sparquelito Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 I'm sure it's been done to death in the past, but I can find no evidence of it here. So the question is out there. What made you pick up the guitar? Why did you decide to become a guitar player, as opposed to other, ostensibly more honorable professions like 'bouncer in a whore-house', or 'septic tank vacuum guy'? What's your story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson Artist Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I picked up guitar at the age of 13 in an Eckard wilderness camp for boys back in 1983 because the camp counselors encouraged us to do arts and crafts or music. So, i wanted to try the guitar. One of the counselors let me play his until I got my mother to buy me a cheap 40 dollar Sears acoustic. it had horrible action and i had to re tune it often, but it was mine. Was so estatic to have my own guitar that i took to it like a duck to water. Other kids got guitars also, but they quit playing after a week. I played everyday, learned the beatles, bob dylan, folk music, eagles and then started writing my own. Have played guitar on and off since 83 but didnt try electric until 2006. But, much as i love my les paul there aint nothing like going out on the front porch and playin some good acoustic music. These days i play everything from neil young, green day, radiohead, eric clapton, mazzy star, david bowie, coldplay, the verve, gary allen, audioslave, heck i can even play bette midler on acoustic lol. Also own a keyboard, dulcimer, harmonica, violin, 2 rattlers, and a walrus skin drum. I someday hope to buy a cajon and finger pianos. What can i say? i love music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 It was the summer of '61, and with nothing better to do, a few of us went to a Kingston Trio concert on a whim. Remember, it was '61. About 20 minutes into their show, I realized these guys weren't really working, they were having fun. Two weeks later, I was taking lessons, and 2 years later, I was playing in a cover band and realizing that yeah, they really were having fun. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glp2012 Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Why did I take up the guitar? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. If anybody tells you differently, they're selling you something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 My grandfather left me his Washburn 1923 yr model , that was my start 4H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson Artist Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 My grandfather left me his Washburn 1923 yr model , that was my start 4H That is so cool! Wish i had a antique handed down like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I was usually one of the shortest / smallest kids in my age group.. I knew sports wasn't gonna be my thing... I asked for a guitar for my 8th birthday and started taking lessons (1965,,,) Then,,.. I heard about Jimi.. that's all it took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 My parents made me do it. Pretty cool huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 The Beatles made me want to. Roy Buchanan made me want to concentrate on lead. I was pretty shy as a kid, so I was also hoping girls would notice me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Ladies love guitar pickers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 It all started here.. then... B) The first thing that made me interested in the guitar was KISS and Ace Fehley. Then it was hearing "Sultans of Swing". Then it was hearing Van Halen. But it wasn't until 8th or 9th grade that I finally got a guitar, along with some of my friends. We took some lessons and started jamming and playing around together. Thirty some years later I'm still enjoying it. That was the abbreviated version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Same reason I took up smoking - to pull chicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I was always involved in some kind of sports when I was young then got older and had a serious foot injury and stopped those. I then retired 3 years ago and I have enough time on my hands now to do so, so I Have always loved music and decided to give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 The first 24 notes of Creedence's "Up Around The Bend". My best friend in 1968, Russell, told me that I would never play that in a million years. 8 years later I was playing it. 48 years later, for the first time, I am playing it in a band. A lot freaking less than a million. Russell, I haven't seen you in 45 years, hope you're doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmokeyGhost Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 A pretty basic reason. Took it up after my wife died so I'd have something constructive to do and to keep me out of seeking an alternative to drowning my sorrows in the pub - not that I was ever a drinker but it's always a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Mac Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 When I was five I heard the Beatles doing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". To me, it sounded like they were having fun and from that moment, I knew what I wanted to do! Mom got me a Silvertone archtop when I was twelve. It played like an egg slicer but, I kept at it. Got my first electric for Christmas after a couple of years(I had to prove that I was going to stick with it). It was a Hagstrom III; I cried because I was so happy! After that, rehearsals in the basement and eventually, my first paying gig with a bunch of older guys I had met. I've been at it since then(almost forty years now)! I don't have much but, I've lived my dream! I have a wonderful wife and child and a warm, dry place for us to stay... really, what more is there? