"Popping the clutch"

[Shaffer Smith]

Have to share this one. My neighbor and I sat on the porch the other night and had a conversation about his 16 year old daughter learning to drive a car with a manual transmission. He said it pained him to feel the jerk and grind and hear her rev the engine unnecessarily and how she had burned a clutch out while learning. We laughed and then our conversation turned to music and I took him upstairs and introduced him my PSG. He of course knew the sound but had never actually seen one being played. He said "holy crap, how do you do all of those different things with each foot, knee and hand". I pondered for a minute and said its kind of like driving a car. You learn to ease off of the clutch at just the right time and give just enough gas, and ease onto the brake at a red light so gently that you don't make your passengers sick. Driving a car seems so natural, but if you had to describe it to someone who had never seen one it would be overwhelming and intimidating. Hmmm.

[Darrell Birtcher]

I love it! Having recently taught both of my kids to drive a manual tranny, this makes an excellent analogy.

[Jim Palenscar]

I use the same analogy to new folks who seem daunted by the task of playing the pedal steel. "In two weeks you will be making "Y" turns w/o even thinking about it"~~