What made you take up the guitar..

[Grub]

rather than the bassoon or accordian? was because the guitar's a chick magnet or did you come across it by accident?

[TheDirt]

I've always known that I wanted to play music... that was just something I felt. I tried out a lot of instruments before coming to the guitar - piano, drums, harmonica, trumpet, clarinet, djembe, violin, but the guitar just felt right when I held it. On top of that it seemed that guitar players were a lot cooler than the clarinet players I had seen on tv ;)

[kingdavid]

I've never seen a basson.
The accordion looked to me like some piano with some accoutrment,and since I laready was intersted in the piano(I'm getting a keyboard and books tomorrow,wwooooohhooooo!!!!!)I didn't play accordion.
And,there is no instrumnet that has penetrated the world as much as the guitar.

[Grub]

Originally posted by TheDirt
I've always known that I wanted to play music... that was just something I felt. I tried out a lot of instruments before coming to the guitar - piano, drums, harmonica, trumpet, clarinet, djembe, violin, but the guitar just felt right when I held it. On top of that it seemed that guitar players were a lot cooler than the clarinet players I had seen on tv ;)

yes but jazz sax and trumpet players have always been cool too.

[joshdean52]

I picked up guitar from my friend about 2½ years ago. He taught me "wipeout", my first song. Other than the fact that it's a huge chick magnet (I'll play part of some NFG song, and the girls are like, "Ohmygod, that is sooo cool!!! You must be really good!!!"), it's the funnest instrument to play.

[MikeP.]

Well I'm a product of the 80's. So I was always around aspiring musicians growing up (80's...a great year to be a guitarist). Since day one I was always into rock n roll (Both my parents listen to rock). I can remember at the age of 4 falling in love with the Beatles's "Day Tripper" wich I would play over and over. But it wasn't untill I heard Ozzy/Randy's Crazy Train on our local radio station that I said "I want to play guitar!" :-)

[Kirk_Aimar]

Hmm..I have always wanted to play music. Until when i was a 12 years old then when i first listen to heavy stuffs such as metallicas. Then I wanted to play like them! Just them. :)

[hairbndrckr]

I took up the guitar because for some strange reason, playing the saxophone wasn't getting me any chicks... just kidding.... I still thought girls were gross cootie magnets when I started playing guitar....

[Grub]

Originally posted by hairbndrckr
I took up the guitar because for some strange reason, playing the saxophone wasn't getting me any chicks... just kidding.... I still thought girls were gross cootie magnets when I started playing guitar....

I also play sax and when I was a kid this was more of a chick magnet as more people then played guitar.

[chris mood]

Started off w/drums (becuase thats what my brothers played), I told myself if I couldn't do a drumroll within a year I would quit. Well a year went by, still couldn't to a drumroll so I quit. Most drummers I talk to now tell me that was a pretty unrealistic goal.
I was inspired to pick up the guitar after hearing a recording of Hendrix perform the National Anthem. I knew at that moment that was what I wanted to do. Well now it's been like 22yrs and I still can't play the Anthem like Jimi.

If I didn't play guitar, I would want to play:
1)Bass (what a kick ass instrument, love that low end)
2) Sax (tenor players play the coolest sh#$%^)

[Air]

Who the hell wants to start to play bass? I've allways wondered that.
Must be the most boring intrument to learn, you cant do solos (and if u try it sounds like ****, like bill dickinson), u get the least attention, ur barely heard, and it is not far as expressive as a guitar...
(no offence to all the bass-players out there)

[noticingthemistake]

Originally posted by Air
Who the hell wants to start to play bass? I've allways wondered that.
Must be the most boring intrument to learn, you cant do solos (and if u try it sounds like ****, like bill dickinson), u get the least attention, ur barely heard, and it is not far as expressive as a guitar...
(no offence to all the bass-players out there)

I'm also a bass player, and yeah your right it is sometimes boring. But then again if your good and you know how to put down a good groove its probably the funniest. If your just a guitar player it's hard to understand, but playing bass is a whole another style. That and it matters what style of music you want to play. In some styles the bass is alot better than guitar. Like funk, jazz, and reggae. :)

[Air]

Yeah I agree, I just ment that most metal songs are kind of boring for bass.

[noticingthemistake]

Yeah definitely anything that requires the bass player to just play the root note is very boring. I usually get the other guys ticked cause I f@#cking hate the root note, and I never stick with it. :D . It's possible to do cool stuff but the bass player has to be more careful. Which is a pain in the neck. But if you know how to put down a good groove, bass is alot of fun.

