I’m super excited to start on this journey to learn to play the guitar. This will be the first music instrument since the end of high school - almost 13 years ago.
This won’t be the first time I’ve picked up the guitar. I started learning it when I was at intermediate school. Though the memories are vague and I would probably need to start all over again.
Why Guitar?
In recent years, my cup of tea when it comes to music has gravitated towards acoustic guitar music - especially unplugged versions of pop songs. I find there’s so much more soul and feeling when someone sings to an acoustic music when compared to regular pop music.
I find pure acoustic music (without any vocals) is such a great tool for concentration. I gives me an instant boost in flow while doing any sort of programminng or writing (in fact, I’m listening to it as I’m writing this). It’s on par with listening to sitting in a cafe and I’ve often combined the two together.
Also, another reason is it’s versatile in many ways. The complexity ranges from simple strumming and chords to lightning fast finger picking and solos. It’s such a wide range to explore! Another dimension to versatility is the type of music it can play. One of my end goals is to be able to join others in playing and creating music, and I feel guitar gives me a great deal of flexibility to do that.
My Goals
- To be playing and creating music with a bunch of music folks (and meet some new people along the way)!
- To be able to play in front of friends and create a relaxed and happy mood at gatherings.
I love the idea of playing with others, creating and enjoying music together. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to get here but it’s something I’ll be exploring.
Learning Resources
Guitar basics and skills:
- Choosing your first guitar - Learning a new skill will always be hard and there will be failures. So it’s wise to reduce that as much as possible. The easiest guitar to pick up and play is electric (because of it’s low action). Also, I wouldn’t spend too much time comparing one guitar to another because all of them can do the job.
- Other lessons from JustinGuitar - Justin’s a great guy that makes these easy to follow videos on any skill you need to learn as a beginner. I’ll be following his lessons at the start.