This Book is About Having Fun with Amateur Music
The very first thing I remember wanting was a guitar. But I was raised on the American frontier on a homestead. There were no music stores (or stores of any kind). There was no money for a guitar. I didn’t even know anyone who played the guitar. But we had these community dances, and a band was brought in from outside the community to play, and they always had at least one guitar player. My joy, even as a child, was not in dancing, but in standing in front of the bandstand and trying to mimic the sounds of the guitar with my voice.
The very first guitar I had as a young boy was made from plans that I found in an old Popular Mechanics magazine. I made it all by myself from a cigar box, a broomstick, and a rubber band for a string. I made a few more guitars over the ensuing years, but all were little better than the cigar box guitar. I had never even held a real guitar and had no clue as to how they really worked.
My determination impressed my parents and finally when I was around twelve, they bought me a real guitar – a mail-order job from a Sears and Roebuck catalog. It came with a little booklet of instructions from which I learned to make chords and strum. Mom was self-taught on the piano and had one, and I learned to follow her chords as she played. But something was missing. I didn’t know it at the time, but I failed to understand how to tune the guitar, and I missed by a mile.
A year or so went by and finally somebody came by the ranch that played guitar, and in my desire to show my great playing skill I did a little strumming for him. A little bit embarrassedly he asked me if I’d like him to show me how to tune it. Then he showed me a few little licks, and that’s how it all began. I’d had a lot of fun up to that point, but then it suddenly got way better. Over the years I kept learning from other players, but it was always fun no matter what level I was at.
Nonsensical Home-grown Music Theories
Theory 1. There are basically two kinds of music – professional, and amateur. One kind is music played professionally for fame and fortune and love of perfection in the music. This venue requires strict discipline, lots of instructions, study and practice. Another kind is music played strictly for enjoyment in the home, the back yard or even the barnyard. And maybe even singing in the shower. It can involve just one person, yourself. Or you can gather with others of like mind and just jam for fun. The main requirement for this kind of music is that the music is played for fun and emotional feelings rather than perfection.
Theory 2. If you can drive a car, you can play an instrument. When you learned to drive you did it because you wanted to. To play an instrument you will need to want to. When you first started to drive none of the motions or actions you did were natural. But you kept driving until finally one day you were driving down the road, and your eyes, your hands and your feet were doing what they needed to without you even noticing. At that point you have developed what is called muscle memory. This same thing is true of playing an instrument. There will be some hard work at first and it will not feel natural. At time it is very uncomfortable, and as in the case of the guitar, it is painful to the fingertips until you get some calluses. But if you want to play and don’t give up it will get as natural as driving a car. If you are having fun, and work hard at it, it won’t take long.
Summary
I do not hold one type of music over another. The best one for you is the one that you like the best. You can even combine all kinds of music if you like. Each has its own place in the world of music.