Musical Ramblings

When I was 12, I yearned to learn to play the guitar. I asked my father to buy me one, but he would not. His justification was that his friends said that it would just sit in a closet unplayed after a year. (Cheapskates all of them.) My sister had a guitar that had been abandoned. It had been sitting by the door of her room unplayed with two broken tuning pegs, for many months. So I asked her for it and so my musical journey began. I had already taught myself harmonica. This was a step up!

At first I wasn’t really interested in playing like anyone or anything. It was clear I had no direction or any clear intention
so I would just sit and thump the E string with my thumb imitating Black Sabbath riffs. Eventually, something that sounded like a tune would emerge. It sounded cool. I was addicted.

A year later, I bought a used guitar from a friend for $10. This one had all six strings and a lot of band stickers on it. My Uncle Rocky, who was a fairly accomplished Spanish-style guitarist gave me his copy of The Carcassi Method. I taught myself to read the notes, proper classical posture and began learning basic finger picking. It was upon hearing Steve Hackett play the Genesis song Horizons that I knew how I wanted to play. I have never comfortably handled an electric guitar or played straight forward Rock and roll, though I loved listening to it, Finger-style on a steel string has always been what has called me. I have tried to veer off this path, but have been unsuccessful. Accepting my awkward improvisational compositions and perfecting my arpeggio style has been a long road I have yet to abandon. My study approach incorporates classical exercises, jazz scales and harvesting these to develop my own musical language. It is deeply personal and meditative.