1 Reply by zippybackflash

(12 replies, posted in Music theory)

It's funny, I've been playing guitar now for 30 years and just learned by ear. Somewhere along the way I found that I could almost ~see~ (for lack of a better word) the intervals that make up chords when I hear them, and it was very easy for me to learn to play anything I heard.

I went on to have a decent career as a profession musician before I settled down to get a "real job" (as my now-ex-wife so nicely put it). After all that, several years ago I decided to go take lessons so I could learn theory, scales, chord construction, etc.

OK... I felt like an idiot! How can I play and instrument for so many years, and yet have such a hard time grasping the theory behind it?

Being a programmer and a bit of a geek, I sometimes find it easier to learn something when I am teaching it to someone. So I started this giant Excel sheet and plotted out how the chords were made, that's when things started to click into place for me.

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2 Reply by zippybackflash

(45 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

LMAO!!!
Tubatooter's story jogged a memory that I am almost ashamed to tell, but I've got to.

My first electric guitar (and believe me, I use the term loosely) was some no-name thing from Service Merchandise that my Dad bought me. I swear, it would make the First Act stuff look pro by comparison!

But I was really young, and I could play a couple songs (enough that it impressed the girls), so I thought I'd be cool and bring my axe to school in my very stylish ~vinyl~ gig bag.

I was doing OK until about halfway though the day when a couple older kids (that owned real guitars and were in a band) caught sight of me.

To their credit they didn't bash me directly, and we talked a while about playing and amps. But I could tell they were trying not to laugh. They left after a bit, and when they though they were out of earshot around the corner I heard them all bust out laughing and talking about what a cheesy piece of junk I had.

I could have crawled under a rock, and immediately took pains to hide my guitar that I was so proud of that morning.

I started saving up that day to buy a real guitar. I think that one died in a horrible carpentry accident, as I recall...

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3 Reply by zippybackflash

(45 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

For me is was a Washburn A-5.

As a young teenager it was my first purchase of a brand new guitar. It was black, sexy, kind of a chopped off Explorer kind of look. Unfortunately, the music store I had to deal with was run by this wanna-be-rock-star that could not leave anyone alone when they picked up a guitar in his store... It was a chance for him to show off his chops.

So between listening to him play it, or having him pull up a stool next to me and wanting to jam, I never really got the time to ~listen~ to the guitar properly.

It was a so-so instrument. Nice neck, but the sound was wooden and dull, and the light body lent itself perfectly to howling feedback. Then again, I developed excellent volume control technique because I had to dial the knob down the moment I stopped playing. LOL

Finally sold it and got a Kramer, which I loved.

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