Getting to know the community.

[mjamer]

Hello. Being new and now knowing anyone, I had an idea. How about a thread that everyone posts to, telling a bit about themselves, what their passions are in music, bands.. what they feel they're particulary good at in guitar/music. That way anyone new to the forums/community can read this thread and get an idea of what everyones about and what have you.

I'll start out =)


I've always wanted to play guitar, I just loved the thought of playing. When I was little I'd "perform" with a broom, or cut out cardboard in the shape of a guitar. At 9 my parents bought me an acoustic for my birthday. The only people I knew that played music played by ear.. they knew what a "G chord" was, but not why hehe. I finally checked out beginner guitar books from the public library to learn notes and more songs. I kept playing every day. When I was about to go to highschool I found out they had guitar classes! Yay! They were more of what I was used to unfortunately, they teacher didn't really teach, only gave you sheet music and told you to "learn it" then you'd have to play it for him. The advanced guitar class was just "play what you want" for a class period. I also found out about a top-40 band that my highschool had as a class as well that went around performing and competing with the other schools. I tried out my sophmore year and got accepted. YES! It was great, I really learned alot.
We won a competition and was asked to come and play on the magic castle stage in disney world, now that was just amazing. From there I had a few bands of my own, and was recruited into other bands. I also wanted to be a United States Marine, and that is where I went next for 8 years. I tried to keep up with guitar, unfortunately I didn't.

Now we're in the present! While in the Corps I met my lovely wife who keeps me sane =). I'm now trying to get back into playing again. From researching on BBSes, and now the internet.. I've learned that practically what I did and knew before was "bad habits". I never had anyone before show me/tell me that what I was doing was wrong (holding the guitar, fret hand, any of that). Now I'm learning guitar all over again, but differently. I'm just about up to par on theory and that alone has opened so many doors I can't begin to count. I know am practicing techniques & and scale/chord shapes (saying the notes outloud hehe). Once I can blindly put my finger down and name the note I'll be happy, and that's what I'm working for, that and playing all the scales every which way I can. I also have cakewalk and I record simple progressions and play the scales/modes over them to hear/feel what I'm getting out of it.

I'm an extremely passionate person, and (as wife says) extermely emotional (ie. play something I feel is beautiful, it isn't strange for me to get teary eyed over it. Music is lifes essence to me, it consumes me through and through. It's just something that will never let you down, and will always be there. I feel the same about a wide variety of music. Bluegrass, blues, jazz, classical, rock, alternative, operas, ballets.. I really truely get into and feel all kinds. Save brittney spears types, and the rap genre -- it's expressive (explicit too =p), and sometimes creative.. I just am unable to see it in the same leagues I do "music".

That's it for me. I look forward to getting to know everyone, and having a great time here. =)

mjamer

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disclaimer - I c'nt spel, or gramer. pleese dn't pic. =)

[Slash]

Hello from the other side of your world sir... Welcome to our little community.

Nikhil

[bobcat]

Hi MJamer! I think you have a great idea here. I will join in. I know very little about guitar. I bought my guitar because I thought the guitar teacher was cute and I wanted to meet him. Once I married him, I put the guitar in the closet! (He suggests I leave it there, though I am getting it back out soon!) My background is music education. I taught elementary music for two years, and then retired! (a.k.a. quit!) I then worked in music stores for about 10 years. Recently I finished my degree in sport science and am currently working in physical therapy. I don't have a whole lot to say in the forums, as guitar was not my main instrument. I mostly know the "print side" of the music world. Hope more people join in with your question soon! :p

[cyberfret]

Lets see, here is the short version of the long story :)

I starting playing guitar when I was 8. I found a guitar in my Dad's closet, got it out and made him play. He ended up getting back into guitar playing, gave me his old guitar and signed me up for lessons. They where classical guitar lessons, So I had a good foundation at a young age.

By the time I reached middle school the call of rock and the electric guitar was strong. Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Allman Brothers. I got my electric and started taking lesson from a more rock oriented teacher while continuing my classical lessons. I got into play blues, and also discovered players like Al DiMeola, Jeff Beck, Lee Ritinour....and the man who when I was 14 years old was one of my biggest influences....John McLaughlin. Then in High School I played in rock and heavy metal bands. I also took some lesson from a more Jazz oriented teacher.

