Topic: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

The title pretty much says it all... What inspired you to start playing guitar?? Love of music, family/friends, maybe to catch the eye of that girl wink or maybe it was a certain song or artist that inspired you?? just wondering what started you on this journey. 

My story is nothing special... My parents bought me an old lawsuit Tak (d18 copy) back in '85 and signed me up for lessons. I hadn't asked or expressed any real interest in it at the time but went along with the lessons for about a year... I remember learning my first song "El Paso" by Marty Robbins smile After that first year (I was 13 at this point) I got really into freestyle bmx and skating and forgot all about the guitar... So for the next 20 years I hardly ever picked it up and forgot everything I had learned sad  Then one day an employee of mine asked me for a pay advance so he could get his guitar out of lay-a-way at the local music store. So I say "Sure, I'll run you by there after work and take care of it"  I watched him trying to learn on lunch breaks for about 3 weeks and decided I had to give it a go again myself. So my wife ordered me a Takamine G340 (my old tak had been stolen years before) for an anniversary present  almost 4 years ago and the rest is history smile I'm pretty sure I got the guitar in on the 20th of November '06... I think it's cool that I'll get to spend my 4 year playing anniversary jamming with some fellow Chordians big_smile  -Pix

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Great post Pix, you pretty much sum it up for me.
I have always loved music and played the drums for a while but wasn't really into the whole Bang Bang Bang side of things.
This year I picked up( I mean literally picked up) a Crescendo Nylon string guitar that someone had left in a rubbish tip.
I played that for 2 days and was hooked.
Got an el cheapo Yamaha and haven't looked back since.
Now that you mention it there is a certain member of the opposite sex that I have got my eye on.

Jamie R

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Girlsssss

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

For me I quit smoking 5 years ago and needed something to keep me busy so I  did not smoke. My wife bought me a guitar, self taught, now I've collected five acoustics, an electric, couple of ukes, next is a bass.
still smoke free and still collecting,playing and learning, much healthier this way.




badeye   cool

one caper after another

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I had a couple of friends when I was 11 or 12 who had guitars and they played a little.  That got me interested.  My first one was a Silvertone archtop.  Real pretty guitar.  Wish I still had it.  I piddled around over the years, and also went 20 or more years in between playing.  I finally got a little more sreious after I retired and spend much more time at it.  Practice is good.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I've always desired to since as far back as I can remember.  Unfortunately, time and money never allowed and the desire faded.  But, it's when my daughter started lessons, that the itch crept back in or should I say swept back in.  Her teacher, (my teacher now) noticed I was always asking questions and that I was really focussed in on what she was doing.  So I finally, screwed up the courage and initiative to ask for lessons, buy the guitar and just do it.   That was 5 years ago........best thing I ever did other than go to nursing school.

"I don't have pet peeves...I have whole kennels of irritation."  --Whoopi Goldberg

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Christmas 1958. Me on the left, my brother Colin on the right.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3307436750_2dc5d23775.jpg

Proudly displaying our Christmas presents. A plastic, 4 string (metal), Elvis labeled guitar apiece. With them came pitchpipes for tuning, a simple songbook and best of all an "AutoChord". This was a plastic box that strapped on the neck with buttons to press to play the chords, this made playing our first songs so easy.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

cool picture roger,I was always into some kind of musical insterment,in school I played the obo the flute then I wanted a trumpet. Got a rental at age 8 drove my folks nuts, I got into drums 6th grade. Thought my parents were going to send me too another country. I played my friends 6 string loved it ( parents thought god saved them ). told them I would trade drums for a guitar, we where at the local sears store so fast my head spun. I came away with a silvertone 6 string and a little amp that had a good volume control. End of story.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

9 (edited by Bass Viking 2010-11-10 20:42:36)

