Progress: Exceeding Expectations?

[diablo175]

Had a thought recently concerning where I started as a guitarist and where I am now. All self-effacing humility aside, I realized I am far beyond where I initially set out to be. Granted I didn't have the bar set particularly high back then- was initially content to play the melodies on a single string of my Montgomery Ward acoustic with barbed wire strings and a neck bow of alarming degree. I wanted to learn some chords, be able to play some songs and impress a few chicks. But as I learned chords and  few melodic passages, I started thinking maybe I'd learn a few easy leads, too. Nothing jaw dropping. Couple of real basic add-ons.  Nevermind that I was devouring music by Jimi, Led Zep, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Queen, Pink Floyd, the Sweet, Nazareth, Aerosmith and of course, Kiss. All of which featured sizable leads of varying degrees of difficulty. I knew I'd never be playing the mind-bending wizardry that I heard on later VH, Vai, Malmsteen and so on.

So I learned a few Hendrix tunes from Richard Daniels (Purple Haze and Foxy Lady) including his leads and decided maybe I should learn some scales so I could improvise with the various garage/basement projects I would find myself in. From there I started playing simplistic pentatonic runs (also courtesy of Mr. Daniels) with some basic bends over AC/DC tunes. Walk All Over, Touch Too Much etc.

Looking back, I'm well beyond my initial and simplistic goals of a few bars of 8th notes with few soulful bends. I still haven't given up on learning those seeming impossible swept arpeggios, insane tapping, string skipping gymnastics, hybrid picking etc. as well as expanding my theory.

 

What about y'all? Are you where you imagined you'd be?

 

[zenmindbeginner]

I was a bit of a prodigy... well prodigy for an era without internet. In the days without the internet, young kids had to buy magazines or purchase expensive instructional tapes.

The instructional tapes thing started pretty much after I was in my early formative years... all I had was "Guitar for The Practicing Musician" and the odd songbook with tabs. Good songbooks were expensive back then and I couldn't afford them.

I was playing like an adult when I was 14... opened up for Marty Friedman and Jason Becker when I was 15. I really didn't get that much better between 15-25...

My style had changed but I was still self taught... no lessons, no teacher and still not enough money to afford instructional tapes or fancy songbooks.

But by the age of 20, grunge music had come around and I was sooooooooo HAPPY! I could just play pentatonic, bluesy leads and focus on rhythms and cool chords. I would be more of a songwriter and started to sing too. By age 25, electronic music had come around and I abandoned my guitar in favor of a keyboard and mouse.

I stopped playing from 1998-2008. Music had gotten pretty shitty... Creed was all over the airwaves, Rage disbanded and the horrible Audioslave was born... Kurt was dead... everything went into the gutter. Even bands like Tool had become formulaic and boring... it was all over as far as I was concerned.

As soon as Mark Tremonti was the hot new guitar player, I tuned the fuck out.

By 2008, my chops had deteriorated BADLY... I had nothing. I still have nothing, but now "impossible guitar" playing was the cool thing. Guthrie Govan, Tommy Emmanuel, Tosin Abassi... all of the 15 year old girls who could play anything under the sun... the 9 year olds who could rip better than I could at 14... I HATE EVERY FUCKING BIT OF THIS bullshit guitar scene we have now. Where are the goddamn songs? Where are the riffs? Where are the awesome licks you could learn that night without devoting years of your life to practicing? Where is the fucking middle road? I wanna go back to when John Pettrucci was a JOKE.

So now, I have to practice, practice, practice if I wanna be as good as a 9 year old. What a fucking insult to my life and my time on this planet.

It''s all about the money. Parents who have lots of money can buy their kids the best lessons money can buy... the best teachers and the best gear. Those kids have a HUUUGE leg up on poor kids and guitar playing is now a "class thing". I fucking hate it and I have to FORCE myself to practice or I won't. Busting my ass so I can be as good as a 9 year old is just a shit way to live as a guitar player.

