Hello from Sweden

rrogerr
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Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:55 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:06 pm

I bought my first guitar with the money I got as I left the millitary service. I took a beginners course and started playing. I remember I felt quite downhearted that I had started so late, I was 20 years old and I wanted to know how to play the guitar and woe the women NOW, not spend endless hours learning it first.

I did spend endless hours, but once that course ran out I never signed up for a new one. Instead I tried to learn on my own and it always ended the same way; i ran out of juice when I rushed head first into a massive wall of teqniques and theories I never could wrap my brain around and had noone to ask. So I quit. After all i had other hobbys that took less effort and thus gave me more satisfaction; photography, novelwriting, boardgames and indeed computergames.

Im not sure what ever happened to that guitar, but I once left home forgetting to close the window and when I came back the neck was broken. So I blame it on the elements of nature, or possibly some members of my family, wich in the end amounts to the same thing.

And for a long while I did not own a guitar. I felt I missed it sometimes, especially just picking it up with no plan, no idea of what to do, no focused practice, just playing what ever came to mind inventing tunes as I went along. I remember how that used to give me some peace of mind that my other hobbies didnt, how that somehow gave voice to thoughts and feelings that I just lacked words or vision to express in other ways.

Only when my brother found a halfbroken guitar abandoned and brought it home and gave it to me I remembered once more the frustration of actually learning to play. I was now 25. I hadnt held a guitar for five years but everything came back to me the instant I picked it up. Both the joy and the frustration.

I suffered from the typical autodidact-guitar-player-syndrome im sure many of you have experienced; i knew a dussin of intros but not a single whole song. I could play the beginning of "Stairway to heaven", "More than words", "Tears in heaven", "Layla", "Romanza", "Cavatina", "Dont fear the reaper", "Nothing else matters" and a few others. My efforts to learn them fully failed as I discovered the potential of internet and the easy access to more songs than I could ever learn; it was just too hard to focus. Whenever I hit a hard passage and embarked on that necessary tedious grinding i just tired of the song and found ten new ones id rather learn instead. Afterall, who would scold me for giving up? Thats right, no one.

I do remember how that guitarr ended. I was a student of library & information science at the time, and we students had a pub of our own. One night I brought the guitar with me because a friend wanted to borrow it. While leaning it towards a wall, someone accidentily bumped into it and the neck broke. So we concluded there was only one decent thing to do with it, to go all in rock 'n roll. The next morning as I came there to help tidy up the place as was customary, we found pieces of it throughout the whole bar-room, including the shelves that held the liqour. Once more I was left without a guitar.

Years went by. The same odd longing struck me from time to time; i missed the meditative feeling of just randomly feeling a improvised melody or a song out. Nothing advanced or fancy, just in line with my general mood. I hit my 30s. Apparently, I had bemoaned the state of things to my girlfriend one too many times as she suddenly on my 33th birthday gave me a guitar with the implicit meaning of pls shut up about it allready. It was completely out of the blue. It was awesome.

But as it turned out I had the exact same problem as before. I just couldnt do this on my own. Once more, enter internet. But this time I wasnt looking for songs to learn, i was looking for someone to teach me to learn. I found several diffrent sites, but once I found total guitars I knew I had found the right fit for me.

I instantly liked Neil Hogan, the way he thaught, his demeanor, the structure of the lessons, where particulary 2 things stood out from other sites; the emphasis on theory and the inclusion of the background of that particular song/artist. It was a comprehensive view on playing the guitar that really rang a bell with me. So I lurked for quite a while, trying out the free lessons and playing for my 2 months old daughter who seems to like it. And recently I took the next step; i joined the Target-lite program.

And im very happy that I did, it seems to be the perfect fit for me. This way I dont get distracted by all options, but stick to two songs for a month. One month should be enough to decently learn a song or two from beginning to end, but only time will tell. The only thing im lacking right now are more theorybased lessons; but im hoping that maybe this will be included in the lite-program sometime down the line. Meanwhile Im trying to learn how to use a pick, something I never played around with before, and something I find suprisingly hard for such a basic thing. Just goes to show how easy it is to miss out on important things when you go autodidact.

Thats a little about me and the road that took me here. Im looking forward to participate more in what this site has to offer and interact more with y'all.

Cheers!


familyman4
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:29 pm
Location: Arizona
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:18 pm

Welcome on board rrogerr,

I have noticed your questions on the forum and you probably noticed how quickly another TG member jumped in to help you find the answers. That is very common around here. Lots of really great people, helping in a lot of ways to make your guitar journey as fun as possible. Sounds like you have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses so all I will add is Good Luck! I truely hope this site helps you as much as it has many of the rest of us...