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

My grandfather was a musician who basically drank his way around bars playing music at nights and working on peoples cars during the day until he had a stroke which left him paralized on his left side and ended his music playing days at a very young age.  My first music memories are of him and his son (my uncle) playing songs on the guitar.  My other grandfather owned a local tavern with a juke box full of country music and the guy who changed out the records each week (45's) would pass them on to me.  At an early age I took pride in knowing all the songs currently being played on the juke box.  Knowing I had this "legacy" of music in my family always made me want to play, but I was always involved in sports and any interest was downplayed by my mom as she had a pretty bad attitude about what music had done to her family (divorce) and her dad.  When I got married, my wife bought me a cheap guitar for Christmas the first year, but it just sat as it was too hard to chord a song with soft fingers and wharped neck making the strings far from the neck.  A few years later my brother who had some of the same desires for music as me bought a Fender accoustic, but didn't like the sound of it, so he gave it to me and went out and bought an accoustic Epiphone.  Neither of us did much other than learn a few chords back then.  Jump to last year; I had retired and was looking for another hobby.  I busted out the old Fender and started learning chords to country songs I liked.  Getting around others who played made me think my old Fender wasn't up to par, so I jumped in and bought a solid wood Blueridge recommended by my loca music store owner.  With a fine guitar in hand, I have basically kept up a vigil of playing it everyday now for almost ten months, getting up the courage to even go out in public to a local open mic and play, then progressed to writing some songs and remain "hooked".   I only regret that the joy of all this was something I would have taken the time to do earlier in life.  I am having a ball with it, just doing what I do.   I am having alot of fun!

Find a Path or Make One    This is a motto I have been following my entire life and one I am currently using with my music.
Big Jim from Ashville Ohio

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I'm a bass player.  I had been getting my music fix by playing in a praise band.  However, that church fizzled out and so I wasn't playing any more.  I hope it wasn't my playing that cause the fizzling.  Anyway, my wife was nice enough to get me a bass trainer, but it's not the same thing as making real music with real people.  They're good for practice, but it didn't satisfy me. 

So I took up guitar because I can make what felt like real music to me without anyone else playing along. 

Now, the timing of guitar was to learn it in time to sing "Forever and Ever Amen" to my wife on our 20th anniversary.  I gave myself two years to learn guitar well enough to learn the instrument, the song, and the lyrics to do this.  No problem.  Ends up though that she had heard me sing it in practice SO many times by our 20th, that it wasn't going to be special any more.  So I stealth learned "Flesh and Blood" by Johnny Cash.  I was all set to play it for her on our 20th, when I came down with a case of laryngitis.  Couldn't even whisper.  So we had a quiet 20th anniversary.  The 25th is coming up in three more years, so maybe I should start working on something...

I should also mention the important part a fellow named Bo Crowder had.  I was at a campfire where Dirty Ed and Bo Crowder and a couple other fellows were picking.  One fellow who was hanging out with us said, "I sure which I could play like that" about the time Bo finished his turn playing.  Well Bo said, "All you need is 15 minutes a day and the sound will come."  The fellow who made the comment said, "Yeah, right!"  But my mind clicked and I was thinking, "I can find 15 minutes a day..."   As time went on, Bo and Dirty Ed both continued to be encouraging to me, and so I thank them both here publicly, though Bo won't ever read it. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I played guitar a bit as a kid, took about a years of lessons, but like most kids could not commit to practice when other kids were outside having fun. Fast Forward 35 years and one day I'm in the step-daughters room fixing her ceiling fan and spotted the beginner Yamaha collecting dust in the corner (a guitar she had to have because some boy she had a crush on played). So, I ask her if I can borrow it.

That was 3-1/2 years ago and I probably have missed less than a dozen days playing a guitar since. With the abundance of resources on the internet and the encouragement of friends here at chordie, I just about have the G, C and D chords down pat.

Rule No. 1 - If it sounds good - it is good!

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I was Born and Bred in the state of Kentucky to good but poor stock, we went to central Illinois to find a better life when i was very young. Listened to all music but loved Country music i heard on WSM nashville radio. I Married, had two children, a Daughter in ILL and a son in Heaven, came back to Ky after retiring and the death of my wife. Married again and she encouraged me to learn to play guitar after finding i could sing a little. My Wife bought a guitar for me to get me started and, I bought a second. Teaching myself, I  have played almost every day now for Two years. I really Love it, Will go to Florida for the winter soon and will play with friends we have met there. By the way, all you guys as well as Chordie are great I don't contribute much but I read a lot and have learned a lot  here.  Thanks for listening, and thanks.  b

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

A Chet Atkins Album got me excited about guitar.
As a lifelong brass player, I wanted to add guitar to my act. For 24 years in barroom bands, I played electric rhythm guitar and soloed on trumpet.
In my 50's I added tuba, trumpet and rhythm guitar. Big fun!
toots

We pronounce it "Guf Coast".
Ya'll wanna go down to the Guf?

