Why People Play Guitar...Reason #17

[johneek]

Since this is the official "Discussing all instruments except Rickenbacker" Section of the Forum, I thought it would be OK to post this, since the definition of "instrument" might vary according to usage.

I showed this picture to my wonderful bride and she commented, "Oh, that poor girl got hit in the mouth with the guitar...." Sweet Innocence....

BTW, the player is John Cruz, Masterbuilder at the Fender Custom Shop....

[gray]

Is he trying to relic it a little more by getting some teeth marks on it?

Just kidding, funny pic!

[admin]

John: What a great question. I would place its importance, for me, fitting somewhere between the search for the holy grail and the meaning of life.

Your photo provides us with some intial clues to the answer and I believe that both views that I am expressing here have their roots in biochemistry.

To begin, there is a energy and excitement associated with playing the guitar that stems from testosterone. It is dripping off this photo. Of course, this occurs in different amounts for different guitarists, but have a look at the photo. There is far more than just eye hand coordination going on here.

Further, I consider that we are tonal creatures reliant on vision and sound first and foremost for our survival. While verbalizations emerge early in our development, our limbic system is prepared for an emotional experience and we have quickly discovered the reinforcing effect of the same and we like it. Therefore, we go back for more.

The life events that we find pleasing around the time of adolescence become associated in powerful ways with who we will become and how we will interpret our world. Even those who venture away from a guitar passion developed at 15 years, for whatever reason, will return when time permits.

Being able to produce a condition that we find reinforcing will increase the likelihood of its future occurence.

As a follow up question to your original one, how many guitarists out there have difficulty ignoring a fantastic guitar solo playing in the background even when more important life issues are being discussed. The limbic system is used by all of us to filter out extraneous or less important information when the frontal lobes are actively at work. When preferred tones are on the horizon sometimes concentration takes a back seat. We play because we are pulled to tone, an innate central nervous system tendency that cannot be ignored.

[johneek]

...As a follow up question to your original one, how many guitarists out there have difficulty ignoring a fantastic guitar solo playing in the background even when more important life issues are being discussed?

Peter, what an obvious but insightful observation. I couldn't begin to count how many conversations, tasks and who knows what kinds of other activities I've literally walked away from, or more accurately been drawn away from by the Siren Song of a guitar lick....no reference the photo above intended.

[winston]

I play guitar because I can. It's a pretty simple approach really. However, I wanted to play guitar when I was a teenager because I felt a deep rooted calling to master an instrument and a craft that called to me. I still feel that calling almost 43 years later. I still play because I can.

[admin]

I felt a deep rooted calling to master an instrument and a craft that called to me

Out of the mouths of accomplished musicians. A brilliant interpretation that I expect encapsulates the experience of so many musicians in general and guitar players in particular Brian.

[gray]

I play music mainly because of my grandmother. She played and recorded lots of music, polkas, waltzes, even Hawaiian and calliope music. I remember as a child hearing her music and thinking that being able to make music was pretty much MAGIC. I wanted to have that ability, too. I wanted to make that magic work. It just always called me.

[tamborineman]

I'm in it for the babes.

[lennon211]

I started playing because I was introduced to a tremendous amount of good music in high school and I wanted to start playing some of it. Over time it has evolved into something akin to working out for me: a release of energy that helps get rid of some of the weight of the day.

[JakeK]

I did it after discovering the Beatles when I was 11 in 2002. I had wanted to be just like George Harrison and John Lennon, and I think I owed it to them, seeing as they passed on.

[tamborineman]

It started in the early 60's when I heard artists like The Ventures, Lonnie Mack and Duane Eddy. The sound was facinating . I got my first electric guitar in 1965. Of course groups like The Beatles and The Byrds had started to change everything by then. Playing guitar by then had become a rite of passage for teenaged boys. Most fell by the wayside, somehow I hung on to the dream. The reward is in one's heart and soul.

[johnallg]

Playing guitar by then had become a rite of passage for teenaged boys.

So true. I try to play because I feel bad if I don't and almost compelled. Too bad I'm not all that good.

[qwezirider]

I don't know why I play or even if I want to know. I simply have to. If I don't for a while, I am useless and irritable. There is no greater release for me than the perfect striking of the perfect tone in the perfect moment on stage. Moments that can never be exactly duplicated and I feel fortunate to live through every one of them.