The Musician
How positive thinking made a positive difference

It was the summer of 1964 when I first got the news of the Beatles playing on the Ed Sullivan show. I was up in the loquat tree in the back yard when my younger brother filled me in. This was the first time I had ever heard of the Beatles, and they would be something that would influence my life as I grew up.

During my year in the fifth grade, a few friends and I decided to form our own little band. Steve basically took over as the band’s leader and, of course, he already had a name picked out. We would be called The Wirlwinds. I didn't much like the name but I went along with it and never let the other members know how I felt.

We acted pretty much like celebrities around the schoolyard because we made sure everyone at Carroll Baird Elementary School knew who we were. We were members of The Wirlwinds, a new band that would soon create a frenzy, and especially the young girls of the United States, as the Beatles did when they came to America.

The funny thing about us Wirlwinds was that all through the school year we met during recess and talked about how cool it was to have our own band and how each of us was going to position himself on stage when we played for an audience, but none of us Wirlwinds ever practiced, mainly because none of us ever owned a musical instrument. So, slowly but surely, the Wirlwinds blew themselves out. Our promised impact on America and all the young girls would never come to pass.

After entering the sixth grade, and at the start of the school year, I still wanted to get another band together. I constantly thought about how exciting it was to have been a guitar player for The Wirlwinds even though I never had a guitar or even played in front of an audience. At least I knew what it felt like to be famous even though it lasted only a year.

One day after school, it hit me! I knew what I had to do. Instead of playing the roll of a musician, I needed to act upon the one and most important element essential in making my quest to play music a reality. This time, one way or another, I was going to talk mom into buying me a guitar and pay for lessons. Actually, it didn't take much to talk mom into helping me with my plan, just the typical question any parent asks before they commit themselves. "If I get you a guitar and pay for your lessons, will you stick to it and practice without fail?" I gave the typical answer any kid would give his or her parent, "I promise I’ll practice everyday!"

I finally got my first real guitar, and on top of that, my teacher knew how to play Day Tripper by the Beatles. I was very impressed and couldn’t wait until I learned some Beatles' songs. I had three lessons and so far my teacher hadn’t taught me any Beatles' songs, only what I thought were minor things like this note and that note, what this meant and what that meant which basically meant nothing to me unless it was a Beatles' song.

I now had to make a decision whether or not I should keep taking lessons or get myself a book on guitar chords and learn them myself. I chose the latter because I wasn't getting any closer to playing Beatles songs since the day I started. So ended my guitar lessons and now it was up to me to learn how to play the guitar.

Many years have rolled by since that day in the sixth grade when I decided to learn how to play the guitar on my own. With determination as my motivator, positive thinking as my guide, and most of all belief in myself, led me to doing a studio tape using ten songs that I’d written, with a few of them played over local radio stations. I was front-page news in my hometown paper as well as having a small write-up about me in the larger Fresno Bee.

Now, I’ve been teaching my daughters and nephews how to play the guitar as well as the piano, which I also taught myself to play. The kids have fun practicing the guitar and piano because I teach them in a different way than my teacher taught me. I make it enjoyable and fun by teaching them to play some of their favorite songs.

Remember: If a person looks for good in all things they shall find it. Stay positive. Always look for the good in life and in people. 

Most of all, believe in yourself.

- Daniel Petty 
Fowler, California, U.S.A.