I decided to start this site because I , like many other aspiring guitar players, get overwhelmed by what I see on the Internet or in the Guitar Players magazines. These people are all good and have their own styles but most of the time I can't understand a word they are saying, with "pentatonic this or Dorian that, let alone chords , notes etc... That fact is, I don't know any of that stuff , and for me, it causes me some challenges. To me you have to feel it. And to get to that point, you have to put in your time, practice ,practice, practice. You also should know a few things. That's why I'm here. It's like a "Lead Guitar for Dummies" type of thing.
I got my first guitar when I was twelve, after relentless begging of my parents. When I finally got it, it was the wrong handed, with no amp, no pick,strap,and no lessons !!!... just an electric guitar, but I was not about to inform the parental units about their errant purchase. I did not want this bad boy going back to get a different one. I was keeping it. So it began... I would listen to the radio in my room until I would hear, Iron Maiden, or Nugent or ZZ top, just to name a few , and I would record the song off the radio on some cassette recorder that my parents used for dictation.(Talk about great quality) And I would try my best to match the sounds I heard on the radio with the sounds on my strings. The thing was I did not know how to tune a guitar (remember no lessons,or Internet or tabs) so I tuned it in a way that when I would strum all six strings they sounded in perfect harmony. I played like that for four years. I even learned some songs and they matched pretty good. Then I heard this new guy on the radio, he was playing with Ozzy , his name was Randy Rhodes. Never heard anything like it. And that's when I knew I wanted to be a guitar player for life. Its been 32 years and I am still trying to play like him. ...... Oh yeah there was this guy named Eddie, he was great too. So that's the era in which I got my first guitar. Oh yea, one day I was finally out playing the guitar with other guitar players, and the time I put in, in my room listening to songs I was able to keep up with them, until one of the guys actually tuned my guitar. Well, long story short, I was back to square one. The tuning did not make sense to me at first, but it only took me the next year and a half to get it together. Well, that's it for now, I will have some video clips of some certain things to learn and how to do them in upcoming posts. Until next time...keep practicing........
