Kalcium
Chad Adam Browne wrote
I turned 22 this year ?
GAH! I need to work harder! Im turning 21 this year, I have already deleted dota in an effort to spend more time playing guitar ? so far its working! ?
Dingwall
My one happy guitar story happened in 1989/90 when I was 17 and just about to do national service (remember that?!). Actually 2 good things happened shortly before I went to the army, 1) the government changed it from 2 years to 1 year and 2) literally weeks before I went in an army group came to our church and said they were desperately looking for a guitarist to replace their outgoing guitarist. The group was called The David Song Group. Not really my 'musical' thing but from an army point of view it was a very good opportunity indeed. Anyway I had my little audition and managed to land the 'job'!
I still had to do basic training and 2nd phase but after that everything changed! We were treated like kings and it wasn't 'army' at all. I was served tea by generals, played gigs to audiences of thousands, largest was 9000 which was something! We had ate in Spur restaurants every day, when we weren't being hosted by civilians who certainly enjoyed feeding the poor army boys! You should see the thin picture of me after basic training compared to the fatty that ended the year!
I don't know if any of you have heard of the David Song Group, they were more popular with Afrikaans audiences. More of a song group with 4 singers, a bassist and electric guitarist. Often after performances there would be long queues of mostly school girls wanting autographs! Quite a shock initially. Obviously very christian orientated and not quite as 'sexy' as it may sound!
But I got to travel all over SA, played to over 100,000 people in my year. Not my kind of people and certainly not my music but it was an incredible experience looking back and certainly helped my playing, confidence and gave me those all important "air miles" live experience points. Ish!
But evolution is constant. I enjoy guitar as much as ever at 39. Funny thing is that I find I have a much more mature understanding of the guitar now compared to then but sadly cannot pick up and learn things as easily as when younger. So its a bit of a trade off. I tell this to my older pupils who regret not having started earlier, you see things quite differently as you age and you need to really find a way of channelling this back into your playing.
ps just to clarify that I am not into god or church anymore, not to be controversial (or start debate) but just to help clarify who I am and help get the picture right and relevant.
Fin
singemonkey
Dingwall, you should talk to Joel. Had some fairly similar experiences in the SADF in the early eighties. Astonishing how different this band experience was from my buddy's early nineties time just after conscription ended (his parents forced him - long, sad story). Band was obviously a nice loophole. If I'd known while still looking conscription in the face, I would have practised my ass off.
Keira-WitherKay
for me evolution is constant .......... and hopefully always will be...... cos once an artist stagnates musically ......... they lose it......... cos one is only as good as your last show......
one regret i do have ..is that i became a multi instrumentalist ...... and played bass/upright bass/keyboards/guitar acoustic and electric lead guitar all at pro level.......... i should have stuck to one instrument ..as learning the different instruments to get to pro level cost me much time i coulda devoted to one instrument ...and everyone knows the more hours one puts into an art /skill is what you get out ..... so if i had to do it again i would stick to one instrument .........
slyd
Wow, y'all are pulling out the cobwebs here !
If ya don't mind, below is my summarised guitar life-story, put together as an entry in our Sunday Tribune's competition "Why you think you deserve to win tickets to the MOR Deep Purple concert". The 3 bands' names are obviously emphasised for effect, but the summary is accurate.
BTW, I won the tickets, a ltd edition T-shirt, and 8 cd's for it ? I hope not to bore you . . . .
A Short Story . . .
Once upon a time there was a teenager who listened to music every day. (Besides Led Zeppelin); Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash were the mainstay of his daily journey into the fantastic world of Rock. So much so, he became inspired to play guitar at the tender age of 13, with Smoke on the Water, Child in Time, Jail Bait, The Wizard, and Sunrise all being destroyed by his tender fumbling fingers.
When asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, the response never faltered from a firm “play guitar”. As time passed, the fumbling fingers grew more confident and found their way around the fretboard without scaring the dogs away. Band practice while in school became the only option for weekends, (when all students were required to attend the usual inter-school rugby matches), with this lad accepting the inevitable corporal punishment every Monday morning, for being absent.
Thus it came to pass that the band “Electric Fungus” debuted at the Hillcrest Library Hall on the 7th May 1977, with a repertoire including a myriad of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and Wishbone Ash songs. This was the first of a number of gigs for the band, which continued pounding out their favourite music until the end of 1978 when military conscription marked the end of this great time in the now 17 year-old’s life.
Completing his tenure with the “regime”, he bowed to parental pressure to “get something behind you” before embarking on his quest to play guitar. An apprenticeship in Avionics followed, with the young man rehearsing consistently and finally presenting solo appearances in restaurants a few nights a week. With an old friend from the Electric Fungus days, a duo was formed, performing now frequently. The pressure of working days and performing nights was rough, but determined as he was, he excelled at work and qualified as an Aircraft Instrument Technician, with distinction.
Continuing to work and perform nightly, the man’s foreman noticed fatigue setting in. This wise foreman stated that he realized that the man was working 2 jobs, and although he would be sad to lose him, he should follow whichever job his passion was, and therefore make a decision based on this. This set in motion the resignation from his day job, and the subsequent quest to “earn a living” solely from playing music (at last!)