I'm 42, I won't get any faster... I won't be able to achieve shit. I'll never 8 finger tap... my sweep picking will always sound pathetic. I don't know hardly any theory and at 42 probably won't learn much more.

I don't even know why I bother other than the fact that my 'identity" is wrapped up in being a "guitar player"... NOBODY gives a shit when I write these really cool songs for my demos... i can't get anyone interested in what I am doing. Makes me want to become a serial killer.

[killerteddybear]

NO expectations anymore.
Not as good as I once was (on bass; never was good on guitar) but not seeing the opportunities to BE good either.
I turn 60 next week. I'm not going on any tours.

[it's me HHB]

I'm happy with where I am, I've always kept moving and improving in better than I've ever been , none of my projects are remotely alike, I read pretty fuckin good for a guitarist, I gig on bass, banjo, Mando, lap and pedal steel. I don't care about fame I care about making people happy with music and putting on quality events, whether my jazz duo with my lover or BBD ( 17 years same 3 guys ) or my theater work ( this has been huge for me ). Hell yeah

[FGJ]

Zen, I think a lot of what you say resonates with a lot of people. I get what you mean about nine-year-old girls on U-Toob dazzling us with their playing and playing these days being more about gymnastics than great hooks. But you play extremely well and you shouldn't judge your playing by comparison to things like that. 

 

[LucSulla]

I'm better now than I ever have been, which is not to say I am necessarily great.  But I am happy that I see improvement every year.  I blew up my playing style about a year ago and am starting to reap rewards.  I do know when I go to auditions or open mics that I am considerably better than what people are used to. 

I never had a destination really in guitar playing.  I just want to play what is in my head, and that evolves from year to year.  I was in my 30s before I realized that a lot of that "easy" slow stuff was way more complicated than my "fast" hard stuff I thought was so great.  Right now, I am still trying to transition to being more of a soloist who looks at things as chords rather than scales. 

I also continue to want to be competent in as many styles as possible.  Trey Spruance from Mr. Bungle was a pretty big influence that remains important to this day.  I don't want to play like him as much as I appreciate that he could play solid part for anything from death metal to 60s Italian pop music.  To me, that is really where it's at - not ridiculous solos but being able to set the right vibe for whatever style is required. Sometimes, that means sweep picking and tapping, but sometimes it's as simple as knowing how to dial in the right sound and playing single half notes.  Guitar is a wonderful instrument in that regard - Going from humbuckers through high gain to single coils clean with some slap back can evoke entirely different moods.  I love that. 

[DBraz]

Interesting subject.  And entirely subjective as we are all focusing on ourselves from our own perspective.

Me?  Started playing when I was about 10 and got pretty good by the time I was 16 by which point I was practicing a few hours every day and gigging at youth clubs etc.  In my twenties I gigged a few times a week or more in a wide variety of bands - originals and covers, Rock, Acid Jazz, functions...

These days I try to focus more on the song and let the music breath a bit rather than fill every space with a sweep arpeggio.  The temptation never wanes though!

My tone has always been pretty good with almost any amp and I am pretty convinced that it's all in the fingers. Practice wise I am not as crazy as I was and in all honesty it's nearer 4 hours a week these days than 2 hours a day - in terms of true practice and learning solos etc.  

Unlike many here I am not satisfied.  I always wanted to be a Rock Star but life and other things got in the way.  Ho hum...

[diablo175]

Interesting. Some of you took this in a direction I had not necessarily intended- not wrong, just interesting.  But it's fodder for thought at the least and game for lively discussion at best. To be clear- I was musing more so on where we started and (the mind set at that stage) and where we ended up; I found that to be fascinating. Initial goals often define us as people. Changing those goals along the way hopefully is a good thing.

Zen- your intense passion comes through even in your seeming despair and disgust with the state of music. I'd proffer the advice of "don't be so hard on yourself" but you started out in a vastly different place than I and it sounds like you have/had different goals. I think your guitar playing takes on a greater significance in that, some portion of your livelihood depends on it, or do I have that completely wrong? In either case, you're more of a working musician than I ever will be with my shitty 50 bucks-for-the-night gigs.  I admire that! And I share your dismay with the music scene but that's for another thread.

