Q&A w/ Chris

I interviewed my roommate Chris who recently picked up guitar during quarantine.

Q: What was your inspiration to start playing guitar?

A: I was sitting in my house dying from boredom over quarantine and decided to trade in my old guitar for a new one at the GuitarCenter. Getting this new guitar helped motivate me to play again and develop an interest in learning guitar. I hardly touched my guitar before quarantine, so upgrading my guitar gave me a reason to commit time to finally learning something I’ve been holding back for so long.

Q: What songs are you interested in playing/learning?

A: I am interested in learning fingerstyle and classic guitar pieces. So far, my favorite song that I’ve learned is Gymnopedie No. 1. I am trying to learn a bunch of other classical pieces currently, and am working towards learning Claire de Lune.

Q: How has quarantine impacted your guitar learning?

A: Quarantine has given me a lot more time and freedom to play and learn guitar. I am hardly busy these days and never have an excuse to not be practicing. My day to day life has revolved around getting my school work done, eating, sleeping and learning guitar for the most part.

Q: Any words of encouragement you would like to give to other new players and beginners?

A: I would tell new players to not give up! Playing and learning guitar is extremely hard in the beginning and the odds are stacked against you, but once you finally get thru the basics and learn a couple songs it gets a lot more enjoyable and easier to stick with.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analyzing the Guitar Fretboard

Image
A typical guitar starts with 6 strings, varying in thickness. The thicker the string, the lower the pitch will be. The thicker strings are at the top of the guitar, and gradually get thinner. The higher you play on the fretboard the higher the pitch is going to be. So let's say that you a standard F chord on the first fret. If you move that same chord starting on the 6th fret, it will become a much higher pitched chord.  In standard tuning the 6 strings are in a E,A,D,G,B,E format. As you can tell from the diagram below, going from E to an F and a B to a C is a half-step apart. Meaning it takes a one fret distance to reach between the two. Whereas, going to a G, A, B or D takes a whole step, meaning it takes would require to two fret distance to reach. It is rather important to memorize the fretboard early on (or at least the low E and A string) to help understand the logic behind forming different chord shapes and solos. The reason why knowing the thickest two strings (E and A) is
Read more

Why You Don't Need Guitar Lessons

This debate is more recent now that theirs more resources available for guitarists. You can go online and find so much free content for guitarists at any level. Which sparks the debate on whether or not guitar lessons are even worth it these days. Would a person improve a lot more getting 1 on 1 style lessons with a teacher or instructor? Or does it not matter due to the sheer amount of free content that is offered online. For example, one could go on YouTube and find thousands and thousands of videos about how to play different songs, chords, riffs and information on guitar. In my personal opinion you have all the content you need on YouTube and online to allow a beginner to succeed in playing and eventually mastering the guitar. However, I do things having lessons could only benefit a person. Having someone by your side who knows what their doing and is able to give you feedback and instructions in real time is almost unmatched. Getting the undivided attention can be very helpful e
Read more