Performing solo, and in duos from 1984 until 1990, in pubs, clubs and shows, a good life was had. All the rock anthems from the early years were still in great demand from his discerning audiences.
A personal issue intervened, and, in need of change, the man attained a “proper job”, in the Casino Hotel industry. Moving swiftly up through the ranks over the next 13 years, he only pulled out his guitar every few months, when time allowed. But the music that was played, remained the “good old rock” numbers.
Forced into retirement by a spinal-cord injury and it’s resulting effects, and with a bit of time at hand, he now has time for his favourite music . . . Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, and Uriah Heep !
Hey, I’m on a disability pension, and can’t afford to go . . . I think I deserve to WIN!
I think, to really evolve, one needs to play with talented other musicians, which forces you to push your own boundaries.
Squonk
Hell Slyd
What a good story and good stuff on winning the tickets and gear.
I havent heard much on what people thought of Wishbone Ash, what did you think?
slyd
There are some really great Wishbone Ash songs out there. But I will tell you, they were awesome live!
arjunmenon
What an awesome thread! I can relate to Chad's evolution.
I got my first guitar (cheapie no-name acoustic made of plywood with horrible action and sharp fret ends) along with a pitchpipe when i was 12 as a birthday present from a relative. Up until then i had very little interest in playing any musical instrument (although i grew up in an above average musically inclined household).
The first thing i did was snap the high e from tuning it too high (hadn't exactly figured out how the pitchpipe worked in conjunction with the guitar). First tune i learnt was Smoke on the water on the high e string, purely through trial and error.
Didn't sign up for any lessons as they were at a premium and we weren't exactly flush.
Got serious about playing when i was 14 and i stumbled onto my brothers stash of 80's poodle perm music (warrant, whitesnake, kix, twisted sister, kingdom come, watchtower, cacophony etc.)
I was later, at 15, introduced to Black Sabbath, Led Zep, Deep Purple, Police, Genesis, Pink Floyd etc.
I discovered Dream Theater, Yes & Rush when i was 16. Didn't quite get the music initially, but i loved the drumming and the odd time signatures.
Eventually became a Dream Theater fan boy when i was 17.
By this stage, my playing was improving majorly. Oh, and i had upgraded to a cheapie strat copy when i turned 18. I spent a lot of time learning stuff off the net (mostly songs) and borrowing old RHS shred videos from a hippie who lived down the street from me.
I finally figured out that there was a lot of theory i was missing out, because i wasn't able to explain what i played or tried to play.
Taught myself theory and cross-referenced it with various sources to make sure i wasn't learning the wrong stuff.
My guitar playing was pretty much this way until i turned 21, when i discovered Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Frank Gambale. I joined a cover band too.
I started understanding the guitar a lot better and now i was playing megadeth, metallica, iron maiden etc covers.
Played in a few other bands, some good, some not so good.
I finally upgraded to decent guitars when i turned 24 (i could finally afford an Ibanez ? Yay!).
Used to be widdlee-wee type personality. Now, i pretty much focus on developing my sense of timing, note selection and playing more musically.
In a nutshell, the 5 Ts (there may be more) - Tone, Touch, Taste, Timing, Technique
It's hard to capture all my guitar experiences in such a short span, but this looks about right.
AlanRatcliffe
Arjun Menon wrote
In a nutshell, the 5 Ts (there may be more) - Tone, Touch, Taste, Timing, Technique
I'll add Tottie to that list. ? the real reason many of us start playing in the first place.
Isis
I can see a pattern developing. My story is kind of generic. Started at age 7 with a Hohner acoustic. Took some lessons, got bored and stopped playing. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but the reason I started playing again at about 17 was due to Mark Tremonti. I heard the song "One Last Breath" on that Dstv DMX channel thing. I was instantly mesmerized. I took out my guitar and tried to learn the song from a tab. It took me quite a while as the intro is not really what one would consider beginner level fingering. I slowly started to teach myself moving away from my boyband roots to more metal forms of music. I was getting relatively good at this stage, when once again the Dstv music channel introduced me to.... you guessed it, Dream Theater. I suddenly realized I was not only not good, I was actually pretty kak when compared to "that" guy from Dream Theater. I went to a cd shop, picked up a copy of Awake, and that was pretty much that. I became obsessed with playing guitar. Petrucci's dvd "Rock Discipline" also helped me on my way. At this stage the wheels came off though. Instead of putting in the hard work I constantly blamed my equipment for not progressing as fast as I thought I should. I was cycling through guitars and amps at a scary rate, but my playing ability pretty much stayed the same.
After finishing school I attended university and stopped playing. Today I regret that I stopped playing when I was 7, and I regret that I stopped a few years ago. I was way too hard on myself and looking back now, I think I was progressing at a phenomenal rate being able to play Dream Theater tunes after only a year and a half of playing.
slyd
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
I'll add Tottie to that list. ? the real reason many of us start playing in the first place.
:goodtimes: hehe