HHB- good for you! Hats off to you for having a really good attitude and perspective on it. Fuck, if we can't enjoy it and do it for the love of the music, then what's the point?

LucSulla- Very cool- Mr. Bungle was a HUGE influence on me in the 90's! Loved Mike Patton and Co.'s bizarre, talented and eclectic approach! If you were able to embrace that eclecticism in your own playing that makes you one multi-faceted player.

DBraz- Welcome to my world- always wanted to be a rock star but...  lol  You need to have sufficient talent and/or some lucky breaks/connections, neither of which were afforded me. That being said, I was fortunate enough to learn early on that there's a definite joy and satisfaction in just playing for less ambitious, grandiose agendas. Jamming with friends and even strangers is a blast when it doesn't dissolve into music chaos. Somewhere in there was a more personal quest to just progress at guitar. Period. That's more or less what this thread really touches on. At the root of it all was just my goal of progressing and how that goal changed in respect to my situation.

Not sure why I find it so noteworthy that my goals shifted (for the better) but I do. I was curious as to if others had similar experiences.

 

 

[crunchee]

I think I easily exceeded any goals I had, as I never really HAD any, musicwise!     I started out playing guitar for fun, for relaxation, as a learning experience, and for my own enjoyment...and I still do.  If anything else came or comes from it, then so much the better. 

[The Shark]

I'm really good at playing the same stuff I've been playing for thirty seven years.  Reached the level of my incompetency in the late eighties.  I'm learning new songs and solos within those songs with my band, but I don't really feel I'm improving.  I'm just increasing the catalog of songs and stuff I know.  There's lots of stuff that I'll never be able to play, but at my age I'm fine with it.  I usually never listen to songs that my band plays.  So, it's best that I can't play some of my favorite songs.  Dissecting them can ruin the listening enjoyment, if that makes sense.

[Bosmitch]

Awesome thread.  wasn't expecting to have to get all introspective today, but will give it a try :-)   

Funny but I had no goals when I first picked up the guitar.  I had been a classical piano and composition "prodigy" going to a school within a conservatory, so when I picked up the guitar at age 14, I just fell in love with it and spent the whole night figuring out all the chords.  my first great epiphany was discovering bar chords that night.  I never looked back and I stopped practicing piano altogether (my piano teacher was incredibly pissed at me), spending about 8 hours a day playing my guitar.  I soon discovered Randy Rhoads and my first goal was to play every solo he played on the first two Ozzy albums note for note.  this was also around the time screaming for vengeance came out.  I learned all the stuff.  then Yngwie, and I was out there playing Yngwie tunes with my band and had a local following.  I thought Jimmy Page was sloppy as hell and Clapton couldn't play nearly as fast as I could.  What a complete idiot I was at the time.  My goals changed to getting a record deal with my band so I wouldn't have to go to college.  Then my band broke up and everything changed.  I was pissed.  I went to college but majoring in music seemed stupid because I thought I knew more music theory than my professors would (which was probably right, but who cares? I should've done it anyway) so I went for something totally different, but then I completely stopped playing music, probably because I couldn't stomach not being able to play as much as I wanted.  makes no sense, i know.  So my guitar goals didn't change, they were dead.  Life moved on, grad school, job, family, and on it goes for over 25 years.  the whole time my hamer standard lay dormant in its case  under my bed.  until about 3 years ago.  not sure exactly what the catalyst was, but flood gates opened.  within 6 months I had 90% of  my technique back.  The new goal was get back technically to my prime but expand stylistically to include blues, country and jazz. I got into an amazing band that was more classic rock, blues and a bit of country.  I discovered backing tracks - man, how much easier is that!!  I got to the point where I was technically just as good as I was at 18 (play sweeps, gambale hybrid picking, legato, alternative picking, whatever, all pretty accurately) and yes, seeing that 15yr old french girl on youtube doing the same thing with ease doesn't make me feel any better about my accomplishments, but she just has that blank stare on her face so I feel like I am at least enjoying it more :-).  my new goal is to get close to a world-class level in jazz and I've enlisted one of the top jazz/fusion players in the country to give me a long private lesson ever 6 weeks or so (yes, there were some benefits to getting into a career that affords me that kind of a luxury, but I have a lot less time to accomplish my goals now so I'm trying to take advantage of anything I have available to me).    So maybe the point is that goals will evolve based on natural abilities, life's circumstances, economics (both $ and time).  The key for me is that I enjoy playing as much as I did when I fell in love with the guitar in 1981 and I appreciate every minute I get with the instrument.  And having gained some musical maturity, it's not just about shredding anymore.  I now appreciate so many more players - all the blues greats, jazz greats, country greats, etc.   But maybe my real goal now is to spend as much time as I can playing guitar for the remainder of my life...

