Don’t Give Up… or, if you do, Try Try Again!

It’s 2007, I’m in the last year of my third decade of age on this planet, and I’m taking up the guitar – for the third time. This time, though, I’m really enjoying it.

I was a teenager during the height of metal mania in the mid 1980s. My music diet was comprised of Scorpions, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and AC/DC, to name but only a few. When I struck out on my own after high school, I enlisted in the Air Force and went overseas. In 1986, on leave, I bought my first electric guitar, a Fender Stratocaster. It was Ivory white – I kinda liked Bryan Adams and my Ivory Strat reminded me of something he’d play. The guitar and hardcase set me back just shy of $300. I ordered a lame amplifier through the Army and Air Force Exchange catalog that was maybe $40. I owned that guitar for about a year and a half, I could play a few measures of Accept’s Balls to the Wall and a few licks from AC/DC’s Back in Black. And that was about it. I just didn’t have the patience to really sit down with the guitar and … well, practice. I think I sold it to an Air Force Tech Sergeant I knew, for maybe $150.

Fast forward to 2003. I found an evil looking Washburn on eBay, for $100 including shipping. By now, my new music inspirations included Staind and Rage Against The Machine. I got a few instructional books, and even a Black Sabbath Anthology book of music (which I still have). Again, when my fingers and wrists started to howl, I gave up.

What’s different this time? Well, I think I have Guitar Hero II to thank. A good friend gave this to me for my birthday. I played this dang game for hours on end. After progressing through the game all the way through “Hard” level, I thought about getting the real thing.

My practice times now are fun. I practice in 30 minute chunks, sometimes twice a day. I look forward to it. Why? I no longer encumber myself with mental comparisons and checklists. “Dang, this chord change is really tough! My fingers are too small!” No, I’ve decided to appreciate and enjoy the music that I make, no matter how simple or technically inferior it is. Right now, I can play the hell out of the A, E, D, and G major chords. With my new Jay Turser 200D Les Paul copy guitar and my 30 watt amp set on distort, I can make crank out some pretty freakin’ cool (but basic) shreds right now, though. I like what I’m able to do. Before, I always judged myself. Not so now. And I think this is the key to playing and learning music and musical instruments. I’m working on playing Motley Crue’s Shout At The Devil, and while I don’t have it down pat, I’m able to mimic one of my favorite heavy metal songs of all time for a few seconds at a time, and that makes me happy.

I know, at this pace, it’ll be years until I’ll be able to play, say, most of my favorite dirthead songs. But I intend to play and learn guitar for many many years to come, and I’ll enjoy the ride.