Guitar

It's been far too long since I've learned anything new on the guitar. I blame the music I've been listening to recently; I don't know where the hell to start learning to play jazz, and an acoustic guitar really isn't that suitable for thrashing out punk power chords.

I've been playing since before I went to uni (I finally picked up my dad's with the proper intention of learning to play around 1999, at a guess). I got the hang of basic chords quite fast, but I've always been pretty content to stay where I am. I'm pretty good at playing rhythm, but I never put the effort in to learn lead or picking properly. I have improved a little over the years, but I'm still not especially good; my fingers aren't accurate or fast enough¹.

I think everyone who has ever picked up a guitar has had daydreams about playing in a band (however briefly), but I don't think I could actually play in front of people². Frankly it took a long time to get comfortable playing in front of my wife.

Of course there's nothing wrong with playing just for me, but not learning new stuff and not being capable of writing my own sometimes gets frustrating. I need to feel like I'm getting somewhere with it, but recently I've been feeling pretty uninspired.

That said, I did work out most of something new tonight. Some of the chords are still a bit out of reach, but I'm unreasonably pleased with myself for pinning down a couple of the changes.

¹ That's what she said.

² I played guitar in the folk choir at our chapel, but I was neither visible nor central to the effort so I think I got away with it. I did, however, get to play on a CD that we recorded in 2003; I've still got it but can't bring myself to listen to it - the only bit I can identify as my own playing is a horrible mistake I made.