[gorch]

Without a doubt, goals are reached. Where to go next? It took a very long time to make guitar playing a stable in life. At my end 30s it eventually took of. At the final starting point it was clear to me not to join the instructional book and cover music parade and leave that to the young lads. I thought to set my goals low and learn to play and articulate free as I speak. I wanted to be able to seriously play on/for myself.

Since I am a structural thinking guy, right at the beginning, I had the idea that with six strings in parallel there must be some structure that to know would make things a lot easier. Unfortunately, most books don't work like that. Until I had found the door opener, Carl Verheyen's Improvising without Scales helped to shake of fears to make mileage on the freatboard. Fretboard Logic then opened the doors widened by Kal David's DVD course. The latter providing diatonic, other chords than bar chords, improvisation, musically not just scales, and recording.

Side achievements started with pickup replacements, ending up in two successful individual guitar projects. 

The world that had been opened since is tremendous. And I'm really happy with what I have achieved. The side achievements included, it draws a bigger picture then I could have ever dreamed of in the beginning. I'm thankful.

It might be an advantage that I don't have to struggle with youth achievements that have gone by. On the other hand, I have understood that it doesn't make sense to compare my position, playing or status with any professionalism and become depressed of that.

[FGJ]

After lots of introspection and careful thought, I've come to the conclusion that I suck less today than I did 20 years ago. 

[diablo175]

27 minutes ago, FGJ said:

After lots of introspection and careful thought, I've come to the conclusion that I suck less today than I did 20 years ago. 

Well, that's a relief!  I suspect you'd be in a real shit show if you hadn't.

[FGJ]

Yuck, yuck, yuck. Hey, you at least perform live (which I think forces a player to get better). I'm only playing in my studio every now and then when I take a break, before getting "back to the drawing board" (a phrase which, for me, is meant literally). My only audience is one of those wooden mannequins which every art studio has sitting around but which no one uses because it's really quite useless. 

[Dasein]

16 hours ago, zenmindbeginner said:

I was a bit of a prodigy... well prodigy for an era without internet. In the days without the internet, young kids had to buy magazines or purchase expensive instructional tapes.

The instructional tapes thing started pretty much after I was in my early formative years... all I had was "Guitar for The Practicing Musician" and the odd songbook with tabs. Good songbooks were expensive back then and I couldn't afford them.

I was playing like an adult when I was 14... opened up for Marty Friedman and Jason Becker when I was 15. I really didn't get that much better between 15-25...

My style had changed but I was still self taught... no lessons, no teacher and still not enough money to afford instructional tapes or fancy songbooks.

But by the age of 20, grunge music had come around and I was sooooooooo HAPPY! I could just play pentatonic, bluesy leads and focus on rhythms and cool chords. I would be more of a songwriter and started to sing too. By age 25, electronic music had come around and I abandoned my guitar in favor of a keyboard and mouse.

I stopped playing from 1998-2008. Music had gotten pretty shitty... Creed was all over the airwaves, Rage disbanded and the horrible Audioslave was born... Kurt was dead... everything went into the gutter. Even bands like Tool had become formulaic and boring... it was all over as far as I was concerned.

