Something I discussed in my last post was that I’m learning guitar. I’m not going to go back and read that part of the last post so I can expand on what I wrote, I’m just going to go ahead and let flow right here. My shopping habits are strange. I spend too much time on slickdeals, and I end up seeing things there, and wanting them. I’m getting better about not Just buying things from there, but it’s still something I’m working on. A while ago, I saw an acoustic guitar pop up on the front page from Adorama.
The first time I tried to learn Guitar was back in 2010, I spent more money than I could realistically afford on an electric guitar, amp etc. Egged on by my friend Adam, and my roommate. Turns out buying a guitar with no plans on how to learn and no resources to do so isn’t such a great idea.
So, it made it back home from college that summer, and more or less was mothballed until a few year later when I heard about Rocksmith, the game advertised as teaching you real guitar. I’d liked Rockband, I recognized that this was going to be much much harder, so I bought a new set of strings, spent again way too much money on the game and accessories. This was in probably 2014.
Fast forward to this time, it’s 2019 and the internet is a very different place from 2010… youtube is a household name, and you can find a tutorial for just about everything. It’s a blessing and a curse. Because you can find a tutorial for anything on youtube, but everyone can post a tutorial. So at first, it was interesting to work my way through it. I came across a few channels which were “Giving Beginner Tips” but in reality were just dudes in their teens and early twenties using it as a platform to show off what they know about guitar.
And then I found Marty Schwartz, who has a free series of guitar lessons on youtube, as well as a website where he posts longer, and more detailed versions of the videos. They’re really great. He’s quirky (“Spray your fingers with some of that freeze spray”), fun, and imparts a little bit of musical knowledge, without getting detailed and overwhelming you. For me, it’s perfect. I’m not super interested in writing my own orchestral pieces, but I’d like to be able to play wonderwall and sing at the same time.
Really, I’m not looking to become a rockstar, or even perform publicly. I wouldn’t mind playing a few songs for friends. Really the nice thing about it is that I can focus on something away from a screen. I spend so much of my life staring at a screen, that dealing with something real, something that I’m actually doing with my hands, feels great. It also feels like it’s helping me improve the dexterity in my hands, which is also a huge plus. I sense Carpal Tunnel problems in my future, so anything I can do to get my hands moving in more diverse ways can’t be a bad thing. Or it could make it worse. I don’t know.
The point is, I’m having a good time right now, and if it turns into something, that would be amazing, but I’m still learning, and am having a great time, which is what really matters.