How did your guitar playing journey start?

hussamd

hussamd

Power User
Reading posts from this forum has been very enlightening and entertaining. It got me thinking how did I get to this point of loving playing guitar to the point of obsessing about it.

I will kick off another thread to see how unique my experience is:

1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
Funny story... I was 17 and my friend who know how to play the guitar was trying to teach another friend how to play. He had a spare acoustic guitar in the corner. I ended up picking up playing and my friend never did! I never took any music lessons and just play by ear and read tabs. Started playing with 2 fingers, then three and now my pinky is getting in on the action. My playing did not significantly improve till I came across the Axe Ultra. It is hard to progress when the sound you produce is not good enough. Many guitars, amps and pedals along the way just did not give me that raw sound I was looking for. Getting the sound quality with the Axe out of the way forced me to focus on playing techniques and I am to the point of being a mild irritant to the neighbors instead of public nuisance :lol

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
She is not buying it! Any suggestions?


3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
My wife has asked me that once and I guess I never gave it much thought before. I guess I am drawn to the raw power of high gain sound pounding your chest, and sweet heavy leads. The guitar is a wonderful instrument that allows you to play notes with emotions mixed in. Some people hear music and they want to sing along. I hear music and I want to play along. It is a great stress relief and brings me many hours of joy every week, week after week, year after year! Can't say the same for the neighbors though!
 
I'll play...

1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
There's a pic of me on my first bday where my mom made me a cake shaped like a guitar. I think they may have started some things. My Dad played trumpet and bass and I grew up around his core group of friends who included mostly musicians. Two of his buddies are long time pros so met a few heavies as a result. I remember seeing a red strat (turns out it was a fiesta red '63) when I was 4-5 at one of their houses and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Still feel that way about Strats.. and guitars in general.

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
She is not buying it! Any suggestions?
I ask for forgiveness rather than permission. But I'm considerate by nature so I don't go too far most of the time. My wife knew what she was getting into from day one so she digs that I play.


3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
It's spiritual to me.. very much a part of who and what I am. I'm surrounded by a lot of players as well, so that helps keep me stoked. Still trying to balance a work life and family with it though, and that's not easy.
 
1) I started my musical life as a classical cellist. I started in 3rd grade and continued right up until 9th grade when on one haphazard day my older sister brought home Black Sabbaths "Sabatage"
and led Zep III. I had never heard anything like this before that instantly spoke to me.
One week later the cello was gone and I had a les paul deluxe and some little shit amp. I've never looked back

2) I had stopped palying for about 15 years or so, so when I started dating my wife she did not know that in my younger days, I had been in working ,gigging metatl bands .
It kind of freaked her out. I was at a B-B-Q at one of her friends houses when we had just been married, and he had a strat in his office, I picked it up and all of this Hendixy blues stuff just started pooring out of me. her jaw dropped and she just said "what the f is is"?
soon after tht I went on a Jackson/Charvel San Dimas collection spree 9at one time up to 24 of these bad boys)
she hates when I play loud so the Axee Fx II I now have is a major blessing in my house since I usually jam to pretty rowdy stuff (double bass beats blast thru the house really annoy her)
Now I can use head phones or my KRK 8's without really bothering anyone in the house.
3)
to me it's like therapy, I can't believe I went as long as I did without playing, now I need to palyat leat one hour a day or I get a little "pissy" LOL!
I love writing and I've been teaching 10 year old daughter how to play Piano and guitar so it's become somewhat of a family thing now.
It's also allowed me to expose my 10 year old to a lot of different music she would not normally be aware exists.
the sound of my BRJ 7 string exploding out of my RCF NX12 thru my MarkIV patch puts an instatn smile on my face. No matter how shitty my day has been , plugging in always
seems to make it a little bit more "OK".
 
Randy-Rhoads.jpg


This guy really kicked it off for me. And pretty well has been going strong since. Zappa picked me up in the 80s through to this day.

My wife loves me playing guitar, has no issues with gear, or anything - I'm a clean and sober dude, not at all a wanderer with other women, don't gamble or hang out in strip clubs, so she's like "Hunnie, buy whatever you want and play the shit out of it". I'm a lucky man.

The fact I'll never truly MASTER the guitar is my reason for continuing to play it. It'll never be "fully learned"...there's always something new to figure out.
 
I started playing in my early teens. 13 or 14...Im 42 now. But when I was 24 I had an accident at work and lost most of my Pinky. So for 20 plus years I didn't touch the guitar. Just last year I decided to get back into it, after listening to BLack swans and wormhole wizards. Also went to see Joe in December of 2010.

I can use my pinky on occasion but can't bend with it or use Vibrato w/ it. So its not completely useless. I love it too much.
 
1) Imagine a 10 y/o watching this:



2) I'm not married.

