Why are you a guitarist

This is a good topic for my first real post...

I started learning when I found out my wife was pregnant.

I wanted my child to have a real appreciation of music. I thought it would be cool to sing some good songs rather than Barney and Raffi songs. Hence my first songs have been 'Sweet Child o' mine', 'wonderwall' and 'Live Forever'.

I also thought it would be good to see her father learning (and struggling!) with something, and still loving it.

This is a seriously awesome post. Props for taking that attitude.

I play guitar because I love being noisy. :roll: I also just like anything I can use to communicate, and anything even vaguely paradoxical or never-ending. I think the craft of music is both of these things. I find it easy to become bored with something once I've figured it out, but I don't think that will ever fully happen with music (and why I'm eager to try to figure it all out).

I played a little back in college, but it didn't make sense to me the same way piano did, so I didn't really pursue it for that long. I gave my guitar to my nephew a few years later and he still uses it in his band when he isn't playing drums.

I had fun with Guitar Hero and Rock Band over the last few years and then my daughter started with guitar lessons recently. I keep an eye on her progress when she's practicing and help out from time to time. I thought about trying to pick it back up, but I really only have time for one big hobby and for me that was motorcycles.

Until a little over a week ago when I was convinced by my concerned wife and daughter to walk away from it after a nasty accident that netted me a medevac ride, a fractured sternum, a fractured rib and a separated shoulder. I still only have time for one big hobby, but that just became guitar for me.

I'm looking forward to learning it all over again and hopefully becoming proficient with it!

I took up guitar a year after a motorcycle accident that sent me tumbling. My right arm went behind my head and wrapped around my back, which it didn't do gracefully. I got a metal prosthesis for the ball end of the humerus and the shaft is wired together. I could only play for a few minutes at a time at first, as it was hard to hold my arm up over the guitar. But I have fun playing, and if I feel like I need an excuse for my sucky playing I can always show my scar. :mrgreen:

And here I am thinking about buying a motorcycle again...I've been having this debate with myself for a couple years now. I had a couple Harley's when I was in my late teens/early 20's but haven't riden in years and the unfortunate thing about riding a bike is that it isn't about if you are going to get in an accident it's when cuz sooner or later it seems to happen to everyone.

I rode for about 6 years and I never got in an accident with a car but I did dump the bike twice and picking pebbles out of my back for a few days wasn't much fun...a traded with a buddy of mine that had one of those sweet 70"s vans with the plush carpets etc for my motorcycle..he proceeded to samsh it within an hour of taking it. I was in college at the time and got hosed fromt he insurance company and my lawyer and didn't get the bike back for almost a year. Sold it for a diamond ring for the wife who's not around anymore.

I just convinced myself no more bikes.

I'd been riding uneventfully for 30 years when I unexpectedly got off my Harley the wrong way. Freak accident.

Stuff seems to happen on a bike and I'm more worried about the other people than myself. I had more near misses because people didn't pay attention and would just cut in front of me. Almost lost it a few times because of that.

I have a friend who somehow now has 8 Harleys and a Ninja and soem other bikes not sure what they were, but he let me ride one of the Harleys last fall to bring them to where he stores them. I hadn't rode a bike in at least 20 years and it was a bit scary and a bit exciting at the same time not sure which i was feeling more.

I was into them pretty heavy back then, customiizing them, getting everything chromed up etc. My fist bike was a 900 cc Sportster that had been bored out to about 1100 cc and had a 26' over girder front end. Really California easy rider style back then. The bike was really bulit as a show bike and it was a crazy bike to drive. Wasn't bad on the highway but trying to take a corner with that frontend was near impossible.

Yeah, the long extended forks and tall apehangers don't lend themselves to carving up twisty mountain roads.

My crash was a freak single vehicle accident due to slimy pavement on a shady mountain road. It was like being on ice. Then I hit a strip where car tires had worn out a dry path while sliding and flipped forward, getting "high sided" and launched as from a catapult at about twice my speed. But I was worried about drivers' inattentive and aggressive behavior, and especially with the rise of texting while driving I think it unsafe to be on the road on two wheelers. The automobile crash death rate is down mainly due to increased crash survivability of those vehicles, I think. Doesn't help when you're on a bike and someone plows into you.

