Start playing the guitar quickly

In continuation to my previous post, I would also assume that YOU WANT TO START PLAYING THE GUITAR QUICKLY!

Thus, this blog would try to do so without a lot of messing around with technical explanations about reading notes, time signature, clefs, and etc.. Although these kind of things can really help you a lot in moving on to the next level after you have mastered the basics, these aren't really necessary to play basic music.

Moreover, feel free to skip some topics that you already know and jump right to the one that you are looking for.

My Guitar Mentor

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23736608@N08/3775976810

My guitar mentor was born from an ordinary Filipino family and was raised as a typical farmer. 

Together with his older brothers, they would wake up very early in the morning and perform their tasks while the sun is not yet out.

Back at their place, only the upper class citizens can affor to buy television sets.

All they have was a radio in which they would listen to news, dramas, and music.

And so, the common recreation of the kids his age during night time was to gather around a pyre and sing songs.

Of course, there's a guitarist among the group and it happened to be his older brother.

When they grew up a little older, his brothers became hearthrobs at their place because they were guitarists.

My mentor was very amazed with how his brothers would play the popular songs at that time. Perhaps, songs by The Beatles.

He wanted to learn how to play the guitar too and so he asked his brothers to teach him.

He became in love with the guitar, and he practiced everyday or whenever he gets a chance to.

Whenever there is a song he wanted learn, he would patiently wait for it to be played in the radio and he would listen very carefully.

He would play his guitar while listening to the song. He would then write down the chords which seemed to sound in tune.

He would usually do these many times in a day just to get the right rhythm and melody.

Few years after, because of his diligence, he became known as one of the best guitarist in their locality.

He was usually hired to play for amateur singing contests and he was still around 19 years old at that time.

He can play the songs at different starting keys, transposing the chords to match the singer's pitch.

For that, a lot of people admired his unquestionable talent.

He used to play by "Oido". Oido is a spanish word which means "ear".

He would listen to a song for a couple of times and he would immediately be able to play its rhythm.

Funny thing is that, when he was asked about the name of the unusual chord he used, most of the time he wouldn't be able to answer.

He didn't take any formal lessons about guitar and he didn't know how other chords, aside from the basic, were called.

That's the story of my very first mentor - my Father.

How I Learned To Play The Guitar

It was one dark evening and i was looking at the stars up in the sky.
They were very bright and colorful.
I was sitting in our old hammock at the porch and I can feel the cool breeze in the air.
As i was looking to other stars at a distance, i caught sight of a weird thing that was blinking and it was very close.
"Oh! It's firefly!"
But suddenly, without loosing my focus on the beautiful scene up above, i saw a falling star.
We used to say our wishes when we happen to see a falling star.
I immediately closed my eyes and clasped my hands and wished that I would be given the skills to play a guitar.
I happened to have a big crush on this girl and wanted to impress her ever since.
And when I opened my eyes, i saw the blinking bug transformed into a very beautiful fairy right in front of me.
She said "My dear Ivan, since you are a good boy, I hereby grant your wish..."
and lo and behold, after that moment, I started playing the guitar like a pro...

What a nice story, right? I was often asked how I learned to play the guitar and I think of that magical story every time. I just like to think about it that way. Some would buy it especially kids in our neighborhood. But, most of the time... well, you know...

The real story was...

It was still one of those dark evenings.
Back in our small town, we usually experience power outages in the evening for about one to two hours.
That is why it was indeed dark. It would usually occur two to three times in a week.
Most of the households used pressurized paraffin lamps or what is commonly known as kerosene lamps to provide lighting.
As there are only few sources of light, bugs would usually flock unto it.
There were a lot of fireflies in our area way back then and I was very amazed on why they were blinking.
I really can't remember what date is was. All i know is that I was 6 years old that time.
I was sitting in a small chair in our porch right beside my dad who is lying down in the hammock playing with his guitar.
I was the youngest in the family and I was often called "daddy's boy"
Out of curiosity, I would ask a lot of questions about what he was doing.
And while he was playing some of his pieces, i would strum the strings with my little fingers and make a different rhythm.
Or sometimes, i would turn the tuning keys and the guitar would go out of tune.
I would even break the skinniest string sometimes.
I remembered one time i got hit when the string was broken and it flew very close to my left eye.
Yes, I was a great disturbance to my father but he never made me feel that way.
Instead, he would pick me up and allow me to play with his guitar.

One night, he asked me a question. "Van, do you want learn how to play the guitar?"
Without any delay, I nodded my innocent head and said "YES" with a smile on my face.
I thought it was another play time with my dad.
He immediately placed the guitar on my lap and held my cute little fingers.
We picked the open strings together and played the melody of a local nursery rhyme entitled "Manoy Manoy".
After playing few lines of the song, he clapped and praised me for the beautiful performance.
I really didn't know if it was good or he was just trying to make me feel good. I guess, it was the latter.
But that was the starting point. I became interested with the guitar right after that.
And he always gave me time to play the same melody over and over again until i was able memorize it and do it on my own.
Just a year after, I was able to play my very first piece with real chords.
And the rest was written in history...

Girls like guitarists

Do you think so too?

To clear out my thoughts I interviewed some of my girl friends regarding the matter.

Question: Do girls really like guitarists?

Jelian - "For me, It's more of admiration rather than attraction. I admire guitarists because, as far as I know, playing guitar is not that easy and being able to play one is kinda cool."

Aleen - "I guess so. I'm just amazed with how those guys do all the tricks with their fingers. Of course, it was thru their hardwork and discipline but not all guys out there are willing to give it their time. I appreciate them for their efforts."

Jane - "Uhm, I think so... But generally, a guy who knows how to play any musical instrument is cute."

Ivy - "Not exactly. As a girl, i prefer a drummer rather than a guitarist."

Nica - "I'm not really into musicians. I like dancers better."

As you can see, girls have their own personalities and preferences. So, in short, the clear answer would be "It doesn't apply to all".

As for me, I think girls like guys that have some sort of skill whether it'd be in music, carpentry, painting, cooking or even dancing, as opposed to someone who is very lazy and doesn't know anything. Of course, it would help a lot if your have something up your sleeve that you can use to become romantic or surprise your girl. But again, it only helps because it is still the personality that matters. A guitarist is often described as someone who is talented, versatile, disciplined, and confident and those are just some of the traits a girl would usually look for in her checklist.

Bottom line, you can never please everyone but it is always cool to know something especially if you become good at it. It is still more about you and what you turn out to be in the process.