Initial Thought
Anybody who has ever picked up a guitar, has in that second
just become around 300% cooler to everyone else around them.
OK, almost
anybody.
They’re always slung across the back of the people who seem like they've
got the best story to tell, so it’s natural that you’d want to give it a go.
Convincing yourself
How hard could it be? Just learn a
few chords and bob's your
uncle!
Anyway, most songs you want to learn have got the same 4 chords anyway.
This is going to be easy.
Buying the guitar
You feel terrified, all of a sudden. You don’t want to show
yourself up in the holiest of all the ‘temples of cool’. The Mecca if you will.
This is where the spiritual journey to becoming a higher musical power begins-
you've got to play it perfectly, or risk screwing it all up, right?
Wrong. Be
as unknowledgeable as possible. Unlike the Apple store, the people who work in
music shops really ARE geniuses, and the more questions you ask, the more
wisdom you can extract. They’ll set you up with everything you need to prepare
you for your transition from zero to hero. And that includes us here at Hillsound... we too, are geniuses. *toots own trumpet*
Picking it up for the
first time
You get the guitar out for the first time. You’re trembling
with excitement. You’re handling it as if it were made of glass. Sweat is
dripping from your furrowed brow. OK, maybe not but, you did not buy a Martin guitar to ruin it 5 minutes later. You'll assume the position and what will happen is BAM. You won’t be able to actually play the thing,
because you've got literally no idea. Time to book some lessons.
Your first lesson
This will be one of those moments in your life where you just
hate everything around you and you’ll wish you were anywhere else, even if you
have fun.
There is nothing worse than wanting to be able to do something, and
not having the knowledge or the skill to be able to pull it off instantly. You
might have listened to the guitar solo in Bohemian Rhapsody a million times;
you won’t be able to play it. You’ll be lucky if you even get a nursery rhyme
out in that first lesson. You’ll want to give up. You’ll feel like a child
again. Stick with it, these guys know what they’re talking about. They are the
quickest route to mastery.
(For information on music lessons at Hillsound in Hampton Hill, give us a ring on 0208 977 7788, email help@hillsound.co.uk, or visit us in store)
Practising
Picture this.
You’re having to walk in shoes that gave you blisters 4 hours ago. You can’t
take the shoes off, and you also can’t stop walking. This is what playing the
guitar will be like at the beginning. Your fingers are going to absolutely
despise you. Again, perseverance here is key. The more you play, the more your
fingers will harden to the abuse they’re being dealt. Much like you will get
more kick ass as you get better, your fingers will too.
The ‘Big Moment’
You've had
enough. Your fingers still hurt, you can’t even play a simple scale, someone
showed you an F chord and you almost burst into tears.
You'll sell your guitar and just forget this ever happened. Stop! You're not alone! This is a totally common emotion; the road to becoming awesome couldn't be easy, could it? That would mean we let anyone in. Stick with it young padawan, or you'll never know the beauty of nailing a solo and seeing the crowd erupt.
Your New Repertoire
You've got about 3 songs under your belt now.
They’re alright, nothing too special,
but
you’re very proud. You've got a barbecue coming up next week, you’ll take the
guitar. You fancy a walk in the park, best take the guitar with you. Basically,
whether people want it or not, they’re going to be getting concerts left right
and centre.
This is probably the douche-iest phase in the process (with the
possible exception of the time when you’re knowledgeable enough to start
correcting people and making them look stupid and uncool. Just for the record,
they’ll just think you’re a bit of a pretentious arse). Put the guitar down.
Resist this urge. I think a fair assumption is to wait until you know about 10
songs, or enough basic chord sequences to take requests. Then you really will
be the hit of the party. And if you can be the root of a sing-along you’ll feel
absolutely brilliant. Just like Maria Von Trapp.
Your first song
It’s time.
You know enough to think about giving it a go yourself. You get your pen, paper
and guitar ready. Nothing will happen. Or if you do manage to get something
out, it will either be rubbish or it’ll be a carbon copy of a song that already
exists.
Don’t force these things. It’ll either come to you in a heartbeat
(probably just as you're about to fall asleep as sod’s law dictates), or it will
be a work in progress. I started a song 4 years ago and I've still not finished
it, but it gets a little closer every time I come back to it. Another song I
wrote in about 5 minutes on a train just throwing lyrics down and humming to
myself, adding the chords later. However you do it, it’s not wrong, just make
sure you’re proud of what you’re putting out there.
Now, at this
point, everybody's paths get a little difference. Some people take themselves
off to music school and get their degree or masters, some people put all their
effort into teaching what they know, some people decide to start the difficult
but potentially rewarding journey of trying to make it in a band or as a solo
artist, and some people just like to keep playing for themselves. But whatever
road you take, you’ll find yourself at nearly every thought on this list, at some
point. In the meantime, good luck on your quest, we'll see you on the other side.
