Liam yawned as he pushed his toast down into the toaster. He intended to have a
toasted turkey sandwich and some chips for lunch, but right as the toast came out of the toaster,
he noticed his phone buzzing on the counter across his kitchen. Curious, he picked up the
phone, recognizing Harris’s face on the Caller ID.
Immediately, in classic Harris fashion: “Hey I gotta favor to ask, Liam.”
“Sure man, what’s going on?”
Harris sighed. “I’m in the parking lot of the Guitar Center on 63rd and Ida and my car
battery’s dead. AAA won’t pick up, so could you come pick me up? It’s pretty chilly out here.”
Liam looked at his toast and paused for a moment. “Sure,” he finally responded. “I’ll be
there in a couple minutes.”
“Thanks, I owe you one.”
Minutes passed as Liam buttered his toast, ate it on his way out the door, inevitably
forgot his keys on the counter, and finally started his car and drove to Guitar Center. By the time
he got there, Harris was busy in conversation with AAA, so Liam hand-signaled him asking if
he’s fine to poke around inside the Guitar Center and got the go ahead to go explore.
Liam had been meaning to stop by Guitar Center for a while but never found the time to
drive out to this area of town. He had been thinking about picking up guitar again (he hadn’t
played since early high school and then not even seriously), but didn’t really know where to
start. Inside the Guitar Center, he found someone to ask about the cost of a second-hand guitar
and lessons, and was shocked at how expensive it was. He didn’t have the money to commit to
a hobby that he wasn’t totally certain he would be motivated to continue practicing as time went
on, so he thanked them and left.
After dropping Harris off at his house, Liam drove home. On the way, he stopped at the
pawn shop and decided on a whim to buy a cheap acoustic guitar. He had decided to teach
himself through the internet.
Once home, he finally made his sandwich and sat down on his couch with his iPad to
search out the best way to teach himself. He found a website that was highly rated and touted
its personalized way of teaching instrumental music through the internet. There was a pro
version with a subscription, but even the free version of the service was highly rated. Apparently,
it was recommended to have a quiet place to be able to listen to tutorial videos and record
himself, but since he lived alone and the apartment complex was well insulated, he wasn’t too
concerned. He downloaded the app and was prompted to create an account.
Liam entered in his information and then began to personalize his account with his
interests and abilities. He listed that he had very little experience with music and no ability to
read sheet music. He entered that he wanted to learn acoustic guitar and that he was most
interested in learning the music genres of rock and metal. The app then prompted him to
choose a practice schedule. He figured that three hours a week was pretty conservative, since
he certainly had enough time.
The app then quickly built a selection of videos and exercises for him to start. Excitedly,
he picked up the guitar and began to work through the personalized practice regiment. He was
able to start and pause videos, adjust the playback speed, scrub through to areas he wanted to
rewatch, and generally use the video tutorials how he wanted. Additionally, during the exercises,
he was prompted to record himself playing, and the exercises would give him some feedback
based on his sound and tuning to improve his playing.
Two days after his first practice session, Liam hadn’t played guitar again. Intending to
watch a couple episodes of anime after work, he sat down on his couch, and he noticed his iPad
lit up on his coffee table with a notification. He picked it up and realized that the app was
reminding him to practice again. He decided this was a good idea since he had spent $100 on
the guitar, so he had the motivation to practice again.