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Free Beginner Guitar Lessons
Perseverance, Determination, and Resolve
My friend Paul Klinger from Acid Planet.com was nice enough to write about his first experiences with the guitar. He writes reminiscently about the first time he picked up a guitar and turned on an amp… right then he knew he was bitten with guitar fever. Some of his stories could be taken right out of my life story or the story of anyone of you guitar players out there. Have a good read! - Riffmaster
"...Everyone has their own sound, and if you're heard enough, folks will come to recognize it. Style however, is a different thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off ..." - Chet Atkins
Looking Back By Paul Klinger Here's me playing on my Martin It was December 1970 when the journey began. I was ten years old, on Christmas vacation headed down south into Mexico headed for Saltillo, Coahuila. My aunt and cousins lived there and we traveled with my maternal grandmother for a visit. I can still remember arriving and being directed to the room I would be sharing with two of my cousins. As I walked in the room, there were a few things that captured my attention. First, there were the posters hanging on the wall. There were the Beatles, Jimi, Janis, Jim Morrison, Santana and several others adorning the walls. While checking out all the posters I came upon a cream colored Fender Mustang with a red tortoise shell pick guard and a Princeton amp against one of the walls. I stared in awe at the beautiful guitar and amp. Both of my cousins were at school, so I had a run of the room while they were in class. I can remember picking up the guitar and just looking at it while sitting on the edge of the bed. I must have held it for fifteen minutes before I worked up the nerve to turn the amp on. I didn’t know how to play a lick, but wanted to just listen to it through the amp.
I flipped the switch on the back and the red light burned bright on the front of the amp. As soon as the amp warmed up the most awesome swirling sound began to come from the speaker. The tremolo effect was on and I plucked on one of the strings and was just captured by the sounds. That was the day that my love affair with the electric guitar began. That love affair is still going strong today. After that trip, I bought a transistor radio and used to put it under my pillow and listen to AM stations from all over South Texas and beyond. When the weather cooperated. I could pull in C101 from Corpus Christi, Texas. I would listen to the insomniac special where they would play complete albums with one break in the middle. My love for all types of music grew from those late nights listening to the radio. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I finally worked up the nerve to ask for an electric guitar and lessons. That really didn’t go over very well since I was doing poorly in school. Looking back it was probably due to my late night radio listening. I was always tired when I would get to school. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to be a rock star. It was a huge disappointment when my dad said no way to the guitar. Being a hard head, I started saving money from my job until I had enough to walk into ABC music in downtown Laredo to shop around. There it was, a sunburst Gibson Les Paul hanging the with a $675.00 price tag. I didn’t have near enough money to get it, but right underneath it hanging was a Hondo II Sunburst Les Paul. It looked just like the Gibson to the untrained eyes of a young wannabe. I had enough money for the Hondo and took it home that day. I can remember how good it felt to ride the bus with the guitar in hand and heading for home. I couldn’t wait to get home and show it off. I didn’t even know how to tune the guitar and just fooled around with it wishing I could play it. One day, a friend from school came over to help me tune it up. He took lessons and showed me how to tune by ear. I know now that I was way out of key, but it was a start and I was grateful for the help. My parents were less than enthused that I spent my work money on that guitar and refused to let me have lessons. Being the hard head that I am, I made it my lifelong mission to learn to play the guitar. To this day, I still can’t read music; however, I started playing by ear. I would put on record albums and try to play along. I never tried to play anything note for note. I always imagined myself playing in the same band as my heroes just trying to keep up. I would learn a little here and a little there as time passed on. I had a boom box that I would record some guitar rhythms and would try to play leads over them. That was how I began to learn to play leads. As time passed I would fall into periods of time that I wouldn’t play at all, then out of the blue I would pick it up again and pluck along. In 1990, I moved to Austin, Texas. It was there that I began listening to the blues and founds that I could play along to all the old blues records I would hear. It was familiar in some way and it came easier to me than any other style of music. I honed my lead skills playing along to the blues. I am in no way a great guitar player, but when the blues start playing, I can close my eyes and just tune in to it and play. I can’t really explain how, but my fingers seem to play the notes by themselves. I feel that I am channeling the music through me and out through my fingertips to the amp. I have learned a lot about music over the years, but the last four years have been a major breakthrough for me. My guitar playing has improved when I bought a Martin Acoustic and learned to play a lot of the old songs that I listened to as a teenager. I figured that I paid a good chunk of my hard earned money, so I forced myself to memorize chords. I have become a better musician from trying to understanding what I have learned from the masters. I also taught myself to create songs using loops in Acid 4.0. I also have been able to create music beds to jam along to. The cool thing about Acid is you can use it as a multi-track recorder with unlimited tracks. I couldn’t have done it without trading ideas with a guild of musicians/friends known as the Acid Exchange.
A million miles away is me on a gibson sg jr, bass, and looped music bed.
If you truly love music, don’t let anything stop you from living your dream. I never did become a rock star, but I don’t think that was much of a let down. I have done what I set out to do in the first place. I learned to play the guitar and to record music at home. I have a personal recording studio and a room full of guitars. I used to tell my friends that one day, I would record music and have a room full of guitars and they would all laugh. Two out of three ain’t bad like the song says. If you want to learn to play guitar the best advice I can give is to listen to all types of music and find what really moves you. For me it was the blues, for you it will be whatever turns you on. Practice, practice, practice, and save up for a decent instrument. I wish I had waited to save cash for that Gibson Les Paul instead of the Hondo. It would be worth a pretty penny had I waited, and they just sound so good. By the way, I finally got my first real Les Paul a couple of months ago. It isn’t as fancy as the sunburst that I wanted, but it has the tone and feel only a Gibson can give. Dare to dream, because sometimes dreams become reality (even if it took thirty years to accomplish). Good luck with your playing and enjoy the music for what it is worth.
If you liked this article, you may like this one too! Lesson from an Old Guitar
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"Consience is what makes a boy tell his mother before his sister does." - Evan Esar
SONGWRITING Part One: Being prepared when inspiration hits by Matt Kealley
I have noticed that members of Guitar Alliance have posted questions on various aspects of songwriting in the forums. This is a subject that is close to my heart and while I don’t profess to be an expert songwriter or have a number one hit song in the charts, I do enjoy this creative art form.
Updated: 3/3/07
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