Power Chord by Ted Staunton

Author:Ted Staunton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV031040
ISBN: 9781554699063
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2011-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Now I have to write a song—and I have a math test tomorrow. Writing and studying get in the way of each other all evening. I decide to take my guitar to school the next morning to get more done on the song after the test. I don’t know if I look cool. I’m too busy sweating over the math test and the song to think about being cool. No girls rush me though.

At lunch I look for a quiet place to work on my song. Songwriting is hard, especially with math on the brain. Nearly everything I’ve thought of sounds like another song or like an equation. It’s driving me nuts. I don’t want to give up though. I’ve thought of one little bit, and my future with girls depends on it.

As I walk down the hall, an acoustic guitar jangles from the music room. A high voice is humming. I don’t take music at school because I don’t want to get stuck playing a dweeb instrument like clarinet. I look inside and see a guy with long red hair and a jean jacket. He’s got his back to me, playing a guitar. Is it that guy from No Money Down, maybe? There’s an open notebook and a pen on the desk beside him. He stops and writes something.

“Hey,” I say, “are you writing a song too?” I’m so into the songwriting that the words just pop out.

He jumps a little and turns. Only he’s a she. She has freckles and a tiny green nose stud. She is probably my age. I’ve never seen her before, but it’s a big school.

“Yeah, I am,” she says. Her face gets pink. I think mine does too.

I start backing away, saying, “Oh. Sorry. I was just…I’m trying to do one for this contest.”

“At Lakeshore Youth Center?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Me too.” She brushes her hair back behind her ear. “What kind of song?”

I clear my throat and say, “Um, a rocker, I guess. I have this pattern.”

“Show me,” she says. “’Cause right now I’m stuck.”

“Really? Wow. Me too.” I get out my guitar. “See, this is what I’ve got so far.”

I play a pattern of power chords: 8th fret 3rd 6th 1st.. Duh duh duuh duh-duh duh-duh, with the last duh-duhs a little faster.

It rocks pretty good. All I need now is a melody and lyrics that you can sing in front of girls. I don’t say that out loud.

“What are those chords?” She squints at my hand.

I say, “Um, they’re power chords. They come out of the bottom two notes.” I carefully make an F barre chord pattern. I hate F chords. They take me forever to make on the guitar and they kill my hand.

“Oh, sweet,” she says. “Barre chords, I get. I took acoustic lessons. What frets are you at?”

I show her. She works out that the chords are C, G, B-flat and F.

B-flat and F? Wow. Maybe I’m better than I thought.

She plays them, easily, as barre chords.

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