Monkey Business

Musically Inclined Monkey

When Andre was just a little monkey, his parents hired the finest teachers.
4.) With what great musician did Andre study?

As a little shite, Andre showed an interest in music that his parents were all too happy to encourage. His mother, a gifted musician in her own right, was ecstatic at the thought that her son was following in her footsteps and had taken a shining to the art. His mother and father hired the best teachers they could find in order to help Andre on his way to stardom as well. They hired Mitch Mitchell, percussionist for the Jimi Hendrix experience, to teach him the different percussion instruments and soon Andre was playing the cowbell good enough to rival his teacher. A quick study, Andre was soon playing the cowbell parts in songs like Low Rider, Don't Fear the Reaper, and Stone Free. Thomas "Papa Dee" Allen, percussionist for the band War, actually asked to sit in for a session with the percussion prodigy. Andre didn't just show promise in the cowbell, however. Andre was quickly able to play any percussion instrument that Mitch set in front of the young monkey.

His thirst to learn music didn't end with percussion either. At the first signs of interest in stringed instruments, his father also hired the classical guitarist Andrés Segovia to teach his young son to play guitar. Andre's long fingers were perfect for fingering the frets and his ability to learn music allowed him to quickly learn classical guitar. But, due to his odd body proportions, he was unable to hold normal guitars while standing. As that was the case, Segovia taught Andre on the lute, sitar, and the ukulele.

Andre's love of music and learning didn't stop there either. He parents hired professional artists to teach Andre to play the flute and tuba, and even brought in Neil Young himself to teach Andre to play the harmonica. When he wanted to learn the kazoo, his mother called in a favor and brought in a professional kazoo player to teach her son the intricacies of the kazoo.

Andre made his parents proud. Then again, they have never gone to see him perform at any of the rock concerts in which he played. Now, with his newfound interest in the accordion, he's planning on hiring William Schimmel's top student from the Juilliard school of music to teach him the tenets of accordion play. I wonder what instrument will tickle his fancy next. The spoons maybe?

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