After high school I started college will no real major, dropped out after 2 quarters. A year later a went back to college as a music major. Studied traditional theory, ear training, music history, and studied traditional Jazz guitar. After 2 years I decided that the school had no more to offer me in the area of Jazz and contemporary music (this was Ohio State University) I then transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston where I earned my Bachelors Degree in Jazz Composition.

After having some problems with tendonitis, I had stopped performing, and started concentrating my creative efforts on teaching. I now teach guitar full time and play mostly for my own enjoyment. The thought of playing in a smoky club doesn't have much appeal to me now. Two years ago I decided to combine my interest in computers and the Internet with my love for the guitar and started Cyberfret.com

And here we are :)

--Shawn

[steve]

well when I was about 8 I remember seeing my brother carrying this guitar into our house. I remember seeing him play it. Then I remember just looking at it, I don't know if it was just because I wanted to copy my older brother or just something else but I knew that I had to have that. About a year later, I began taking lessions to play trumpet, something I loved to do, also since the guitar was EXTREMELY poorly made (it didn't play the right notes no matter how you tuned it, and it strings were extremely high off the fretboard) he bought an electric guitar. So I took his acoustic, I began playing simple things like singing and playing simple chords. A couple years later I got a acoustic guitar for christmas a well made one. That was when I was about 10. Then when I was 12 I said "I'm gonna learn this". Then I began learning from books, my brother, and lots of music. Then I stumbled onto this site. OH and before I forget I remember playing a very easy song in front of my entire school. I remember playing and then after it was over I let out a sigh of relief, and thinking "I gotta do this more!!". Right now I'm looking to join a band with my freinds...... maybe you'll see this post will end up in rolling stone.... No matter what happens though I think I'll always remember this forum....

[blackbird]

Well, I'm a little newer at this, but here's my short history. I'd wanted to play guitar for a while because I couldn't sing for beans and really needed to create music. My parents (after a lot of bugging) finally got me a $50 accoustic for my birthday when I was 16. I tried learning on my own, got frustrated at the lack of structure and direction in my practices, felt I was getting nowhere and gave up. The guitar went into the closet. Then a year-and-a-half later, I found out that a good friend of mine was teaching herself how to play guitar. She was a little ahead of me, and I really liked what I was hearing. The spirit of competition set in, and I picked up the guitar again. This time though, I did some research beforehand and found the Cyberfret site, which helped a LOT. I find I'm making quick progress and am REALLY enjoying my practice times. I think I may be catching up to my friend, though the competition may be a little unfair -- she doesn't know she's got a competitor, and I've also got an online guitar course (Cyberfret!). :)
That's about all there is so far. I'll let you know when I sign my first big contract.;) Keep posting everyone, this history board is really fascinating!

[jaytee]

ok well..you all dont want to hear my long angry story...and i promise to try not to tell it!

i guess it all started when...(sounds long already don't it? LOL) when i was little and my parents had an older man come to our house weekly to give lessons to my mom, dad, and 2 of my brothers....my 3rd brother wasnt interested...and the man said i was too young..i was 4 yrs old.....
the music teacher from our grade school lived next door...i really wanted to learn about music...after all..i was SURROUNDED by it!
when i was 5 i was still asking for lessons and still being told no...and so on and so forth throughout grade school, jr high, and high school...no school orchestra...no band...no nuthin....even tho 2 of my brothers were allowed to do those things...
anyhow (tryin to avoid the angry parts)when i was 14 i had asked for a guitar...instead my parents bought one for...you guessed it...my brother...see a pattern here?
i snuck into his stuff and used his written lessons and stuff and practiced when he wasnt looking...boy was he MAD when he found out...it really burned him up even more when he realized i could play almost everything he could! well..that was the end...and i was left to just listen to my radio....ALL the time...
so now im out of college and i have my own $$ to buy my own gear etc....so...since i needed something new to learn...i decided i was going to do this...
guitar isnt the only instrument i want to learn...but it will be my first...if i have it my way ...im going to pick up a violin some day...and possibly a sax...

and thats all im tellin!

