I watched a cool documentary last night called “Stars & Their Guitars.” It’s a great look at the history of the guitar and the guitarists who play them. The focus was on Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker and Gretsch. The documentary wasn’t just about the guitars, there was a lot of great insight into playing buy some impressive players as well. Check it out if you haven’t already.
I’ve been looking for a good guitar teacher to being taking lessons. I’m primarily interested in playing rock, rockabilly, blues, and jazz. There are quite a few choices here in San Francisco, but I was able weed out quite a few based on their style. I was leaning towards taking lessons from a jazz player because my assumption is they have a better foundation in music theory and fundamentals, which is important to me. Not that “rock guitarists” don’t know music theory, but it seems like jazz players are more rooted in the fundamentals. I feel like if I have a better understanding of the theory, it will make things easier down the road. For some, grabbing some tabs and learning as you go is fine. But I want a little more structure.
Update:
I added a new guitar to the collection, a Gibson Les Paul 1957 Goldtop Reissue:
I decided to start this blog because I’m a late comer to learning the guitar. I’m not sure where I’m going to go with it, but for now I’ll just post about my experiences with taking up the guitar at a later than normal time in life.
I’m a 36 year old photographer in San Francisco California. I’ve always loved guitars. If I had my way I’d have a room full of guitars of all types. To be honest, I’m not 100% new to the guitar. I’ve actually been playing here and there most of my life. I first took lessons when I was about 11 years old. But, as with most things kids do, I didn’t stick with it… I was much more interested in going out causing trouble around town on my skateboard. The requisite practicing never took place and the lessons didn’t last long… I think I expected to instantly be good at the guitar and when that didn’t happen I lost interest.
