[Misty2u]

I guess I've just always loved music and I had a bit of a fling with the fiddle about 20 odd years ago at school but never touched it again after that. A couple of years back I'd mentioned to my hubby that I'd love to try the violin again but he got me an acoustic guitar instead and I didn't have a clue what to do with it so the poor thing was left lying unloved and unused in the loft. Myself and it crossed paths once again about 2 months back and I finally took up the challenge.......must say I absolutely love it..! Dunno were I'd be without Kirk's lessons (cheers Kirk ) and the support of this forum though (suspect I'd probably have given up by now). Thanks everybody..!!

Tracy

[Misty2u]

Oops ..............forgot to mention that Suzi Quatro was a big inspiration for me plus a lot of the heavy rock/metal bands..!!

[jimbeaux]

Originally Posted by blue_banana

Thanks,its just that I been talking with a guy and he's been playing since like ever and he scared the hell out of me....

blue, don't let anyone dampen your desire to play. There are always people who think they have to extinguish the other person's light so theirs will shine brightly, i guess.

I took lessons a 30 years ago for 2 years, and then quit for various reasons. I never quit loving good guitar playing though, no matter what style it is (unless it's just noise).

Now I'm 65 and I started practicing again in late December - I've already recovered most of what I used to know, and am moving forward as fast as I can, having fun, making good progress.

I hope you won't make the mistake I made when I quit playing. Imagine what it would be like if I had kept on learning and building my skills for those 30 years!

Hang in there

[D-Dawn]

For me, I have always been fascinated by those who could play guitar. I grew up in "the city"and had my summer vacations in Arkansas. When in AR we would visit my mothers side of the family who all seemed to have this built in gene that allows them to play guitar and sing, seemingly without ever actually learing HOW to. We would sit around the "trash" fire (sad but true lol) in my grandfathers front yard until all hours of the night and just listen to the beautiful and funny songs the guys would play. There was never a woman in our family that played tho, so I assumed it was an exclusivly male thing to do! Now I was the type of girl that so did not want to be a girl...at anything! My mother told me that my grandmother did actually play, but because she passed in the early 70's, I was too young to remember her playing. I wanted to be..lol..the only other woman in my family to show the guys that I could play as well as them! (the old "anything you can do i can do better" bit ya see?) Mom said Grandmother played a Gibson (dunno what model, but I sure wish I knew who that went to!) and I am told because of her small hands she could never play a G (with 3 fingers) so she play a simplified G which has been dubbed in our family as a "Grandmother G"
On my Dad's side of the family (lol from the "Old Country") there were Bass players ( you know those big stand up acoustics) guitars, mandolins and fiddles...of course there was always some kind of booze mixed with these get togethers!
I am #5 of 7 kids so actually getting my own guitar or lessons when I was a kid was impossible..I have 3 kids and I know what it takes to feed them! (but they all have guitars ...go figure!)
After getting married and having kids...having a sculpting career..having a farm (cattle/horses etc) I am just plain tired and decided to do something for myself. Both of my parents passed recently and they were my biggest fans when it came to my art...with them gone, I completely lost all desire to sculpt.
Before my dad passed, one of my uncles came to visit (last good byes and all that) and he sat at the dining room table and played guitar for Dad (it was actually my guitar.. one my brother never gave back..lol..another post) anyway...he (Dad) seemed to come out of his morphine induced stupor, and the look of amazement and thankfulness (if thats a word) at just hearing my uncle play for him made me have to walk away and bawl like a baby for a bit.
Long story short, Mom and Dad both gone...house sold..money split between all of us (which wasn't much LoL) and I decided that I did NOT want to piddle this $$ away but spend it on something that I could and would treasue for years to come. So I bought a guitar...lol..and then another..and with the last bit, a mandolin.
Now I seem to be obsessed with playing them well.....you mean you didn't really want my life story????

[raybaro]

well the thing that inspired me was Metallica and my dad, my dad would always tell to play guitar or drums when i was like 7, now i regret it but what can i do
then i figured that K hammett wanst really helping my playing that much anymore, wo i was introduced to marty friedman by a singer i used to play with,then this is where i think i started improving a lot

[mrhev]

I always liked listening to good guitar playing since I was a teenager, but cars took
most of my attention back then. Fast forward 30 years and I found myself buying my daughter an acoustic guitar in 2002. I really enjoyed watching her learn. Then she moved out, gpt married, and started having children of her own. When her 2nd was born this past February my wife suggested I borrow her guitar since she doesn't have
the time these days. So it came home with me. After about 3 weeks of practicing chords I found this guy named Kirk on ultimate guitar giving dropped D slide lessons. It was way beyond my skill level, but I thought if I could know half of what this guy knows I would be a damn good guitar player. So that was my moment of true inspiration. Thanks Kirk.

