When you first started playing guitar...what was your dream?

When I first started I was 17 and although I didnt have many dreams of playing guitar, I knew I was a decent song writer. Back then my dream was to hit it big. This was in the late 80s. Me and my band were pretty good but we could have been alot bigger and better had we practiced more and dreamed a bit less. In the end of that phase, it was girlfriends that tore us apart.

Fast forward to a couple years ago, I wanted to just learn to play guitar. I figured I was too old to be in a band again. What was the point. Hooked up with the Sunday Songwriters Group here on GN, which I should be more consistant about, and realized that I still was a decent songwriter. Through encouragement from Wes Inman and my buddy SmokinDog, not to mention all the others (Really there are just to many to mention) I realized that music could be a big part of my life. The difference now is I live the dream instead of just dreaming. I write plays, I perform in a terrific blues/rock band. They let me spill my Christian views out in my music when I can. I collab with several people here. I am writing and producing a CD.

Live the dream. Its great to dream the dream but your spinning your wheels until you just live it. I am having SO much fun.

Jim

So long ago I can't remember.....but I've always wanted to record my own songs, I was writing before I ever picked up a guitar.....

I can tell you why I wanted to play the guitar though....in two words....THE BEATLES!

:D :D :D

Vic

Like Vic, the Beatles were a big influence on me, although I loved music from a young age and always wanted to play an instrument. But really, I always wanted to be a drummer. Maybe someday if I have a situation where I could practice, I'll finally pick up that drumset.

A big moment for me was in Cub Scouts. This was in early '64 when the Beatles hit it big. I loved the Beatles. But my den was in a skit contest with about 6 other Cub Scout dens. Our den mother chose to do a skit on the Beatles. She made us suits that looked just like the Beatles, got us wigs, and even guitars. I was chosen to be Paul. :D

We lip sync'd to I Want to Hold Your Hand. The other scouts were dressed up as girls who were screaming and shouting. My older brother was dressed as a bug exterminator. When we finished the song (which we practiced often), my brother ran out and sprayed us with a fire extenguisher. Then all the girls attacked my brother. It was great and we won the show.

But I was thrilled standing up in front of a large crowd on a raised stage. I knew right then that this was something I really wanted to do.

And so, as I got a little older I got a guitar and started practicing. Man, I was a fanatic at first, I would practice 6-8 hours every day. I wanted to be able to play like Hendrix, Clapton, or Page, those were my favorites.

I think everybody wants to hit it big and be famous, but really, I just wanted to play in front of people. And I do that now and love it. It is a dream come true.

I don't know if I had a dream, but I picked up the guitar to start a band with my friend.

We both really enjoyed music and had been thinking about playing gutiar and both got one around Christmas without the other knowing.

Initially I'm sure Hendrix was a big reason I picked up the guitar, but I don't really remember wanting to be in a huge band with fans and big crowds. I think I just wanted to write the best songs for guitar ever, which at the time I thought Hendrix had done.

I want to play 'Sweet Home Alabama' ;)

I started to play because I wanted to paly in a band and also for my own enjoyment.

I have always had this dream of sitting around with friends haveing some drinks , then someone pulls out a guitar and we all have some fun singing and playing ..

Nearly everyone I know plays the guitar except me and my wife and our children , so a couple of years back my son and I started to learn , and we are still learning . I can play one song Christmas day I played and sang it and all the rellies joined in sang it with me .

So I am were I wanted to be ..Play a song everyone knows have some fun and have a great time doing it ...

I was 41 when I picked the guitar up , I am 43 now , my son is 14 and plays about 5 songs , he able to learn something new a lot faster than his old man , oh well it don't matter

Trevor

Me, my dream is for my own pleasure. I'd like to be able to play in 40 years just because it's so god damned fun and because it's a relief to let your emotions out through the guitar.

What about you? What was your dream?

Great question! :D

And I like your answer too. It's pretty much what my dream was - to be able to play for my own pleasure. Nobody in my family (including relatives) played any instrument, so for far too long it was something that "other people did".

I suppose I do have the occasional "Supreme Ruler of the Universe" type daydream where I'm captivating a huge audience with my unique playing and wonderful stage patter, but public performance isn't my real goal. I had a little bit of stage experience in the theatre, but I mostly preferred writing to performing.

I suppose the goals are:

1. To keep enjoying the journey.
2. To be able to improvise simple music.
3. To get enough musical knowledge to be able to talk to musicians, rather than only listen.
4. To write my own songs.
5. To be good enough to play with other people.

I expect to always be working on all of them, but so far I've made reasonable progress on the first four.

Cheers,

Chris

when i started it was to play well enough to be in a band that earned money to support my gear buying syndrome

that's still a goal, but now i want to play like guys like I admire . . . buckethead, paul gilbert shawn lane etc

Playing for fun's all I've ever wanted to do with it. I don't take it too seriously, so I'll never be a great player, but I do have fun.

When I first started playing guitar, I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen!! :lol: It was 1980 or 1981 and I was around 13 and Eddie was just about the closest thing to a guitar god to me. I also loved Page, Angus, Townshend and a load of others, but what I really wanted to do when I started was play like EVH. So many years later, I still can't!

i really want to be in a successful band and play live shows. i'd love to play music professionally for the rest of my life, but i do realize how hit or miss it is and am almost done getting my college degree. but even if i don't play pro, i'll definitely still play the rest of my life. it is a great stress reliever. plus, chicks love it. :)

I wanted to play some REM songs. The idea that one doesn't have to be supertalented to play some lead or *gasp* write a song was totally bizar to me at the time.

My earliest recollections of music are double pronged. On one hand my "Parents" Music, like the big band stuff on Lawrence Welk. That music never seemed like fun to me. It was too 'stiff' and obligatory. (side note: they still show those old shows on our PBS station here on the weekends and its kinda fun to watch them old fogeys now....lol)

On the other hand was my older (half) brothers music. Led Zeppelin and The Stones. Period! It was a Blast watching him lip sync and air guitar. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be Jimmy Page and him Robert Plant and just go out and kick some arse.

I remember the first time I was "Transported" with music. It was while listening Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons and others. I loved that music could take me to other places and bring up emotions.

Growing up I did learn and play the drums for many years, but put music down for a over a decade.

Then/Now as an adult I just wanted to find something to do during the Rainy Winters of living in the Pac North West and poof!!! A friend suggested for me to do something I always wanted. It was a far-fetched idea but I always wanted to learn to play guitar. One of those "LOST" Dreams. I started when I was 36 and I'm 39 now.

My first goal was just to become 'proficient' at it. I still want to be proficient. I don't neccesarily want to play other peoples music, though fun as it is to rip-on some of my favorite riffs/tunes. I want to be able to just Improvise and go somewhere, anywhere with it... even if its only for a few minutes. I'd love to sit down and just go... for a half hour somewhere and run the gammut of emotion, a journey so to speak. I dunno.

In the end, I'm thankful for my friend's suggestion and sticking to it. I've seen myself progress a huge amount in the little time I've played. Honestly I'm alot farther along than I ever thought possible. Its amazing really and the journey will just continue till either my hands/fingers freeze up or I quit breathing. LOL