I even posted my first post elsewhere instead of here. Oops.
I'm 32 years old and the first time I picked up a guitar and decided I should really learn how to play it was just short of a month ago.
In high school, I listened to a lot of guitar rock...Steve Vai, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Extreme, etc (it was the 80's). A friend tried to teach me how to play but all I learned is that I had a really short reach and that it all made my hands hurt, so I stopped.
Late in 2006, a band that I'm into these days, Otto's Daughter (http://www.ottosdaughter.com), did a special pre-order thing for their new album that's coming out. If you preorder, you get the CD signed, poster, stickers, etc and you get entered to win a guitar. I like signed stuff, so I preordered and in mid-December I found out that I won the guitar.
So now I have a guitar that I can either let sit and collect dust, or learn to play. I'm going to learn to play it. Got a pawnshop amp to run it through as of last week. I'm working on getting a regular structured practice routine now...the How to Practice video isn't so good for me yet as the jam/improv section is really beyond my skillset yet. I'm thinking of something like 1/3 raw technique, 1/3 scales and chords, 1/3 working out playing a song.
Short term, I'm working hard on getting used to the mechanics of playing...hand positions, posture, toughening up my fingertips, flexibility, etc. Short term goals are the obvious learning a vocabulary of scales and cords and being able to play them fluidly. Longer term, I'm thinking that I'd like to be able to hang in a blues jam situation...not necessarily tear it up but be able to follow along and hold my own at least. From there, who knows? There's a lot of time between now and then.
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Scott Gentzen Way new newbie Jan 19 2007, 12:03 AM
