How did you get "into" playing guitar?

ok. I think Ive told this story back on that previous thread but here it goes..

When I was about 11 (16 now) I thought Rap was the greatest thing ever. I thought metal and rock was just a bunch of noise but it was definatly my choice if no rap was on.. Anyways, one night my dad (a total led zeppelin rocker for his whole life) took me along with him to repair this guys computer ( hes a pc repair guy) and I sat in the car listening to rap and then all commercials. I changed it to our classic rock station, and the song Paradise city was on. I listen to the whole thing, and After feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up, get goose bumps, and feel moved by that solo I HAD to have more. I asked my dad about it. The rest was history. My dad being depressed that his son was into rap when he was brought up a metler was so happy and told me he had been waiting for this day for 15 years. We went home and he started bringing up his music file, Led zeppelin, Metallica, Ozzy, pink floyd, all the classics he went on and on. I got addicted to it. The way it touches my spirit and moves me. The music is so powerful to me. So here I am, MetallicaMan. lol.

That's a nice story.

I had a rap phase too, it's embarrassing. My dad must have been considering suicide.

lol, I dont even know what my dad was going through. lol

While I was at school I was one of those people who didn't really care about music - I had my favourites, but music was something to put on in the background while I did something else, not listen to in itself.

I don't remember what it was that changed to make me take the first step, but that first step was to buy GnR's Use Your Illusion I & II (I remember liking the Don't Cry video, maybe it was that). I had no clue there was anything more to GnR than just the ballads they had released recently, Don't Cry, November Rain, etc, but when I heard the heavier side to the albums, that was it. I was hooked on music in general, but especially GnR. I could never be as into listening to music as I am without playing, that one was a no-brainer.

3 Months later, the first week I left school, I had a £35 old spunker of a guitar and I was off. Crap pickups, 3/4 scale electric with the most pointless type of trem ever invented.

That was 14 years ago, I've never had my hair cut once since and my first ever guitar is sat to my right, having only been put down a couple of minutes ago to browse the forums. (It has nice pickups and locked bridge now, and it's worth it's weight in gold to me. I have 'nicer' guitars, but this is still my favourite). Funnily enough I was playing GnR too, for the first time in a while. :lol:

While I was at school I was one of those people who didn't really care about music - I had my favourites, but music was something to put on in the background while I did something else, not listen to in itself.

I don't remember what it was that changed to make me take the first step, but that first step was to buy GnR's Use Your Illusion I & II (I remember liking the Don't Cry video, maybe it was that). I had no clue there was anything more to GnR than just the ballads they had released recently, Don't Cry, November Rain, etc, but when I heard the heavier side to the albums, that was it. I was hooked on music in general, but especially GnR. I could never be as into listening to music as I am without playing, that one was a no-brainer.

3 Months later, the first week I left school, I had a £35 old spunker of a guitar and I was off. Crap pickups, 3/4 scale electric with the most pointless type of trem ever invented.

That was 14 years ago, I've never had my hair cut once since and my first ever guitar is sat to my right, having only been put down a couple of minutes ago to browse the forums. (It has nice pickups and locked bridge now, and it's worth it's weight in gold to me. I have 'nicer' guitars, but this is still my favourite). Funnily enough I was playing GnR too, for the first time in a while. :lol:
You haven't cut your hair in 14 years? Dude, post a pic.

gnease,

lmao, i hope there is not a court of law that would convict for that lol

hmmm funny, Something about g&r's. They just have that touch to the soul

- M-Man

I started at 16. A mate had a Rossetti Lucky 7 and I wanted one My dad bought me an unnamed and unloved acoustic with the worst action of any guitar I have ever known. How I stuck with it I do not know. Later I fitted a pick up and fed it through an old radiogram. My brother then took up guitar and we played together a lot. Fifteen years on and I was playing bass in a local band, playing pubs and clubs. Oh those heady heights! When the band broke up I sold my gear and that was it for a long time. Another twelve years passed and I happened to mention to my wife I fancied a guitar for Christmas. I expected and would have been happy with another dog, but she enlisted my brothers help and I ended up with an Epiphone PR-350. When I got embarrassed about how little it was being used I signed up for lessons (my first) and have played on and off since. I still have the Epi along with a Squier Strat, a Squier P-bass and a recently purchased Epiphone LP Custom. I just bought a Vox AD30VT and have been given a Korg G1. I also have a Kork PX4 I used before I got the Vox. Now I have found GN there can be no more excuses.

You haven't cut your hair in 14 years? Dude, post a pic.No need, it's not down to my ankles or anything :)

I've posted this numerous times, but that never stops me. :D

I was always interested in music. When I was a boy I would go to my Grandmother's house often. In the closet was a snare drum that belonged to my Uncle when he played drums in his High School band. It had the springs underneath. I would always dig that out and beat on it. So I loved drums from the start.

