My solo album, "Second Hand Smoke", will be released November 20, just in time for the big shopping season. For you, my loyal supporters, I have a special deal. Tell me you want it and I’ll send you a pre-release copy as soon as I get them (around the 1st of November) and at a discount! Special for students past and present only, $8 tax included puts it in your CD player. Retail will be 12.95 + tax + shipping. You’ll even get a free bumper sticker that’s not included in the retail package. And you can say, "I knew him when".

I probably won’t win a Nobel Prize for this but at least the information here is accurate. I am concerned about your child’s practice environment. You know, that place you make sure they go every day to do significant repetitions of their lesson material. The goal is to make it as convenient as possible for them to practice effectively.

Let’s start with the chair. It should have a straight back and no arms. The child’s feet should be flat on the floor. If not, improvise a footrest. Sofas, stools, lounge chairs, benches or the floor are not recommended. Your prodigy should be sitting up straight and paying attention. Of course there should be a music stand. Then there must be light. Not some 40 watt turned to the wall home decorator’s notion of "mood" lighting. This is a workplace. We’re talkin’ 100 incandescent watts shining straight down or over the shoulder. Light coming from in front does no good. Good fluorescent lighting works too.

Now that they’re in the chair and can actually see the music, let’s accessorize. Do they have picks, tuner and metronome? You can’t expect them to advance without the proper tools. How about spare strings and a string winder? All strings break sometime. What will they do? Do they have a way to listen to music; CD player, boom box, iPod, computer, gramophone? Do they have CD’s, records, tapes, iTunes, wax cylinders? If they don’t listen to lots of music how will they know what they are trying so hard to do?

All these things make great holiday gifts. I always got music stuff for Christmas. They were some of my favorite gifts and I still have many of them. Come January I will ask each student what music related gifts they received. I will be greatly troubled if they reply "nothing".

I have upgraded my eStore at GuitarSlinger.com to include all these things and more. I have recommended books, CD’s and DVD’s. I am an Amazon.com associate so if you’re going to buy anything from Amazon please go through my site.