Playing guitar

I have decided to pick up the guitar again.

This will be approximately the 4th time I have started playing guitar after not playing for a while. A while being defined as 1 year or more.

In high school, I bought this ridiculously crappy guitar from some guy and played it like crazy. Then I got a really cool Jackson flying V guitar and played that. I believe I sold it when I was 19 or 20.

Next I didn't play for a long time. Then I moved in with people who had guitars and started playing again. Acoustic mostly but with some electrical influence.

Then I bought a really cheap guitar that had great pickups. I played it somewhat half-heartedly for a while, then gave it away to a girl who wanted to start performing.

Finally now I bought an acoustic guitar. This would be the nicest guitar I have owned in a while; it is a solid guitar for around $500. The next quality jump comes at around $1000. My theory is that if I can't earn that much money playing guitar then I am stuck with the guitar that I have.

The biggest difference this time is that I am not focusing on becoming the best guitar playing I can be. I am focusing on performance and playing for people. Somehow I believe this is the next step for me.

So I have a buddy who has already taken music pretty darn far. He has played a bunch, sings really well, and has performed at coffee shops all around Washington DC. We have decided to start a group that will play at coffee shops all around Boulder. If we find a drummer then perhaps we will actually be able to do gigs.

I have decided to take up singing, so I will probably do backup vocals and lead guitar. He will do the complement.

Now all I really have to do is learn to sing. I can barely sing right now; enough to get by but nowhere near where I want to be.

In any case, the point isn't to get all technical and precise with the music. The point for me is to meet people and make money. I don't need the money, mind you, but I look at it as vindication that we are doing the right thing. I guess the point is that I am not doing this just for myself; I have never really tried to perform anything and I would like to understand how that works. I figure if people really like what you are doing then they should have no problem paying for it.

Anyway, it is also kind of cool to be playing guitar again. It feels like I just can't really stop doing that. No matter how far I walk away from it I always come back to it. I guess I just really really love the way a guitar sounds.

Chris