--jt

[Zero]

I decided I would hop in on this one. It's really interesting to hear where you guys are all coming from. Who knows? maybe in a couple of years, I'll have something really interesting to put here. Until then, here it is:

I have always wanted to play any sort of music, but i come from a family where nobody at all can play music at all. Instead, everyone can draw and paint really well. I have had many art lessons, and everyone in my family was starting to despair that i would never learn any sort of fine art, until the day i picked up my first musical instrument. It was a requirement at my school that in grade 6, you learned how to (Don't laugh too hard :p) play the recorder. I took to even such a simple instrument quickly, and learned how to play the stupid thing very well (I still hate recorders, they are never well made, they always squeak, no matter what you do!) Next year, we were allowed to use actual instruments in the music course at my school, and i choose a trumpet. (A lot harder than it sounds, you don't just blow into it! anyone who has ever played a brass instrument can relate :) ) I learned how to play trumpet quite well, then moved onto alto and tenor sax. after that, i tried clarinet for a while (They were too like recorders, didn't like them) and then took a quick course in flute. This happened over a period of 2 years, and then i graduated to high school, I eagerly took the music course there, only to find the music teacher was a fat lazy slob with no material, badly kept instruments, no knowledge, and no talent. I suffered through the course, and then again this year, we got a new teacher who turned out even worse. I thought of giving up music. Then my friend got a guitar, and let me try it. :D That saved me right then. I quickly picked up on it, and after a couple more weekends at his house, I purchased my very first guitar, about 2 weeks ago. That is about all i have to say. I found this site by luck the very first day i got my guitar, and am very glad.

I guess that i had more to say than i thought :D anybody who wants to plough through this be my guest!

~Z~

P.S. I am glad for this thread, it can be a real motivator to hear all these different stories from everyone.

[GuitarGuillermo]

Well, i was born to parents who couldent even hum, but tried to get me and my siblings interested in music from a young age, with little sucess. as a kid, i always thought music was for wusses, so, while my parents brought home two electric keyboards, numerous recorders and harmonicas, a guitar and even an accordion home over the years and tried to get us to learn to play them, i never got past blowing tonelessly into the recorder, or playing the demo on the synthesizer keyborad without playing a single note myself. All of the afforementioned instruments suffered tragic destructions at the hands of myself or my siblings.

All this changed when i was about fifteen and decided that i wanted to play rock-and-roll. After more than a year of whining to my suspicious parents (who thought it would end up shattered like the guitar they brought when i was a kid) about wanting a guitar, they got me a cheap accoustic for christmas, along with lessons. At first it was discouraging, and my poor teacher probably got very frustrated trying to teach me to read music, but eventually i did. my whole world changed when i could finally play "twinkle twinkle little star" out of the mel bay book by myself and recognize the tune.

Almost from that moment, i wanted to write songs. my first attempts were pretty horrible, and my songs are still decidedly third-rate, but i have a blast writing and preforming songs for my freinds, which amuse if not impress them. One day, i would like to start a band, and i want to learn other instuments too, and expand my musical horizons, but in the mean time, i still have a lot of learning left to do.

[disturbed_pyro]

Came from a family with basically NO musical background (my dad played guitar when he was about 15). Played that god-awful recorder in jr high, aced it, got bored with it, etc. Never played any instrument other than guitar. Got a cheap acoustic from Fingerhut (don't laugh, it's a start!), later got a Danelectro Hearsay, Fender 15r amp, and Digitech RP100 effects pedal for christmas and birthday. Never took any lessons, only had one year of Beginning Guitar last year, my freshman year of high school. From what I hear from people who hear me play, I'm damn good at playing songs, only problem is, none of them are mine; I couldn't write a song to save my life. Everyone but myself and two or three other people in the class were actualy interested in playing, the others just wanted to waste a period with their buds. Got the techniques down, I'd like to say I'm a born natural on guitar (IMHO). Recently joined my church band, they say I will start playing Sundays in a couple weeks. Being in a church band, I have to "re-learn" all of the chord theory stuff that I had neglected in Beginning Guitar class. Got those down pretty easy as well. I guess my story isn't all that pathetic....
Still got loads left to learn of course, but I'm a fast learner.

PS: I hope you guys don't think I'm gloating at all when I talk about my playing. I'm sure most everyone here is a whole helluva lot better than I...

[Sjonesmusic]

Hello, My name is Scott Jones, professional musician.

Who I am and more about me. I am currently the music/band director, guitarist, and transcriber/arranger at my church in St. Louis.

It is a contemporary service that has afforded me the great privilege of writing in every style imaginable and sharing my gifts to a congregation of 3-4000 people each week.

This includes all vocal arranging, all transcribing, new instrumental arrangements of hymns and worship songs, new original songs, all orchestrations of horns, strings, piano, full rhythm section; in the styles of pop, country, jazz, orchestral...etc. I am also a songwriter and would like to produce original artists.

