Bobby Learning to Play Banjo

Chapter One

Bobby its time to learn how to play your Banjo! exclaimed Billy, his grandfather. Bobby ran hurriedly down the street to his father from his friend’s home. His father has just come home from work and saw him playing basketball with his friend Boris. Bobby made the game winning dunk that he put through his legs first then jumped over his friend to win 11-10.

How was day at school? Asked Billy. It went well. Today we covered the FOIL system and we got to use my favourite negative fractional exponents with absolute values. As you know our classes are two hours rather than the usual 40 min lecture style other middle schools have. So, we got to learn more concepts like the mid-point formula, quadratic formula, and fractals all in one class said Bobby happily.

It’s the middle of the of the school year, what about the other subjects you are taking? What are they? Said Billy. Well I only have four total that includes Math. The other three: English, Intro to Chemistry, and Physical Training said Bobby.

Bobby said with a bored expression on his face, because he did not like his other subjects that much except Physical Training, not because he was not getting a good grade; he was getting a 4.33—an A+ average, but he just thought it was dead-boring said “their okay.”

“Your exams are coming up right?’, replied his grandfather.

“Ya, they are I am fully prepared I have an A+ average in all my subjects” said Bobby.

“Wow, that’s very impressive” said Billy.

Bobby and Billy had arrived for at the door of his banjo tutor’s house for his first lesson. Billy rang the doorbell. An old white bearded man with grey hair opened the door and said, “Hello, and who might you be?”

“I am Billy Blazer, and this is my grandson Bobby Blazer. We are her for his first Banjo lesson. I believe we spoke on the phone to meet at four forty-five today at this address”, said Billy.

“Ah, yes, Welcome in, I am Brett Bennett his instructor.” Brett sent out his hand to shake their hands one at a time and they smiled back shaking his hand too.

“Bobby here is my Banjo you can borrow it for the lesson which does cost $35/hour as we discussed over the phone”, said Brett.

“Thank you”, said Bobby.

Billy gave Brett the money for the lesson.

“Also, Billy, if Bobby wants, he is welcomed to take home my Banjo, but my Banjo is precious to me. It represents my livelihood, so I charge people a $15/day fee to rent it. That way he can take it home and practice and play for fun as much as possible, then when he comes in a week from now for his second lesson like we agreed, he will be better and then it will feel less like working from the ground up. I’ve done your math for you as to what is will cost to rent it for a seven-day week from me. It will be $105 AUD. Plus today’s up-front fee of $35, will bring the week’s expense for you (and revenue for me) to $140 AUD”, said Brett.

“That sounds great, but I do not know if I can afford the renter’s fee especially not for seven days, that’s a bit to steep for me. Maybe, tomorrow, I will ask Bobby how he feels today’s lesson went and then we will decide to rent the banjo. Are you open to us leasing it or even buying it off you?” replied Billy.

“I am afraid I got to say no for now to buying the banjo off me. I do not want to keep having to buy banjo’s and replacing them and reselling them for a profit. Banjos are expensive and are time-consuming to buy. I must go into the city to buy one. We live in a rural area, free from shops. However, leasing is an option, but let’s discuss it next week”, responded Brett.

“Well that’s okay”, said Bobby.

By this time, it was almost six.

“So, I’ll pick him up at six?”, said Billy.

“Ya, absolutely, that works”, replied Brett.

Brett saw him out.

Bobby was still holding the banjo started to play with it, while Brett went to open his sheet music.

Brett began by saying “my device needs tuning and so does yours. It is a very important thing to do for the banjo. Oh, I almost forgot. Here use this. It’s called a pick. Don’t use your fingers. If you use your fingers it will start to hurt faster. I have seen guys who practice two to six hours per day without a pick and their fingers started bleeding, but when they changed to using a pick their endurance level increase by 20% and they did not experience bleeding.”

“Okay thank you”, said Bobby.

“So, Bobby turn this knob here”, said Brett.

So, Bobby did. ERRRR!

“Turn it some more.”

Another sound came.

“Turn the next one, said Brett.

He did.

“Some more now”, said Brett.

“That’s perfect”, said Brett.

“Next is sheet music. Have you learned anything about music?”, he continued.

