There is nothing good about this crisis, too many deaths and too much economic hardship for the little guy. However, I have heard a lot of comments about how we might learn a few lessons that we should have learned long ago. Things like: valuing farmers, protecting public healthcare, not sending all of our jobs overseas, shopping locally, we really are all vulnerable and so much more. As always I will bring this argument to my own little world, the guitar. I just got an email from the good folks at the Kithara Project, click to read more about them. The reason I mention them is that they too have something to teach us apart from the obvious lesson in humility and charity. They have organized an online youth guitar competition and in the rules it is very clearly stated what is important about the video performance:

• Sound (overall tone production, tone color changes)
• Musicality (dynamics, phrasing, ability for the music to tell a narrative)
• Technical Proficiency (accuracy and comfortability of notes)
• Overall impression (personality, stage presence, and presentation)

Notice that it says nothing about volume! Maybe we can finally judge playing on the musicality instead of the sheer volume of the instrument. Obviously volume would be impossible to judge online here but it sort of brings home the fact that guitars are not violins, pianos nor banjos.

I have just written a guest post for Leonardo García’s blog Six String Journal. Why not head over there and check out all he has to offer to guitarists and learn a lttle more about him.