Another new guitar

So now equipped with my new purchase the Yamaha F310, my Vintage SG copy and amp it was time to knuckle down and learn more songs, mainly easy stuff, Neil Young’s Heart of gold and Old man  were firm favourites along with a host of Bob Seger tracks such as Like a rock, Main street and Hollywood nights.  All sorts of artists from Ac/Dc, The Stones, & Scorpions to Simon & Garfunkel, Willie Nelson & Alan Jackson came under the spotlight.  

As time went by I was temped into another purchase. I was looking around my local music shop and was torn between a Fender acoustic and an Ashbury. The Fender obviously had the name but the Ashbury played beautifully. Hmmm! A difficult choice. This time it was the Ashbury electro acoustic that won. It was smaller in the body than my F310 and it was great to play. The fact that being smaller that made it more suitable to transport around, something I could pick up and take with me to practice anywhere. It sounded great through the amp as well. The controls consisted of volume, presence, treble, middle and bass along with a battery check button for the 9v battery.

A great price at £180. The beauty of this guitar was being smaller I could take it away with me on my work trips, I could sit in the hotel room and practice. Did I get anyone banging on the walls and shouting “shut that noise” well strangely I have to say “No”. As well as this I could plug it into my amp too, a win win situation, (well maybe not for the neighbours eh!) but yes I was improving. 

I was getting better and more confident all the time, the internet had been a great asset with a wealth of sites offering guidance. It was easy to look up chords for songs, looking up video on YouTube to learn songs and riffs. I would listen to a song on the radio of on cd and think “Hey! That sounds cool” I would make a note and then go over to the PC and look up the chords or riff in question and have a go at learning something new. I got my self a folder, bought some clear plastic pockets and printed songs off and learnt as I went.  

My collection now consisted of a Yamaha F310 acoustic, an Ashbury electro acoustic and my Vintage SG copy plus the Leem amplifier. Three guitars and one amp. Loads of songs on paper, getting better  and more confident with time.  

Here is a few more videos to take in. Have fun

Back soon "keep a hummin' and a strummin all over gods world".

the journey continues

So the die was set, I had my new Jay Jr guitar that I won in a raffle (unlike Bryan Adams who got his at the 5 & Dime).  I now had to start learning to play the thing, so armed with a chord book I got some lessons from a friend of mine who taught me some easy songs like Jimi Hendrix “Hey Joe”. Lo and behold I got better as time went on. Learning songs that I liked was the key. As a big Bob Seger fan I was so pleased to find many of his songs used easy chords. G, D, C, Em, A etc. I was on my way. That Jay Jr proved to be a great starter guitar. 

Vintage SG copy

As time went on I felt I needed something with a bit more oomph so it was time to add to the guitar collection, whilst searching eBay I came across a red SG copy made by Vintage. I did a little research and Vintage seemed to be a half decent guitar, and of course I loved my SG bass all those years ago. The seller wanted the buyer to collect so I figured that it should be all ok if I was collecting it from him. As it turned out it was another good buy. It was in mint condition; it played beautifully and sounded great too. A bargain at £70. I then bought a Leem amp to play it through. I was off and running with the electric guitar. After a while more practicing and I was improving all the time.

Yamaha F310

 Soon the Jay Jr was traded in at my local music shop and replaced by a Yamaha F310 another guitar that was so good to play and great value for money at a little over £100. 

 Practice practice practice. That was the way forward. The only way to get better was to keep going and playing songs you like is the key as it makes the whole thing enjoyable. Having the electric guitar is great but it is so convenient having an acoustic at hand to just pick up and strum and at this point that was what I was doing. I would hear something on the radio or remember a song then off to the internet and find the chords then learn the song. I found www.ultimate-guitar.com to be about the best. They have a terrific amount of songs on their database. Ultimate guitar has many variations of songs and the ability to transpose into a different key, print options and every thing you need.  

More on the journey next time. I will leave you with some easy stuff to learn.

Guitar fret play is here

Jedson bass guitar circa 1973

A little about me then, my name is Dave. I was born in 1956 and have always loved music. Music has so many different styles and it would be wrong to dismiss some music as rubbish. We all have favourites but I do like a broad range, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country are all genres that I like. Some that I am not too fond of include Jazz, Folk & World music. That said I would never say anything was rubbish as I do like the odd thing that falls into these categories. So I will try and find songs and music that I like, that I have learnt and pass them on to you.

Jay Jr

 

As I said I have always loved music and first tried my hand at playing as a teenager. At the age of 16. I bought a Bass guitar, namely a Jedson SG copy. Bought in 1973 for the princely sum of around £30 and I loved it. There is one on eBay currently at £335. I practiced and got better even managed a gig with a band Trippers Grin but alas along came cars, girls, marriage, kids etc and the guitar went. Then one evening a few years ago I bought a raffle ticket and wa-hay!  I won and it was a guitar starter pack including a Jay Jr acoustic guitar. So that was it was time to learn all over again. 

 Now a few years on and I have steadily improved, sitting alone plugging away using the internet to find tuition videos, song sheets, chord shapes etc. I have a friend called Bob and the best advice he gave me was “forget those learn to play tuition DVDs that teach you the likes of Michael row the boat ashore and Bobby Shaftoe,” he went on to say “learn songs that you like and you will keep playing.” Bob you were so right. So as I said before I set about finding songs to learn and was amazed to discover that many of the best songs are relatively easy when it comes to chord structures.   

The Internet has been a great resource. I mainly use sites like www.ultimate-guitar.com and Guitar tutor man and of course youtube and this has proven so important in learning.. 

Here is something nice and easy from the Guitar tutor man, the Creedence Clearwater Revival  song  

Have you ever seen the rain

So thats it really get stuck in, don't be affraid and keep goingit WILL come together.