Bart


BobR
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:18 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:38 pm

Hi Roger (I assume it's Roger) and welcome to TG!

Well I very much enjoyed reading your story, so thanks a lot for sharing that, great to hear some more about you! :)

Which two lessons are you working on right now? And please, feel free to upload a video (busking-channel) to show us your progress or results, or just what you're at. The feedback is often very useful, as many of us will acknowledge. And indeed, if you have questions, fire away! ;)

In any way, enjoy the ride and have fun!

Cheers!

Vanessa (from the Netherlands)


tombo1230
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:27 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:00 pm

Great story rrogerr, now don't give up this time and don't break your guitar and being here taking lessons will fulfill you playing dreams. It's all in your own hands now. :)

Good luck!


Tom N.


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:01 pm

Roger,

A big hi from rainy Sydney.

I loved reading your intro. I got strange looks from the woman delivering my lunch as I giggled at the hidden (not) message behind your girlfriends gift. :) This is one of the best intros I've read and I've read a lot of them.

You sure have come to the right place, we're kindred spirits here for sure. Target lite sounds perfect for you too.

I second Vanessa's suggestion that you post a video, absolutely.

And get that writing action, great sense of humor and eye for detail into the forum. I'm looking forward to seeing, hearing and reading more from you.

Welcome aboard.

Shel


tovo
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Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:35 pm
Status: Offline

Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:37 am

Hej och välkommen! Hoppas du njuta av din tid här och nå dina mål.

Ok, so you wrote in English, I should as well! Welcome from Adelaide in Australia. I was lucky enough to spend 3 years living in Stockholm with my family and enjoyed it very much. So many really nice aspects of Swedish society and some nice memories.

I really enjoyed reading your story and I'm sure it is a very familiar one for many of us here. I think Neil is a great teacher and he has a theoretical knowledge that I can't imagine is surpassed very often if ever. You have come to the right place. As Vanessa suggested, jump in soon and submit a video for review. You will improve more quickly than you might imagine by using every tool available to you here at TG. You will never find a more supportive environment.

Lycka till!


rrogerr
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:55 am
Status: Offline

Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:30 pm

Hello everyone, and thank you for your welcome!

The sense of community here is strong and Im very happy to become part of it. Im looking forward to start interacting more with you all, come time and opportunity.

familyman4
Thank you Bart. Im sure this site will help me get past some of the hurdles that previously kept me back; and im very happy that the community seems to be very alert and active; that makes it all so much more fun. And in the end its the fun that makes it all worth it, and I hope I can contribute with some fun of my own in the future. :woohoo:

nesh16041972
Hello Vanessa, yes my name is Roger. :)
I choose "Seven bridges road" with the eagles and "Here come the sun" with the Beatles.

Seven bridges road is an old favorite of mine but it always seemed to advanced. When I saw the preview I thought that I might just be able to play it; and as it turns out, it is very fun to play and sounds awesome wich make ME feel awesome too. :)

As for Here comes the sun, i thought it was a fingerpicking-arrangement, but it turns out its for pick, and as im pretty crap with a pick its a huge challenge for me. Its very slow progress, but im getting better daily.
.
Before I got here I had never heard of busking, and im still not sure exactly what it is about. But sharing and learning from eachother seems like a wonderful idea, the videos I saw was impressive, inspireing and endearing, everyone at their own level doing their best, braving the viewers and getting alot of positive response. Im a bit shy, and I dont even have a camera; but this seems like a pretty forgiving arena so maybe thats something Ill think about in the future. Maybe using a mobilephone to record it?

tombo1230

Haha im hoping my guitarr will survive this time. :huh: You are right Tom, its all up to me and Ill be damned if I give up easy this time. B)

michelew

I would giggle too if I had my lunch delivered. :blink: And thank you for your kind words Shel. :blush:
I hope there will be ample opportunity to be part of the community/ the forums, thats something I enjoy immensly. As for uploading videos, as I said to vanessa, ive got kind of a stagefright and also I lack the knowhow and equipment. But Ill consider it, because you all seem to create a very positive and enthusiastic environment. :)

tovo
Tack min vän!

Im happy you enjoyed your stay in Stockholm, its a beutiful city. I live on the westcoast, Gothemburg, maybe youve heard of it? Next time you come to sweden, come visit and Ill show you the front-end of sweden ;)

You are right, this community has a really good vibe and it seems very supportive. Maybe I should give "busking" a try, ill see if I can solve everything I need to get it done.


I hope I get to know you all better forthcoming.


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