The guitar and me

I started to play the guitar more than two years ago, when I was 13. I had a guitar tutorial book, and it interested me. We had an old guitar at home, so I tried to play. But I had to give up, it was too hard and I realized that  with only the book I could not learn.

But I am lucky: my mother has always paid special attention to what us, her sons, wanted and dreamed to do. She asked me if I wanted to do some guitar lessons to have a base. Of course, I said yes.

I started to go to private lessons every Saturday in my town, and I did it for two months. My teacher was a young man. He was really nice and friendly, but in the lessons I didn’t feel well at all, because when I was 13 I was quite shy. In those two months I learned the bases, some chords and a bit of guitar writing. The lessons were only one day a week, but I practiced all week long at home. I have to say that I found it a little boring and repetitive. Naturally, I could play the most basic things.

When I stopped to go to the lessons, I kept playing about only 3 times a week, it’s about one hour and a half per week. This is not enough if you want to learn to play. I searched some songs, but I could play only the more simple of them.

Slowly, I improved. I realized it when I played easily a song that at the beginning I found impossible to play. I found it easy! I was pretty surprised and happy. Was in that moment when I started to enjoy the guitar.

About five months later, I needed more lessons to jump into another step of my learning, so I went again with my guitar teacher, but this time I went 4 times only. In those four lessons I learned a lot, because I played every day at home and I was motivated.

After that, I kept playing a couple of months on my own, but then I stopped. I returned to play mid year later, and I stopped again… I repeated those intervals until the start of last summer. In this year, more or less, that I was playing and stopping playing I got better, but slowly.

Last summer I practiced a lot, and because of that I improved so much. The guitar started to be, and it still is, an addiction. Maybe you know “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton, or “Let her go”, by Passenger. I learned both this summer, and more.

Nowadays, I love the guitar and it relaxes me. When I learn a new song, it makes me glad. If I think about my beginnings, I realize:“Yes, it’s real, it is me who is playing now!” This is moving. But the guitar brings me a problem, too: it fights with my homework, but the duty goes first, unfortunately for the guitar.