My history: In addition to the Music Director/Guitarist position at my church, I've done quite a bit of sequencing/composing. Most of it has been personal writing and has encompassed orchestral/soundtrack, fusion, pop, and country. Fusion and jazz was my primary focus for many years.

I'm fortunate to have been in Keyboard magazines Discoveries column, Recording magazine's Reader's tapes, Music and Computers magazine's Spotlight column.

My experience: A musician for 20 years. In addition to my church... 2-3 private gigs a week...various jazz, blues, fusion, pop and funk gigs...been on about 20 c.d.s etc... transcribed/arranged/composed over 2000 songs...Performed approximately 20,000 songs in my career.

I was the Music Director at the 2000 Mid-America Emmys for which I arranged over 70 different music cues.

I have taught music theory/guitar/bass and drums to a couple hundred people in my career. Both privately and in workshop format.

(You'll need Real Player 8 Basic)

http://www.real.com/R/RC.RPC0613_c1.free.txt..R/huxley.real.com/real/player/player.html?src=downloadr,010613rpchoice_c1&dc=728727726

Here's a fusion guitar solo of mine from a gig back in 1995...

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/gtrsolos/Track01.ram


Here's a few jazz guitar solos of mine from a gig back in 1991..


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/jazzsolos_90to91/jazzsolo13.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/jazzsolos_90to91/AllBlues.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/jazzsolos_90to91/jazzsolo11.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/gtrsolos/Track04.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/gtrsolos/Track06.ram


Here's a solo guitar arrangement of mine recorded during performance back in May 2001...


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/jazzmaster/Track15.ram


Here's a rock composition of mine from 1993...(I played guitar and sequenced all other instruments)


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/additl-files/InADream.ram


Here's a pop solo of mine from a C.D. I recorded back in 1997...


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/gtrsolos/PopGuitarSoloB.ram


Here are some fusion compositions of mine from my web site(I sequenced all the instruments)...


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track02.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track01.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track03.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track04.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track05.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track06.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track07.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track08.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track09.ram

http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/comp-fusion/Track10.ram


Here's an orchestral composition of mine from 1995 (I sequenced all the instruments)...


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/orchdemo/Track01.ram


Here's a Gospel arrangement of mine (all band, vocals, horns) was recorded during performance back in 1996.


http://www.scottjonesmusic.com/aufiles/newvoc/Track01.ram


Thanks for listening!

Scott

My Site has over 160 demos, many feature my colleagues as well, at length...
http://www.scottjonesmusic.com

[SteelSlider]

Like Cyberfret, I found my dads guitar, 'cept my dad just gave me his Hawaiian Steel lap. Took lessons when I was eight, that was in 1955 or 56.
Played Island music forever it seemed like, till an old wino who had a country band, showed me how to make the switch. My first gig was with his band was when I was 10 or 11 in Mojove Cali. I was hooked.
I didn't get my first 'real' looking guitar till 1963.
My biggest influence at the time was a Blues Rocker named Lonnie Mack. My style changed to more of the heavy rock/blues at about the time the Yardbirds came out, ( the Beatles didn't interest me for some reason ) in 1964 or 65.
Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Keith Relf, along with Lonnie Mack, were the players I patterned my self after.
During this time, I'd hang around the black juke joints down south, in Florida and Georgia, and learned the harp and how to play slide blues.
I've played Jazz, R&B, Blues, Rock, Country, Classical, ect. If it's music, I'll give it a whirl. I don't do square dance music though.
Right now I'm not playing with anyone. I just had an accident that busted me up and I'll be outta commission for a few months. I just bought Cakewalk's Pro Audio 9 and Rolands VS840GX.
Going to get into recording my own stuff. Taking this time that I'm layed up to read and study these recording gadges I just got.
In November I'll be making a small road trip with my cousins band mostly down the west coast. Bars and roadhouses. No concert halls or stadiums or TV specials. Hee hee.
I made one disk on another guys equiptment about three years ago. It sounds pretty Midi and I want to redo it.
I've written over two hundred songs but most are in the style of the old Delta blues. A beater guitar, bottleneck slide and a bottle of wine. No, just kidding abou the wine.
I'm fasinated by the styles of Charlie Patten, Tampa Red, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Johnson, Lead Belly and Ry Cooder. I listened to them on the radio when I was a kid but never began getting serious about that style till in the mid 80's.
I know Ry isn't that old, but he's had a later influence on me in ethnic music.
BAM, I'm outta here.

