Stay Tuned

The Lord has been blessing me and I am so happy He's given me a desire to praise and worship Him through a method I never considered before for myself.

I've been pining over saving up the money and how long it will take to get the cash to buy a good guitar that I won't need to replace for some time, but then I also see that means I won't be able to learn until I've got one... catch 22 there. Well, it seems I've got a friend that has an acoustic guitar gathering dust in it's gig bag, and he's fully willing to let me learn on it. So yesterday, he stopped by, and I had in my hands a what will be my learning guitar.

Many thanks go out to him, it's a great gesture to show someone you care that they learn. I really appreciate it.

I spent the first part of my night in my induction class (taught by yours truly with help from various websites) on Stringing A Guitar. I'm glad strings were included in the kit, except that now I need to go replace them, but hey, I learn by doing, and I can now say I've strung a guitar. That wasn't so bad.

Then came the fun part for a true beginner - Tuning A Guitar. Did I mention I don't have a musical ear? Well, the Lord had blessed me with being able to borrow a guitar, and the fact he had let me use his complete kit (tuner, strings, picks, chord book, etc.) did not hurt one iota. I think I spend 2+ hours just plucking the strings to get them tuned, looking for that green light on the eletric tuner to appear. I started out ok, but then broke the low E again after too much tightening, so I get to go buy more strings tonight. I don't mind doing that, as I would take a trip to the music store just to get picks if need be (and I will :) ), as I really enjoy it there.

Well, I did get the rest of the strings in tune. It was an ordeal for a newbie, and honestly, I am not sure what they expect you to do by yourself without a musical ear... I'd be lost, that's for sure. But I'm learning! I've got at least 2 songs picked out that I want to learn to play, so I can stay focused on what I want to do.

The 2 songs I've chosen are My Savior My God by Aaron Shust (and his short but sweet Give Me Words To Speak intro), as well as Blessed Be Your Name performed by Rebecca St. James. I've currently got tons to choose from, but for some reason, I'm feeling those the most right now.

Stay tuned (pun-intended) for more information :)