From: John L. Micek, jlmicek@mindspring.com Subject: RE: For the guitarists on the list... Date: 2/28/2002 5:55:40 AM To: seance@lists.no-fi.com Tara, night_of_light@yahoo.com Tara: I did it backwards. I was a bass player first. When I was 12 or 13, the band director at my school came to me and asked if I'd like to learn how to play bass guitar because they needed a bassist for the high school jazz ensemble. I was playing clarinet/bass clarinet and tenor saxophone at the time, so I figured one more instrument couldn't hurt me. Until then, I'd always been dimly aware of pop music -- kind of liked The Beatles. Heard "Start Me Up," by The Stones and dug it (remember, it was 1983 at the the time.). But I was fairly ambivalent. Then, cable came to Canton, Conn., and my life changed. One afternoon, while watching this new-fangled MTV thing, I saw the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" video by U2 -- y'know, the live one at Red Rocks? And it simply blew me away. I was instantly hooked, and one Saturday night, after washing dishes at my father's restaurant all day, I took my meagre pay packet, and went across the street to Caldor's, and bought a copy of "The Under a Blood Red Sky," Ep. I listened to it constantly, and determined, there and then, to master all of Adam Clayton's bass parts. It wasn't too long after that that a friend turned me onto college radio, and a world beyond Top 40 opened up to me. In fairly short order, I was a committed indie kid, and started buying records like you wouldn't believe. Flash forward five years later ... I'm 18 years old, and have already mastered bass, piano, and a little bit of drums. A dedicated Peter Buck fan, I decide I want to learn how to play guitar. So, I head down to Melody Music in Hartford, Conn., and buy a grey sunburst roundback Ovation for $263 on the installment plan. Then, I buy the sheet music to "The Joshua Tree," record, tune my guitar to the CD, and sit down to learn how to strum out every song on the record. That was 15 years ago, and I haven't looked back since. My advice: Start with acoustic. Work your way into electric from there. If you can master the tonal subtleties of the acoustic, you'll be ready to rock out on the electric. Besides, when I was 18, being a sensitive, folkie guitar guy was a great way to meet chicks. ;) Course, you probably don't need to worry about that ... :) see ya. john. > [Original Message] > From: Tara > To: > Date: 2/27/02 4:36:16 PM > Subject: For the guitarists on the list... > > Hey guys, > > I was just wondering what inspired you all to learn how to play the guitar, > how long you've been playing, and if someone taught you or you picked it up > on your own. And how old were you when you began? I've never had the > patience to master an instrument, and I'm getting more and more fascinated > with the idea lately. Is it better to start on an acoustic guitar or on an > electric? > > Tara > > > Cat: Wow !!! My stomach has been pumped and now I'm hungry! Hey there you > are. Hey man, I'm so hungry I just have to eat. > Lister: Shhhhh. Not now, man. Rimmer's dad's died. > Cat: I'd prefer chicken. > -- Red Dwarf > > > _________________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > _____________________________________________________ John L. Micek Harrisburg Correspondent The Morning Call Allentown, Pa.