"Talking Guitar" (Oct. 2011)

Another of my irregular musings on the infamous Circle remaining unbroken.

The summer of 78'. I was a teenager aspiring to be a guitar player and part of the jaw-dropped world that heard Eddie Van Halen for the first time. And everything that I had thought about playing guitar got pretty radically altered. Like Jimi Hendrix did over a decade earlier, EVH changed the conversation about electric guitar. Many innovators and fabulous players have come along since, but in my life hearing "Eruption" for the first time was a watershed event.

I admit it - I love my instrument, maybe even more now after some 30 years have passed since that passionate teenage love affair with rock and roll began this long relationship. While I've been inspired by many players over the years in ways great and small, I've never approached the skill level of the acoustic and electric guitarists that I consider the greats (though I've been told I bear a more than passing resemblance to the bespectacled Eric Clapton). I know I don't want to emulate the hard living that many of them have done!

I work hard at the craft though, and lately I am deep into another phase of rich creativity and dedication to the instrument. I find myself keenly dissecting the fluid overdriven arpeggios of Eric Johnson, the elegant chordal melodies and dizzying speed runs of Johnny Smith, and the steel-string grace and power of David Grier, Doc Watson and Dan Crary. I'm of the mindset, "fill your ears and mind with the very best influences, and that will be what you strive to attain".

While I may never master a single thing any of those giants have done, I am delighted to immerse myself in the efforts and improvements - the understanding, the practice, the touch, the tone. 

One night several years ago, after a concert in the church I grew up in, I was in the meet and greet talking with people (many of whom had known me since I was first learning to play). Lois Hall, an elderly woman who used to be a revered Sunday School teacher in my childhood, held my hand in hers and told me how much she had enjoyed the show. Then with a gleam in her eye and an earnestness in her voice, "and I just LOVE how you make that guitar talk!". 

Lois passed away some years ago, but the memory of her and that conversation always brings a smile. While of course I am pleased that she and others think highly of my sounds and skills, I am far from satisfied. I am dazzled at how many new and challenging and amazing sounds guitarists around the world make every day. There is no ceiling on the possible - only the limitations of one's time and talents.

So for the first time in my life, I am designing myself a rigorous course in advanced guitar playing - a college-level in-depth study of those I consider the Masters. My goal is to be a considerably better guitarist by the end of next year - tastefully incorporating new techniques and ideas into my music and my concerts.

I've actually never really taken a formal guitar lesson. I've learned mostly from watching others, from asking people to show me how they did something, or simply screwing around with the guitar until I figured out what was going on. So I am learning something new, all over again - how to learn, how to practice, how to study, and how to rest and think about what I am learning to allow the process to fully develop. Some new skills!

Good things happen with a guitar in my hands, whether it's a new musical motif for a song or some little "a-ha" moment about playing. I plan on having a guitar in hand a lot in the coming months. School is officially in session, and the kid in the front row is eager to learn, all over again.