Evelyn always wanted to learn how to play guitar. Growing up she would travel to Spain with her family during school breaks. Fascinated with the sound and rhythm, every day, within minutes of leaving the rental property, Evelyn would always find her way to the music. Sprinting across the city streets looking for the sound she longed for, the Flamenco guitar. At the time she didn't know much about music, let alone anything about guitars, but something about this specific sound made her feel like her heart was 5 times the size.
As she got older Evelyn had multiple guitar tutors, even some claiming to be Flamenco instructors but in reality they just played generic Spanish music and passed it off as authentic. Throughout all her lessons, never once did she get the same feeling she did in Spain.
Now in her twenties, too broke to travel to Spain, she decides to give it one more go. Her love for this style of music is a little unassuming when you look at her. A thin, blonde blue eyed girl from the US, not exactly who you picture listening to this music, let alone playing it. After some research online she comes across a couple of teachers and begins to call them for more information. Prepared, she has questions ready to vet the instructors with and to her surprise, one actually passed her secret quiz. Jose Duran. He didn't have much of an accent aside from his pronunciations, he sounded sort of young, but his online reviews were great and after all, he did pass her test. He had an opening that Saturday in the evening before closing that he offered to her as a trial day.
All week Evelyn thought about the upcoming lesson, she cleaned her old classical guitar days early in advance out of the excitement. Finally the night arrives, guitar in the back seat, she pulls up to his studio. Sitting in her car she starts developing nerves and is feeling a little out of her element. After quickly gathering herself Evelyn steps out of her car. She sees another girl about her age leaving the front door while making her way to the studio. She says hi to the girl, who doesn't respond right away but a few steps later stops to turn around and gives her a little smirk and says "Good luck".
After knocking on the door she hears "Come in", opening the door, a beautifully decorated, warm toned room filled wall to wall with guitars appears. The only thing besides guitars in this room are 2 stools, a door, a speaker and those soundproofing foam pieces on the ceiling. Entering from the door in the back, a tall man walks into the well let room to introduce himself "Hello I'm Jose, you must be Evelyn"
After a brief introduction was made, it was finally time to start the lesson. Evelyn had a good feeling about this. Jose sounded knowledgeable, confident and was seemingly really nice from the jump. When she pulled her guitar out he stopped her. "No, you put that away, I've got one just for you" and he hands her the most beautiful guitar she's ever held. The wood had a shine that reflected the entire room in it, in her arms, it felt like it was made for her, she felt like it was an extension of herself. Ready to learn, she looked over to Jose who promptly began asking questions.
How long have you been playing, can you read music, do you know any chords, do you know any songs, what about techniques? Explaining the few things she's learned over the countless instructors and occasional YouTube video. Jose gives a light giggle. "Well good news is, you're practically a blank state, you know enough that we can jump right in but don't worry about how well you do, you're in good hands"
Evelyn's anxieties and nervousness completely left herself at that moment. She felt comfortable, in a judgemental free place and ready to learn everything he can teach her. "Let's start with some arpeggios. Place your hands like mine and with your playing hand, move your fingers in order like so". Giving it her best, Evelyn attempted to mimic the sound but it didn't quite sound the same. Her hand was starting to shake as she played notes and the strings were making a buzzing sound. "One second, pause right there. You're doing great, but let's get that sound nice and clean. Your hands resting a little close to the strings, if you raise it up half an inch you'll notice your G-string will improve"
"Pffft...my what?" confused and almost embarrassed, Evelyn blurted out in disbelief.
"Haha, excuse me, the 3rd string, that's the G-string on a guitar." A giant sigh of relief left her body as she started giggling realizing how mistaken she was. Red from ear to ear, she blurted "I'm sorry Jose, for a second I thought you could see what I was wearing" She couldn't believe she just said that. Now panicking about what Jose thought she quickly asked about the technique.
Trying to explain how to better place her hand, Jose suggests that he show her. Standing behind her on the stool, he places his hand around the neck of the guitar and shows her his hand placement. Unable to get it to sound clean, Jose leans in to observe from over her shoulder to get a better look. Their faces next to each other at eye level Evelyn's finding it hard to focus without looking directly at his face so close to her. Her hand begins slipping as she's getting distracted and Jose puts his hand around hers "Here, like this". This threw Evelyn off even more. She's essentially being held by Jose and in the process completely forgetting why she's there. Waking herself up, she gives it another try and to her surprise the help actually worked! Sure it's not as complex as the songs she's heard before but just the few seconds of music she played, it made her remember that feeling in Spain.
Before she can cheer herself on, a soft whisper falls upon her ear, "Good girl, well done." A little jolt is sent down Evelyn's spine. Jose releases his hands and makes his way back to the stool. "Great work, let's work on a few more things, then we'll do a special little test I like to do to see your progress at the end of the first lesson". Refocusing on the task at hand, Evelyn agrees and is eager to learn more. Jose shows her how to play some chords, then teaches her some basic melodies to her favorite songs. She was doing great! Every section felt more challenging but as they continued her comfort with playing increased dramatically. The songs actually sounded like a musician was playing them. Sporadically she would catch herself watching Jose and not the playing. Thinking about his hands, his words, playing like a record in the background of all these beautiful guitar sounds. These thoughts were almost enough to distract her however her excitement from learning could not be overshadowed.
"Honestly Evelyn, I'm blown away. It's not often that I'm left speechless by someone's lesson, especially in just one day. We're almost out of time, but I don't have any other lessons today. Would you like to try that special little test that I mentioned earlier?" Taking all but 1 second to think it over, "Sure! I've been learning so much, it would be cool to see where I stand after just today, let's try it". Jose tells her that he needs to get something from the storage room but to stretch and relax while he's away.
Taking deep breaths, Evelyn is stretching her fingers, running through everything from the lesson, she's determined to nail this. A little startled in her meditation the door closes and Jose re-enters the room with a box in hand. "Ah ah ah, no peeking, you can't get any advantages. This will be purely a test from my teachings so just focus on that and you'll be fine. Eyes forward. Keep practicing." Closing her eyes, trying to focus, Evelyn continues to play. She feels some tension against her head and when opening her eyes back up they're met with darkness. She can make out a glimpse of light around the edges of her vision but immediately starts to panic.
"Easy, easy, it's ok." Comforting her, Jose's hands are resting on Evelyn's shoulders. "I placed a blindfold on you to test your finger placement. It's a lot harder to play when you can't see your hands. I can remove it but if you want to see what kind of guitar player you are, this is a great toss you in the fire test". Reluctant to give up, Evelyn is dead set on learning and a little surprise like this isn't going to stop her. Jose calls out different techniques and chords from the lesson, having her run through everything. She's doing well, her progress is obvious but with the blindfold her playing has gone down considerably. Even worse, that buzz sound she was getting earlier returned. "Take a deep breath and stretch out your hand like I showed you earlier."
Trying her best, the string is still buzzing. Noticing her stress building Jose is now gently rubbing her shoulders in encouragement. "Here, let's try this again." Evelyn feels his left hand over hers above the guitar neck, but now this time his right hand on her playing hand as well. Blindfolded all she can do is listen and feel what he's showing her. His body behind, slowly pressing up against her she is fully in his arms as he guides her hands into the correct positions. Getting even more flustered than before, her breath starts getting heavier, her hands a little sweaty and she can feel her face turning red. Even when struggling to regain focus in this position, she manages to collect herself and play it perfectly.