G is for Guitar

For those who don’t get the reference, my blog has been named after one of my most favourite things. My prized possession. My beautiful acoustic guitar.

I was drawn to this instrument after having watched a friend play Greenday’s ‘Time of Your Life’. I recall admiring his guitar, running my fingers on its steel strings and wishing I could play it as well as he did. That year, I learnt to play a bunch of chords, ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ by Greenday. It was choppy playing for the most part, but it made me ridiculously happy. Soon after, I expressed a strong desire to seek formal training. My mother, who seemed to have been vague with her response, dispelled all my doubts by gifting me a new guitar on my sixteenth birthday.

My taste in music spans many genres, but I am a lover of acoustic rock, folk-pop, blues and jazz. Besides that, my interests also lie in Indian classical music and fusion-rock.

Ironically, my blog posts have little to do with music. There’s a quote that comes to my mind, which is perhaps quite apt in this context –

To stand up on a stage alone with an acoustic guitar requires bravery bordering on heroism. Bordering on insanity.
– Richard Thompson

When my guitar sings, I hear the undisguised euphony of its strings. Every string is an entity by itself, the sounds of which are unprocessed, raw, yet sensitive to touch and flaws.

Around the time I began my blog, I deemed my competence in writing to be next to nil. I was fresh out of junior college, having spent two years in the company of friends with the gift of eloquence.  I was nervous about having to reveal a part of myself to a virtual audience (a part of which comprised my friends and family).  It was akin to going on stage with my guitar and trusting myself to not screw up.

So here I am, six years later, musing over my transformation from an under-confident teenager to a somewhat confident twenty-something adult. I owe it to my guitar for saving me from bouts of low self-esteem. My guitar playing has improved significantly from what it was back then, though I’d rather describe myself as a hobbyist and not a guitarist.

Learning to play this instrument has not been a cakewalk. I recall the struggle to hold a barre chord. There were times when the disappointment of failing to get a simple song right, would overtake the initial excitement. Nevertheless, the joy and satisfaction I felt on succeeding was always palpable. Of course, this holds true till date.

They say patience is a virtue and not a skill. I assumed I didn’t possess it until I picked up a guitar. Turns out that my patience had been dormant.

My theme for the A-Z Blogging Challenge is ‘The A to Z of some my favourite things’. Stay tuned for more posts, this April!