Stop scribblin' and play yer guitar

It's a few minutes after midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. I'm just getting back from a late night of work and watching the Mets flame out to the Cardinals in the National League Championship game. It's been a long week. I'm really tired and should head straight to bed. But my guitar is sitting in the corner of the living room, and it's too quiet.
Before this starts sounding like an old Kenny Rogers song, I'll explain. About a year and a half ago I decided to actually learn how to play the guitar I bought myself for college graduation (that would be the Fender Stratocaster in the photo, right). I had messed around with some books and tried to make sense of chord charts in the past, but never seriously pursued learning to play. So, I got together with my  friend Jim Olive who teaches guitar and attempted to make at least a twice-monthly date of it. And I try to practice as much as a guy with a wife, two-kids, a house, a busy job and some active volunteer obligations can. I wish I'd gotten serious about this in high school.
It has become a bit of an obsession, sometimes keeping me up late beyond reason and prompting me to carry Guitar Player magazine around as much as my daily calendar. But moreover, it's been a joy. It's one thing to hear a song and like it and another to entertain the idea that you could play it. On Woodsongs, Michael Jonathan gets it right in his little mini-sermons about putting creativity in your own hands. Yeah, I probably coulda, shoulda gone to bed Thursday, but what better way to wind down than playing a few favorite tunes.

At this point, I can strum in 4/4 time, and that's about it. Sometimes, it feels like I've made very little progress. Other times, when I go back and try something I was struggling with a year ago, I'm surprised at how far I've come. Either way, there's no timetable here. No demands. I have a career. This is a hobby, though one I take seriously.

A few months ago, when it was a lot warmer and I started this blog, I promised to start chronicling the journey of a middle-age guy learning to play an instrument. Now, I'll start to make good, and if my obsessive nature plays out, you may read more than you ever want to know.
To kick it off, here are a few things I've learned in the last year and a half; advice I'd give to anyone else who wants to tackle guitar or another instrument later in life:
1. Get a teacher. A book can only tell you so much, and there is a lot about learning an instrument that has to do with technique and touch, things you really can't learn from a book.
2. That said, be curious. It adds to the fun. I subscribe to two guitar magazines, Guitar Player and Play Guitar, and have pulled lessons and advice from them that have added to the experience.
3. Find someone to play with. First, the only thing more fun than being able to make music is being able to make music with other folks. Also, it pushes you. I play with my wife, who is a really good pianist, so trying to keep up with her really makes me work.
4. Don't get too stressed. Keep this in perspective, particularly if you are learning later in life. You won't be playing Rupp Arena. (I'd be happy to play a camp fire someday.) If you miss a few days or even weeks of practice, if there's something you're trying to learn and you can't seem to get it, don't let it ruin the experience. It's supposed to be fun.

I have to give credit for a lot of that advice to my Yoda, Jim.

So, I will check in from time with some updates and highlights of how it's going for me. I have a lesson this week, and a current goal is moving beyond strumming in 4/4 time. Three chords can get quite dull over a five-verse song -- my Blowin' in the Wind will put you to sleep faster than Ambien. I'm also working on a few songs to play in a couple of weeks.

In addition, I'll let you know if I see some cool guitar-oriented stuff, like a few posts ago I was pointing folks to a neat interview with Third Day guitarist Brad Avery in the Epiphone E-Newsletter. The photo above, by Mark Cornelison, is of my Copley acoustic-electric guitar. I just saw a tidbit about another guitarist and his namesake equipment that I'll share later this week.

But at this point, it feels like I've written too much. I'm going to go play my guitar.

Comments

[Kevin Sinclair]

Learning to play the guitar is a challenge for mature age students. It can be difficult to find the time to practice - let alone to be able to practice enough to achieve the level of skill that may be the goal. In my experience, the focus should be on enjoying the experience and to savor the time that is available for playing and practice. The skill will develop in due course as long as you can be comfortable and enjoy playing within your limitations.

[datter]

All grown up and learning to play the guitar. You sound very much like me, two kids included. :)

I've added this site to my RSS feeds and will be interested to hear how things are going for you.

Good luck,
datter

[Joe Tackett]

Good luck, Rich! Playing an instrument is one of the most rewarding and frustrating journeys a person can embark on. Stick with it!