This one has been brewing for a year, more or less. Now that I commute into
and back from Edinburgh most days of the working week, I find myself walking
past a couple of music shops. Seeing these reminds me of the days, back in
my 20s, when I mucked around in a couple of
bands
and had fun making noises on a bass guitar. Since that time I've also owned
a cheap six string electric, which is currently in storage (and has been
since 2016) and an acoustic, which I have with me but I live in an apartment
building and I'm not an arsehole so I never play it.
So, yeah, walking past those shops has made me want to muck about on a
guitar again. I've never properly learnt the guitar, I've just managed to
learn enough chords to make some noises I like for my own amusement, but
even then I've not picked one up since around 2016 and what little I do know
is very rusty.
Add to the above: earlier this year I was at a friend's and admiring her
collection of bass and six string guitars and picked a couple up and
realised I could not play anything. It had been too long, I'd lost most
muscle memory and coordination, and what little knowledge I had.
So this made me want to fix this even more.
Given the apartment thing I decided on a plan: how about I get an eclectic,
and then some sort of amplification that would always rely on headphones?
Given such a setup I could knuckle down and try and learn properly.
So, this week, being on holiday, I told myself I'd pop into Edinburgh one
day and have a look at my options; perhaps even come home with something.
Yesterday was that day.
It didn't quite go to plan, but the outcome was that I ended up with
something to play.
So, on getting into the shop, and explaining what I was after and why to the
chap in there, I tried the usual Stratocaster and Telecaster thing. Both
were fine (I think I liked the feel of the Telecaster more in my hand). I
had one eye on a Les Paul too, but never tried that. What I did see though
was this rather lovely black Höfner.
Now, of course, it's hollow body, so sort of has that acoustic thing going
on. This isn't what I wanted for playing in an apartment. But I had to try
it anyway. As soon as I started dabbling I was sold. The sound was enough
that it would be easy to pick up and play without having to faff with
amplification of any sort, on the other hand it was nowhere near as loud as
my acoustic. I felt like it bridged the gap between easy to pick up, and
versatile enough should I ever want to plug it into something.
And... let's be honest: it was black. Sooooo black. I like black.
Long story short... it had to come home with me!
As mentioned earlier: most of my guitar stuff is still in storage, from when
I moved to Scotland, but I did find my old tin of plectrums and the tuner.
(Yes, the tin was once mine and was once full; the early 90s were a
different time)
I even found one of my old stands, that I've had since around 1991! So now
it's set up in my living room, next to the PCVR rig, ready to go at a
moment's notice.
This is my plan now: each weekend I aim to put in at least an hour a day of
practice, to try and get my fingers up to strength again, and to build up
the muscle memory of where the strings are, to get the coordination between
both hands, etc. I'm also going to be working through beginner's lessons
from a tutor application. I'm going to treat this like I'm the complete
novice I am and slowly work on improving.
There's no end goal; other than just get proficient enough that I can muck
about on my own and be happy that I can play the sorts of things I want to
be able to play.
Also, it's good to learn new stuff, especially new stuff that isn't just
more coding.