[E-string]

I was interested in music when I was a pre-schooler in the late 60's, thanks to my teenage sisters who liked the radio... I dabbled with my grandma's piano and by age 5 could play simple tunes on it... I taught myself how to play keyboards, and during my teen years, that's what I got good at... But I always did love the sound of the guitar. I had a nylon-string guitar and could play two chords and would pretend I was a hot-shot rocker...LOL. In 1976, I drifted into listening to pre-Perry Journey because of Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon (mostly because of Gregg).

I first became infatuated with electric guitar when I was 17 (1981) and Journey's "Who's Crying Now" was a hit single... I fell in love with Neal Schon's outro solo and thought, "I want to play something like that..." (Single-note melodic, sort of rock/fusion/whatever.)But my parents didn't want to get me an electric guitar (money was a factor, but I don't think they thought it was very feminine...).

In 1997, after my dad died, I found Neal Schon's "Electric World" 2-CD set and became re-acquainted with his music. I really began to think about when I used to want to play an electric guitar... Then in 1998, Journey was touring with new lead singer Steve Augeri, but I didn't care who was singing 'cause Neal was my favorite member anyway. So I happily went to the concert with a friend... They did "Who's Crying Now," and after hearing Neal play that song live, I wanted an electric guitar really badly... A few weeks later, with a help of a friend, I got me an electric guitar and began learning to play it.

This year, with me getting personally involved with the "post-Perry" Journey, a friend of bassist Ross Valory really wanted to help me meet my guitar hero Neal Schon, so she asked Ross to get me backstage, and Ross did (which shows what a class-act Ross is, too). So I got to meet Neal last June after being his fan for 25 years...

I am not a professional musician, and really have no desire to be one... I play keyboards and guitar mostly as a serious hobby, for myself and friends... I'm a decent keyboardist, but I'm still self-conscious about my guitar abilities. I can't play guitar nearly as well as keyboards.

***

Non musical stuff: I am a graphic designer by profession. I like to read, write, do needlework and crafts, do scrapbooks, read forum boards (obviously). I am a Native Texan, and I live in suburban Fort Worth. :)

[Tony_Iommi]

My name's ken, and i've been playing guitar for almost a year, and my main influence is obviously Tony Iommi. i'm working on buying (Not burning) every single CD he played on, cause i'm that big of a fan. i also enjoy the style of Craig Goldy alot.

Anyway, i got into music about 2 yrs. ago. i was never really into it, cause IMO, most of today's music sucs (Just an opinion ;p) so, i didnt really care to play. But i heard a bit bout Sabbath, and Deep Purple so i got into Black Sabbath, and loved everything they've done. Most of my interests expand from there. (Except most of the Euro-Power Metal bands i listen to. those i got into cause of a Dio Tribute where alot of Euro bands played, i looked into them and branched out from there). Needless to say, i figured, since i cant sing at all, i MUST be able to play rock music SOMEHOW. and Guitar happened to be it. (I originally wanted to do bass, cause of John Myung from Dream Theater.. but then i saw my freind's dad, who's played guitar since he was a kid... and i was like "I MUST LEARN THIS INSTRUMENT!")

My favorite musician are Ronnie James Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, and Hammerfall,Gamma Ray, and Dream Theater right now. I'm 17, and i live in central florida. I'm also self taught. So far. i'm still looking for a job cause my parents dont want to pay for a teacher right now..

[slaughteredsoul]

hey everyone,
i only got a guitar about two months ago (im 18) and i wish i can turn back time so i can have a more solid background in guitar playing.i get discouraged very easily everytime i pick up my guitar,cause i suck..hehe..but i dream of being a better player some day, and thats what makes me pick up my guitar everyday.
i was always into music,started out with pop,M-tv music*hides face in shame* and then i heard Metallica one day and i fell in love.From Metallica, my whole view on music changed and i found out what real music is about...so now im more into heavy metal and rock,blues and a little country music sometimes too...bands like Alice in chains,system of a down,In Flames,Iron maiden,etc. i only have an acoustic,i cant afford an electric yet,i just graduated from school last June...as soon as i get my first pay check im gonna get my first electric.Right now,i can play the intro to Nothing Else Matters...and not much else.
not much of a story huh? Some songs are so good they make me cry,and i feel a need to be more involved with them,more bonded, i feel excitment in my bones,like sitting down and listening to the song isnt enough,and it's those kinda songs that made me wanna create music, play it not just listen to it. i feel that if i can play music, i can get closer to it. this is why i picked up a guitar.
After guitar im gonna pick up a bass and then, what i really REALLY wanna play is drums. oh to be a drummer!
rock on friends:D

