When/How/Why Did You Start Playing Guitar?

[JakeK]

I sucked at sports.



The end.

That and I was 11, saw the Beatles, had a dream. 8 years later, I'm still rocking away.

[collin]

I sucked at sports.

The end.

Me too! I was the guy you DIDN'T want on your team!

yeah, most musicians I know fall into this category......and you know what---I couldn't be more pleased! I got better at the old physical activity over the years, but glad that I realized early on that playing music and collecting guitars was way cooler (and more fun) than competitive sports.

[jimk]

I sucked at sports.

The end.

Me too! I was the guy you DIDN'T want on your team!

+1!

I see an emerging pattern here. Yeah, me too.
JimK

[doctorwho]

My guitar-playing history is a bit convoluted, so bear with me.

In 5th or 6th grade, I was 'auditioned' for the school band (all students were) and found that I could actually make a sound out of a saxophone, so it was recommended to me that I take up the saxophone. Unfortunately, saxophone rental was beyond my family's budget, so no saxophone, no school band.

In 7th grade I became friends with Richard, an absolutely first-rate, all-around musician, and by hanging out with him, being exposed to the playing of music, I became interested in picking up the guitar. I took over his paper route and began having a little money (beyond allowance), so in 1967 I bought from Peoria Suppliers a General Electric Guitarmate system, consisting of a record player with a guitar that could be plugged in to play along with a record. I struggled with the cheapo Strat clone but enjoyed it. During this time I belonged to a "Hit Music Book" club and bought a number of music books through it, including one that contained a good chord chart in the center, so that's how I taught myself how to play chords. (I also found that I had a good ear for music as well.)

After a year of playing, I knew I needed a better guitar. As it happened, there was a music store on my Saturday delivery route, and one morning when I dropped off the paper, I looked into the shop to see what they had. On the wall was a beautiful cherry red Gibson (an ES-335TDC with Bigsby) ... love at first sight! I went back when the shop was open and asked the owner if I could play it; he did ... OMG it played so fantastic! Karmic resonance. IIRC I coveted it (and kept going back) for a few (?) weeks before I asked the owner if he'd take a little less for it, and if I could pay for it on a layaway schedule due to the fact that I didn't have $350 back in 1969. Because it was on consignment, he had to check with the owner, which he did, and the owner agreed to both terms. So after several weeks of making payments, I finally took proud ownership of it (I still have it to this day).

My abilities improved rapidly because the Gibson was so easy to play, and I felt that I was a pretty good (not great) player. A year or so after graduating from high school, through my friend Dan I found myself drawn into a jam session with a drummer (Steve), a vocalist (Dan's cousin Martin), and a tambourine player (Bob) (Dan's brother Steve was a classmate of the drummer and Bob). We jammed for a while and it clicked pretty nicely. We wound up with a gig at a wedding reception without having a bass player, so we got Bob to pick up the bass (we rented a ca. 1962 Hofner Beatle bass from a local music store for the gig), and began to practice for the gig two weeks before the event. We had to come up with a name, and because we were playing on the second Saturday from our first practice, I suggested Second Saturday, and the name stuck.

We played the wedding reception and actually enjoyed it (and I guess we didn't sound too bad, either). Over the next few years we had various other band members come and go, and we played a a number of gigs, but in 1974 I graduated from junior college and had to move to San Diego to continue college at UCSD. (The band continued on for a short time thereafter.)

I kept up a little playing during college, including grad school, but really did not think about trying to be in a band again.

After many years had passed (and after getting out from under my ex-wife's financial burden), I decided to get back into playing on a more serious level, so in 1995 I bought a Crate GX-40C+ practice amp and started back up with the old reliable Gibson.

In 1998 I received a nice bonus (for a change) from the company I was working for. During this time, I had been hanging out at The Rickenbacker Planet, a fan web site operated by Evil Bob (a bass player, IIRC), and I had been looking through the Dry Goods Swap Shop, the ads for instruments, on a regular basis. I decided to buy a 1992 360/12 MG (A5 9918) for $850 ($825 +$25 shipping), as I was wanting to get into the Byrds' music, and, of course, that meant buying a Rickenbacker 12-string. Thus the RAS began ...