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I grew up in the 80's listening to loud guitar driven hair bands. I think that's what hooked me. I have always been interested in the guitar, but never did anything about it. About 8 years ago I bought a beginner guitar (Ibanez which I still have) and took a class at the community college I attended. Didn't learn much in the class, nothing applicable to playing anyway. So, fast forward to Sept. of 2008. A friend of mine played, sort of, and offered to buy my guitar when he found out I had one. For whatever reason, I decided then to learn to play. Like Bass said, I wish I would have started when I was younger. It's been 2 years now and I love playing, won't miss more than 2 days a week.

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

15 (edited by Buzzwagon 2010-11-11 09:34:28)

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I started out as drummer at school at about 15. When I was 17 I got my first job with a country rock band and made a living playing drums for a couple of years before we imploded. We had 3 guitarists in the Jailhouse Band, one of whom, a lightning picker, very much in the mode of Albert Lee, became a really good friend and he taught me a few chords. It all stemmed from there, I bought a Fender F75 acoustic, the sheet music to The Eagles Greatest Hits and taught myself the album. I've spent thousands on lessons over the years and loved every little bit of my guitar playing life except my attempt at learning to play classical guitar properly, (far too regimented for an old rock and roller like me).

Over the years I've played some cracking gigs, those that stick in mind are playing in front of 3000 people at Peterborough Country Festival, jamming with Albert Lee at the Tunnel Club, playing at John Dankworths jazz club, playing a gypsy wedding!! I've recorded a couple of CD's with different people which is fun and really teaches you whether or not you know a song well enough. These days I like nothing better than to get together with mates and just jam and drink beer!

I'm now 47, don't play the drums anymore, and I like to think I'm pretty conversant with my guitars. I own 5, a 2005 Strat, (which is off to the tech today), a beautiful 1995 Japanese Tele, an Epiphone Wildkat, an Ovation Celebrity and a Tanglewood classical guitar.

Jerry

Live the life you love, love the life you live

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Bad Company ;-) I sang in a band 1964-1967, when Beatlemania swept over Europe. In 2001 I met our old drummer, who never quit rock music and invited me to his new band's rehearsal room. Four went by, and I was on stage again. A few months later I bought my first guitar. (I was 54). Between the seventues and eighties I tried two or three times to learn to play guitar, but didn't have enough patience. Now I'm 61. I own 10 guitars and play in a band. Wow! Ah, the Beatles inspired me!

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

The Beatles inspired a lot of us older folks.  What a great sound.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

bensonp wrote:

The Beatles inspired a lot of us older folks.  What a great sound.

Lots of B chords too.  smile

"I don't have pet peeves...I have whole kennels of irritation."  --Whoopi Goldberg

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

For me initially it was the Beatles, I played some, but just couldn't get it. Late seventies I went to local venue(Savvys in Ft Worth) The noise the band spewed was horrifying, but that guitarist was impressive. By the way the band was Pantera, and we all know what they did. Decades later my then 14 year old son asked if I still had that old guitar (80's strat) in my closet, he wanted to learn to play,that got me going again. I'm still not that good but I enjoy it more than ever.

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I bought my first guitar (a spanish nylon string ) with my pocket money saved at the age of 15 in 1973 .Before I used to play clarinet in the village brass band in Alsace (France) , this was a good way to learn to read music but it was not easy to play modern tunes with it .I wanted pop sounds and let my hait grow for a while....  I took my guitar with me to the school where I spent all week during 3 years, coming home for the week ends only.So I met other musicians learning to play guitar , it was cool to have music as a new language to meet friends. I swapped the guitar for a "folk" with bronze stringsand caught some Neil Young tunes that became the were the first really good vibes I could feel with this instrument by myself and also just because I could imitate his voice so well at the age of 17.... and my sister had made me the gift of the Harvest album. This actually helped me in these days to join a band palying dance music on saturday nights. We adapted Pink Floyd , Santana, Beatles, Deep Purple and so on , and it was great fun  to do the session in that old farm with our group and groupies....although most of us did not understand the lyrics ( So what...!)
And to make this little story short, I still feel young when I have a guitar on hand, and music is a universal and simple way of communication . It is still the campfire's best friend and one man alone can make everybody feel fine by just singing along.... but I love also the electric actual sounds and appreciate the quality of a great Gretsch , Fender Strato  or Gibson. Any town I go I always check out for the music shop...probably looking for the guitar of my dreams.