[Chickwithapick]

Don't worry, slaughtered soul, if you ever see Jennifer Knapp play guitar, you'll NEVER believe it, but she actually went to college on a trumpet scholarship, and decided guitar looked cool, and picked up a guitar and book one day when she was 18. And now she can rock on that guitar like nobody's buisness. It's never too late to start! You can do it!

As for my story, well, I'm 15 and just started. Guitar is my first instrument in fact. Well, except for half of a recorder book in 4th grade. That actually was good--I know where the notes are on the staff now! :D For some reason I just started wanting to play guitar. I loved the sound of them, and I just loved everything about them. Every time I saw a guitar, I just wanted to stop and look at it. I was *captivated* by them. (Ha, big word!!). So I told my mom I wanted to start guitar lessons, and we never really did anything about it. Then I started getting into Jennifer Knapp's music and thought it was awesome that she played guitar (chick rockers rock!) and I really wanted to be able to play some of her songs. It was like I had a passion for guitar, even though I'd never played one, and I also had a passion for Jen's music, cuz I love it so much. So I REALLY wanted to be able to play it. So that just kinda reminded me to nag my mom and finally for my 15th birthday, we went guitar shopping. I went to a music store and looked at some used guitars. The cheapest one was $100 and I wasn't completely crazy about it, but the guy got it down, showed me a chord, and let me play it. I was hooked. But we decided to look around some more, so I just bought a book. I couldn't stand staring at the book without having a guitar to play. Then my mom asked her buddies on the Worship Team at church if they had any old guitars they'd sell to me. Well, one guy did. Unfortunatly, that was the Wednesday before the Saturday that I left for a missions trip to Montana. So I had to wait a whole week to get my guitar. But I brought my guitar book to Montana and used the church's guitars that we stayed at to play a little. And then a week or so after we got back, I got my guitar. It's a gorgeous one too, and he gave it to me for completely free. I taught myself a little with the book, and know a couple of songs, and I'm just asking people about teachers now. I don't know where my guitar playing will take me. Just recently I've been thinking about singing--I almost feel like God wants me to...only problem is my singing voice! But I know God will give me the ability to sing if He wants me to. I would love to sing and play guitar tho'. I think it'd be awesome! I've written lyrics to a couple of songs too. So I'm just waiting to see what's gonna happen!

[Salamchik]

Hey, my name is Ada I'm 19. Reading all these cool stories about you I thougth why not to put mine in here. yap so everything started when I was 7 and my parents decided to find a piano teacher for me. As soon as I learned what notes are how to write them, I thout I know everything about music, so instead of all these boring homeworks, I thought I can write my own songs, he-he (my teacher didn't think the same way), so in some mounth I just quite. Two years ago I took guitar into my hands made one strum, and one more and ... I still have it in my hands (nothing really happend - it just changed all my life). And gues what I'm learning now - scales and improvising :D . Well I just wanna say that the more I learn the more I want to learn (almost like a drug - pls. understand me right). that's pretty much all that I wanted to say.

P.S. I used to listen songs in Russian (well that's my native lang.), maybe somebody in Spanish(that I have no idear of) or smth. else, but music has its own language that everybody in a world can understan :)

take care! Hope to talk to ya later

[smfulla]

I everyone, my nick is smfulla. It stands for Soopa Maori Fulla. It's a character in my country. I'm from New Zealand, home of the All Blacks, the Haka, and the Maori =]

Neway, my love for music started at a young age. I used to sing pop songs when I was around 4-5. Also my nana used to play guitar, she was someone who learnt by ear. In intermediate (Junior High) my music teacher said I was good and that I should eather take guitar or piano lessons. Deciding that I already had a guitar, I'd take guitar lessons. My guitar teacher was hardout into metallica, and that was when I started to like metallica. The first song I started to learn was enter sandman. Then when I got into high school I continued lessons, but the teacher sucked. He tought us pop songs on classic guitar. But neway, I got a strat copy, started learning metallica, now I have an Ibanez RG 270. Sold my strat copy. I can play alot of metallica, I have been playing guitar for 3 years now, and I have written a couple of my own songs.

