A new sound

Been listening to John Petrucci for a short while now. Been listening to his solo album, 'Suspended Animation', specifically. I keep playing 'Glasgow Kiss' in my mind again and again through the day, and its a melodic 7:48 minutes of bliss. The live performance of the song at G3 heightens the intensity, seeing John actually playing it. An Ibanez looks beautiful in his hands, specially the prototype with the Picasso-like color pattern that he used in his earlier days. He's the latest addition to my 'Fave Axemen' list that includes Gilmour, Knopfler, Satriani, Buckingham, Clapton, Page, Trucks...the list goes on. I started trying to play the guitar (the beauty above) about three months ago. I've learned some basic chords now, and I can play along to a few songs, though I need to refer to the lyrics and chords...trying to learn by ear, and its possible though guessing the right chords once doesn't mean you'll remember it automatically next time. As always, practise, practise, practise...

Its not easy to translate desire into action, and the guitar, especially the nylon-stringed classical that I borrowed from an ex-flatmate, can be really frustrating. But motivation is a strange thing, in that you can generate it anytime you want in any situation, if you believe in something without bothering about its feasibility. Many a times, I feel like putting the guitar away, and not think about playing it anymore. But I guess there's something beyond mere rationality that's spurring me, and part of it is the sound of this instrument.

Some may not think its a good idea for a beginner to pick up a classical rather than an acoustic, but the rationale (again, that anomalous word) behind it was that I should adapt myself to playing on a fretboard that seems magnified in height and width as compared to an acoustic, with enough gaps between the frets to make my fingers groan in unnatural stretches. This is supposed to make my fingers tough and flexible, and if I can consistently get clear sound from slippery nylon strings, the steel of an acoustic wouldn't bother me, nor would its smaller and more compact fretboard. I accepted this, but another reason for me to continue learning on a classical is the beautiful notes that emanate from its sound hole whenever you pluck or strum. The sound feels like the equivalent of playing a classical grand piano as compared to playing an electronic keyboard; there's something pure in it, something that engages you beyond the irritating sound of a chord not played correctly, or a wrong string plucked, or just a whining ringing instead of fluid strumming when you listen to your recorded playback.

Then the difference in sound when you strum with your thumb, your index finger, and a pic. So far, I feel more of a connection with the instrument when I fingerstyle. When you strum or pluck with your thumb, you get the most subtle sound from the guitar, and you get a good equivalent of the sound from playing with a pic when you use your index finger. When you use a pic, its more challenging. Due to not mastering the nylon strings yet, or managing chord-shifts well enough yet, my shortcomings are emphasized clearly in the background dissonance. Practice can get discouraging if you have to struggle too long and too hard to get rhythm. However, the results, and there will always be results if you really are keen on learning, are more than worth the efforts. As suggested in an ebook, one way of gaining a sub-conscious feel of the frets and change chords on time is to get a metronome and force yourself to play chords in sync with its beat. While not planning to purchase any equipment anytime soon, the simple act of understanding the feel of the guitar and making your playing more comfortable by making small changes in hand and finger positions, posture, experimenting with different strumming patterns, trying out different picks, all these beginner activities do bring a measure of satisfaction...

It requires a consistent flow of effort, energy, and commitment to get even a small degree of fluidity. I cool my frustrations with my playing by listening to the greats above, and every time, there's a fresh energy and intensity that I sense in their playing that encourages me to pick up my classical again. And I know this, even if I never learn how to play the guitar properly, I will always love the sound...