Guitar: What's in it for you?

[BoneNut]

I do it for fun, plain and simple. I get a whole bunch of satisfaction from playing, learning, modding and everything else that surrounds guitars. Nothing to prove and nobody to impress.

[BoneNut]

Well, I picked up a guitar as a means to pick up girls. Never worked, still doesn't, doubt it ever will for me.

[kayd_mon]

 

[meandi]

music has been in my life since before i even knew it. my parents were big music fans, and my dad had a pretty cool record collection so we got exposed to stuff all the time throughout my young life. an early vivid memory is listening to "welcome to my nightmare" by alice cooper on cassette in my dad's car on the way back from a drive and thinking about how freaking terrifying it all was, but also being amazed at how cool it was that music could do that. i also remember listening to billy joel and thinking (as a little kid, mind you) how great the stories were in the songs, but how hopeless and sad the main characters (and ultimately Joel himself) really were- even the upbeat tunes had a sad, depressed edge to them. i started playing guitar when i was around 14- i was at a school dance with two of my best friends and we literally decided at that dance that we'd each take up an instrument, start a band and change the face of music (destroy the paula abduls and new kids on the blocks and all that other Top 40 music of the time and be like Metallica). one of my friends went with drums and my other friend and i both said guitar (a little competition ensued over the years that eroded the friendship, but i stuck with it and he got lost to drugs). since that glorious night, i've been fortunate enough to do some pretty amazing things with music (or has music done it with me?). i've learned things about myself. i've learned how to better interact with others. i've experienced things that i never could have thought possible back at 14 deciding to play. i can only hope that my life continues to be filled by music and creativity and guitar. as an aside, i am an unapologizing, unabashed gearhead and also love the physical guitar as an instrument and artform. accordingly, i've been fortunate enough to acquire some decent gear over the years. people don't have to understand it or relate, but i think it's sad when certain folks go out of their way to put folks like me down. says more about them than it does anything else, IMO .

Truer words were never spoken.

[Brian Krashpad]

as an aside, i am an unapologizing, unabashed gearhead and also love the physical guitar as an instrument and artform. accordingly, i've been fortunate enough to acquire some decent gear over the years. people don't have to understand it or relate, but i think it's sad when certain folks go out of their way to put folks like me down. says more about them than it does anything else, IMO.

 

You have a VERY cool passel of guitars, I for one LOVE looking at them. Like you, I'm in love with everything guitar, and if I can't be onstage with one or practicing with one of my bands, I love just looking at them. Heck, I usually will have one or two out on stands (despite that they all have either hardshell cases or gigbags) at my office, just so that when I look up from my desk I have something to look at and make me smile (even though mine aren't near as pretty as yours). And of course it makes the occasional noodling easier as well.

 

Good fer the soul, man, good fer the soul.

[ExiledCrow]

Fun. Its the only reason I need and my only goal.

[RufusFussbuster]

What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
It's got wires that vibrate, and give music
What can this thing be that I found?

See how it sings like a sad heart
And joyously screams out its pain
Sounds that build high like a mountain
Or notes that fall gently like rain
-Peart

[the fretter]

I love the sounds I can make with a guitar and the way you use your hands to interact with the instrument.

 

 

QFT...I freaking love the guitar because there's just so much versatility. Bends, vibrato, hammer ons, pull ofs, sticatto and legatto, different types of picking, tapping...plus along with all the different ways of producing notes there are so many styles you can play-guitars can be used for pretty much any genre, from jazz to metal...so many different sounds, and let's not forget so many different guitars.

 

I've tried to learn keyboard. Though my main reason for not doing so is because reading music makes me explode (I can read it, but it would take a ton of time to be able to sightread like I can easily do with tab), I also just can't do anything with a keyboard. Make notes loud or soft-that seems to be about it. Hell, on many of them (though thankfully not mine) you can't even do that. Don't know how different piano is in those terms...but it just doesn't feel anywhere near as fun to play. On guitar, the instrument feels like an extension of your soul, the expressive ability is unbelievable.

 

Guitar is just fun. I spend way too much of my time noodling in penatonics and it rarely bores me. I can spend hours just sitting there, not even learning or practicing properly, just playing and improvising. It can be relaxing or exciting. I can be standing with a strap on, with a loud backing track on and playing my heart out, or just laying back strumming some chords. Maybe if I actually did traditional practice I'd be a good player, but I have fun regardless.

[scolfax]

It dawned on me one day that becoming a great player could not be bought for any amount of money.

[jrockbridge]

As a child, my transistor radio was my prized possession. Music was always a big part of my entertainment when I was young and I was exposed to various flavors through my parents and siblings. Our family was big and all my siblings had music lessons. Unfortunately, none of them had a strong interest in being musicians, so the lessons were mostly wasted on them. I was second to the youngest child, so by the time I expressed an interest in guitar, my parents were done 'wasting money' for lessons. They told me I'd have to pay for everything on my own. I didn't have a job or money, so I let it go.