3) See point 1. People talk about the extremely addictive qualities of heroin. Druggies should try grunge rock instead. Once it's in your veins, it sets you up for life... :)
 
Kdog, Sorry to hear about your accident, as you probably know Tony Iommio lost his fingertips, I remember seeing them (Earth) about 1968 and it looked like he had epoxy glue on them, they had to stop playing one song because he got cramp in his hand.

Sorry I got lost there (too much Newcastle Brown Ale), I forgot why I came to this thread.

1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
About 1960, I got a plastic 'Elvis' guitar for Christmas, don't know why, my parents must have thought I had an interest in it. Jimi Hendix Purple Haze made me take it more seriously.

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
Well it wasn't a problem then, you don't have a wife/partner in junior school but these days we give each other enough space to do whatever.

3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
It's like a drug you just need a regular fix. If I'm away from my guitars for any time I just pick up a brush shank or piece of wood and pretend.
 
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Kdog said:
I started playing in my early teens. 13 or 14...Im 42 now. But when I was 24 I had an accident at work and lost most of my Pinky. So for 20 plus years I didn't touch the guitar. Just last year I decided to get back into it, after listening to BLack swans and wormhole wizards. Also went to see Joe in December of 2010.

I can use my pinky on occasion but can't bend with it or use Vibrato w/ it. So its not completely useless. I love it too much.
Click to expand...

I rarely use my pinky. I am forcing myself to use it but I can play just fine with the other 3 fingers. Do it man and have fun!
 
Kdog said:
I can use my pinky on occasion but can't bend with it or use Vibrato w/ it. So its not completely useless. I love it too much.
Click to expand...
Maybe check out some Django Reinhardt for inspiration. He did a lot with a little.

Swedish Chef said:
3) See point 1. People talk about the extremely addictive qualities of heroin. Druggies should try grunge rock instead. Once it's in your veins, it sets you up for life... :)
Click to expand...
100% concur.

I'm a grunge guy to this day (amongst other genres for sure). Man, I remember my life back in the early 90s, wondering where music was going with the men in tights, massive hairspray quafs, lipstick, even blush for chrissakes!!! Garbage music (she's my cherry pie...yada yada yada). Then, out of the blue - Smells Like Teen Spirit hits the scene, then it ALL starts pouring in - Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains...

It was the last mega renaissance in music I can recall. It was huge. It changed the scope of radio-play and a large part of collective consciousness for those who chose to take part in it. I certainly did. And I'm glad to say my kids aged 3 and 5 know what good grunge music is - they love it.

I'm often watching my local radio station's "Top20" to see if there's a hint of a new era in music coming on... Something more than the hyped up artsy-pop-prozac-alt-pleated-pant-rock regurgitation of 1999's Sugar-Ray-meets-Smash-Mouth music I'm hearing WAY too much of today. So far I don't see anything remotely close.

Tool's new CD oughta be out in the next couple months. Hopefully that'll mop up some of the mess.
 
There are some many great players that really don't use their pinky a whole lot. Wasn't there a great Gypsy Jazz guitarist that was crippled in his hand? But he still dominated the instrument. I think Toni Iommi had made little leather patches. He sure can play that SG though. Its all in how bad you want it.
 
1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
This sounds ridiculous but I actually don't remember. As a very small child I had an ultra-cheap department store guitar with steel strings and I just kept playing it. I learned my first chord at the age of ten, and playing "Banks of the Ohio" (which only needed A and D) deeply impressed Carolyn who sat next to me in 5th grade. I went on to become a professional, and Carolyn went on to weigh 150kg (about 350 pounds).

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
She owns a Parker Fly Mojo and a Fender Twin. So it's not really a conversation we've ever had to have.

3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
"Need" I guess. It's really not something I think about. I cannot imagine not having a guitar nearby, I would probably freak out completely.
 
Django Reinhardt - YouTube

Ventura....THis guy is amazing. I just didn't know his name. I do now though.

My first love affair with the guitar was when I saw the movie Crossroads and met Jack Butler for the first time.

THen "surfing w/ the alien" came out. I listened to it everyday for 8 hours.

My wife is Ok with my guitar addiction. I wear the pants. SHe is a stay at home mom.

Everyday I listen to my itunes i find new inspiration and reason to keep playing!

As far as Loud....I don't play too loud. The kids love to to pickscrapes really loud for me at times...and whammy bar dives.
 
1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
Been playing music my whole life and right after SRV died, I saw an Austin City Limits episode commemorating him. That night, I picked up my brother's old classical guitar and never looked back.

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
That's what man caves and garages are for!!!!


3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
My musical tastes have changed and listening to new stuff motivates me to become more proficient. Started playing when listening to SRV and Electric Blues and tried to emulate that. Now I listen to a lot of Prog Metal (Dream Theater) and trying to learn the intricacies of that style. I also recently started recording my own instrumental type originals and am trying to grow my arsenal of licks that way. My kids also love to hear me play so they motivate me too!
 
ventura said:
It was the last mega renaissance in music I can recall. It was huge. . .
Click to expand...

