I wouldn't have thought...
Aug. 15th, 2005 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithI've been taking guitar lessons for about a year now, and so far the exercise has been characterized by a lot of drift.
I knew when I started out the I wanted to Play Rock--the Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode, and REM songbooks were sitting in my closet meeping to be let out, and I did want to give them some air. But I also wanted to learn the basics, so I began with a Mel Bay beginners book and started learning to read music again. At the same time, I brought in some of my music, which involved learning chords. My teacher, a nice guy about my age, threw in some forays into soloing, which I enjoyed at first. But as time went on, I found myself avoiding practicing because that enjoyment palled. It felt like amorphous blob music, as though I had been asked to build a house without knowing anything about working wood or laying concrete. I didn't feel I was learning anything, and I wanted some structure. So a couple of weeks ago, I asked my teacher if we could go back to the Bay book so that I could get back to learning music. Relearned a few short pieces from several months ago. As teach and I talked about one of them, I mentioned that I enjoyed Renaissance music.
Well, that's one of my teacher's specialties. He dug a few books out of his bag, and found one short piece for me to learn. Then he dug out another book, and we started going over "Spagnoletta," a lovely short instrumental. It's a train wreck so far--I'm casting the pick aside and trying to learn to fingerpick strings. But the depth of sound and clarity of melody is hard to beat. I love listening to this stuff. I think I may enjoy learning it.
And so I find myself drifting, slowly but inexorably, toward classical guitar. While I enjoy garage band/neopunk alternative, and would like to learn to play it *someday*, practicing it doesn't do much for me now. I want the solid foundation that comes with learning to read music. I want to learn how it all fits, which means that a class in music theory may be in the offing. My guitar teacher will be teaching one starting in October. He also said that we could order the book, and I could work through it as part of my 30-minute a week lesson.
There may be a new guitar in my future--I don't know. I like my Peavey Falcon, and have gotten used to its narrow neck. I tried my teacher's acoustic this evening, and found the larger body and wider neck a little difficult to deal with. My ideal would be a smallish acoustic-electric with a narrow neck. I'm hoping there's one out there with my name on it, preferably without too any $$ attached.
I knew when I started out the I wanted to Play Rock--the Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode, and REM songbooks were sitting in my closet meeping to be let out, and I did want to give them some air. But I also wanted to learn the basics, so I began with a Mel Bay beginners book and started learning to read music again. At the same time, I brought in some of my music, which involved learning chords. My teacher, a nice guy about my age, threw in some forays into soloing, which I enjoyed at first. But as time went on, I found myself avoiding practicing because that enjoyment palled. It felt like amorphous blob music, as though I had been asked to build a house without knowing anything about working wood or laying concrete. I didn't feel I was learning anything, and I wanted some structure. So a couple of weeks ago, I asked my teacher if we could go back to the Bay book so that I could get back to learning music. Relearned a few short pieces from several months ago. As teach and I talked about one of them, I mentioned that I enjoyed Renaissance music.
Well, that's one of my teacher's specialties. He dug a few books out of his bag, and found one short piece for me to learn. Then he dug out another book, and we started going over "Spagnoletta," a lovely short instrumental. It's a train wreck so far--I'm casting the pick aside and trying to learn to fingerpick strings. But the depth of sound and clarity of melody is hard to beat. I love listening to this stuff. I think I may enjoy learning it.
And so I find myself drifting, slowly but inexorably, toward classical guitar. While I enjoy garage band/neopunk alternative, and would like to learn to play it *someday*, practicing it doesn't do much for me now. I want the solid foundation that comes with learning to read music. I want to learn how it all fits, which means that a class in music theory may be in the offing. My guitar teacher will be teaching one starting in October. He also said that we could order the book, and I could work through it as part of my 30-minute a week lesson.
There may be a new guitar in my future--I don't know. I like my Peavey Falcon, and have gotten used to its narrow neck. I tried my teacher's acoustic this evening, and found the larger body and wider neck a little difficult to deal with. My ideal would be a smallish acoustic-electric with a narrow neck. I'm hoping there's one out there with my name on it, preferably without too any $$ attached.