So, I kept playing and buying more Rickenbackers. I decided to buy a small 4-track recorder, a bass, a synthesizer, ... and try making my own music. It was fun, but it made me realize I needed a real band environment in order to improve. (I was able to jam a number of times with my friend Jim, from whom I bought my 370/12RM MG, and that helped a lot.)

After I moved to Orange County, I started looking on Craigslist for a 'band' ... I really didn't want to be in a gigging-for-income band, but rather older folks like me with day jobs who wanted to get together to play music for fun. That's how I found the folks I jam with currently. We've been jamming for about six years, and it's been a lot of fun.

Of course, the last 4-5 years I have had the good fortune to jam with some fellow Forumites as well, to great enjoyment.

[gregga41]

I was obsessed by "The Monkees"at the age of 7. So for about a year i pestered mum & dad for a guitar. They eventually bowed to my badgering and bought me the cheapest acoustic guitar they could have found. Rock and roll stardom here i come! Imagine my dismay when, at my first guitar lesson, they taught me..."Hang down your head, Tom Dooley"..... then "Kumbaya". WHAT????

[doctorwho]

... Imagine my dismay when, at my first guitar lesson, they taught me..."Hang down your head, Tom Dooley"..... then "Kumbaya". WHAT????

I'm glad I took the self-taught path!

[paologregorio]

I started playing bass at age 17. I bought a perfect black body/pg P-bass copy w/a maple neck for $130 with some $ saved up from flipping burgers, and a few months later I bought my JG 4001.

A year and a half later, and working at a better job at a local grocery store chain as a clerk, the friends I was playing bass with needed a reliable guitarist, so I switched to guitar. I ordered an Azure Glo Blue 360 WB with the "vintage chrome bar pickups," as the catalogue referred to them back in the day, from a local music store. I went back to the store every payday to make a payment. While waiting a few months for my Rick to arrive, I plinked out a few chords and scales on an early 70s natural finish Telecaster Custom, which I sold as soon as the Rick showed up, a couple of months earlier than expected even! I'd been told the wait was six months, and the guitar arrived in about 3-3 1/2 months.

Overall, I started playing music because I was into all the new music at the time, plus a lot of the classics.

I think I'll go play some guitar now.

[jps]

... Imagine my dismay when, at my first guitar lesson, they taught me..."Hang down your head, Tom Dooley"..... then "Kumbaya". WHAT????

I'm glad I took the self-taught path!

Me too!

[kiramdear]

... Imagine my dismay when, at my first guitar lesson, they taught me..."Hang down your head, Tom Dooley"..... then "Kumbaya". WHAT????

I'm glad I took the self-taught path!

Me, three. The first song I ever played on guitar was "Eleanor Rigby". Hey, you can play it with just two chords.

[beatlefreak]

Started way back when I was 10, and it was because of the Beatles.

[8mileshigher]

So, I kept playing and buying more Rickenbackers.

Talk about an understatement .....

[8mileshigher]

For me, maybe around 6th grade .... taking group guitar lessons with a Nun at a Catholic school was a way to get out of piano lessons !!

[beatbyrd]

Simple formula: short, skinny, non-athletic, plain-looking 13 year old kid + Beatles on Sullivan + horny = musician.

Worked for me. I'm guessing there are a bunch of other guys here who used a similar equation.

Tom

[sloop_john_b]

... Imagine my dismay when, at my first guitar lesson, they taught me..."Hang down your head, Tom Dooley"..... then "Kumbaya". WHAT????

I'm glad I took the self-taught path!

Me, three. The first song I ever played on guitar was "Eleanor Rigby". Hey, you can play it with just two chords.

Quit it you guys, you're gonna put me out of business!

[kiramdear]

Haha, John, no dis intended! I could have learned a lot from a cool teacher like you.