The intro to this piece struck a chord with me (pun intended).
My mother recently gifted me her old Martin classical guitar that my grandfather handed down to her. I've been having a musical itch I needed to scratch after going over a decade without really playing an instrument after I had been section leader of the clarinets in HS band class and taken piano for a year or so.
I'm now learning guitar with the help of JustinGuitar.com (seriously amazing totally free site) and a guitar-obsessed co-worker who has been super helpful.
The most jarring experience to me about learning this has been the fact that I physically cannot play certain notes yet, and changing notes is extremely physically challenging. Not just in a muscle memory sense--but literally the process of getting my fingers to move in these incredibly unnatural ways and distances.
I remember back in the day what it felt like to be proficient with the clarinet and not have to think about how to play a note or change keys. Building that muscle memory up again is incredibly humbling, and frustrating as hell.
That said, there's something immensely satisfying the first time you struggle your way through a basic song (in this case Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" with three chords) and all of a sudden, you can gradually make out the actual song in the midst of all the incorrect fingering and delays in chord changes.
I hope I have the mental fortitude to persevere as I love the sound of guitar and the idea of playing one. I expected a learning curve with memorizing notes and finger positions and such, but christ did I not envision it being anywhere near this difficult to physically play. When I see a talented musician playing I now have massive newfound respect when I see them whipping through chord changes during 16th notes for example.
Not much more to add here, but seeing things like this that dumb down the experience are disappointing. Sure it might be a way to help people have early success, but I'd guess those people are a lot less likely to jump to the real thing if they seek out the easy road like that.
My mother recently gifted me her old Martin classical guitar that my grandfather handed down to her. I've been having a musical itch I needed to scratch after going over a decade without really playing an instrument after I had been section leader of the clarinets in HS band class and taken piano for a year or so.
I'm now learning guitar with the help of JustinGuitar.com (seriously amazing totally free site) and a guitar-obsessed co-worker who has been super helpful.
The most jarring experience to me about learning this has been the fact that I physically cannot play certain notes yet, and changing notes is extremely physically challenging. Not just in a muscle memory sense--but literally the process of getting my fingers to move in these incredibly unnatural ways and distances.
I remember back in the day what it felt like to be proficient with the clarinet and not have to think about how to play a note or change keys. Building that muscle memory up again is incredibly humbling, and frustrating as hell.
That said, there's something immensely satisfying the first time you struggle your way through a basic song (in this case Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" with three chords) and all of a sudden, you can gradually make out the actual song in the midst of all the incorrect fingering and delays in chord changes.
I hope I have the mental fortitude to persevere as I love the sound of guitar and the idea of playing one. I expected a learning curve with memorizing notes and finger positions and such, but christ did I not envision it being anywhere near this difficult to physically play. When I see a talented musician playing I now have massive newfound respect when I see them whipping through chord changes during 16th notes for example.
Not much more to add here, but seeing things like this that dumb down the experience are disappointing. Sure it might be a way to help people have early success, but I'd guess those people are a lot less likely to jump to the real thing if they seek out the easy road like that.