Vox/Guitar

Why do you play the guitar? Or whatever you do

It's funny - I've had this conversation with many people over the years I've been playing.  Now for many the belief it that I picked up the guitar as a way to get girls or because it is supposedly some phallic symbol.  I've heard these thoughts reinforced many times by observers, other musicians etc.

However for me that was never the reason in my head and I never make the association with the sex thing that many seem to.  When I was very little I was obsessed with music, my Mum had one of those huge stereograms that people used to have in the 60s - I just remember that replacing our old Danset record player.  I used to stand in front of this loaded with 45s that were on the spindle and crashed on to the deck to play...   I had a little old metal toy guitar that I used to stand and mime with "playing along".  I honestly can't remember when I didn't do that.  By junior school I was into anything music, learning the recorder and in the choir etc. so I could read music etc.  

I then went to grammar school and again was straight into the choir and then into the orchestra playing the oboe - I've no idea why but I wanted the oboe.  I think I'd heard that was the instrument all others tuned to in an orchestra therefore it must be the best I thought!  Also then my Mum got me a cheap Spanish guitar and started to learn in a group lesson but didn't get on, soon Mum found a young lady who taught classical guitar and I took off with that.  A year later the first electric arrived and bands started.

However in all this - it was the music, making music, writing my own music that was always the driver and the interest for me.  Frankly I never considered being a musician and a guitarist would "get me the girls" or was some form of public masturbation.  I think the guitar was because it was the "instrument du jour" i.e. you saw it always on TOTP etc.  But also I love that it can play chords, lead lines, be a solo instrument, accompany singing etc. etc. and unlike a piano is portable.

Why do you play music at all?  And why the instrument you currently do?

(This is an abridged version of a recent post from my blog http://guitarsandlife.blogspot.com)

Tags: early, guitar, influences, making, music, playing

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Permalink Reply by Kirsty Pollock on September 29, 2010 at 14:50
I sing - and I do it partly because I just grew up singing along to everything (my parents are both big music fans and my mum is a fantastic singer - but never went the pro route, wanted a normal life I think) and just enjoy it, and partly because I am (reportedly!) better-than-average at it and I'm a bit of an achievement-junkie I guess. I like to do stuff that I am good at. I also write songs, so that keeps me at it.

Now, to get 'good enough' at guitar....

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