Posted on 09/26/2022 1:15:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Images of a surprise ukulele lesson on a recent Southwest Airlines flight from California to Hawaii appeared online last week and promptly received a roasting from keyboard comedians.
The notion of an unsolicited music lesson while seated on a six-hour flight was too much for many naysayers, who criticized the cheerful promotion — a crossover between the airline and Guitar Center, which provided the instructors and ukuleles — as a gimmick worse than death.
What the knee-jerk reactors missed was that this experience, while a commercial for two mega corporations, was a harmonious, unique memory for a full flight of passengers inbound for Hawaii.
“For anyone who wasn’t there, they can make it out to be as great or awful in their head. But if you were there in person, it was nothing but smiles,” said Ryan Miyashiro, a Guitar Center teacher who was one of the three instructors on the flight. “The lesson itself was a quick 20 minutes. It happened in the middle of the flight, and it was a nice break from what you’d normally be accustomed to doing on a long flight.
Miyashiro has worked at the Guitar Center in Pearl City, on his home island of Oahu, for the past year and a half. He celebrates the instrument’s rich history and its ties to Hawaii’s culture. He said he began learning to play years ago when he lived in the Bay Area but would feel homesick.
He was a top candidate from Guitar Center’s leadership to lead this in-flight lesson, both for his ability to teach large classes and for his passion for sharing music with new learners.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I’ve always liked the video of his funeral.
“Pardon me, the window seat is mine.”
Do they know Tiny Bubbles?
Delta’s going to have harmonica lessons.
Looks to me like they’re all having fun. More power to ‘em.
Why so many face diapers, I wonder? Maybe because the flight left from California.
I’m looking forward to the report from the bagpipe flight... it’s a transatlantic, all the way to Edinburgh. :D
I want to sponsor Recorder lessons. In 6 hours I could have everyone playing “This old man” over and over and over again.
I’m in California, and I barely see any masks, unless you go into a medical facility.
Captive audience stuck on an airplane? Should have given out drums, kazoos, and vuvuzela horns. Have them play along with non-stop songs by the 'Chipmunks'.
The ukulele doesn't deserve to used as an instrument of torture.
How has this thread made it this far without a Far Side cartoon?
Well let’s just Tiptoe Through The Tulips
It was only a 20-minute lesson. I think it would be fun.
If I’m in line for a flight and I see everybody around me with an accordion strapped to them I’m gonna start yelling “bomb! Bomb!”
I know what they are and how they sound, but everytime I see the term ‘Vuvuzela’, I next think of the term “Vulva’.
NOT the same at all!
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