[jmac98]

I’ve been casually playing guitar with my youngest (now 10) for about 3 years, and my oldest (now 12) sings while we play. I’m not some Star by any stretch but I play a little bit and have my entire life.

The first year my youngest got interested in guitar she got excited and signed up for the year end school talent show weeks after starting out. Of course she only knew the first few chords to Polly wolly doodle, yellow submarine, etc. So she and I started working together for the talent show. Fearing she might get nervous on the day of and/or make mistakes and feel embarrassed in front of the whole school for a negative experience, I preemptively told her I’d go up on stage with her and we’d play together.

So from Jan to Jul we practiced. On talent day there was probably 100 performances going on from the grade 4’s (as my child was then in) up to the grade sixes. A lot of kids got stage fright. Some cried. Some playing guitar wouldn’t even begin as they were too nervous. Those who stayed to play did their Happy Birthday or Row Row Row Your Boats and did great.
When it was our turn we got up and collectively played “Doesnt Remind Me” by Audioslave. Because I was on stage with her, my daughter wasn’t nervous to make any mistakes and played confidently along with me. She didn’t make much of any mistakes if at all and to the ear you couldn’t pick up on it either way. The audience gave us a great ovation. I got literal high fives from random parents as I went back to my seat, and for days after in school kids from all the grades (including 2 grades higher) were flocking my daughter in the hallway talking about how cool it was. The principal even found me and pointed out I was the only parent who got up on stage with their child and They really enjoyed the camaraderie and positive impact it had.

It was a nice moment for sure. I have it on video and sent it to my family down East and continue to send videos of songs we play together at home.

My other daughter likes to sing, but not in public or in front of crowds. But she truly has a beautiful voice at least with respect to singing confidently, in full, and hitting the right notes. We share videos just with family of her having so much fun with songs ranging from beautiful renditions of ‘Hallelujah’, to her nailing word for word “it’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)”. My youngest and I play along with guitar and it puts a smile on the grandparents faces who enjoy the videos in Ontario, Florida, Edmonton, etc.