Do you think it was kind of return to Punk ?

+1 for Tool, I saw them a few years back and it was one of the best gigs of my life. They seem to get so much from so little, it's like a trance thing.
 
FYI I use my pinky to play A LOT. Way back, I read an interview with Robben Ford and he said something to the effect that using his pinky is his secret to success. So away I went!
 
Sure, I'll play...

1) What/when was your love affair with guitars start?
I listened to radio constantly growing up in the 70s--mostly album rock and country. Journey, Led Zeppelin, and Rush made a few dents in my noggin. When I was nine, my Dad discovered that my cousins in Germany were becoming accomplished classical guitarists. Though ours wasn't really a musical household, it was decided that I would learn classical guitar. I did pretty well for a kid--played Bach arrangements a few times at whole school assemblies and then at my jr. high graduation.

Fast forward to the mid 80s. Def Leppard, Dokken, Night Ranger, the Scorpions, and Van Halen ruled the radio...and all of a sudden it occurred to me that I could probably play that stuff too. That was all she wrote.

2) How do you convince your wife/partner that guitars are meant to be played LAAAOOOOOUUUUD!?
I'm the wrong guy to ask. Years of coming home with my ears ringing from a drummer who tried to make up for a complete lack of groove by hitting really hard cured me of the desire to turn it up.

3) What keeps you engaged and playing year after year?
At the moment, I'm not. I had a bad band experience (I'm sure many can relate) and couldn't even listen to music for a long while. Just during the past few months, I've been trying to reconnect and find some kind of inspiration. Not there yet.
 
Kdog said:
Ventura....THis guy is amazing. I just didn't know his name. I do now though.
Click to expand...
Glad to be of assistance ;)

Marrafat said:
Do you think it was kind of return to Punk ?

+1 for Tool, I saw them a few years back and it was one of the best gigs of my life. They seem to get so much from so little, it's like a trance thing.
Click to expand...
[Grunge] I think it had a similar energy to the punk scene, but it came from a different social intellect and being. Punk, to me, stemmed from an exceptionally anti-authority anti-conformist social element. A lot having to do with social unrest towards the monarchy and corporatist movements in the UK and then into the US (albeit under a totally different government). Loud and fast - and sometimes angry. It was big. To me, grunge came out as a form of music that was anti-hairspray and anti-metal (metal at that time); and also echoed the state of mentality that a lot of 20-something Gen-X'ers were feeling with respect to their futures. Granted, Nirvana will claim punk as their roots; but Soundgarden will claim other influences, and Pearl Jam too. Like I said, without a thesis being written right here right now, I'd say the energy was similar, but it came from a different place/perspective. I had to throw RHCP in there because "Suck My Kiss" was just so damn righteous - it too carved up the airwaves with a totally awesome reckless abandon - BUT - will killer musicianship.

Tool is unto itself a totally different species. Probably my fave band for the last decade or so. Not to say I listen to them religiously, I listen to everything (that I consider "good"), but Tool is an aural and musical "experience". They're profound in my books. I love their music, their lyrics, and their musical synergy. Seen 'em countless times and have the good fortune of actually knowing 2 of the members at an arm's length. They're good because they're not making music based off anything I can readily see as an immediate influence. I like that. Same reason I love Zappa. If you play me a song that I can predict bar for bar, verse for verse, ad nauseum, it gets binned. Play me something that surprises me? I'm in. As for Tool, the mere fact they've got a heavier element to their music makes it - to me - that much more palatable.

Peace,
Mo
 
1. I always wanted to play any musical instrument from an early age, but my music teachers didn't encourage me because I think my face didn't fit despite my pleas of a genuine interest. I have always been a big fan of guitar based bands and music all genres so last year at the ripe age of 39 I decided to engage in something I have always wanted to do and bought my first guitar and amp. So I got myself an Ibanez Gax 30 and a peavey vypyr 75. Since then I have had lessons and been playing catch up for all them lost years and worked my way through kirk hammett signature guitars (KH-202 and 203) a Marshall solid state amp, an orange dark terror. Now I find my self with a EBMM JPXI a ESP LTD H1001 and an Axe FX 2, a bit extravagant for someone only been playing a year but everything feels right for me.

2. Don't have this problem as the missus loves to hear me practice and play in fact she bought the Axe FX 2 for me and she encourages me to play loud, she is definitely a keeper.

3. As guitar is relatively new to me through playing I am constantly inspired by playing anything new and playing a song my missus and friends can instantly recognise giving me huge satisfaction. Despite not being a seasoned player I have longed to play for many years and my job (British Army) meant I didn't have that much time to dedicate to it, but my desire to learn is unmeasurable. Now I seem to have more time than before and I play for at least 2-3 hours a night.

The axe fx also is a major force in my inspiration to play as I can get great sounds in one unit without the want for, an amp for metal, an amp for cleans a good warm crunch amp a pedal board with a load of effects to make the songs sound authentic.
 
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