Guitarist at Heart

My Heart Knew I Was a Guitarist

I've always felt a connection to guitar music. Acoustic has a way of making me melt! There's something about an acoustic song that creates a moment where I pay close attention, my ears perk up, I tune into the elegant string vibrations as if it speaks to something inside of my soul. A softness comes over my heart when listening to the sweet harmonies. My body starts to sway to the rhythm and in that instant I feel aligned. I'm still so impressed with the immediate impact that a lovely strum of a guitar has on my energy. It's a beautiful thing when I connect to it. 

Blues music touches my soul in a different way. It's a soulful jazzy umph that contains a gravitational grit. It's a tantalizing sound that brings a sassy rhythm to my shoulders, and makes me want to get up and dance with my eyes closed. It almost puts me into a trance and brings me back to my New Orleans city high. It's no wonder why BB King was my very first concert I ever attended. The soul of a blues guitar ignites the flame that has been burning inside of me. 

I hoped one day I would learn to play. Buying an electric guitar with lessons for my son years ago was my way of incorporating guitar into our lives. My son would come home from his lessons fingerpicking the typical beginner songs. When I tried to pick the strings, it made guitar seem so difficult and out of reach for me. 

So another 2 years passed and I felt that soulful yearning to want to learn 

That's when I decided to try a guitar lesson myself. Living in Biloxi, MS at that time I researched one of the local cultural centers I had grown very familiar with over years called The Mary C O'Keefe Cultural Center. The guitar instructor was Matt Schnake which I recognized from college. He was personable and wonderful at asking me what I wanted from my lessons. My answer was, "I love to sing and want to learn 1 simple song to play & sing with". We went through a few of my favorite songs and found one that was beginner enough for me to set a goal. 

From the first two classes I learned my first song!!! 

It was one of my favorites "Drink You Away" by Justin Timberlake. I loved playing that song and was excited to bring the electric guitar around to my family & friends to share what I learned. But for whatever reason at that time I wasn't motivated or able to take my lessons further. Life has a way of creating a lot of busy distractions that are necessary for life, but they also keep you at a distance from your passions or the seat of your soul. At that time my career was soaring and my dream of playing guitar went by the way side. 

It wasn't until Corona started that I finally had enough time on my hands to start forming those fingers to fit the chords. The week after I was furloughed from my big time career in New Orleans was the week I picked up that guitar and as a goal challenged myself to post a video of my first song "Drink You Away", and I am now forever grateful that I did! 

The electric guitar I bought for my son was sitting nicely in a corner protected by the foam case. I've heard the electric is the easiest guitar to learn on, especially with my small fingers. A friend of mine suggested Matt Mcoy on YouTube. His videos are easy to follow and he starts with just 4 chords.

...which to me seemed like something I could totally do!! And so I did!

I began watching videos everyday starting with 4 simple chords G, C, D, and Em. 

Did you know there are tons of songs using these simple chords? I was on my way to finding my motivation. My very first songs were "She Got the Best of Me" by Luke Combs, "Heaven" by Kane Brown and "10,000 Hours" by Dan & Shay.... WHY? Because these particular songs used my 4 chords, I knew the words and could resonate to them and well country songs are just easy to play.

Once I quasi-mastered my first 4 chords I would add another such as Am and Dm. That helped me play new songs. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty or "Boondocks" by Little Big Town which has now become one of my favorite songs I play. 

But with learning to play on an electric guitar, I knew I needed to learn a few rock songs to do it justice. My first rock song was "Zombie" by the Cranberries and it’s my top favorite because it allows me to go into an auto pilot trance as my fingers move for me out of muscle memory and I can simply let go while performing this particular song. The words are so powerful speaking of "what's in your head" which has always been the guitar for me! 

I can get so lost in that song but I'm not lost, I am actually exactly who I want to be! 

If you know me personally, you may have enjoyed watching some videos of my journey with learning the guitar. You definitely would notice my love for my new Acoustic/ Electric Fender that I'm sure I will write more about in the future. I plan to challenge myself to post more live videos of my new songs so please stay tuned and thank you for the encouragement along the way!!! 

I could talk about the guitar all day. With so many more stories and ideas. I feel an entire new blog series coming out of it with many topics soooo follow me to see more. Next blog topics may include the following: 

How I've traveled with my guitar to over 10 states!

The Versatility of Switching from Acoustic to Electric and also now the Ukulele

The Story of Buying My First Acoustic

Learning to Play with Others and Finding that Personalities Don't Mesh 

Thank You for reading!!!

Positive Steph Happens