“No sir, I have never played a musical instrument before”, said Bobby.

“Okay, remember this acronym, FACE, and EGBDF. For the EGBDF, remember this as: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. Can you remember that?” said Brett.

Then Brett went on to teach him about the thickness of each note, sharps, flats, scales and everything.

An hour had passed, and Brett’s alarm had gone off. It was six of the clock pm. Brett offered Bobby a cookie and a drink. Then he said to Bobby, “everything you learned today are the fundamentals. If you master the fundamentals, you can do anything, write your own songs, and learn any song you want. This was a very important lesson. I want you t understand that and commit to muscle memory these things, and to overall memory. And that goes for anything in life. If you are good at the fundamentals you can apply it to anything. You can expand it. When you are stuck you can always go back to the fundamentals. But always remember that fundamentals are 80% of the work. The other 20% is detail-oriented work, process, hard-work, working smart, of the those being detail oriented is the most important especially in music. That goes for life as well”, said Brett.

“Okay, sir”, replied Bobby.

Just then the doorbell rang. It was Beatrix Blazer, Bobby’s grandmother.

“How are you? asked Brett.

“I am fine thanks, and you?”, replied Beatrix.

“Great. I thought, Billy was picking up Bobby today”, responded Brett.

“Yes, he had an emergency, so he sent me to pick him up”, replied Beatrix.

“Has he paid you yet?”, she continued.

“Yes, yes, he totally did. Do you want to rent my banjo?” he asked.

“I’ll let him decide. He is the leader of the home.”, replied Beatrix.

“Alright”, he said. He continued saying, “Have a good one. See you next week around the same time? 4:45?”

“Yes, yes, we will”, said Beatrix.

Chapter Two

Beatrix walked out with her grandson. “So, how was the lesson? she inquired.”

“It was great, he was very thorough. He taught me about the value of fundamentals. Also, he taught me the basics. It was real fun. I cannot wait to go back next week”, said Bobby.

“That’s awesome”, said Beatrix.

Billy came home minutes later from his emergency.

“Is everything okay now?” asked Beatrix.

“Ya, but I am not at liberty to talk about it”, responded Billy.

“Okay, I will respect that”, said Beatrix.

“So, Billy how your lesson? Said Billy.

“It was marvelous”, said Bobby.

“I am happy to hear that. Let’s pay five day’s worth of renting fee, instead of seven days, so we can try it out and our experience with it, then if it seems worth persuading a great purchase price to pay for the banjo”, said Billy.

“Thanks father!” said Bobby.

Chapter Three

A week had past, and Beatrix and Billy walked with their grandson to Brett’s home.

“I miss mom and dad. I wish they did not die in an earthquake”, said Bobby.

“Don’t worry. That was years ago. Just focus one day at a time and have fun today at learning your banjo. Remember we are proud of you, and so were your parents”, said Billy.

Then they walked silently for a few minutes and arrived quickly to Brett’s house and rang the doorbell.

Brett expecting them this time, and quickly opened the door for them.

“Welcome again, have a seat. Would you like apple juice?” asked Brett.

“Just water for me” said both Billy and Beatrix.

“Ya sure,”, said Bobby.

So, Brett fulfilled their request.

“Brett, we talked about us leasing the banjo from you last week and you agreed, but we never agreed on the price. Have you thought about that?”, asked Billy.

“Oh yes, indeed I have, the market price for banjos sell for $400-$3,000, and this brand sells for $1,000. So how about if you rent the banjo for a month at $15/day, you can buy it from me for $500? What do you think about that?”, asked Brett.

Brett knew this would certainly be a profitable deal, because this banjo was not like many musical instruments that depreciate. This banjo appreciates. He bought it for $500 and if gets $500 from selling the banjo + rental income ($15/day) he’ll make a profit for sure.

“31 days?”, inquired Billy?

“Ya”, said Brett.

“Make it 28 days”, said Billy.

“No, 30 days”, said Brett.

“29 days?”, said Billy.

“Deal” said Brett.

“We will start renting next week”, said Billy.

“Okay”, said Brett.

“Yes! I just made a $435 profit, just from the banjo”, thought to himself Brett.

