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Still Jamming

It’s been awhile since my last guitar journal and thought it would be time. I’m still playing every day; practicing and trying to learn new techniques and songs. I’m beginning to believe that improvements come with patience and unnoticeably. 

Perhaps all these hours of practice proven by my raw and calloused fingers will be noticed in my next gig. I will say though, I’ve realized a few things while analyzing what it takes to become a better guitarist. I notice that the greats have a specific style or “genre” that they work within.

Jimmy Page is rock, Eric Clapton is rock, Pat Methany is Jazz, B.B. King is blues … as for me, I’m not quite sure.

Guitar Enthusiast

Hey fellow guitar players, welcome to the Blog "Play Guitar". To be honest, there isn't any particular reason for this blog except that I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and over the last year or so realize I suck! I mean, how someone can play an instrument for over 30 years and suck...I don't know! Maybe it's because I never really learned how to properly practice or I never had a musical goal. Perhaps there is a reason for this blog; beyond the strong advice of my fiancé who will soon be my wife telling me that it would probably be something of interest since I truly love the guitar and always have. She probably also believes it would be good therapy. 

Over the past year I've gone guitar crazy. I remember when I first started playing at the age of about 12, I vowed to learn this instrument backwards and forwards; like most, I caught the bug from the same old 60s bands and I always loved to sing. As a teen, I had friends in bands, but never was one of the members. My confidence held me back and I always thought I wasn't good enough. Even today, I still don't know the answer to "when are we good enough?" I really want to be "good enough". 

I've got together with other guitar players over the years, but never seemed to find a lasting relationship -- hmmm, maybe my therapy centers more on my inability in relationships rather than not being good enough. Those that I did "jam" with either were way better than me, or way worse -- finding the balance wasn't simple. The other piece of the puzzle is that I wasn't sure I liked musicians; they are a different breed. I don't particularly like to watch other musicians, but I think it's more of a discouragement and a bit of jealousy rather than dislike. I always told others that as many years as I've been playing the guitar, I should be shredding like Van Halen, instead of pumping out open and bar chords. 

Don't get me wrong, to an amateur, I'm good ---I can play some of the old Beatles songs very clean and sing too, but when I make a mistake, I'm devastated. 

So, I'm hoping that through this blog, I find the peace in my music and learn the meaning of "good enough". I'm also hoping that if I find "good enough", I figure out what I'm going to do with it. I'm in my early 50s and going on the road or joining a band is not my calling. Over the past 4 months I have totally immersed myself in learning theory (something I never was truly exposed) and working hard to understand the guitar. I'm also working hard on developing the skills that include scales, chord variations and what music is all about. Being able to strum a 3 or 4 chord song is certainly nice and in it's own right, an accomplishment; but being able to add musical value in an accompaniment is a tremendous feat that I'm hoping to achieve at a new level.

My gear include Martin XC1T Ellipse Acoustic, Ovation, Fender Strat (Billy Corgan signature), Gretsch Electromatic (G5122), Gibson Les Paul 60s Tribute (Honey Burst) and a Fender Mustang I amp. I basically turned a room into a guitar room and it has definitely made great improvements in my motivation to practice.