PART 1

WOMAN: Hi Coleman, how are you?

女士：嗨，科尔曼，最近好吗？

COLEMAN: Good, thanks.

科尔曼：很好，谢谢。

WOMAN: I wanted to have a chat with you because our friend Josh told me that you've joined a guitar group and it sounds interesting.

女士：我想和你聊聊，因为我们的朋友乔希告诉我，你加入了一个吉他小组，听起来很有趣。

I'd really like to learn myself.

我真的很想自学一下。

COLEMAN: Why don't you come along?

科尔曼：你为什么不一起来学呢？

I'm sure there's room for another person.

我相信还能再加一个人。

WOMAN: Really? So – who runs the classes?

女士：真的吗？谁负责这些课程？

COLEMAN: He's called a ‘coordinator' – his name's Gary Mathieson.

科尔曼：他被称为“协调员”，他的名字是加里·马蒂森。

WOMAN: Let me note that down. Gary. How do you spell his surname?

女士：让我记下来。加里，他的姓怎么拼？

COLEMAN: It's M-A-T-H-I-E-S-O-N.

科尔曼：是 M-A-T-H-I-E-S-O-N。

WOMAN: Right, thanks.

女士：好的，谢谢。

COLEMAN: He's retired, actually, but he's a really nice guy and he used to play in a lot of bands.

科尔曼：他其实已经退休了，但人很好，以前参加过很多乐队。

WOMAN: Thanks. So how long have you been going?

女士：谢谢，你去多久了？

COLEMAN: About a month now.

科尔曼：大概一个月了

WOMAN: And could you play anything before you started?

女士：开始学之前你会弹些什么呢？

COLEMAN: I knew a few chords, but that's all.

科尔曼：我会几个和弦，仅此而已。

WOMAN: I'm sure everyone will be better than me.

女士：我相信每个人都比我弹得好。

COLEMAN: That's what I thought, too.

科尔曼：我一开始也是这样想的。

When I first spoke to Gary on the phone, he said it was a class for beginners, but I was still worried that everyone would be better than me, but we were all equally hopeless!

我第一次和加里通电话时，他说这是为初学者开设的课程，但我还是担心每个人都会比我强，但我们都一样一窍不通！

WOMAN: Oh, that's reassuring. So where do you meet?

女士：那我就放心了，你们会在哪里见？

COLEMAN: Well, when I joined the group, they were meeting in Gary's home, but as the group got bigger, he decided to book a room at the college in town. I prefer going there.

科尔曼：嗯，当我加入这个小组时，他们在加里的家里集合，但是随着小组越来越大，他决定在城里的大学预定一个房间。我更喜欢去那里。

WOMAN: I know that place. I used to go to tap dancing classes there when I was at secondary school.

女士：我知道那个地方。我上中学的时候常去那里上踢踏舞课。

I haven't been since, though and I can't remember what road it's in . . . is it Lock Street?

从那以后我就没去过了，我不记得是在哪条路上了，是洛克街吗？

COLEMAN: It's just beyond there at the bottom of New Street near the city roundabout.

科尔曼：就在那边的新街尽头，在城市环岛附近。

WOMAN: Yes, of course.

女士：对，没错。

COLEMAN: The guitar club is on the first floor in Room T347.

科尔曼：吉他俱乐部在一楼的T347室。

WOMAN: Right. And when do you meet? Is it at the weekend?

女士：好的，你们什么时候见面，周末吗？

COLEMAN: We meet on Thursdays. It used to be 10.30 and that suited me well, but now we meet at 11.

科尔曼：我们每周四见。以前是十点半，我觉得很合适，但现在是十一点。

The class that's in there before us asked if they could have the room for another 30 minutes.

在我们之前的同学问他们能不能再占用这个房间30分钟。

WOMAN: Oh, I see. Well, I'd love to come, but I don't have a guitar.