My fav styles of music is metal, blues and classical. My fav band is Metallica (obviously), but Joe Satriani is another of my favs.

[Pezcore]

to cut a long story very short:

im andy, im from england, im 17, i play lead guitar + 12 string in a bluesy rock band in which im the only one under 30, and im the only one in my family ever to take an interest in any instrument. ever. haha

wel thats it :D

-Andy

[F-art]

Hello folks, well I gues I'll put up my background on here also, cauz' I'll be hanging around here for a while anyway. (like the site very much, and a cool forum).

It all started on a dark rainy day.... ( o wait, that's a fairytale:rolleyes: )

... When I was in the basic school 4-13 years old, I started to play the flute. I wasn't in to this at all because I was forced to do so, because the school ( and my parents) thought it was important to develop musical skills. So, at a point I told my parents and school to take a hike because I didn't wanted to play it anymore. I probably got very angry because they didn't made me go to those lessons anymore.
When I was about ten years old, my sister wanted to play the piano and she got a cheap piano to start with. while she was getting the hang of it, I started to listen to it, and was getting more and more interested in pianomusic. So I started playing the piano. I got some private lessen for about 5 years ( my parents paid because they were glad that I wanted to play an instrument) and we got a very nice piano which dated from late 19th century. I played classical piano on my lessons, but I was always studying Boogie Woogie at that time in private. Then my sports career started to eat up my time and I decided to quit playing.

When I was about 11 years old I started listening to Queen on tape. ( My dad gave it to me) and I fell into the metallica scene pretty quick. From there I wanted to sing in a band, but my voice isn't stable enough to do so, it is quite clear but not all the time. So I decided I wanted to do something else.

After a year or two dubbing and thinking what I wanted, I decided to buy a guitar. SO I came home with an electric guitar. my parents were totally shocked because I didn't tell them beforehand. It took them quite a time to adapt to the noise, although they were used to the heavy metal comin' from my room.

This was two years ago. I thought it myself and Now I can play almost every metallica song, Judas Priest, maiden and that sort of stuff, also black Sabbath of course ( rythm). starting to work on the solo's. I also play some blues, classic ( bach & beethoven) and jazz. But I was getting a little bit stuck because I figured out I was missing the basics of playing, so I was loosing the fun in it a little.

then I found this site and well what do ya know, I also found a teach and having my first lesson next week. So we'll see were we go to from here. ...

[treyphish]

i started playing when i was 10 and like a dumbass never took lessons.Now I'm 27 and look back on what could've been,anyway my dad was in a band when he was young it was called the purple cucumber. he was fortunate enough to open for janus joplin at the aragon ball room in chicago back in the day.he went on to work for elektra records for 27 years and yeah he has met everyone and worked with them as well. the stories he has. thats where my inspiration comes from my dad. i've been around music my whole life. ialways felt like i was supposed to play being to so many shows and meeting musicians. i love to play and write songs and my brother is a drummer which is great. my influence now is solely phish after being introduced to their music i can honestly say they have changed me musically i have a different understanding and appreciation for music especially timing. Because timing is everything.well i leave you all with a quote

"the best songs are usually those where one person is passionately for and one person really hates, because the best songs are those that arouse strong reactions." trey anastasio
of phish

[ZakNafien]

Hi,

well basically im exactly the same as slaughteredsoul, started about 3 months ago (18 years old) wish i had started years erlier finding it insanely hard at the minute and so on and so on. only real difference is i have an electric already :p

[musiclover]

when i was in elementary school i played piano for four and a half years, but...i didnt enjoy it. so after 5th grade i quit.

but i've always loved music so much. thats just a passion God put in me.

so a year and 3 months ago, i started learning the guitar. it just looked cool and fun so i started. i taught myself for 6 months, just some basic chords, then decided to get lessons. a month after my first lesson my teacher thought i was really good, and asked me to teach her beginner students for her. but i decided not to. after 5 months of lessons i quit. i wanted to develop my own way to play, and having a teacher was keeping me from doing that.

