Beginner Guitar Studies: Opening New Vistas for Expression
As a private creative outlet, there’s nothing better than playing music. Many people feel locked out of this arena, often for the most ridiculous reasons. Many people who would love to join the ranks of budding beginner guitar students, deny themselves opportunities for musical expression because they’ve heard the myth that if you didn’t begin at six, it’s all over, the door is closed.
It is a shame the numbers of people who long to sing, play an instrument, even compose music, but are believing the lie that it’s all too late. Playing an instrument, particularly the guitar, is a spiritually fulfilling experience. It can bring deep emotional satisfaction and rejuvenation. And, as a social experience, it is a powerful force for bringing people together and helping you and others overcome insecurities and shyness. Often in a group, we are egged onto do what we secretly want to do but can never get the courage up to initiate. As a beginner guitar player, we owe it ourselves and others to get in motion with the process, to conquer the fear holding us back.
We all need the kind of encouragement that eggs us on can move us from being a beginner guitar student, playing alone in our bedroom, to playing with friends, right into public performances. A lot of things block people along the way; it’s a natural road yet one less traveled in our world of high-tech, downloadable, and plugged in sound production. I heard a great interview with an old blues player from the South. He said, “Things are so loud today. We used to play quietly, so you could really hear it, and we played everywhere we went.” It was a natural part of daily life for him and I’d so much like to see it become that way for us again.