Then Bobby’s parents said goodbye and left.

Together they practiced, an hour, reviewing the basics, fundamentals, and this time added a few songs.

Again, Bobby had a great time. And Billy picked him up and took him home.

Chapter Four

A week later they returned with $50 in hand, $35 for the lesson and $15 for the renting fee. They paid him and let Bobby to Brett for an hour and together they reviewed everything they studied more difficult songs. An hour had passed and then he was picked up once again. He continued to play once he was outside the door. He kept playing repeatedly on his way home-the whole 30 min walk. It was becoming his new passion, his new love, to the point his grandparents were starting to get a little annoying. This continued for 21 days. On this 21^st day of renting an earthquake happened when the Blazers were at home. Everything was shaking like a person having a seizure, but much longer and worse, Shoes, shoe-racks, and bookshelves fell. One bookshelf fell on Bobby’s rented banjo.

“Dad, dad, come quickly”, said Bobby.

Billy ran quickly, and so did Beatrix who also heard the call of her grandson.

“It’s broken”, said Bobby. Bobby was crying. He continued: “Now we must replace Brett’s banjo. He’s going to be so mad!”

“Don’t worry, we will deal with it”, said Beatrix. “Ya, we will call him now”, said Billy.

Billy picked up the phone to call him. Brett picked up the phone. Brett’s wife, Belle was crushed under a bed, but.

“Billy, I have a situation. I need you t help you help my wife; she is currently trapped under the bed. It collapsed on her. I cannot seem to remove it from her”, said Brett.

“Wow, your news is worse than mine—a lot worse than mine. The banjo you are renting to us was crushed by the big earthquake we just experienced. I’ll pay you the $500 tomorrow. Were you affected a lot?” said Billy.

“Ya, pay me tomorrow. Just come over asap. I’ll explain later when you come over”, said Brett.

At this point, the blazers were doing surprisingly financially well. They were putting away and investing for decades. They had enough money to buy a new car and a new home in cash. And by this time, they had bought their new electric car, so they just took it instead of walking as they usually would and have done so in the weeks prior. Instead of 30 mins it took just 7.5 mins. Brett opened the door and his wife was suffocating. Together the three of the four of them, including Bobby helped lift the bed off her. Within minutes she was alright.

“Thank you so much for saving my life. I strongly appreciate your help”, said Belle.

“No problem, said the Blazers together.”

“Now about my banjo, pay me tomorrow. And I’ll buy a new banjo for you and sell it you later”, said Brett.

“SELL!” Are you kidding me? Give it to them tomorrow for free! They saved my life! And give them some more time to pay!”, said Belle, Brett’s wife.

Belle slapped him in front of the Blazers.

“Okay, okay, do you want the new one for free and more time to pay?”, asked Brett.

“It’s okay, we have the money to give you the $500 for the damaged banjo. But having a free banjo would really be nice” said Beatrix.

“Okay, I will go shopping with you tomorrow for a banjo”, said Brett.

“That sounds, excellent. How about 6 pm? asked Billy.

“That works for me”, said Brett.

“I’m glad you and your wife are fine, and the rest of your home seems to be in tip top shape—totally unaffected by the earthquake—surprisingly”, said Billy.

“Ya thanks, it is wonderful the structural integrity is still in place. I think we should move because it doesn’t seem save to live here anymore. However, that might take a few months”, said Brett.

The next day came. Billy brought over $500 and handed it to Brett. Together, Brett and Billy went over to Canadian Tyre and entered the store. Within minutes Billy found one dirt cheap banjo.

“Hey, Brett, come here! Here is a nice one! I am in section eight”, said Billy.

So, Brett walked quickly to section eight.

“How about this one?”, said Billy.

Brett picked it up, played it for a few moments, tweaking it, turning it, twisting it, and tuning it. He sounded fine after all that work that he did for it. He then looked at the price. It read $90. He wanted this to be still a profitable transaction. He did the math in his mind. He thought to himself “hmmm: 15 * 21 = $315 +500 -500 -90 = $225. It’s profitable.”

Billy shook him, “Brett, have you decided? What do you think?”

“Let’s buy it for you”, said Brett.