Hi Jeffrey,
I’m happy that you replied my post in the facebook group. I want to thank you for building the wonderful Guitar Institute. I’m willing to share with my story and how your books help me.
—My story—
I’m a self-learner as a guitar player since I picked up my friend’s guitar for the first time in summer 1998. I never took any guitar lesson because I couldn’t afford it (or a guitar). My family ran a small business and went bankrupt in 1998, right after I was introduced to an acoustic guitar by my friend. After that summer I went to high school. I had to work part-time after school.
I never thought I would keep playing guitar by learning from books and listen to CD (borrowed from friends) and radio, but I did. I tried to mimicking and play exactly what I heard. I had to find the rhythm or chords by repeating every second or every note. That was VERY long way to go. But every time I learned a complete song, that was the greatest joy at that time.
I went to college with a part-time student assistant job in the school. I had a band in the last three years of my college (2002~2005). I bought my first guitar, an Indonesian Epiphone Les Paul at USD150. We played at school events and some local pubs. We wrote some songs but mostly covered pop songs. In the pubs we received customers’ song request. That was a very powerful training to my ears and sense.
My musical theory and skills are as weak as a trembling house built on sands without reliable structure. My ability of reading notes, tabs or sheets is zero. I couldn’t play accurately because I didn’t know how to practice efficiently. I only knew how to play comfortably and tried to sound as best as I could.
I went to my church and became a Christian in 2005 before graduating from college, and was enlisted in military service until retired in 2006 (military service is obligatory in Taiwan for every men). Then I went back to my church and joined the worship team in 2007. Our musicians were mostly pros in Taiwan, and I was the only amateur in the band (until 2015 we had new members). I’ve never been asked to play better or felt any pressure on my playing. They all accepted how I played.
In 2016 we released our first CD. I suddenly realized the gap between me and the pros. I listened to Hillsong, Bethel, and Jesus Culture in English and Chinese (some of the songs were translated and covered by some worship teams in Taiwan). Luckily my English was good enough to start to look for the resource worldwide I could learn or follow.
I never heard of your name or any other worship artists even though many songs were already translated into Chinese version and widely played in worship in Taiwan. I asked myself, “if I want to play better, who do I want to sound like?” You, Nigel Hendroff, and Jonny Buckland became my guitar heroes. I want to sound like you. (I was happy to read from your blog that you were also influenced by Jonny.) I couldn’t afford a nice Gretsch or Suhr, so I got a Japan Fender Thinline 72 Reissue.
—How your books help me—
Your books work perfectly for me as a self-learner. They strengthen my learning, give a better structure of my knowledge, and explain many things I’ve learned but didn’t know what they are.
Firstly, your book title “How I Play Guitar” is very attractive to me. You are the only of my guitar heroes that write books. In 2017, I watched almost every video by you. From the videos, I rebuilt my pedal board and changed my guitar. I found my sound. And the first book “How I Play Guitar” gives the structure and the cornerstone of my playing. Actually I experienced maybe 60-80% of what you shared in the book as well as the second book “Music Theory for the Music Industry”. My problem is, I could identify the notes and chords as soon as I heard them. But I didn’t know how I learned this or how to tell my team mate. And in your book you taught me how to train my ears. Training to hear and identify the intervals is really amazing. I thought it was a gift, but it was a skill that can be acquired.
The second thing is that I learned from the book how to practice. The first picture in the book is the C major scale on the guitar fingerboard from 2nd to 5th fret. I took my first ever guitar lesson on March 5. My teacher taught me exactly the same picture and told me how to practice. Honestly, I went back to your book after my first lesson. I was shocked when I saw that picture. And then I felt I don’t need to go to my second lesson until I practice your books again.
The most important thing to me is the correct mindset on my journey of playing guitar. Just like the recent videos, I love your sharing about the attitudes toward learning and playing. When I feel lost somehow, the passion I learned from you could always refuel my passion. My passion is always there since I’ve been playing guitar even when I couldn’t afford a guitar or any lesson.
Now I’m still using used/budget pedals and guitars. I play in our worship services 1~2 times a month. I want to sound better and play better, and now I enjoy practicing and playing more than ever. I’m excited to learn from you every week.
Best regards,
Richard