女士：哦，我知道了。我很想来，但我没有吉他。

COLEMAN: Well, you can always buy a second-hand one.

科尔曼：你可以买一把二手吉他。

There's a website called ‘The perfect instrument' that sells all kinds of guitars, violins and so on. I'm sure you'll find something there.

有个网站叫 "完美乐器"，出售各种吉他、小提琴等。我相信你会在那里找到的。

WOMAN: So what's a typical lesson like with Gary?

女士：那么，加里平常的课程是怎么样呢？

COLEMAN: Well, he always starts by getting us to tune our guitars. That takes about five minutes.

科尔曼：嗯，他总是先让我们给吉他调音。大约五分钟时间。

WOMAN: Uhuh.

女士：嗯嗯。

COLEMAN: Some people have an app they use, but others do it by ear.

科尔曼：有些人会用自己的应用程序，有些人用自己的耳朵听。

Gary goes round and helps them. And while he's doing that, he tells us what he's going to do during the lesson.

加里会过去帮助他们。他一边调一边告诉我们上课要做什么。

WOMAN: Right.

女士：好的。

COLEMAN: First, we usually spend about ten minutes doing some strumming.

科尔曼：首先，我们会花十分钟左右的时间来弹奏。

WOMAN: So is that using . . . what are they called . . . plectrums?

女士：那是不是用什么，叫拨子？

COLEMAN: No – we just use our thumbs.

科尔曼：不，我们就用手指。

WOMAN: Much easier.

女士：那简单多了。

COLEMAN: Gary reminds us where to put our fingers for each chord and then we play them together.

科尔曼：加里提醒我们每个和弦的手指位置，然后我们一起弹奏。

Sometimes we all just start laughing because we're so bad at keeping time, so Gary starts clapping to help us.

有时我们都会笑起来，因为我们太不会掌控节奏，加里就开始拍手帮助我们。

WOMAN: Do you learn to play any songs?

女士：你们会学弹奏任何歌曲吗？

COLEMAN: Yes – we do at least one song with words and chords. I mean that's harder than you think.

科尔曼：是的，我们至少会弹一首有歌词与和弦的歌。这比你想象的要难一些。

WOMAN: Oh, I'm sure it is!

女士：哦，我想是的。

COLEMAN: That part of the lesson takes about 15 minutes.

科尔曼：这部分大约需要十五分钟。

He often brings a recording of the song and plays it to us first.

他通常会把这首歌的录音带过来，先给我们播放一遍。

Then he hands out the song and if there's a new chord in it, we practise that before we play it together – but really slowly.

然后，他把歌曲发给我们，如果其中有新的和弦，我们就先练习一下，然后再一起弹奏——但弹得很慢。

WOMAN: Do you do any finger picking?

女士：你们会进行指弹练习吗？

COLEMAN: That's the last ten minutes of the lesson, when we pick out the individual notes from a tune he's made up. It's always quite simple.

科尔曼：那是课程的最后十分钟，我们从他编的曲子中挑出单个的音符。总是很简单的。

WOMAN: That must be hard, though.

女士：那一定挺累人的。

COLEMAN: It is, but people like it because they can really concentrate and if we're all playing well, it sounds quite impressive.

科尔曼：是的，但人们喜欢这样，因为他们可以真正集中精力，而且如果我们都弹得很好，听起来就会很印象深刻。

The only trouble is that he sometimes gets us to play one at a time – you know, alone.

唯一的问题是，他有时会让我们自己弹--你知道，单独演奏。

WOMAN: That's scary.

女人：那有些可怕。

COLEMAN: It is, but I've got used to it now.

科尔曼：是的，但我现在已经习惯了。

At the end he spends about five minutes telling us what to practise for the following week.

最后他还会花五分钟告诉我们下周要练什么。

WOMAN: Well, thanks Coleman. I'll go and have a look at that website, I think.

女士：谢谢你，科尔曼。我想我会去看看那个网站的。