I am just an every day Joe who lives in Manchester UK, I have a boring day job as a taxi driver and dream of being a lead guitarist in a rock band! I can acheive anything if I put my mind to it – RIGHT? I have always been fascinated with the guitar but terrified at the same time, you see I always thought that you had to be able to read music to be able to play, well thats the impression I got from my music teacher Mr Green after my first guitar lesson anyway!! The story goes a little bit like this…Aged 10yrs I saw an ad on our school notice board Play Guitar – Lesson please see Mr Green for details, so I did, he asked what previous musical experience did I have if any, my reply was…”my nan bought me a toy guitar when I was 2yrs old, I played that until the dog ate it when I was 3yrs old” I have played the air guitar every day since!  (I was a very cocky 10yr old) Mr Green laughed and sent a letter home to my parents asking for their permission for me to learn to play the guitar it was £1.50 per lesson. I have to tell you I was so excited, the music department let me borrow a 3/4 size guitar and some chord books so I could practice at home, I practised for hours in front of my full length mirror! Needless to say my “Play Guitar – Lesson” did not run smoothly, yes I picked up the chords quite quickly but Mr Green wouldn’t teach me anything else until I learned how to read music but no matter how hard I tried my brain just didn’t get it! It was the most stressfull time in my childhood, he made me feel stupid and even suggested to my parents that I could be Dyslexic! I quit and went back to playing my air guitar! All stress gone!

As the years progressed I went through the normal stages of giving parents grief, you know how it is, loud music, experimenting with clothes, hair dye, grunting and shrugging shoulders, hormones, girls, tattooing my knuckles, piercings, underage drinking, you name it I did it to my parents dismay! I will admit it was a wild few years but I have settled down now, I am comfortable with who I am – just not too comfortable with what I am, a taxi driver, bloody hell I’m almost sure that wasn’t the dream I had as a kid but sometimes dreams just don’t work out and we have to earn a living! I actually have to say that the part of my job I love is meeting people especially muso’s (musicians) Picture this, I get a call to pick up a guy from a hotel in Manchester and to my amazement – and shock, the guy I picked up was Brian May, for those of you that don’t know who Brian May is, he is the Awesome guitarist with the band Queen! If only that ad I had seen when I was 10yrs old had said “Play Guitar – Lesson” with teacher Brian May instead of Mr Green I would have been laughing now! lol. Although I had a million questions Brian looked really tired so I didn’t bother him but it did re-ignite the fire in my belly to learn to play the guitar again, I dropped Brian off, he was very pleasant and gave me a nice tip. Over the next few weeks I scoured the newspapers and Internet for that familiar ad “Play Guitar – Lesson”, I found a few locally but still couldn’t bring myself to pick up the phone to book the lessons – wow I really did have a phobia, I hope you’re reading this blog Mr Green – shame on you! lol.

I got a call from a mate who lived in London, he was coming to Manchester for a few days and asked to meet up for a few beers, I hadn’t been out for a while and like me Dan loved music so it was a great chance to hit some clubs in Manchester and check out some live music.

Know Your Acoustic Guitar

I am a huge fan of live music and there is no better place for it than a night out in my home city of Manchester! I frequent the bars quite often but my favourite for live music has to be Bar Odder, it’s loud, very very loud! One night I popped in and this guy called Siminese Oghabi got up on stage and performed the most amazing Acoustic Guitar Riff I had ever heard, silence fell upon the bar, jaws dropped to the floor, and that was the moment I knew that I had to learn to play the guitar! When Siminese had finished his enviable Acoustic Guitar Riff he left the stage to a raptuous applause and a standing ovation, trust me you had to be their to appreciate what I am saying! Anyway I fought my way through the crowd to meet this guy and to my amazement he told me he was just 15yrs old and get this, he had taught himself to play the guitar – and he couldn’t read music!! Well when I say he taught himself what I mean is that it was just him and the Internet. Pretty Cool Huh? That was just over a year ago and I am proud to say I have also taught myself to play an Acoustic Guitar Riff or two and am even in a band after only 7 months of playing.

Check Out This Cool Video – Acoustic Guitar Riff

http://youtu.be/AdacX5CIZDs

Know Your Electic Guitar...

I don’t read music but I love music and prefer to try and play by ear, I have certainly improved by listening and watching other people play the guitar. My first experience of playing the guitar  was at primary school when I was 10yrs old, my music teacher Mr Green gave me bass guitar, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar instruction but I didn’t like it because I had to learn to read music, my brain just couldn’t do it and I stopped playing. I didn’t pick another guitar up again properly until I was 24yrs old and it was the best decision I ever made! My advice to anyone who wants to learn to play the guitar is go for it, I’m glad I found the courage to learn to play again and this time I learned to play my way, It wasn’t easy but at least I don’t have to learn to read music!