I had a friend in high school whose mom was English, and whose house always smelled amazing. There was a lot of garden action out back, which turned out to be because her mother had gone to the Royal College of Horticulture, or someplace along those lines. So that explained the garden, and the garden explained the smell, but how, I wanted to know, did one end up at the Royal College of Horticulture in first place? Oh, well, explained the wry Mrs. O., in England, that's where they pack off the daughters of deposed barons.
At the time, it seemed out of line to inquire just how a baron comes to be deposed, but I did later learn that a baron is about the last stop on the royal food chain, perched somewhere just below Viscount and just above Master of the Rolls, though still conveniently steps above your garden-variety Knight, which is sort of interesting. And at least some daughters of deposed Barons emerge from the wreckage with skills intact to make an epic bowl of trifle, which is a sure-fire way to endear oneself to the 16-year-old peasants lurking about the premises of one's homestead-in-exile.
So that's all clear, but it leaves us with the troublesome word "viscount," which, it turns out, does not rhyme with the word "discount," like you'd think it would. It's pronounced "Vi-count," with a long "i" sound in the first syllable. This seems extremely unsporting to me; first of all, how would you know, to look at it? And second, at the moment, I happen to be in the market for a word that rhymes with "discount," and am feeling pretty let down that this one isn't going to do the trick.
Because, gardens and moms aside, I'm here to mention that if you're thinking of taking part in my Fingerstyle Blues Composition Workshop, you have just a couple of more days to sign up – the registration closes with a resounding thud on Tuesday night, and the class starts on Thursday. And because the deadline approaches, I would be remiss if I didn't remind you about a pair of discounts you could potentially apply.
(And see? Right here, there could be a snappy little jingle about it all, but because of the whole discount/viscount debacle, I would instead have to use words like "dismount" or "blood count," neither of which really convey the right mood. So plain prose it is, which is disappointing but, like an heiress in the school potting shed, I will muddle through.)
If you're a member of The Fingerstyle Five, you automatically get a 10% discount on all other Fretboard Confidential courses. If you took part in the live Zoom session last week, you are likewise eligible for a 10% discount on this particular course. And if you are both a member of The Fingerstyle Five
and took part in the live Zoom last week, well – you can do the math.
Registration for this workshop is limited to 15 and is done, you know, the old-fashioned way: drop me a line and I'll email you a link to the sign-up page, along with any discount codes you're eligible for. If you've been wanting to learn how to write your own blues-based guitar instrumentals, or want to get better at doing so, click the link below to get more information on the course and watch a replay of my Zoom lesson:
Fingerstyle Blues CompositionMore soon,
David
