I used to think my child was talented.....

[ChipBeck]

.......but not anymore.

Gentlemen,

I'm not a fan of posting links because about a million a day already wash into our personal e-mail. But when a friend of mine sent me this clip of a 9 YEAR OLD little boy playing a full size Gibson Mastertone in his bedroom with his 12 and 14 year old brothers I was frigging blown away. This tot is 4 feet tall and has been playing for 2 1/2 years. You gotta be kidding me!!

[video=youtube;J7MoWPTeYS4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MoWPTeYS4&list=UUNHPGYg-YbI4gCiOSJXD41A&index=6&feature=plcp[/video]

[video=youtube;bjvlEUdvi4U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvlEUdvi4U&list=UUNHPGYg-YbI4gCiOSJXD41A&index=1&feature=plcp[/video]


OK, so he plays pretty good as a 9 year old, in the clip below he is only 8. :eek

[video=youtube;9DDsA1SwFOo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DDsA1SwFOo&feature[/video]

I'm not even a bluegrass fan and I loved watching these.

Chip

 

[dbk]

Ridiculous. Those kids must be getting daily beatings to be that good. :lol

Francesca bought me a banjo for Christmas. I can play Cripple Creek at 50 bpm. Try that. :lol

Seriously though, I've been playing guitar for 22 years and what those kids are doing is flat out unbelievable. Start em young.

 

[GTJack]

Amazing. Good to see he is still a kid tho, note the Millenium Falcon next to his bed.

 

[twobjshelbys]

I saw them on some show a while ago. I think it might have been David Letterman. Amazing kid. I tried to get them to bring him to the local Bluegrass festival (Rockygrass, the same guy does Telluride) but never got a response.

 

[ChipBeck]

Ridiculous. I can play Cripple Creek at 50 bpm. Try that. :lol

Seriously though, I've been playing guitar for 22 years and what those kids are doing is flat out unbelievable.

I certainly agree. I've played guitar since 1974 and worked pretty hard at it until a dystonia crippled the fine motor control in my right hand about 6 years ago. Earl Scruggs' "Flint Hill Special" is 11 beats PER SECOND and I bet there aren't 200 banjo players in the world who can rip off a PERFECT note for note copy at that speed and do it every time. This kid appears to do it effortlessly while looking around the room. These blue grass masters must be from the South right?? No, they are from New Jersey and are home schooled. Talent on loan from God, as Rush would say.

The most poignant quote I read in a review of these kids was....."If you're not a musician and you watch these boys, it's guaranteed to make you smile. If you are a musician who's been working at it for a decade or more, watching these boys is guaranteed to depress the hell out of you."

Chip

 

[JCSB]

I took violin lessons when I was 8. The teacher thought I was pretty good, I thought it sounded like 2 cats s#*$*$*. So, I changed over to guitar. Now at 63 I only watch in amazement. It really is best to start young, your mind accepts things easier. And a great smile too!

John

 

[Empty Pockets]

Here's the "Flint Hill Special" 'gold standard' IMO...Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys...about 1958 (?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5SzHd8-gY&feature=player_embedded

There's not 10 cents worth of difference between the boys and the pros! (Especially when you consider the boys recorded their version in their bedroom and the pros did theirs in a studio!)