And so it begins.
All my life I've wanted to play a musical instrument. I've always been a fair singer. I can keep time and follow along with the sheet music, but I can't actually read music. I'd love to be able to read music someday and actually play an instrument other than my voice. 'Fair singers' can be found on any street corner. Musicians are harder to find.
I always thought that the guitar would my instrument. I've loved it since I was kid. I took lessons when I was young, but getting to lessons was difficult so after a couple of months I was left to fend on my own. This was before the internet and widely available help for those who were trying to teach themselves. Years later, unemployed and recently divorced, I picked up a cheap starter guitar pack and decided I would use some of my free time to learn to play finally. I got farther than I did as a child, even learning parts of some songs. I had no problems playing individual notes, but when it came to chords, I was stymied. After months of practice I still couldn't change even simple chords fast enough to play any song that required them. At 37 years old, frustration led me to put the guitar up for the last time. It didn't seem that an instrument was in my future.
In 2007, Harmonix released a video game called Rock Band as a follow up to their Guitar Hero series that another development team had taken over. After playing a demo at Best Buy I turned to my girlfriend and jokingly said "Our band has a drummer." I really enjoyed the play of the drums, but figured we would switch around the parts with her kids. I still enjoyed playing Guitar Hero and figured others may want to try something different when I played the guitar parts in Rock Band.
Six months after the release of Rock Band I was still playing my toy drums and pretty much ignoring the other parts of the game. Time to move on to something bigger, real drums, so I purchased a used DTXplorer. I live where I can't play an acoustic set, so I got an electronic set to start learning on. If I take to it, and I have no reason to believe I won't at this point, I'll pick up an acoustic set to supplement the electronic and play when no ones around.
I've decided to try and chronicle my journey. I don't expect it to be easy. The closest teacher I've found is about 60 miles away and with gas currently approaching $4 a gallon in my area it pushes lessons to just out of my range of affordability to have to drive that far. So it looks like I'm mostly on my own for this journey. That's okay, though. My best friend plays drums and the internet is a wealth of information to help me out. It can't replace a real instructor, and I know that, but it's the best I can do for now.
They say that sometimes you find your bliss in unexpected places. Maybe, just maybe, I found mine in a Best Buy in Greenville, NC.
I always thought that the guitar would my instrument. I've loved it since I was kid. I took lessons when I was young, but getting to lessons was difficult so after a couple of months I was left to fend on my own. This was before the internet and widely available help for those who were trying to teach themselves. Years later, unemployed and recently divorced, I picked up a cheap starter guitar pack and decided I would use some of my free time to learn to play finally. I got farther than I did as a child, even learning parts of some songs. I had no problems playing individual notes, but when it came to chords, I was stymied. After months of practice I still couldn't change even simple chords fast enough to play any song that required them. At 37 years old, frustration led me to put the guitar up for the last time. It didn't seem that an instrument was in my future.
In 2007, Harmonix released a video game called Rock Band as a follow up to their Guitar Hero series that another development team had taken over. After playing a demo at Best Buy I turned to my girlfriend and jokingly said "Our band has a drummer." I really enjoyed the play of the drums, but figured we would switch around the parts with her kids. I still enjoyed playing Guitar Hero and figured others may want to try something different when I played the guitar parts in Rock Band.
Six months after the release of Rock Band I was still playing my toy drums and pretty much ignoring the other parts of the game. Time to move on to something bigger, real drums, so I purchased a used DTXplorer. I live where I can't play an acoustic set, so I got an electronic set to start learning on. If I take to it, and I have no reason to believe I won't at this point, I'll pick up an acoustic set to supplement the electronic and play when no ones around.
I've decided to try and chronicle my journey. I don't expect it to be easy. The closest teacher I've found is about 60 miles away and with gas currently approaching $4 a gallon in my area it pushes lessons to just out of my range of affordability to have to drive that far. So it looks like I'm mostly on my own for this journey. That's okay, though. My best friend plays drums and the internet is a wealth of information to help me out. It can't replace a real instructor, and I know that, but it's the best I can do for now.
They say that sometimes you find your bliss in unexpected places. Maybe, just maybe, I found mine in a Best Buy in Greenville, NC.
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