3 months ago, a girl at my church mumbled something about really wanting to learn how to play. so i said i could teach her. and i have been, and now she loves it too.

after christmas, 2 more people at my church want me to teach them too. they're getting guitars for christmas and they want to learn.

i think learning to play the guitar is one of the best decisions i've ever made in my life. it feels really natural. i love it.

when i get older (i'm a senior in high school) i think i would really like to give guitar lessons to people in my church for free. people who really want to learn how to play, but can't afford monthly lessons. it can get expensive ya know. its fun to teach people.

i just really enjoy playing. just sitting in my room all alone and singin and playing songs for God. its cool.

i'm a senior in high school. i've applied to a couple colleges already. i want to major in music business. i want to manage bands and work in the industry. it sounds like a good career for me.

[gck]

ok, one more story:

it all started with my grandfather who was a good guitar player (as far as I can remember). I used to listen to his playing. When I was 5 he gave me an ukulele (? it's a German word, don't know it in English: an ukulele is an instrument that looks just like a guitar, only very small and with 4 strings only). I plucked around on it a lot, but when he died, I didn't continue my "learning".
When I was 8, my parents wanted me to learn playing piano, so I took some piano lessons for 3 years, later tried played a bit on an organ in a small church. I quit piano lessons at 11 because I felt like I could continue on my own now and I didn't really like my teacher.
At 12, I wanted to play violin and again, I took lessons: learning to play the violin was probably the most frustrating experience of my whole life (so far, I'm just 17).
I practiced both piano and violin a lot, two years ago I even got an electric violin (if you're interested, it's a Fender FV-1). I wasn't so much interested in any other instruments at that time.
However, one day our music teacher wanted to organize a small band. It wasn't meant to be compulsory or whatever, just that she felt that there were several people playing instruments in our school and she wanted us to play at some inner-school events. I was there as a violinist and a pianist. A month later, she came with a piece of music she had composed in which all the instruments, even the drums, had a solo: it was probably meant to encourage us or whatever.
Somehow, the guitar started to fascinate me. I got myself one (an acoustic) and started to practice like crazy.

That was only half a year ago...

However, due to the fact that I have the ability to "soak" information into me (i.e. a good memory), tons of experience with instruments/music (violin playing is probably the best training for your ear) and pretty good developed fingers (combination of 9 years of piano- and 5 years of violin playing) I make incredible quick progress.

Yes, that's why I am here :)

[musiclover4life]

hey everybody. this thread looked kinda interesting, so i figured i would share a bit about myself too. my name is Jana, i am from Arkansas and i am 15. as far as music goes, i have been in band and choir since 6th grade (5 yrs) but have been singing since i could talk. i do a lot of christian music if that interests anyone. i havn't really been playing for all that long though. i have 3 acoustics that i have had for probably about a year, but never really learned to play them. i got my first electric guitar for christmas...long story i'll might tell later...and i can already play 2 or 3 songs on it. besides music, i like football....GO BENTONVILLE TIGERS! i also like going to the mall...the only girly thing i like to do...mess around on the comp of course or i wouldn't be here...and i am really into church. i don't really know what else to tell y'all...so i will leave my contacts in case u wanna talk to me:

msn-gollygeewhilakers@hotmail.com comes up as tinkerbell
aim-tinkerbell8986
yahoo-gollygeewhilakers

i am on a lot...so if ya wanna chat holla at me!:)

[Smitty]

My story sure can't match most of what is here but here we go....
WIth me, music started at a young age in the school band. There I played a bunch of stuff to include; Clarinet, trumpet and coronet, tenor and bass sax to name a few. Soon after that I found what I really enjoyed. I started playing guitar about 17 years ago (when I was 13) on an old acoustic that my cousin gave me. It's name/brand escapes me. I played that for a short time then bought my first electric guitar. A Kramer Stryker ST. That was my only guitar for the next 5 years. To that point I played mostly rock. Upon graduating high school I joined the US Army. That is when I made my second mistake. I sold all the guitar stuff I had...amps and all. At the age of 18 I had decided that I was done with that "kid" stuff. Well, after 9 years in the Army I am done and have landed in Alaska where I have made a home of 6 years now. Oh ya, back to the music. A few years ago I bought another electric, amp, digitech rp7, etc. Heh, I regret to inform you that I haven't touched it in over a year. INSTEAD, I have found happiness in picking, strumming and sliding on my Taylor acoustic. Now I own a few acoustics and play mostly Blues, folk, rock/pop. I kick myself for not sticking with it through all the years but most of my assignments in the military would not have allowed for me to carry a guitar with me. Either way, I am back at it and lovin it more than ever.
Ok, I will quit rambling.

Smitty