[TheTrooper]

I dont know why but I have always wanted to play guitar. I wanted to be able to play in an 80's metal band even though I didn't grow up in the 80's. Theres just soething about the guitar I dont know what it is but now Im playing it so it doesn't really matter. Anyways about that whole chick magnet thing thats the stupidist crap Iv'e ever heard bro. If your gonna play guitar, play because you want to not for some emo band groupies.

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Ive always had a love for guitar.My brother used to bring me to the music store as a child while he tried out guitars,amps e.c.t.I bugged my mom for months to get me a guitar and some lessons.I didnt get either.Around thirteen I met some friends who all played guitar and other instruments.They jammed alot..naturally I wanted to jam too.I got a cruddy jay turser guitar and some no name 10 watt amp and practiced my as* off.The main thing that drove me to learn was the immense amount of expression the guitar was capable of...I wanted to understand what about music/guitar moved people spiritually,emotionally and physically and I wanted to produce the sounding result.

[hairbndrckr]

You know I got into playing rock music because I thought those chicks in Poison were pretty hot on their album cover.... Imagine my surprise when I saw their first video.... I thought to myself "Man those chicks have no tits and their voices are awful low.... Aw man no way!!!"

I don't think I ever recovered from that one...

[Pantallica1]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAH!! That's funny!!!

[Pantallica1]

Oh yeah, I wanted to pick up the guitar because my brother has been in a band since he was 10 years old (making me about uhmm 4 at the time). He would always have his band practices here and stuff, and even though I had full access to a drum set, I always wanted to play the guitar. I don't know what it was but I was just drawn to it. My Grandmother used to play a mean banjo and yodel(sp) at the same time. Even though I used to snicker at her, I can now honestly say she was a bad ass banjo player, I never knew how hard it was to pick with all 5 fingers until I actually started playing.

Well she played guitar as well, and she gave one to my brother and I used to play it (make noise I mean by that). I was about 10 or 11 now. Well then he kept annoying me with it one day when I was trying to watch TV and I called my mother at work. She got pissed off because we called her like 278 times that day, so when she got home, she smashed the guitar into a thousand pieces. Needless to say I was upset.

Then came junior high, I was about to recieve my first guitar and begin lessons, but wait, changed my mind and opted for football instead (doh!). Then after I graduated highschool, 18 years old, I bought my first guitar, a Squier strat. Traded that in about 2 weeks later on another Squier. Have had that guitar ever since and have picked up a Washburn acoustc/electric since then.

All in all, I wish I would've started when I was 10 or 11. I'm 21 now and have been playing since I was 18. Still so much to learn.

P.S. I'm getting a new guitar this month :)

[SLY]

I always loved the tone of stringed instruments (violin,guitar,cello,oud,sitar,etc.) , and I had a nice musical background in my family , some of my aunts/uncles played instruments as a hobby (but unfortunately none is a professional musician) , so I played piano (and a little accordion) in my childhood .
Then as a teenage Rock/Metal-head in the mid 90's , I picked up the guitar at 14 (I'm 20 now).

[Grub]

Originally posted by Air
Who the hell wants to start to play bass? I've allways wondered that.
Must be the most boring intrument to learn, you cant do solos (and if u try it sounds like ****, like bill dickinson), u get the least attention, ur barely heard, and it is not far as expressive as a guitar...
(no offence to all the bass-players out there)

i took up bass between sax and guitar and i have to disagree. true, in an indie, pop or straight ahead rock band it's usually pretty limited. but in a funk - based outfit the bass is the main thing.players like Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, Jaco and Stanley Clarke do very interesting things with just 4 or 5 strings. you might be right about expressiveness though and not getting much attention unless youre blasting off megafast slapping

[chris mood]

It's funny, because whats cool and fun to play on guitar (Blues, classic rock, metal, Be-Bop) is usually boring for Bass, and vice versa, what's cool and fun for bass (funk, disco, R&B, Modern Rock) is boring for guitar. I guess that's why Progressive Rock and Fusion were developed, to keep everybody happy.

There's something cool about playing bass and just locking in with a drummer to establish a tight groove that's different about playing guitar.

[mc9mm]

I first picked up a guitar when I inherited one when I was 6 years old.
Of course then the ladies was not exactly a factor in the decision
to start playing the guitar, they were more of a very pleasant
side-effect later on!
Electric guitar first seemed cool when I was 13 and heard
Metallicas "One" for the first time.
So later that day I went to "GFX Music" and bought myself
a Falcon Stratocaster and a Marshall 15w amp (I still use
the Marshall for practice, a quality amp).
I spend all my money, ca. $250, but it was definetely worth it.