Im very sorry to here bout your mom and all those poor guitars..

i started playin because of my dad, ever since i was a wee baby hes played me all the great rock songs everyone should know. i turned nine and got my first guitar. a EVH frankenstein remake which rocked!! and since then havent been able to set it down.. its the coolest thing in the world to play for an audiance and entertain everyone. next im deffinitly grabbin a piano though

Sorry to hear about your Mum Mezagog - and well done for picking up the guitar..

I'd spent years competing my horses, and then retired my horse from the show ring and was looking for a new challange...

I now have to come out of the closet and admit that I got Metallica Guitar hero which I loved, and then decided to have a go at the real thing... The plastic guitar has only been touched once since I got the real one, and is now out of sight...

I now have to come out of the closet and admit that I got Metallica Guitar hero which I loved, and then decided to have a go at the real thing... The plastic guitar has only been touched once since I got the real one, and is now out of sight...

Only ever tried guitar hero once, round at my daughter's - the song that came on was "Eye of the Tiger." I can actually play the damn song better on a real guitar!

:D :D :D

Vic

Only ever tried guitar hero once, round at my daughter's - the song that came on was "Eye of the Tiger." I can actually play the darn song better on a real guitar!

:D :D :D

Vic

LOL - trust me guitar hero is an awful lot easier :D :D

Only ever tried guitar hero once, round at my daughter's - the song that came on was "Eye of the Tiger." I can actually play the darn song better on a real guitar!

:D :D :D

Vic

LOL - trust me guitar hero is an awful lot easier :D :D

You tried fretting a Cm7#9 on one of those plastic guitars?

I'm kidding....actually, where I think guitar hero scores is that it can teach you a lot about rhythm and timing....when to play, when not to play.

:D :D :D

Vic

Only ever tried guitar hero once, round at my daughter's - the song that came on was "Eye of the Tiger." I can actually play the darn song better on a real guitar!

:D :D :D

Vic

LOL - trust me guitar hero is an awful lot easier :D :D

You tried fretting a Cm7#9 on one of those plastic guitars?

I'm kidding....actually, where I think guitar hero scores is that it can teach you a lot about rhythm and timing....when to play, when not to play.

:D :D :D

Vic

I'd like to think so too, Vic. I always do something with movement when listening to music, I keep strumming even when walking on the street (on my invisible guitar, of course 8) ). Either it really helps a boatload to be strumming/tapping 24/7, because that's how addicted to music I've become, or I somehow seem to be really lucky with strumming. Anyway on topic for me now!

It's actually a bit of a twosided answer for me. The first part starts, as it seems with all new recruits, with Guitar Hero. I started really liking rock music when finally listening properly through playing the game, thinking it'd be cool to be able to play all those. As always I decided to just not do it, easier not to do anything and not risk spending huge amounts on a decent starter set (I'm the splurging type, I always start by buying stuff that'll last :oops: ). For the first time I took some small risks this year, something I was always afraid of. I lost by taking the risks, but decided to get up immediately after and show it won't always end badly, by taking a new one: buying a guitar.

Now I play because it's the ultimate hobby for me. I love stages, doing theatre, comedy, presentations, anything related. I need music all day long. First time I'm actually good with something that needs my hands, although probably mostly due to playing mad amounts of hours. Lastly, because it's a great way for expression, and it calms me down, makes me happy whenever I'm upset or angry. Sometimes I play for technique, sometimes for the soul. :wink:

I need music all day long.

Amen to that, brother Liontable! I get twitchy when the grandkids are here and there's cartoons on for them - I can stand about an hour, then I'll trot out the old "too much telly's bad for the kids" cliche and put some music on. Tomorrow morning, there's a Test Match (cricket) on TV - I'll be glued to that for the next five days, but I'll be able to get a few hours guitar practise in while it's on. Nice quiet game, cricket...plenty of space to fill in with music. But my family knows better than to ask for anything else when the cricket's on - they have the soaps and the BGT and the X-Factor that I WON'T watch. Give and take. As long as no one objects when I put Exiles or Who's Next on.....then there will be trouble. With a capital T!

:D :D :D

Vic

Only ever tried guitar hero once, round at my daughter's - the song that came on was "Eye of the Tiger." I can actually play the darn song better on a real guitar!

:D :D :D

Vic

LOL - trust me guitar hero is an awful lot easier :D :D
No it isn't! :shock: Well, not for me. :lol: I stink at Guitar Hero. I can actually play the guitar a little bit.