When I was in Cub Scouts my Den Mother must have seen my interest in music. She actually gave me four or five lessons on her instrument.... The Accordian!!

You wanna see something funny, picture an 8 year old kid that weighed 70 pounds soaking wet trying to play a full sized accordian. :D Man, that thing was heavy.

My teachers seemed to notice too. I was selected to sing in quite a few school plays. I was too young to be scared, I used to love it. I remember singing "White Christmas" at a school play. I pulled out my Bing Crosby imitation.

The one person who did not notice was my Dad. He rented instruments for both my brothers but never me. My older brother would come home from violin lessons and throw it on the bed. I would beg him to show me his lesson. Then while he went out and played, I practiced his lesson.

My younger brother had a coronet. It was the same thing. I would ask him to show me his lesson. I would practice far more than he did.

But the drums is what I wanted to play. I was always banging on everything. I loved the Beatles, especially Ringo. I would play their records and beat on anything to the records. I used to could play Ringo's solo on The End note for note. That was Ringo's only real solo he ever recorded.

Then in High School my best friend took guitar lessons. He had some cheap old acoustic. I would go over and it would be in the corner, my buddy never practiced at all. I would ask him to show me his lessons. He showed me how to play House of the Rising Sun. I would play that over and over and got pretty good.

Then one day I asked him to sell it to me. Oh, what a salesman I was. I said he would not have to take any more lessons, which his Mom forced him to go to. And I explained how I would really play it. He fell for it and sold it to me for $10. What a buy. :wink:

Anyway, I just started trying to figure out songs by listening to them. I got pretty good at this, I guess I have a little natural talent. Within a month I could play 4 or 5 simple songs. Then my younger brother got a guitar and we started jamming through our stereo together. Sounded good. Two buddies of his played bass and drums, so we started a band. We sucked. But we practiced almost everyday, and in about 6 months were pretty good. We played a school show, and an outdoor gig. Then we went seperate ways.

But I have played guitar almost every single day since then.

But I still want to play drums. 8)

My guitar life started in my teenage (1965) when everybody should play guitar in a band.
My parents bought me second hand classical acoustic guitar that I practiced on.
But some years later when I wanted play bass in my friends band they said no to invest in bass guitar with amp. That was the end of my musicians career. But I stilled played on the old guitar. When I later moved out from my parents home, my younger sisters used the guitar for some years.
But it all started again 3 years ago when my teenage daughter wanted to play electric guitar in a band and we bought her a beginners guitar/amp kit. When she lost interest after six month I started to play on the electric guitar and the interest increased. I then bought myself the acoustic/electric dreadnought guitar and that is now my main guitar.
I now ( 55 years old) play for the fun of it and the challenge of learning new things. I am even trying to learn basic singing.

The movie "Rockstar"

My dad was a guitarist. So, I grew up with the sound of it throughout my childhood. Finally, way back in 1969, at age 13, after much pleading and begging and promising not to cry or quit when our fingers started to hurt, my dad took all three of us (all girls) to Montgomery Wards and bought each of us a 3/4 size acoustic. It was a wonderful thing! All four of us would sit and learn and play and laugh together. Now, here I am at 50, still loving the guitar and playing once again after a more than 20 year break. Some things just never get out of your system!! Thank goodness!

The movie "crossroads" (not the one with britney spears). :wink:

AND

My desire to surpass my friend who also started playing guitar at the same time (of course i did). :P

Last summer, I was bored. I felt I was in a rut and my brain was starting to turn to mush teaching the same thing year after year. My dad plays and writes, and I had never tried a musical instrument before, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I thought it would make my dad happy to have someone to play with.

So at 37, I taught myself over the internet and now I am everyone's worst nightmare......The guy at the party that knows 30-something songs and can't play any of them well.

I started playing when I was 14 and wanted to start a rock band with some friends....me and about 100,000 others. I broke my arm a few months later and, long story short, never got back into it.....until now. My 8-year old son just started playing the drums so I told him I'd break out the old 6 string so we could jam - and now I'm hooked!

But boy are my fingers sore. Speaking of which, I can feel the greatness flowing through my viens and want to get some of the adminstrative tasks taken care of now. I think I should have my fingers insured with Llyods of London or another specialty insurer in case I have an accident and my guitar playing career is cut short. I'd be curious to know where others get their fingers insured. I work as an accountant during the day and don't own any power tools (ok, just the drill) so I'm hoping for a safe hands credit. What kind of premium should I expect to pay?

are you serious ?