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

2 very cool stories hdorange and huspat! I'm glad this this thread brought you out of the closet hdorange (I see you've been a member for some time, but this is your first post). I would like to welcome both of you to the Chordie forum!

Rule No. 1 - If it sounds good - it is good!

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

I started playing drums in 1964 in my school band. Played in the marching band and jazz band, then played in a 17-piece swing band for a couple of years and in a couple of rock bands.I even taught drums for a couple of years.  A couple of guys that graduated 3 years ahead of me had been working as Nashville studio musicians and returned to the area and were looking for a drummer for a country band.  They tried to talk me into playing with their band but I was a rocker and too cool to play country.  They invited me to attend a country/bluegrass festival with them, thinking they might convert me to country.  The country music was OK but the bluegrass bands blew me away and I fell in love with the genre.  As bluegrass didn't use drums, I sold mine a few months later and never played again.

A few years later, one of my co-workers and I became pretty good friends.  He was trying to learn to play the guitar but his younger brother (who was in the Marine Corps) was the "picker" of the family.  His brother was killed in a motorcycle accident while home on leave.  A few months later he brought his brother's old acoustic to me and told me to learn how to play it - why he did it I'll never know.  I bought a book of "easy big-note guitar" Beatles songs and eventually learned to play a few.  I returned my friend's brother's guitar and bought a cheap one of my own. I could play a few songs but never learned to play bluegrass as I never could "Mash then wires" fast enough.  It was about the time I was beginning white-water kayaking.  I was so "into" the sport I began to write songs about paddling and play them around river bank campfires.  Fellow paddlers seemed to like them so I kept on writing songs about things things in my life - paddling, fishing, farming and family.  I've never become a good "picker" but I enjoy writing and playing.  The enjoyment I've got out of my guitars over the years has been one of my best investments. I've never forgot the kindness of the friend who got me started playing.  Over the years I've bought several cheap, used guitars and re-worked the bridges, nuts and frets to make them play easier then gave them away to folks who wanted to learn.  My request has been that they pass the guitar on to someone else or also find cheap ones to give away.

Zurf mentioned our camp fire music "circles".  It's my favorite thing to do.  He certainly has learned a lot in a short time and I was really impressed with his pickin' the last time we got together.

DE

I had an operation on my right shoulder yesterday - never realized how hard it would be to type with just my left hand.......................

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

as a big beatles fan since i heard "my bonny" on radio luxembourg in 1962 (i think) it was freddy and the dreamers that actually got me and my mate jeff davies, to pick up guitars and form our own noise, sorry, band. no i think i was right the first time, noise! but it was paul mccartney's influence that got me to play left hand! it was also lennon mccartney that got me to write songs.
i had to get myself a paper round to pay for my first guitar, which cost £5! and broke within a month... couldnt hold the strings down any way!i bought a book with my next guitar and learned a new key every day. no problems with Bm. but i couldnt get G for the life of me. it took me about a month to master G (the chord not the key).

phill...that's just about my life story. lol

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

24 (edited by selso 2010-11-12 21:09:38)

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Havent commented in awhile but I like this thread so: The sole reason I stuck to it was because it drove my parents crazy. Back then I listened to heavier stuff (Slayer, Primus, etc..) and they hated it. They would always tell me I wasnt any good and that the music I listened to sucked.(classic, right?) Sounds like a sob story but it did me alot of good. Made me determined to prove them wrong. Now my mom loves the way I play and my dad is even trying to learn. Its cool because we have something in common now. My musical taste has soften but I still love me some death metal. Thinking about starting a John Prine death metal cover band.(dont lynch me!) Any takers?

Everything is bad including me
But being bad is good policy
Reverend Horton Heat

Re: What inspired you to start playing guitar??

Some really great stories here.  Good thread.  Keep em coming..

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.