Fandom High School

"It's time for the second part of your final," El said to his class when they were all settled. "Get your guitars and play something wonderful for me."

El nodded as the class entered the Danger Room. "I have everything ready as you left it from last class. Continue working on your guitars, I'll be here if you need me."

_{[[Phone in class? Yes. But I'm leaving tomorrow for Sakura-con, and I honestly won't be around for anything heavily interactive.]]}

"Today?" El said, walking towards the center of the classroom with his familiar chink-chink-ing.

"We're going to talk about our heroes. Specifically? Our guitar heroes."

( Yes. Guitar Heroes. You heard him. )

"Alright. I hope you've been practicing what I showed you with loosening up the fingers. Because today we're going to turn that into tunes and chords. Chords are how you change the noise your guitar is making. And as most of you should know, the key is up at the neck."

El picked up his guitar. "Now, I want you to watch me closely and repeat on your own guitars."

El went through a variety of hand positions for chords, stopping to make sure each of the students had them before moving on, sometime helping individual students as merited it.

"I want you to practice playing with these with the same intensity you practiced loosening up your fingers. I know you can't practice all day, every day, but practice as much as you can.

Now that we've got that part out of way, I'll teach you a little tune. Something that you can show off to your friends when they ask you why on earth you're taking this class."

El lead them through a short traditional mariachi tune, the kind of thing he tended to play without thinking about it during his office hours.


"Now, I want you all to practice for the rest of the class, but before, two things. First, next class will be in the Danger Shop, where we will start working on building our guitars. Secondly, I need to know how many of you are capable of reading music.

Also, would Miss Stewart come see me?"

"Buenos Dias class. Today we're going to continue on our guitar manufacture. We've talked about the structure of the guitar, now we're going to talk about materials. Guitars have been made out of wood for years beyond count, although with electric guitars, there has been something of a migration towards plastic.

"However, we do not have the equipment, nor do I have the time to show you how to make an electric guitar. So we will instead focus on the wooden acoustic. Now, I've gone and obtained you some Koa wood for your guitars. Don't ask me how.

"This is considered among the best kinds of wood for guitar making, due to various accoustical properties. This stuff is quite rare, so we'll be saving it until the end. Next class, we'll begin working in the Danger Shop with fake wood for practice. For now, though, I've provided you with several guitar plans as well as drafting paper of your own. Go on and select both the physical shape of your guitar, as well as what you will put on it to make it unique. What about this guitar will make it yours?"

"Good morning class. Today is a lecture day. We'll be talking about guitar history."


"Now, the guitar itself arose from various instruments before what we know as the guitar came into existence. The first of these was the lute."

El gave a lecture on the lute's history, complete with handouts.

"Now, I got a few lutes for you guys. Why don't you try playing them and see what you think?"

El was playing a quiet tune on his black acoustic guitar as the students filed in, seemingly not noticing them. There was a plate of freshly made tacos on the side for any who might want to pick them up.

When the last student had filled in, El stood up and faced the class.

"When I spoke to you all last, I said that I would have a syllabus for you. Unfortunately, if you are a fan of syllabi, I'm afraid that I lied. I tried strict syllabi for my two classes last year, and it didn't quite work out. I'm afraid that rigid, ordered structures simply don't work for me. However, this does not mean that there isn't a plan for this semester. Far from it. In fact, there are three plans for this semester."

El put the guitar in its case and slowly latched it up. He began walking between the student's desks, clinking as he went.

"This class will have three separate components. History of the Guitar. Playing of the Guitar. And Making of the Guitar. We shall alternate between these three subjects each week. Learning about the history, learning how to play or play better, and making a guitar. At the end of the semester, you will have three options for your final. You can either write me a research paper on some aspect of the guitar's history. You can play me a piece of your own choosing, although I will count you off if you try and pick something easy, unless you play it extremely well. Or you can build a guitar of your own.

Now, for today. If you know how to play guitar? Play something for me. Anything. If you don't have a guitar with you and want to play something acoustical, you may borrow mine. If you want to play something electric, Mr. Bernadette has graciously offered the use of his electric guitar.

If you don't know how to play guitar? There are guitars over there. Electric, acoustic, bass, many kinds. Go over and pick out something that you think fits you. This will be your guitar for the semester. And I expect all of you to practice every day. Then I'll spend the rest of the class showing you the basics. Everyone else, talk amongst yourselves about why you picked those songs to play.

And, just for record's sake, my office hours will be Wednesday afternoon."