Lounge guitarists: What inspired you to learn to play? And how did you go about it?

[SacredCow]

I took piano lessons for several years, plus was a percussionist (first chair, thank you very much!) in my junior high school band. When I got to high school, I quit piano and band in deference to other interests. Piano never really stuck on me- I was a lousy sight-reader (really, I started too late IMHO). In late high school and early college, I became a big fan of U2 and one day I picked up an old acoustic that was sitting around the house and started plucking along to their songs. I quickly realized that I'd found my instrument and set about to teaching myself (with some periodic advice from friends). And that's about the long and short of it. No formal lessons on guitar, though I do have a pretty good background in musical theory from piano and band.

[Throd]

1. Watching Carlos Santana play "Soul Sacrifice" in the Woodstock movie.

Now, about 25 years later I have finally got to the point where I don't suck.

[driver8]

14. That is an amazing performance!! The kid that plays drums in Santana is

amazing, also -- he was the youngest performer at Woodstock.

I just read an article where Santana said that he was tripping on acid during that performance, and the neck of the guitar felt like a snake in his hand!

[Symarip]

2. You were lucky, though

Piano is music theory, minus chord progression. But even then, you'll figure out what goes well just by playing sheet music.

Anyhow, I don't play guitar, so I don't know. I had to teach myself theory since trombone music is just note by note kind of stuff. Only in recent years have I started really trying to learn how to play by ear... I'm pretty terrible at it, actually. But better than before. Picking out chords and figuring out what goes where and whatnot. With music, it's not the destination but the journey. That's why I'm still in it.

[SacredCow]

6. Had I not gone with percussion in band....

Trombone was going to be my 2nd choice. I really dug the simplicity of the instrument, itself.

But the percussion was something with which I could (largely) rest on my laurels- I already had the measuring, notes, rests, etc... down pat.

[DarkTirade]

3. There was a guitar in my house. I'm a musician. That's about it. :P

It wasn't until after I started playing that I realized it could get me laid.

[no name no slogan]

4. Believe it or not, bad heavy metal

I pretty much learned the same way you did. I heard something I liked, and I figured out how to play it.

When I first picked up a guitar at age 12, I listened to a lot of 70s hard rock, like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. I also listened to a lot of the "newer" heavy metal at the time, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Most of this stuff was fairly easy to figure out on guitar, at least the rhythm parts. The first song I learned all the way through was "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest, including the solo.

I am one of those people who has perfect pitch, and I can figure out most guitar-based songs after one or two listens (just because they all follow a similar set of rules and logic, no matter what the genre). I'd taken saxophone lessons for a few years and knew a bit about theory. I had also taught myself the rudiments of piano, which also helped a bit-- although to this day I cannot read piano music, nor can I read guitar charts beyond the basic chords.

Most rock people I've played with have a minimal formal training on their instruments, but most of them have great ears and can pick up on things quickly. All you need to do is tell them the chords, give them a tempo and pattern and they're off.

[SacredCow]

5. Yeah, I think that's true....

(minimal formal training for most pop artists).

Though I don't particularly care for his style, I do respect the hell outta Yngwie Malmsteen- besides being a good player, he REALLY knows his theory, from what I've seen.

[guitar man]

7. same reason most of us did

To get laid :evilgrin:

That's why I started playing, I was a skinny,gawky kid that wasn't any good at football, so I figured maybe if I learned to play and got in a band I could get some action from the girls.

But that all faded away and pretty soon I found myself really loving the electric guitar and playing it. I never had any formal lessons, I just put on records of the players and bands I liked and started tring to figure out what they were doing.

[SacredCow]

8. Well, isn't that a pretty common theory?

That all advances to human civilization were derived from efforts to score (opposite sex, or otherwise)?

[guitar man]

9. pretty much

Hey, it worked for me :evilgrin:

[SacredCow]

10. I was a little behind in using the guitar for scoring.....

In High School, I was convinced that the ticket was a cool car...

:rofl:

[guitar man]

11. actually

I think it was the combination of playing guitar and riding a motorcycle that did it for me. It damn sure wasn't my looks. :rofl:

[pokerfan]

12. Jimmy Buffett

"I got into music basically to meet girls, no doubt about it. Women have always been an influence on my music, good and bad. It looked like the greatest job in the world. I was in college at the time, a freshman at Auburn University. I was a shy, awkward kid from Mobile, kind of a wallflower. My roommate had a guitar, and even though he knew only three chords, he always seemed to be the center of attention with women. I said, 'Teach me those chords'."

[Tikki]

13. My brother-in-law....

He is such a nice guy....When we where both kids (before his brother and I got married)
I asked him if he would show me how to play guitar like he did...He is an excellent
player...he is known for his blues harp now-a-days..

First I learned chord progressions and played a bit of rhythm guitar...
I really figured it out when I picked up the bass, though...


Tikki

[DBoon]

15. mid life crises

as the comedian Sandra Tsing Loh said, "Middle aged women regret not haivng kids. Middle aged men regret not becoming Eric Clapton".

[Broken_Hero]

16. Well, what inspired me

is Kirk Hammet...he still is a damn good guitarist, but I know I will never have half of his talent. I didn't start playing around with the guitar until I was 23 or so.

I was on my way down to Sacramento(to live), and I stayed two nights with my brother, who had a guitar...so for those two days, I started playing around with it, and I got hooked.

Musically, I'm an above average Clarinet player, and played from 6th-12th grades, and made it to state honor band my senior year, so reading music, tempo, sharps/flats, wasn't new to me when I picked up the guitar.

And to boot, I can play the piano(below average player) my sight reading is horrendous, but give me time I can get it(mostly!). To me, the guitar is a piano, that I can play in my lap and carry around with me....

Guitar wise, my preference/style is more...well, slow/somber, much like J. Cash.

I do like get nasty with it, with some hard stuff, but I'd prefer playing slower/melodic tunes....