Defining Moments

[WishICouldPlay]

went down to my local haunt to listen to the band. the best one was playing, three piece, very tight, very SRVish and Jimiish. fabulous.

got me to thinking about some of my defining moments playing guitar and music in general.

they all happened in '69 regardless of bryan adams.

back then, there was nothing to help you learn ... way before the internet, dvd's, cd's ... whatever ... ****, even cassette tapes hadn't been invented.

anywho, there were four of five revelations that opened up a world of possibilities.

someone showed me how to play "no vacancy" by merle travis. opened up a whole world of possibilities on the acoustic.
I figured out that a bar cord was just an "E" with your finger acting as the nut ... suddenly I understood the fretboard.
someone showed me the proper "Hendrix chord" ... again WTF?
mike McKenna showed me how to play "help me" ... I will be forever grateful and appreciative ... still stands up today.

anywho, I've been playing a long, long time ... just an old man recounting past glories ... totally irrelevant and unappreciated now.

hey ... when did I get demoted to "junior member"?

 

[frankb56]

I started playing guitar in the early 70's after burning my accordion. I look back now and think, wow, wouldn't have been great if I had what's available now to guitarists. Back then, everything was learned through figuring things out by ear. I had a reel-to-reel tape deck that could copy up to four tracks but not graphics and nothing to tell you if you were getting things right. In the famous words of Bruce....Glory Days.

 

[László]

even cassette tapes hadn't been invented.

Actually, cassette tapes were on the market by 1964. By 1969, the Dolby system had already been invented and was ready to market. I had one of the first Dolby A processors, that was invented to get rid of cassette tape hiss, back in 1970. I was recording onto cassettes in about 1965-66, just to hear myself play. Of course, at that time they sounded pretty bad.

 

[jfb]

Bar chords were of big help. Trying to figure out modes was also a good time. I remember figuring out that the pre volume knob got me some gain and later on that my amp had a boost mode via a push / pull knob. Distortion is awesome! I also had a fondness for tab books that covered a whole album. Loved those.

 

[Dancing Frog]

When I started playing in 1971, my family had a tape recorder. I would have never thought to use it to learn. Back then, many turntables for vinyl records that were made in the early 60's had a recording speeds of 16 2/3, 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm. You could use the 16 2/3 rpm speeds as phrase trainer for the 33 1/3 rpm recorded material. The real issues were the rpm was pretty inconsistent, tuning was imprecise, and wear and tear on the records and needles.

 

[WishICouldPlay]

Actually, cassette tapes were on the market by 1964. By 1969, the Dolby system had already been invented and was ready to market. I had one of the first Dolby A processors, that was invented to get rid of cassette tape hiss, back in 1970. I was recording onto cassettes in about 1965-66, just to hear myself play. Of course, at that time they sounded pretty bad.

well, technically i'm sure your right. all I know is that I couldn't buy one from Radio Shack until 1972, ergo, they didn't exist.

 

[László]

well, technically i'm sure your right. all I know is that I couldn't buy one from Radio Shack until 1972, ergo, they didn't exist.

Ha!