 

Fast forward to college. I was about 25 years old when I roomed with a guy that played bass and guitar. He was pretty talented. When he was gone, I'd sneak time on his instruments. He caught me futzing around on his guitar one day without asking. Instead of getting mad, he encouraged me to play and get a guitar of my own. Also, he explained that I had an ear.

 

Sometime after that, I absconded with a 1965 Sears Silvertone (Dano) guitar that my family had inherited from my Uncle. Then, my Sister gave me a cheap Yamaha acoustic guitar that had been purchased by my Dad when she was a young girl. I taught myself to play.

 

I've always been a fan of music, but I was late to becoming a musician. Ever since I started playing guitar, it became my main passionate hobby. What's in it for me is the continued pursuit of improvement while practicing at home, playing in a band and playing the occasional gig.

[photon9]

Playing guitar is fun. Plain and simple.

[RufusFussbuster]

Regarding making music in general again, but also specific to playing guitar; it just re-crystallized to me after playing this morning that - regardless of skill level - if you're doing it correctly, everything else disappears for a while.

I don't think you need a particularly crappy life to want to "escape" the world for a while, because where you can go with music is a relatively awesome place.

I know that's pretty basic, probably universal, and implied in much of what has been said (recharge, etc.), but it bears specifically stating it.

For me, the effect of this phenomenon seems to have at least some correlation with volume.

[LesPaulFetish]

if I can't be onstage with one or practicing with one of my bands, I love just looking at them.

I gotta agree with this one. They just look so cool to me.

As for how I started... I'm not sure. I remember for our 8th grade grad trip (which was a 3 day stay at a camp) my friend brought his electric and could play a few Metallica songs. I was in awe, and so decided I wanted to try. Got an acoustic, tried a bit, didn't go too far at that point. Got exposed to more and more music, heard Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You" and Aerosmith's "Train Kept A Rollin" and finally decided I really wanted to get an electric. I did, didn't go too far with it again (got better, but nothing major; got sidetracked in whatever) and recently (September?) after taking guitar class in school I've been playing a lot more, at least an hour a day, usually more. It's getting there... Got a ways to go but it's gonna happen

As for why I started and why I still play... I guess I just want to be good, whatever the hell that means. I want to emulate the "gods" and maybe one day get my own sound going. I think it's one of the better ways to spend time, I mean I actually enjoy sitting down and running through the same lick over and over again untill it comes natural, don't know why but my usual ADD just disappears when I'm in that mode. Seems like a far better use of time than playing Xbox or WoW like a lot of kids my age do (been there rofl).

The aesthetic appeal of the whole thing is pretty cool for me too. I promise you all, give me a few years and when I have a decent income (Millions!) I will show you GAS as you have never seen it before.

[GreatDane]

You have a VERY cool passel of guitars, I for one LOVE looking at them. Like you, I'm in love with everything guitar, and if I can't be onstage with one or practicing with one of my bands, I love just looking at them. Heck, I usually will have one or two out on stands (despite that they all have either hardshell cases or gigbags) at my office, just so that when I look up from my desk I have something to look at and make me smile (even though mine aren't near as pretty as yours). And of course it makes the occasional noodling easier as well. Good fer the soul, man, good fer the soul.

 

thank you, Brian~ i really appreciate the kind words. i'm glad you can dig the guitars i've acquired. i don't have the luxury of having a guitar in my office, and i'm jealous of people who do. i do have pictures and a couple guitar-related books on the shelf that i pull down when i need that escape, but it can't be the same.

 

on a related note: ever since joining the ranks of the corporate walking dead, i've gotten fairly good at what could be called "mental practicing" where i envision a particular passage on the guitar and how my exact fingerings, right hand picking pattern and phrasing will need to be to play it right- i do this through a day at work, and then when i finally get home and have time to pick up a guitar, it's like i'm already part of the way there. seriously.

[LesPaulFetish]

momma raised me right, i think. thank you, Brian~ i really appreciate the kind words. i'm glad you can dig the guitars i've acquired. i don't have the luxury of having a guitar in my office, and i'm jealous of people who do. i do have pictures and a couple guitar-related books on the shelf that i pull down when i need that escape, but it can't be the same. on a related note: ever since joining the ranks of the corporate walking dead, i've gotten fairly good at what could be called "mental practicing" where i envision a particular passage on the guitar and how my exact fingerings, right hand picking pattern and phrasing will need to be to play it right- i do this through a day at work, and then when i finally get home and have time to pick up a guitar, it's like i'm already part of the way there. seriously.

I saw an interview with Steve Vai where he said the same thing; he picures himself playing whatever the hell it is quite often and it works. Also, when we had a pro jazz guitarist come in to school to do a workshop (nearly all of the material went right over my head) he said he does the same thing. If it works for Steve Vai it should work for the mortals

[DavidMgT]

I play for my own joy and expression - especially with respect to finding my own voice with the instrument. I've been playing for most of my life and I cannot imagine not having guitar and music in my life.

[big_aug]

I was using a ton of heroin so I decided to get a guitar to justify it.