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View Full Version : Hello from Toronto, Canada


coreyjdavidson
12-21-2008, 09:24 AM
Hi folks,

I joined the site about a month ago and have been going through the Fundamentals videos since then.

To make a long story short...

I first bought a guitar in late 1994 as a teen (a candy apple red Kramer, I believe) which I ended up trading to a friend for a Samick bass...took bass lessons for about 5 months, got discouraged (by a teacher who only taught what he liked...and stole the tapes his students would bring in to have him transcribe our favourite songs). I didn’t play for the next 4 years.

I Picked up an Epiphone in late 1999 shortly after I found out my mom had terminal cancer. Recording "bedroom demos" and playing guitar while I looked after my Mom with my Father until she passed away in 2002 was just about the only reason I survived those years. I ended up buying 3 Rickenbackers during this time (Peter Buck is my guitar hero, R.E.M. my favourite band), which I had to sell a few years later due to financial reasons (getting back into the workforce after many years and heading back to school to finish my undergraduate degree).

I didn't really play guitar from 2004 onwards (I started learning piano from my girlfriend, but gave up). Finally, after many years of thinking that I could just teach myself music (and getting myself to a Peter Buck/Neil Young level technically), I got the itch to play again, and finally swallowed my pride and found a private teacher. I love the guys I just mentioned, but I am bored with my current skill level and want to eventually work myself up to playing some Clapton, becoming a proficient 12 string player, etc. I've been taking lessons for 2 months now, as well as using this website to augment my learning and I have only become more interested in learning things "properly". I think I am finally at an age (29) where I have the patience to stick with the long hours of scales and barre chords to get things down cleanly.

I'm learning again on a Tak acoustic (fingerstyle) and am finally able to sit back, relax and enjoy the learning process. I guess the third time is the charm for me in regards to finally learning my instrument properly.

The videos have been great and I am really enjoying the site.

Best to all,

Corey

guitargeorge50
12-21-2008, 07:21 PM
Hello Corey,

Your story sounds very interesting. Sorry to hear about your mom. Glad though that you have decided to get back into guitar playing. It's too bad about the unscrupulous guitar teacher you encountered but seems like there's always one bad apple, doesn't it?

Dunno if I can be any help to you or not but I'm always happy to try. In any case it's good that you are here at Guitar Tricks. I hope you find many things that are interesting and fun to learn.

By the way, Eric Clapton is one of my favorite players, too.

Best wishes,

Bobby Howe

mpaq
12-26-2008, 08:54 AM
Hey Corey, welcome to the site. Always nice to see a fellow Torontonian. Actually im a little north of the city, but work in Markham. Im not a really accomplished player either, but anytime you want to get together to trade ideas i'd be game! Here's a link to my page to give you an idea of what ive been learning..

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789879&content=music