[Dejan Sajinovic]

AEROSMITH actully. I can play anything by them though, never even bother to learn but yep, they are the ones, especially Big Ones album (best of).

[Andrew Sa]

I agree with Chris Mood on the bordeom thing and I think the reason for that is that a song would just sound too 'busy' if both guitarists and bassists were playing complicated pieces at the same time...so just leave it to one...thats what I see atleast...I know in my band whenever I am doing a solo the bassist gets damn bored, as do I when he does a bass solo or slapping groove. I would just sound like too much was happening if it was any other way, I guess

[noticingthemistake]

Originally posted by Andrew Sa
I know in my band whenever I am doing a solo the bassist gets damn bored, as do I when he does a bass solo or slapping groove. I would just sound like too much was happening if it was any other way, I guess

If your bassists is getting bored while your doing a solo, Suggest him to lay down a nice groove, something he can get down to that's not too long and it's not hard for you to solo over. Like a 1 or 2 measure bassline. A nice bass groove and a guitar solo works very well together. And if you get a nice groove on bass it's hard to stop playing it cause bass grooves are a blast to play.

For a bass solo, it's probably best for the drums and bass to go at it alone. But if your wanting to throw in alittle guitar, do small things that go with what the bass is playing. Like a quick 2 note strum and the begining of a measure then quickly mute. And let the bass continue. The key to adding guitar while a bass solo is not to let the guitar ring out. You want to be the rhythm. Usually instead of distorted guitar, try playing clean with some flange or cool effect. Works great.

To keep things from getting to be too much, think of music as being in 3 parts.

Rhythm, melody, and harmony.

Solos are always the harmony part. If your doing duel guitar solos have one guitar play something melodic and then have the other guitar harmonize over that melody. Bass on rhythm, and if this is the case. Have him work around the root arpeggio, if he gets bored with just the root note.

If you have one guitar soloing, the other should be playing the rhythm. Now the bass can play something melodic, but nothing to crazy that it takes away from the guitar solo. Something like a walking bassline within the chord arpeggio. Arpeggios are the bassists best friend, they allow him/her to do something interesting without taking anything away from anything else.

You can rearrange these in anyway. But if you break it down into these three parts, it's easy to keep things from being too much and combats for attention.

[Lordathestrings]

Originally posted by chris mood
It's funny, because whats cool and fun to play on guitar (Blues, classic rock, metal, Be-Bop) is usually boring for Bass, and vice versa, what's cool and fun for bass (funk, disco, R&B, Modern Rock) is boring for guitar...I recommend a fresh listen to Led Zeppelin's version of "The Lemmon Song". Both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones got to exercise their chops, and the result is one of the best electric Blues pieces ever recorded!

[SLY]

Originally posted by Andrew Sa
I know in my band whenever I am doing a solo the bassist gets damn bored, as do I when he does a bass solo or slapping groove.

If the bassist gets bored while you're soloing , I guess that means he doesn't like your style of soloing , and the same goes for you ... It's a matter of individual opinions & musical tastes , try playing with other bassists with more similar musical interests and tastes , and advise your bassist to do the same.

[kingdavid]

Right now I'm digging both guitar and bass alot.When I listen to some song,if I'm not improvising with my mouth(and on the air guitar),I'm da dumm da dumming on the bass,figuring out how the bass line would go and stuff.

[finished]

richy blackmore..... rainbow

[jesse sutton]

i did it for the chicks. and my friend was doing it, so i had to do it too.

i decided to stay because i love making music... and because of the chicks.

[Gainer]

I took up guitar because it looked fun and cool. And it is and i'll never look back.

[u10ajf]

Why.. Jealousy! I'd loved the guitar and its sound since I was 5 or 6 and my brother had got me into some Rush, Floydd and Zep.
When I was about 15 my best mate got given a guitar and an amp for Christmas. At the same time I got given a really crap stereo that couldn't play CDs even though I'd tried to make the point that I really wanted a CD player. When my friend Dan phoned me and asked me what I'd got for Christmas I told him my crappy stereo was "a flying machine"
and then felt very silly when he later met it. Then I decided to learn how to play guitar and teach my rich-parented, good-looking friend a lesson by kicking his arse. I bought his guitar off him when he converted from being a metal head to being a raver.

[andy82]

Watched a live concert clip of a band called X-Japan. Thought one day I'll be on a stage one day striking cool poses for the camera :D