[Jim]

1) The Beatles
2) Bob Dylan
3) Cream
4) Stones
5) Donovan
And just about every Rock 'n Roll or Folk band/act that made it big in the '60's. But The Beatles were far and above #1 - with Dylan coming in 2nd. I bought a Cream song book in 1968, but by then I had already started taking guitar lessons... Man I'm old.

Jim

[Bennett]

Some great stories here!

For me, I played for just a little while I was at uni, but then work, mortgage, family etc kicked in just sorta fell off the back.

Then a year ago we finally bought a car that actually had a CD player. And I got over my scrooginess and started buying a heap of CD's and digging out all my old ones. So I found myself listening to Dylan, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, The Beatles and loads of other more diverse stuff. But it was those listed above that primarily inspired me to take it up again.

I solo singer-songwriter thing appeals to me greatly. And being moved by these works of art over and over again is simply amazing. Now when I achieve a new goal on the guitar or I 'get into the zone' with a piece of music, I find I'm moved ... and it's coming from me.

[Andy S]

D-Dawn,
"you mean you didn't really want my life story???? "

But it was a really good story! No apologies needed!

[Cedric01]

Tiny Tim!

[Hilch]

Well it was like this almost everyone in my family played something ( keyboards , guitars etc ..but me )

My little brother over dosed at the age 35 , he was 13 months younger then me one day my older brother came around to my house 5 years after John's passing . My older brother gave me Johns' guitar .. It sat in my bed room until I turned 41 then one day I decided out of the blue I picked it up and strummed it .. I had never been interested in playing until that moment , I looked on the internet for some free lessons . I was happy I could play open G - D - EM with in months of picking it up .

Since then I have bought 4 guitars , recording equipment , mike , tuner , that many picks it's not funny , strings the list goes on .

I am now nearly 43 and still can't play that much but I will say I have not had so much fun in years , and playing is better then sex ...

I don't have any particular musical influences persay .. I like anything with singable lyrics from Dylan to The Police - Hank Williams to AC-DC , I'm sure you get the picture

Take care

Hilch

[delondcosta27]

hmmm k..........so........while it was lying on ur bed till 41..where did ya sleep??
hmm mayb u will like stuff from red hot chili peppers(their new song is kick ass!!dani california,love the video!!).their music is like a mix of funk n punk with kewl 70-ish tunes,somehow fruciante's guitar work reminds me of a mild version of hendrix(good use of chords,just like kirk)

[fly135]

Dang this thread is so long I can't be sure I haven't already posted

I've always had a guitar since my late (mid 70's) teens (Epiphone Acoustic w/ horrible action). Traded a motorcycle seat for it. Actually I was supposed to get money but the guy was always broke so I pressured him into giving me his guitar, which he never played anyway. Well, I never really learned to play although I wanted to bad. The biggest mistake I made was to never take lessons.

My second biggest problem learning was I was always into progressive rock and fusion. The stuff was way to complex. I bought and sold a Les Paul copy and a few years later got a G&L S-500 from a pawn shop. Everytime I picked it up to try again, still no joy learning. Fast forward to Jan 2006, my GF and now wife inspired me to give it a go again. This time internet resources (like this web site) and Guitar Pro have given me enough help to actually pick and strum a few recognizable melodies.

I've having a hoot now. I can't wait to pick it up and play every chance I get. Now with a wife and a family that's expanded from two to four daughters I'm having trouble finding time to get serious practice in, but I will say that all of my practice now is productive and inspiring.

The other night the Eagles Farewell I concert was on Bravo channel. The next day I loaded up Guitar Pro and Joe Walsh's "Life's been good to me" and was able to play the few measures in the intro that actually sounded recognizable That's the kind of stuff that makes playing a hoot! A few extra strings ringing here and there, plus fumbled notes but you could tell what song it was from. And now I have enough playing under my belt to actually know the more I try the better it will get.

So in my book, I've started at 50 and couldn't be happier about it.

[D-Dawn]

Originally Posted by Andrew

D-Dawn,
"you mean you didn't really want my life story???? "

But it was a really good story! No apologies needed!

Gee Thanks Andrew You're nice to say so!

[USGold]

Bit of round about journey. Always wanted to play, dreamed of being in a band, but events always turned me on a different path. ... Anyway several years ago my then wife got the idea she wanted to buy a guitar and learn to play--she bought this real nice seagull s6 and a hard case-tried it for a few weeks and put it down--I figured --hey got this expensive guitar sitting here -why not give it a try--picked it up ( I was near 50 about then) and started looking at the beginner books she had laying around--went to the music store and bought my self a Beatles anthology cause I figured it would be easier to learn to play tunes that I could hear in my head--If you are around my age you know what I mean and why the Beatles--from there it's just gone on and on till now it's my obsession-my hobby and my main interest.-I suppose this is like the story of many, and I hope that those of you that came to guitar late in life as I have, don't let your age stop you from "Rockin On".Scott