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 first song on the first album I ever bought - probably aged about 9. About 20 seconds in, I'd have known. ...mind you it then took about 33 years to do anything about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I was usually one of the shortest / smallest kids in my age group.. I knew sports wasn't gonna be my thing... I asked for a guitar for my 8th birthday and started taking lessons (1965,,,) Then,,.. I heard about Jimi.. that's all it took. Similar story here. I was too small to do anything productive with sports. My Mom was a guitar player, but she had a stroke before I was born that ended her playing ability. My Dad bought her a brand new 1974 Japanese Franciscan classical guitar to encourage her to start playing again. Unfortunately, her left hand never worked well enough for her to play again, so it sat there until I took an interest in it at about 11 years old. I learned to play from Mel Bay books and whatever my Mom remembered. I bought a Charvel hot-rodded Strat when I was 14, which started my electric playing, encouraged by my enjoyment of the great '60s and '70s bands that were technically before my generation ('80s). I trashed the Charvel and ended up with two Epiphones, most notably the 1993 G-400 that would be my only guitar I ever played in a gigging band (college years). After a long time off, I began playing and learning seriously again in 2014 and have never looked back. The problem now is that I live in the middle of nowhere and have nobody to jam with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody78 Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I took up guitar after seeing Slash on TV in 1991... thought it was the coolest thing ever (I was 7 at the time) and gravitated to the guitar sound and look of the Les Paul. I actually didn't take up guitar to get 'chicks' as many others mention on here! When I as in high school in the mid to late 90's, playing guitar/ music was pretty uncool. Everyone listened to pop and dance music crap. I was one of only about 4 kids who were into rock and blues. I wanted to play and learn about the instrument and be a great musician one day. Spent most of my teenage years in my room listening to records and playing (alongside starting a band). I went on to do a diploma, higher diploma and then degree in music. The 'chicks' came later in life for me - post high school about 17! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 I actually didn't take up guitar to get 'chicks' as many others mention on here! When I as in high school in the mid to late 90's, playing guitar/ music was pretty uncool. Everyone listened to pop and dance music crap. I was one of only about 4 kids who were into rock and blues. I wanted to play and learn about the instrument and be a great musician one day. Spent most of my teenage years in my room listening to records and playing (alongside starting a band). I went on to do a diploma, higher diploma and then degree in music. The 'chicks' came later in life for me - post high school about 17! I must confess that I learned to play the guitar as a teenager because I thought it would make the girls think I was cool, and so they would want to have sex with me. It never actually worked mind you, and I remained a virgin until an embarrassingly late age, but I did fill the time playing guitar, getting better and better at it by each year's passing. I was well on my way to my 40's before any girls wanted to have sex with me because of my guitar playing. Granted, I was married since quite young, but that first wife hardly ever wanted to have sex with me. I'm pretty sure we had a baby together only by accident. I had run into the bathroom in a big hurry just as she was getting out of the shower, and we collided. It was a lot like birds, I reckon. Somehow she got pregnant. Though the child that came along later does look a lot like our old pool boy. It's tough to say. Somewhere in there a divorce happened. I'm pretty sure it was a divorce. I came home one day and all my stuff was gone. And that first wife too, she was gone. But I'm not sure if it was my guitar playing, later in life, that made a lot of girls want to have sex with me. Or maybe it was the fact that I was kind of stupid and I earned a lot of money at my job and was willing to give it all away to any girls that wanted to have sex with me. Anyway, now I'm in my mid/late 50's, and I play guitar pretty good. There are still girls that want to have sex with me, but most of them are pretty much bat-$#%t crazy, and would have sex with a homeless guy if he could come up with $10, a sandwich, and a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Guitar playing or not. Anyway. That's how it goes around here. Never a dull moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I have no idea why I started playing guitar. I was like 12 or 13 and who remembers why they did stuff back then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 A pretty basic reason. Took it up after my wife died so I'd have something constructive to do and to keep me out of seeking an alternative to drowning my sorrows in the pub - not that I was ever a drinker but it's always a possibility. Sorry to hear you've had to endure this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 My parents first rented a trombone for me before I was ten. I had a friend who played guitar, and after I heard the Beatles, I wanted to play, too. I got an inexpensive, Flamenco-style guitar from a local luthier and learned finger-style and cowboy chords from his hot, teenaged, hippie, daughter. Learned mostly Dylan, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and other protest music from the '60s era. Got a POS Kent, Strat shaped, single pickup, electric when I was twelve and hooked it up thru the parent's Magnavox console Hi-Fi. Played off and on (picked up a Takamine acoustic at around 30), but not seriously, until I was around 45. Then, mostly to have a hobby, to keep my brain active, and as a tool for meditation, and to advance as far as I could, I bought a studio LP and took lessons. Over the next 20 years, I've taken lessons off and on for ten years and bought, sold, traded, or given away, dozens of guitars and four amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I have no idea. I don't think I had a choice. There was one there and I started playing it. I was almost 11, but I may as well have been playing them all my life. I don't know any different, don't want to. I've known one other thing nearly as long as I've known guitars, that'd be The Mrs. She wouldn't know me without guitars, I probably wouldn't have lived long enough to do anything with them without Mrs. It's worked out pretty good I think! rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 It was the mid to late 90's and I wanted to be in a skate punk band. I loved Green Day, Blink 182, MXPX, NOFX, Ataris, Hippo's, Real Big Fish, Offspring, etc. Parents got me a Squier Strat and a small Crate amp for Christmas when I was 15 in 1998 maybe? I practiced every day after school (luckily the songs I wanted to play were easy!) and within a year I was playing in a band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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