Play That Funky Music...

I had my bi-weekly guitar lesson this afternoon. I’ve been playing for decades, but hadn’t progressed much over the past few years, and was feeling a bit stagnant. I started the lessons last May right after I got the Marshall. Vinnie, who runs a local guitar store with his dad, is my instructor.

It has definitely been a worthwhile endeavor and my playing has improved a lot. At least I think so and the wife seems to agree. The earlier lessons were various scales, generic licks, and other practice exercises. With the basics now set, we’re now concentrating on songs.

The lesson for last month was “Blues in C”. As Vinnie ran through the licks, I could generally repeat them back alright, but had trouble with the feel of the music. I started thinking to myself; Gee whiz, maybe I’m too white to play the blues. Metal and hard rock I can feel, but I couldn’t find the groove for the blues. But I kept at it. On the last lesson of that series, Vinnie was playing a slow blues rhythm and I was attempting to play lead on top of it. For a short span, everything suddenly clicked. Vinnie exclaimed “Dude, I thought you were white! That was awesome, man.” I guess there’s hope.

This month we’re working on Joe Satriani’s “Crowd Chant”. It has a lot of variation and cool licks with plenty of bends, which is what makes the lead part so fun to play.

I find the guitar a great way to relax after a long day at work. Grab a beer, sit back, crank up the Marshall (but never above 3 to avoid blowing out windows), and let her rip!

What do you folks do to drive away the day's frustrations?