Patience little sister, patience, little brother…it’s gonna take some time
Learning a new instrument is…kind of like learning a new language. No, scratch that, it’s exactly like learning a new language. And I perhaps know…two verbs. Maybe less.
But here I am, for only the second time in my artistic life, chopping my fingernails down to only finger length (bye bye to my natural almost-french-tips…the last time I did that was for my piano teacher when I was in my twenties, to prove to her that I was focused enough to come back to lessons), and wincing slightly as I am sure that by the time this is over, my fingers are going to bleed…
But I am truly determined to learn this…
So this afternoon – being as how I have considerably more time than usual on my hands right now – Amras sat me down on the edge of the bed, handed me his telecaster and helped me loop the strap around my shoulder.
Okay, so…how do we tune this.
And so it starts.
My fingers hurt (a lot, though I suspect not as badly as they will in days to come), but I can at least now play a chromatic scale. I won’t be breaking out into Chuck Berry riffs any time soon, but I have to walk before I can run (this is not easy for me, I’ve never been a particularly patient person).
So here we go…at least I can climb my way up and down a scale (slowly, and not with any kind of grace, but hey)…
Okay guitar: remember our deal, you don’t break my fingers, I learn to treat you right. Okay?
Ah, scales. I remember them well. No matter how much it hurts, it will be worth it.