Jul 28 2008
Tips to Manage a 6th Grade Rock ‘n’ Roll Band
Actual search term that led someone to this site: tips to manage 6th grade rock n roll band.
I can only imagine who typed that phrase into Google’s search form. A parent convinced that his or her child is destined to be a star, and wants to hitch a ride on the gravy train? A child hoping to help friends get gigs at local clubs?
The blog post that led the searcher here was a recent one about Benjamin’s newfound interest in playing guitar while making up his own songs. Sure, it might be a fleeting interest, but these are the things that help children develop into bigger children. That’s pretty much what all of us are, after all.
This query also made me think what the music world is like now compared to when I was in sixth grade. It occurred to me that about 12 years of age is when I started asserting my musical independence. Sure, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, and Willie Nelson were fine in my parents’ car, but in my room I played rock and roll on my compact stereo system. You know the one — radio and cassette player on bottom, turntable on top. Mine was a GPX brand that I believe we ordered from Amway.
I remember this very clearly because I was jockeying for a Sharp dual-cassette boombox, also sold by Amway. I got it, and that was about the time my LP and 45 purchasing took a sharp nosedive (no pun intended). Until at least 2004, my mother still used that boombox in her bedroom to keep her dog company while she was at work. I’m not sure similar units built today will last 23 years.
Those six-graders in that rock and roll band might know what an LP or a 45 is, but I doubt it. The only cassette tapes in their houses probably are collecting dust in their parents’ closets. Their music no doubt comes to them from mp3 players and computers.
Back when my boombox was brand new, I was thrilled when my Apple IIe could play simple digitized tones one at a time. My friend’s Commodore 64 with the fake piano key overlay on its keyboard blew me away. Shortly after that, I couldn’t believe how small my Sony Walkman portable cassette player was.
Let’s shift focus back to the searcher now. Did he or she find the information needed to manage a sixth-grade rock and roll band? Where would such a person have gone in 1981 to find it? This raises questions about our increasing reliance on looking things up rather than figuring them out, but I suppose seeking a few “getting started” tips on such a potentially complex task isn’t exactly tantamount to laziness.
Maybe we should give out some tips on managing a sixth grade rock and roll band. Anyone?
Um….recruit some 5th grade groupies?
See, herein lies the problem I have with looking at how people find my blog.. *LOL* Search items like that scare me….
I can’t imagine what kind of person would look for that.
On the other hand… maybe Ben should write his own music before playing it! Hmmm a new Chopin? Only time will tell.
As a parent, I’m just going to pretend that a 12-year-old sought that out for his/her own band and not the pushy parent thing. With the popularity of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, I can imagine lots of kids out there thinking they’ve got the chops to make it in the rock world.
I had that Turntable-on-top stereo and later the same boombox. The turntable found renewed love after sitting dormant for a few year when I discovered my parents’ old record collection. High school found me deeply into 70’s rock, wearing tie-dye, growing my hair long, and speaking arrogantly about how great vinyl is in that smug way that only a teenager who thinks hes “discovered” something all on his own can.
Also, I still have a gigantic cassette tape alarm clock beside my bed that I got when I was 12. Moonshot wants to replace it, but like you, I know that any new one will just be a disposable hunk that craps out in a year or two. Why mess with dependabilty, says I.
I didn’t have any sort of fancy combo deck, just a plain old turntable in my bedroom. I had Corey Hart, The Nylons and Pat Benetar that got played regularly. Those were good times. When I got my dual cassette deck portable stereo though, I never looked back and bid farewell to vinyl forever. I still marvel when I go to my mom’s house and see my stepdad’s collection of LPs in the basement. Literally thousands of them. He’s currently in the process of digitizing them into mp3 format, song by song. A labour of love, truly.
As for managing a 6th grade rock band, I’d say foster musical talent first. Unless you have a prodigy on your hands.
Jay - I’m not sure I can live with the term “5th grade groupies.” It’s wrong on so many levels.
Dave - I’m not setting the bar too high. Although, our last name is Williams, just like Venus and Serena. So, he’s got that going for him. And, Andy Williams was a singer.
Moksha - I hadn’t thought of the Rock Band/Guitar Hero angle. I’m sure there are plenty of kids who get delusions of grandeur after playing the water-down parts on the fake guitars.
I didn’t speak arrogantly about vinyl, but I always maintained that by buying a high-quality blank tape and recording an LP or a CD, I could get better quality than most commercial music cassettes.
Now, as far as Moonshot goes, you just have to hope that she doesn’t decide that you are “a disposable hunk that craps out in a year or two.” I guess you’ve passed that milestone, so you’re okay.
Simon - No combo deck? Dude, you really were poor.
I frothed at the mouth at a collection of records recently passed down to us after the collossal garage sale. Now if I can just make myself plunk down the $45 to replace the cartridge on that turntable I bought for $5 at someone else’s garage sale several years ago, I’ll be ready to convert some music myself. I did one LP that way, but using Shannon’s old combo deck that played the records slightly too fast, so I had to place coins in the record’s center to slow it down.
Musical talent is something I lacked completely until about 6th grade, when I signed up for recorder band. Couldn’t even find the bucket, much less carry a tune in it.
Lets see if I can cringe and type at the same time…
Tip #5:
Make sure that said parent has changed her role to “Mom”ager…not manager.
Yikes. Scary. I am seriously worried about who searched those words….Ali Lohans mom maybe???