…and I suspect many of you are not either. I love rippin’ fast leads and flashy guitar work as much as the next guy but it is only aspirational at this point. There are a couple of reasons for this:
- It was never a priority so I never put the time in trying to get to that level of playing.
- It has not been useful in the things I have played over the years.
Priorities
My first love was the drums. However, that was my mother’s last love.
When I said I wanted to play the drums, her response was, “You can’t hum to the drums!” My parents would pay for guitar or piano lessons. My father played guitar and my older brother played; so, it was a natural choice. I reasoned that I could carry a guitar with me wherever I went but a piano? Not so much. (I tried harmonica, too, but gave that up in favor of the guitar). I managed to get a bass at some point, thanks to a younger brother, and began splitting my time between bass and guitar. I could play guitar competently but not nearly as well as my older brother. However, I found I could learn bass parts easily by ear and found myself playing in bands in high school and beyond. I always kept playing guitar, of course, but the rhythm section was my life.
Combining the two pushed me into developing my sense of rhythm that played out when I found myself the lone guitarist when I walked into church one Sunday morning. To this day, I have no idea where everyone went as they never told me they were quitting the group. I didn’t sing and I had No experience leading on my own! Anyway, that’s a story for another day!
All of that to say I put far more effort into bass for most of my teens and 20s and then family life replaced that. Still, I got a good solid foundation in rhythm over the years.
Utility
Later in life as I was able to get back into playing more, I found that I was playing mostly solo or leading a singing group of some kind. If you don’t have good time and a solid sense of rhythm, leading music will be a mess. If you are driving the music and leading singing, there really is no need for a lead break. When they do come up, a flashy blast of notes is not typically the thing to do. Something tasteful and fitting that draws singers back into the next chorus or verse is far more helpful. Sometimes, these happen spontaneously making it good to at least have some chops (no matter how limited) in this area. Can you play the melody when called upon to do so? It’s a great place to start a solo and you can’t go wrong!
Well, the era of the guitar hero seems to have passed for the most part and there is always somebody who can jump in to provide that service anyway. I’m happy keeping the song going and putting in my two cents of solos when necessary. Nobody seems to care (insert joke about how may guitarists does it take to screw in a light bulb) that I cannot channel Steve Vai or Joe Satriani or even Eddie Van Halen. I get my licks in nonetheless 😉
That is why I started Just 2 Play Guitar, by the way. I found over the years that there were many people like me who wanted to play or just needed some help and were not looking to set the guitar world on fire with their amazing chops. We will have that kind of instruction for those who want to learn beyond the basics and Glenn Riley is our first instructor to that end. He is a Musicians Institute graduate and experienced, gigging pro. We are very glad to have him!
For the rest of us, though, let’s learn to play and enjoy the ride at whatever level!