Learning the guitar

I want to bring music back into my life

A couple weeks ago, me and Steve went over to his parents Tim and Anne’s house to watch game seven of the Stanley Cup finals. The outcome of that series is a topic for another time, however we did come away that evening with the acoustic guitar that was stored in Steve’s childhood bedroom.

That was the start of my foray into learning how to play the guitar, and so far I’ve been having a lot of fun learning the chords to a few songs and singing along while playing them.

As a young child I was awed by my older cousins Tracy and Ethan playing the guitar. Ever since, I’ve thought it a marvelously cool instrument, and I’m so happy to have the opportunity now to practice on one!

Growing up, I was lucky to have learned to play the piano. I also played the baritone saxiphone in my highschool band. However, upon leaving home, I did not continue my musical education, and it’s been something I’ve wanted to return to for a while now. For the past few years, I’ve been casually looking for opportunities to practice music again.

When it came to the piano, there was the problem of access and space. There are only so many belongings you can cram into a one bedroom apartment before it starts to feel like a hoarder’s paradise. For that reason, it never seemed practical to bring a keyboard into me and Steve’s apartment.

As for the saxophone, there are again limitations on what neighbors will bear when you live in an apartment building. I have a saxophone mouthpiece, and every so often would peruse secondhand saxophone classifieds, but my heart was never fully in it. Even if I was able to find a decent instrument within my price range, the odds of being able to practice in the evenings after work without complaints from the neighbors seemed pretty low.

Steve had an electric guitar in the apartment, but for whatever reason, it never really resonated with me. I picked it up and played a few chords here and there, but the strings had a tendency to fall out of tune, and it was always too much of a bother to ever hook it up to the amp, leaving the sound it produced decidedly uninspiring.

But this acoustic guitar is a whole different story. One strum across the strings produces a rich resonance that has me immediately hooked. I love how portable it is - you can pick it up and bring it to the cottage or on a canoe camping trip. No matter the location, it produces the same sound. Another wonderful thing about the guitar is that it’s easy to sing along to, especially when compared to the saxophone.

So far, it’s been a great way to occupy my time at home in the evenings. I’ve found it to be highly effective in my fight against screen addiction - rather than spend time browsing on my phone, lately I’ve found myself drawn to practicing the guitar instead.

My goals with the guitar are to gain a decent understanding of the theory behind the sound. What string and what fret corresponds to the notes as I learned them on sheet music? How to guitar tabs and chords work? I also want to get better at playing melodies by ear, and just noodling around on the guitar to find my way to musicality.

Ultimately though, I want it mostly for the “campfire” application. Making music with family and friends in casual settings, singing together, and all around building connections, rather than spending time in our own personal little electronic bubbles. That is my dream and aspiration!

Here’s a video I recorded this morning, singing and practising the chords for Amazing Grace.