jbird

My freshman year of college was one of many new experiences that have forever changed the course of my personal history. It was early November when I got the itch, an uncontrollable itch to learn how to play the guitar. This little black beauty would come into my world at a time when I needed something the most. It was one small accomplishment in a time of frustrating failures.

Alex was his name, and playing guitar was his style. He was the first person up-close that I ever saw actually play the guitar so well. He never looked at the guitar when he was playing it, he never messed up any part of any song, and to top it off, he sang like a bird. He was kind enough to try to teach me a few things. These few things were some “simple” chords. Simple chords are the cornerstones of most musical arrangements. E, A, D, G, B, F and C these are chordes that can be altered to make different sounds called minor notes. Looking back on it now, I see how “simple” they really were, but at that time they seemed like mini feats of glory when I heard that E chord ring out loud.

It was long before meeting this fellow freshman that I loved the guitar, I just didn’t really know why. I first fell in love with the sound of that acoustic guitar during another freshman year. My freshman year at Armstrong High School, home of the Falcons, one of my good friends wanted me to listen to this band (something DMB?!?). I never heard of this group and was excited to listen to some new music. It was while listening to the song Crush on the album Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band that I knew my life had changed forever. Those sounds coming through my cheap, almost sweet headphones took me to another universe, even though I was lying in my little twin bed on Sumter Avenue North.

With the inspiration taken from my borderline obsession with the Dave Matthews Bands’ music and the selfless coaching from Alex my freshman year, I started to learn how to play the acoustic guitar. With an “early” Christmas present that year from my dearest mother, I had myself a brand new beautiful black baby…My Takamine. I found little success in the beginning, and was continuously contemplating quitting countless times. If it wasn’t for those cheap thrills I got from hitting a few good chords that kept me coming back for more, I wouldn’t be writing about this. With time and much practice, to the partial demise of my homework, I found a small amount of success with this new adventure into music.

I think with all of the new music I was hearing from all of the different kids of people I was meeting helped me find some of this early success. I wanted to jump right into learning some of those beloved DMB songs, but Alex insisted on learning chords and easy songs, “The Dave Matthews Band is not for beginners” he said. So the first song I ever learned was Walk Away by Ben Harper. This song started me down this long road of learning to play the guitar, with a gentle wind at my back. I had clandestine affairs in the dorms shared kitchen late at night playing this Ben Harper song over and over again. I played it so many times, that I was then told by Alex to play it in the dark. This blind practice helped me learn how to feel the guitar, which in tern has been one of the most important lessons I ever learned.

I now find myself, four years later, still playing just about everyday, with almost the same amount of gusto I had when I first touched that “early” Christmas present all those years ago. It has to be the combination of loving music and loving to play music and creating my own perception that gets me coming back for more. I know that I will be playing for either myself or others for as long as my hands are arthritis free, and even then I would probably just pop a couple of Aleve and get going on getting funky.