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Friday, May 20, 2016

Something I'm bad at



It's always easy to write about stuff I'm good at. Today I'm covering something I'm bad at.

One of items lost in the shipwreck was my pack guitar. Today I finally got around to replacing it. A friend of mine had a smaller guitar in excellent condition for sale for a reasonable price. It's nice to have a guitar again -even though I'm not very good at it.

Sure, I can finger a bunch of cords and strum along, but I'm not going to lead any campfire songs. My singing voice is pretty bad. A decent singing voice goes a long ways towards covering up for marginal guitar skills. In my case marginal guitar skills are all I've got.

So why squeeze the budget to purchase something I'm not very good at? In spite of my limited skills I enjoy playing. It's therapeutic for me and healthier than a couple glasses of scotch.

My lovely wife, bless her soul, claims to enjoy listening to me play. Yes, I tell that woman I love her every day.

Back before the days of records and radios people had to make their own music. Most households had at least someone who could play something. It was pretty common for whole families to pull out instruments and jam together. While the selection and quality of music has gone up, something was lost.

For me, unless the musicians are really terrible, live music is a better experience than recorded. Some part of the human element is lost in a recording. There's nothing more real than being able to produce your own music, even if it's far from professional quality.

Another good thing about having a guitar is that there are plenty of people around who can play better than I can. It's nice to be able to say, hey check out my guitar. Before you know it they've played a bunch of songs and we've all had a good time.

-Sixbears

11 comments:

  1. The simple things are usually best.

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  2. The simple things are usually best.

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    1. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, but I've got to agree with you.

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  3. I always wanted to take up the harmonica because of its compact make-up. I wish I had the patience to play guitar, but I didn't when I was young, and doubt I do now. My daughter plays viola in Honors Orchestra and plays guitar fairly well too - I wish I had her talent.

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    1. Take up an instrument anyway. You don't have to be good to have fun.

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  4. I have a couple of guitars and enjoy picking. Not real good, but I play for me, not anyone else. My favorite is an ultra deep dish Ovation, the kind that was only made in 1960. I think Glen Campbell made them famous. The other one is a flat top Fender.

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    1. That's the right attitude.

      Nice couple of guitars.

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  5. Both my kids play. They say it is good stress relief.

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    1. It's good stress relief for me -not too sure about those who have to listen to me.

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  6. I can't play any instruments, but we have two sons and a son-in-law who can play anything with strings. There's a pile of guitars/bass guitars, a banjo and even a fiddle in the family. So, I bought two old hymnals, one is Hymns of Glorious Praise and the other one just says "Church Hymnal" on the cover. We've got plenty of worship music in case things go south!

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