As soon as Mark Tremonti was the hot new guitar player, I tuned the fuck out.

By 2008, my chops had deteriorated BADLY... I had nothing. I still have nothing, but now "impossible guitar" playing was the cool thing. Guthrie Govan, Tommy Emmanuel, Tosin Abassi... all of the 15 year old girls who could play anything under the sun... the 9 year olds who could rip better than I could at 14... I HATE EVERY FUCKING BIT OF THIS bullshit guitar scene we have now. Where are the goddamn songs? Where are the riffs? Where are the awesome licks you could learn that night without devoting years of your life to practicing? Where is the fucking middle road? I wanna go back to when John Pettrucci was a JOKE.

So now, I have to practice, practice, practice if I wanna be as good as a 9 year old. What a fucking insult to my life and my time on this planet.

It''s all about the money. Parents who have lots of money can buy their kids the best lessons money can buy... the best teachers and the best gear. Those kids have a HUUUGE leg up on poor kids and guitar playing is now a "class thing". I fucking hate it and I have to FORCE myself to practice or I won't. Busting my ass so I can be as good as a 9 year old is just a shit way to live as a guitar player.

I'm 42, I won't get any faster... I won't be able to achieve shit. I'll never 8 finger tap... my sweep picking will always sound pathetic. I don't know hardly any theory and at 42 probably won't learn much more.

I don't even know why I bother other than the fact that my 'identity" is wrapped up in being a "guitar player"... NOBODY gives a shit when I write these really cool songs for my demos... i can't get anyone interested in what I am doing. Makes me want to become a serial killer.

There's no doubt that the business and musical landscape has changed.  When I think of Zen right now (who is a monster player but equally a monster songwriter) I think of things like video games -- you'd make a great in-house musical director for a video game series.  I'm thinking franchise level stuff because of your breadth of experience and know-how would allow you to be the creative genius behind an absolutely ripping title. I'm also thinking film scores -- films like John Wick or even TV series stuff --- but big arc stuff.

I do quite love the creativity of the stuff you've posted - it's almost too good which is why I see bigger arcs and larger themes for you.  Because your stuff is so packed with ideas and musical twists I want a bigger canvas or a larger medium than a simple song delivers.  I'm thinking particularly of the medium people listen to music on these days.  Your stuff is too good for the casual stream or shared playlist between gum chewing teens and pickle making hipsters ---- it's got more gravitas.  Today's general music audience reminds me of that scene in National Lampoon's vacation at the grand canyon ----

Please keep creating it - and consider some of the above in terms of where it could evolve and find a home.  Your pickup demos are amazing - your production is first class top shelf stuff.  You just need to find a few like minded big thinkers to carve out a niche.

But I hear you brother -

[Sugartune]

16 hours ago, zenmindbeginner said:

But by the age of 20, grunge music had come around and I was sooooooooo HAPPY! I could just play pentatonic, bluesy leads and focus on rhythms and cool chords. I would be more of a songwriter and started to sing too. By age 25, electronic music had come around and I abandoned my guitar in favor of a keyboard and mouse.

I stopped playing from 1998-2008. Music had gotten pretty shitty... Creed was all over the airwaves, Rage disbanded and the horrible Audioslave was born... Kurt was dead... everything went into the gutter. Even bands like Tool had become formulaic and boring... it was all over as far as I was concerned.

As soon as Mark Tremonti was the hot new guitar player, I tuned the fuck out.

Ha ha ha. I love that. I feel the exact same. I was 11 and just starting out on the guitar as grunge came to be. I starting off aiming high, like making More Than Words and Tears From Heaven the first songs I tried to learn, aimlessly on my own. It didn't quite happen in that first year of playing. Then Nirvana exploded (It's Nir"VON"a, not Nir"VAN"a). I needed to know what a power chord was. Boom! I was golden then. Learning this simple way really helped with timing and the importance of rhythm and dynamics. 

