New Respect

Recently, I started taking guitar lessons once again (my last lesson was back in 1992, so it’s been a while). I’ve continued to play but very sporadically, and, as my new teacher Kerry Kean would also add, without discipline. Now, after struggling with chord changes, music theory, and tab changes, I just can’t pick things up as quickly as I would prefer. So, I have a new respect for all of you who perform and who know how to get a crowd excited by a performance.

If anyone knows a great song with a major scale chord change that qualifies as a guitar song for dummies, send it to me so I can have some instant gratification. Please, no Jimmy Buffet songs! If that’s all I can play I’ll quit now.

When you take lessons and even if you never learn anything that makes you a guitar player, you’ll appreciate the great guitarist with a greater appreciation for their skills.

I thought I could tackle a few Roger McGuinn songs, but even those aren’t as easy as I thought – Roger just makes it sound easy. I had the chance to meet Roger in our studios just warming up his fingers to “Eight Miles High,” and my oldest son (who is now a musician and who plays in a heavy metal head banging band) thought Roger was amazing.

So next time your at a performace think about the hours of practice that it took before the performer had the courage to step on the stage.