Monthly Archives: January 2009

Songwriting versus Teaching

Posted on January 8, 2009 by guitarsophist

My daughter and I were having a discussion about which changed more lives, songwriting or teaching?  Good teaching has a pyramid-like effect, especially if you teach prospective teachers.  Your students go out and teach others, who may end up teachers … Continue reading →

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First Meeting

Posted on January 7, 2009 by guitarsophist

The first meeting of “Pedagogies of Reading” went well, at least in my view. No one complained about the reading load, all the assignments were accepted without groaning or moaning, and students participated in discussions with some engagement and enthusiasm. … Continue reading →

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Fender Super Champ XD

Posted on January 6, 2009 by guitarsophist

I have played through a lot of guitar amplifiers.  When I first started playing in our high school rock band back in about 1968, I had a Gibson flatop acoustic with a DeArmond pickup in it.  I played it through … Continue reading →

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New Course

Posted on January 5, 2009 by guitarsophist

For me it’s a new year, a new quarter, and a new course.  I spent much of the break designing a graduate seminar I haven’t taught before, “Pedagogies of Reading.”  These days the campus bookstore insists that you order the … Continue reading →

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Roland-Ready Stratocaster

Posted on January 4, 2009 by guitarsophist

Around December 2004, I started playing every Thursday night at a Starbucks at the Long Beach Towne Center mall with my old friend Craig Saxon.  He had been playing there for about five years.  We played for tips, which ranged … Continue reading →

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Sophistic Rhetoric and “Little Pink Houses”

Posted on January 3, 2009 by guitarsophist

I guess I should attempt to make a bridge between “guitar” and “sophist.” In “Encomium of Helen” the sophist Gorgias defends Helen of Troy, widely considered to be the epitome of a bad woman.  Gorgias argues that she is blameless … Continue reading →

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What is a Sophist?

Posted on January 2, 2009 by guitarsophist

The sophists were in a sense traveling professors of rhetoric and other arts.  Most of what we know about them comes from Plato in dialogues like the Gorgias and the Protagoras.  Susan Jarratt, in Re-reading the Sophists, argues that Plato … Continue reading →

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Single coil versus humbucking

Posted on January 1, 2009 by guitarsophist

Back in 1988 or so, I was reading an article in BAM, a local music magazine, and I noticed an announcement that G&L, Leo Fender’s new guitar company, was selling some demo guitars.  Leo had sold Fender to CBS because … Continue reading →

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New Year’s Day

Posted on January 1, 2009 by guitarsophist

I am starting this blog so that I can stop bothering my friends with unwanted emailed observations about  writing pedagogy, Fender Telecasters, large-scale educational mishaps, amplifier technology, science fiction books, and other matters general and specific.  It’s a new year, … Continue reading →

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