tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163136064861947751Fri, 13 Sep 2024 05:07:42 +0000This is a blog about all things guitar featuring random topics inspired by my work as a guitarist and private teacher in NYC.http://fretboardmusings.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Micah Burgess)Blogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163136064861947751.post-2272796470737557314Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:47:00 +00002011-04-20T20:35:52.947-07:00We each have our own reasons for taking up the guitar. Most people play because they love the sound of the instrument or are inspired by a great guitarist. Others are dragged to lessons by their parents at a young age. I, on the other hand, began playing guitar thanks to Jason, the compulsive liar of my third grade class.<div><br /></div><div>Jason, whose last name I'll not mention(I don't want to get him in trouble if he's still in the compulsive lying business), was always full of ridiculous tall tales. In hindsight, I don't know why I believed Jason for one second when he told me that he had an electric guitar. This news completely blew my mind. I had never seen an electric guitar in person. In my mind, the only people who owned them had long hair, spandex pants, and lived in LA. Could it be that kids in my little town in West Virginia were owning and PLAYING electric guitars?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I decided to throw this little tidbit of information out to my dad one Saturday morning on the way to my soccer game. Not only did he know that it was possible to get an electric guitar but he knew exactly WHERE to get one. A deal was struck... If I practiced consistently on the instruments I was currently playing for the remainder of the school year and saved up some of my own money then I could possibly get an electric guitar. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sticking with the piano and cello was not hard for me but saving money didn't come easy. With persistence, and after a birthday and Christmas, I had put away $75.00 in a plastic jar in my room by Spring. Could this be enough? <br /><br />Not much had been said regarding a guitar since that fateful morning in the car so I decided to nudge. It turns out that mentioning it again was all I needed to do. My parents took me to the guitar store, with my $75.00, to see what kind of deal we could strike up. They even agreed to buy the amp. This was all news to me because I had no idea what an amp was much less that I would need one. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what kind of a guitar could I get for $75.00 in the late 80s? I don't know about what anyone else got for that money but I bought a used guitar with high action, a seemingly decorative tremolo bar, and no name on the headstock... but I loved it. The first thing I did every time I was alone in our house was plug my guitar in and crank up the Gorilla amp that my parents had bought. With the amp on 10 and the tube stack button pressed I would stand on the bed and put my fingers in just the right cool shape and jump off with a hard strum. A couple of months later I started lessons...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>http://fretboardmusings.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-beginning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Micah Burgess)0