My "halo" playing goal a couple of years into playing was mastering Siamese Dream. I got pretty close. Some of the solos kicked my ass hard, especially since I hadn't really attempted ANY solos prior to that. I never really took much of an interest in shredding solos or learning scales. I wanted to learn melodies, counter melodies and arpeggios, and odd chords (ie. not power chords  ). I always wanted to write songs and sing. Never to be a lead guitarist, and most certainly not to be a shredding soloist. 

My challenge then was not having the right gear. I had plenty of time to focus on it and practice as much as possible. Most of my learning was done on the typical not-that-great Sears guitar. When I finally got an electric, I still couldn't afford an amp. Now I have the right gear, but way less time. These days, all I can think of is playing guitar. I want to go in work late so I can play a bit in the morning. I want to leave in the middle of the day and play. I want to play when I get home from work and I want to play all night, every night. But now don't have that time. 

I hoped I'd be able to write more and be happier with my output than I have so far. Aside from that, I'm content with where I'm at, having not really set any goals to play like anyone or anything in particular. I'm not likely to impress many people, but I'm pretty solid at what I do. That said, I'm always looking for ways to improve. New guitars are always a source of inspiration, but ironically the hunt for those are a diversion from playing in itself. 

 

[mrjamiam]

For such a goal-oriented guy as I am, it's kind of amazing to find that the process or journey is what is giving me the pleasure with guitar.  Maybe because that's because I haven't (yet) achieved too many goals, defined for me as being able to credibly play certain songs or solos.  This is where the 2016 Challenge is helping me to focus a bit.

I started as a 12-13 year old kid with a tremendous amount of interest, but no direction.  I have never had easy access to other guitarists and it was far worse back then, pre-internet and living kind of out in the country, i.e. away from most everyone.  I fooled around through high school and quit it when I started college because I had nothing going on, guitar-wise.

Almost 7 years ago I moved to my current location, knowing no one in town.  With time on my hands, I bought a used guitar to try to give it one more try.  But now we have the internet, and lots more instructional material available.  (And this place, which I eventually found.)  I recall at some point early on reading that WSJ article about the Tiger Mom and taking the lesson from it that I should force myself to practice fundamentals, those damned scales and so forth, because it won't become fun until I develop a reasonable level of proficiency.  What I have found out is that for me, learning guitar is kind of like learning to hike out west - the distances are deceiving.  I could fairly quickly hack out some kinda recognizable stuff, but I'm finding that my original goals are still kind of far away, although I'm pleased from time to time with recognizing that I've come what I consider a fair distance.  I never suspected all the little things that must be mastered in order to sound good.  Maybe they come naturally or easily to some folks - it sounds like it does in some cases - but I have to work at them.  Sometimes I even have to discover them.

So, to address the OP's topic, I still haven't achieved many of my original goals, but I have come to take quite a bit of pleasure in my progress.  Enough to keep me interested, anyway, in playing and - sigh - seeking out gear.

[diablo175]

I agree- it's not the destination, it's the journey getting there! But it definitely helps to have a little reassurance along the way in the form of learning/mastering certain new techniques, songs or whatever. Call it incentive or reward for staying the course.

For me, guitar was a means to an end, not the end itself. Certainly, guitar was a social tool for meeting and interacting with others in my youth. But it was also, at that time, the personification of my boundless passions and dreams. From there, as my hormones lost some of their youthful carbonation and I found other means of meeting and interacting,  guitar took on other role- a creative outlet. 

Wasn't really until I was in my late 30'/40's that I got really focused on improving and expanding my chops. Even then, without the driving force/mania of a youthful endocrine system, my commitment, while steady and consistent, was not as aggressive and all consuming as it could should have been in my 20's.

 

 

[Jakeboy]

ZMB, we love and appreciate you brother...don't start whacking people...you'll go to prison and we won't be able to enjoy all you bring to this life anymore.n

Seriously.

 

my story begins in Slower Lower Delaware in 1979 when I started playing. 70s classic rock was what I wanted to play and learning Page's sloppy but badass solo and rhythm in Heartbreaker was one thing I had to do.....among so many others.ninbecame a Keith, Page, and Perry disciple. The song and attitude meant more than technique.nThen EVH...I knew I could never do that, but it helped my technique as I learned some of that style.....then I went all acoustic from 1990-2000. Really helped my chops and honed my ability to simply PLAY A GUITAR. I also became a blues nut and spent a lot of time on slide. 

