Why guitar?

my wife is from spain, she grew up hearing flamenco and the music of the gypsies there. She always loved in and finally last year she started playing

I started it in 6th grade.(im in 9th now btw) 2 years b4, my mom and I tryed Karate lessons and didnt like it. The next summer we tryed swimming. Didn't like that either. so the next summer we took guitar lessons. We wanted something fun to do so we tryed all those things. We didnt stick to lessons b/c of several different reasons but I bought a book and here I am. Also ALOT of my family plays guitar. My great grandma(not anymore but could),a great uncle, 2 uncles, 2 cousins(maybe more), my dad, and several more. And if they dont play guitar they play something else.(2 uncles and a aunt had a band goin at one point and even let out a cd that the family got but then they broke up)I have a very musical family. So I guess it runs in my blood to love guitar also.

........ staring at the guitars displayed in the shop window.
One of them was a replica of a 50s Stratocaster with a beautiful twotone sunburst finish.
It said "Vester" on the headstock and was offered as a Limited Edition - one out of twelve - for 2400$(gulp). That was in 1992.
And now, twelve years later I passed the shop window by chance and saw my dreamguitar was still in there with all plastic parts yellowed from the sun.....

What an amazing story. It's almost as though the guitar and you were meant for each other. :)

I started in January 2004. My main reason, was because of just what I heard on the radio. Also, im a HUGE classic rock fan, i dont really like any of today's music, but all other kids are in love with it. Its not really quality stuff. Anyway, other than that, it was mainly my uncle who got me started. Back in Lebanon, my 2 uncles, and their cousins formed a band, and they gigged all over the country. (not that impresssive, lebanon is about as big as long island :lol: ) but they were pretty well known in the late 70s, they plaed lots of rock, santana, etc. Over the summer, I was at his house and I discovered his guitar, just tinkering around, thats when we started talking alot about it, and he got me into it. After I got back in NYC, a few months later, I bought my first guitar.

It is true that the guitar has in recent times been imbalanced towards men but historical fact shows that the origins of stringed instruments belong to women.
"Instruments like the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years; murals in Egypt show women playing instruments like the guitar from the time of the Pharaohs. It probably originated from a Persian word Gui-Tar meaning a half sphere and strings. It also may have been derived from the word sitar, a similar centuries-old musical instrument and musical symbol of Hindu goddess Saraswati."
It was at the Valencian court in Spain circa 1525 that "the versatile Isabel Coello, at the age of seventeen, astonished the court by her virtuosity on the clavier, the harp, the viol and every manner of instrument then in vogue." - 'The Music of Spain' Chase, Gilbert, 1941.
Anything to encourage more girls to play guitar or stringed instruments surely is a good thing.
I've played in a western bar where I've heard a guy in the band say 'women shouldn't play guitar.' It is astounding that in this day and age there are such backwards views. With so much already against woman in music it serves little purpose to perpetuate myths.

Personally, if someone were to make a comment like "Girls shouldn't play guitar" in front of my daughter, I would seriously have to consider knocking him on his butt, the sudden impact of his bottom jarring the pavement might rattle his brains a bit so he could think before he spoke.

I appreciate the support for women guitar players and the history lessons!

Whatever the reasons are that have encouraged you to play; keep it up! Music can change the world (Live8 anyone?) and can foster great relationships.

Why guitar?

You ever tried packing a grand piano in a gig bag?

:lol: I am actually starting to learn piano, and want to play harmonica, but the guitar will always be number one for me... I just want to play other instruments to have other musical outlet's...

Socially it has always been my favorite pasttime to get together with a couple friends and jam. I have always sang and that is a lot of fun, but I often have no back up and that just isn't very fun for me when a bunch of drunks want me to sing and I have no instrument backup...thus... I chose guitar because it is FUN it is FUN for me, and fun for my friends. I don't have any friends that would turn down a little jam session at a party, and round here in the Blue Ridge mountains, you git yerself a guitar, banjo, harmonica, or a cookin pot and yer gonna have a good ole time. :wink:

Musicians, guitars & food works well up here in the Northeast as well :)

Play on!

Why guitar? Hmmm. I actually first started playing guitar in Grade 9, because I had to, it was a unit in my General Music class. I hated it for the first 2 months, because I didn't find it as easy to catch onto as the piano, which I used to play. So I resented it because I was originally one of the worst players in my class.

What made me change my mind, though, was when I started getting into The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel again. I was raised on them and have always loved them, but it was only recently in High School that I became a huge fan of them and started buying their CDs. Their music gave me motivation for taking guitar seriously, and so for Christmas that same year, I got my first guitar. And I've adored it ever since!

I do agree that men seem to dominate the guitar world. Picked up a guitar magazine lately? A lot of the ads, format, and style seemed geared towards a mainly male audience. I find it a little disappointing as a teenaged girl, but then again, I don't think I even listen to any female artists, to be honest. So I usually don't mind that much anymore.

I originally wanted to play drums, but having no room in my house for a kit and no money to buy them, I picked up guitar. I borrowed one from a friend of the famlily, got my own after a few months, and haven't looked back since.

I played drums for several years and trumpet for over 20 years. I had an uncle who used to come over and play guitar while I kept the beat for him. I always enjoyed our little "jam sessions" and wanted to learn how to play. When I moved to New Mexico from Colorado, I saw that there were a lot of musicians down here. I got motivated, my wife bought me a guitar, and the rest is history. I wish I would have learned how to play when I was a lot younger. 8)

Well...here's my story. I was at school..well not really at school..but it was during school hours and I was on a school bus on my way to tech school. Well I fell asleep and about 30 minutes later i awoke and wanted to play guitar. There was no reason or why i just did. I had an old acoustic in my closet that was my dad's. He gave it to me when i was seven right before he left...again. Anyway i was fifteen at the time i had this revelation. I dont know what made me want to do it but i went and bought a pack of guitar strings. Put them on the old acoustic and started playing. Now im in a band and rocking my days away. And ive still managed to remain drug free.

I appreciate the support for women guitar players and the history lessons!

Whatever the reasons are that have encouraged you to play; keep it up! Music can change the world (Live8 anyone?) and can foster great relationships.

I do too! :) I have three girls. One is getting a 5 string bass and another a electric guitar for Christmas. My youngest likes to play around with the mandolin- better size fit. For us women + guitars = :D