Guitars

Guitars have a mystery and allure about them. Theres something about seeing one that makes you want to pick it up. Just to give it a try. Just to see what you look like holding it. You know that if you just had the time to learn, youd probably do okay. Youve wondered if its hard to learn and if it takes a long time before youre good enough to play in front of anyone. You may have even looked at some beginning instruction books or called around about lessons. Theyre either too much time, too much money or too confusing. So you put it back for now. Maybe after that big project is done. Maybe next summer. Maybe when the kids are older.

Most people who are drawn to guitars, but who have never played guitar, are a little star-struck by them. They sometimes believe that the guitar is much more than what it is. Being able to produce music seems like magic in a way. Music is such a powerful, universal language that it can be overwhelming to think that you could make that happen. Feeling this way can make people feel skittish with a guitar and treat it too gingerly.

Theres one thing you should remember about guitars. They arent magic. The music is magic, but not the guitar. The guitar is simply the tool that creates the music.

A good way to think of a guitar is the same you think of a pencil. When you first picked up a pencil as a child, you scribbled with it. You saw that if you moved your hand one way, the lines would do one thing, and if you moved it a different way they would do something else. When you got a little older, you learned how to hold the pencil correctly and you learned to print. At first your writing was a little shaky, but as your teachers helped you and you practiced, it got better. It wasnt long before picking up a pencil and writing didnt require any thought at all. The pencil just became an extension of your hand, and your thoughts began to flow right through it.

This is the same way the progression of learning to play a guitar works. At first, before you learn to play and youre just messing around with one in the store, youre kind of scribbling with it. Seeing what happens when you move your hands one way, and then the other. When you start learning to play the guitar, you learn to get comfortable with it and your fingers begin to move the right way on their own. Before long, your guitar is an extension of your hands, and your thoughts flow right through it.

Remember that guitars were created to be played. Whether you always linger over the guitars in the music store at the mall or youve got one gathering dust in the corner, you will never regret the time you spent learning how to play.