Electric again from 2001 till now. The 9 year old girls have technique that blow me off the stage, but I have the swagger and attitude, and the pure fucking energy that wins people over. People call me the best guitarist in town occasionally. It's laughable. I suck compared to so many others here. But they stare at their feet. I have learned that for me, the vastly most important thing is to play hard from my heart. And I do. It makes a difference doing something rote or doing it because it sounds badass. The same unison bend or simple double stop becomes deadly off Keith Richards fingers. That is what I try to do. BB King was not a technical monster, but when he shook the shit out of a note it became something else altogether...something you FELT.  When I play I make people dance and pay attention to the energy my music makes. In that respect, I have exceeded expectations..,even if I do still suck.

 

But some days I would give it all up to have Mick Taylor's fluidity and sense of melody. Even my leads are rhythmic. <sigh>......I know I will never be really good at electric guitar, but I will make people smile and their foot will tap, and they WILL feel and feed off my energy. I am at peace with that. But I Know I suck compared to so many others.

[Willie G. Moseley]

I never fancied myself as a pro-quality musician, nor did I aspire to be one. First time around paying guitar was an escapist type of hobby on which I became too dependent, and it cost me. After a six-year ('78-'84) break I wrote some songs and got 'em published in Nashville but got back into performing reluctantly, but this time I knew I could handle it, and I did. It lasted about four years, then I had that head trauma that beget the gradual hearing loss, + the guitarist had started not taking care of himself in more than one facet of his life (and is now deceased).

 

I began submitting stuff to The National Music Trader in the summer of 1989. It was a 16-foldover newsprint publication, and I quickly realized I could write about nostalgia (instruments and people) in a manner that might take me places. NMT became known as Vintage Guitar Magazine.

 

So I've opted to concentrate on playing a word processor keyboard instead of increasing my proficiency as a musician (moreover, since I'm retired from my newspaper job I've sold off most of my collection). I'm always trying to make progress with writing and reporting. It's a different effort, on accounta you have deadlines and ancillary tasks like photography. I wasn't a journalism major, but my attitude is so what? Developing your skills as O.J.T. is an important type of progress.

 

I'm never satisfied with being in "journalistic cruise control"; all too often I've got a "where's-the-story" visage when I'm out and about, and happen see something interesing. That's why I always take my SLR to guitar shows, as well. Found some cool instruments in Franklin last weekend to write about, including Tom Petersson's Gretsch White Falcon 12-string bass.

 

And yes, Kiz, I did get photos of that one but they won't be seen here on accounta I got a story about those instruments in the works...but as a hint, methinks that so far, there's three that have been made. At any rate, TP can be seen playing one on the CMT special w/ Jennifer Nettles, and other images are around since it's now reportedly his main performance bass.

 

Some of what follows is redundant, but too many younger journalism majors I've encountered have a self-entitlement attitude, and haven't lasted in the small town newspaper organization where I worked. And while they may know a lot about computers and layout programs and can really work out on social media, they couldn't write their way out of a Glad sandwich bag. Moreover, the flip side notes that just because someone has access to a word processor and is an expert about something or a celebrity, that doesn't make him/her a writer. I've seen that as far back as Chuck Berry's autobiography, which was embarrassing.

 

"Making progress" in writing skills has been, for me, an unending sojourn. It can be arduous and frustrating at times (and it don't pay too much) but it can take you to some interesting places and introduce to some interesting people. I hope to keep doing it until I've been overcome by senility or death.

[BubbaVO]

You guys are awesome.  

Im a hack.  My piano playing got me more tail than guitar ever did.    Broken fingers, and lack of talent haven't diminished my enjoyment of playing and listening to guitars.  I'm happy to explore and learn.  I'm ok with this being a hobby...but a guy can dream, right?