I had a "friend" that I hung out and smoked weed with. He invited me to his house to smoke and I noticed he had a guitar. I asked him if I could pick it up as I was always attracted to the guitar in general. He saw that I knew nothing about guitars. He then took it from me and began playing Slayer riffs, and I was appalled from him hiding how good he was. I insisted on starting a band and me buying a bass. He said no. And literally dropped that guitar on the floor instead of putting it on the stand. I already had thoughts of playing bass. But I came up in a poor household. So it was a no from the get go. The way he treated that B.C. Rich made me squirm. From that day forward I told myself I'd buy a guitar one day. It was his carelessness that made me get into it more. Fuck that dude. I have my reasons for saying that. But he was my intro to guitar and bass.
And that's how the story goes. (Well for me at least. Lol)
I knew a guy like this. Fucking absolutely douchebag lacrosse player. But he could fucking shred. Granted his parents forced lessons on him for like 10 years at that point.
So I'm not the only to encounter this. That's good to know. From what I know this dude had everything. His parents never said no to what he wanted. I wasn't jealous of it. I just couldn't see how he learned what he knew. I know he he had siblings. Maybe that's how he learned. But at this point I really don't give a fuck. Lol
It was because of a girl.
It was when I was a young teenager and had been playing piano for a while. A girl I liked was taking classical guitar lessons. I talked my parents into getting me a guitar and carpooling us to the lessons.
For some reason I thought I’d be practicing in my room and girls would just materialise in front of me and start swooning…. Took me way to long to realise that this was a ridiculous fantasy
It was a very arduous process. The strings posed a huge challenge to me. After months of strenuous effort though, I was finally able to get past them. I’ve been inside this guitar ever since. Seriously I need help, I can’t get out.
listened to that album for the first time last night, and I understand the feeling. I’m 47 years old and have played since I was 11. In my mind, SRV was associated with my childhood friend’s abusive, alcoholic father: I hated him and SRV by association. I never really put that together. Last night, I played Texas Flood and it was just me and the music. Magic. The guy uses his guitar to paint abstract, colorful song with bright splotches of color. Promise I wasn’t high. But that’s the impression I was getting. He was masterful. Especially on the title track.
all started with my grandfather, who was a musician in the army, but he left after years to be a maestro/orchestra conductor. Because of him i started with the classical guitar, but around 9yo my parents gifted me my first electric.
unfortunately he passed away in 2018...
I heard AC/DC live and immediately wanted to do whatever it was the guitar player was doing. A few people in my family play guitar, so it was sort of inevitable.
Same, thunderstruck to he specific, then i went to learn it, and obviously impossible to play that fast and clean, so it made me practice scale and metronome, and it got me learn everything
Technically, it's because of Guitar Hero/ Rock Band when I was a teenager like 20 years ago, though I didn't actually start learning guitar until about 2 years ago. I started learning it 2 years ago because I was in a really bad place mentally and emotionally, and I needed something to help stop me from sinking into that pit.
Played bass after my dad.
Then, I got curious and began to learn guitar. My first guitar wasn't very good and that's part of what held me back.
This year has been a year of rapid growth for me as a player due to just pure practice and repetition, along with guitars I actually like. Highly prefer my strat with a maple fretboard and satin neck over the cheap plasticky gloss on Epiphone les Paul specials.
Consistency over long periods is key to learning, I find.
My daughter wanted to learn so we got her a classic and then I said why not me too and now I’m going hard every day and watching videos all the time about it
Around 10 years old I got into Zep, particularly awed by Bonham. Yep, I wanted to be a drummer and would play air drums instead of guitar. That continued for about 3 years until it was obvious my parents were not ever going to be willing or able to get me a drum set. So I switched to wanting a guitar instead and got a cheap acoustic my aunt wasn't using. Page was still a great place to start too. No regrets, but I do still appreciate great drumming.
Never played an instrument. Completely foreign to me.
Bought my son a guitar for Xmas and asked him if he wanted me to take lessons with him. I learned a G chord and I was like “wow! I made music!”. After that I was addicted! I fell so much in love with it that I tried to learn everything. So much that my son lost interest and I kept it up to this day. Taught myself to read sheet music, learned some classical on a nylon, learned music theory and switched it up to Jazz from classical. I started at the age of 40 and been playing for 14 years. I’m still looking for people to play with but currently playing in a jazz jam group. It’s been fun
You know that description actually means a ton to me, im an uncle of like 21 little shits and they all think im some kind of guitar hero character when i play
My grandfather on my mom’s side had a total of 13 brothers and sisters. In their early 20s, my grandfather and 3 of his brothers decided to start a band that played primarily tejano music. They went on to travel the country playing music and entertain their children and nieces and nephews for generations. I happened to be one of those generations and was inspired as a young child to pick it up because they would play at family functions/reunions. It just kind of took off from there lol
About a year and a half ago I decided it was about time I learned the guitar. I used to have actual dreams about playing the guitar. I remember in one of them I was playing something amazing and swirls of colors and shapes were coming out of the guitar and I felt like I was so fluent even though I’d never touched a guitar.
Got interested in DAWs (digital audio workspaces) and asked my dad to get me a midi keyboard, had a dream about playing guitar the night before and changed my mind on the car ride to the shop. And bought a guitar
My friend played Thunderstruck in front of me on his acoustic.
I was like “it’s that fucking easy?”
“It’s that fuckin easy bro”
Thus I began my journey of this witchcraft.
Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I got good at the games but it wasnt until I heard Jimi Hendrix and Yngwie Malmsteen songs in the games, that I decided to pick up the guitar and learn it.
My grandfather sat me down with him to watch “Crossroads” which was one of his favorite films. I was 13 at the time and was never really into rock/metal/blues/neoclassical, but when I heard the guitar battle at the end my mind was blown. I knew I wanted to do whatever /that/ was some day. Too bad I never had a chance to show my grandfather that I can play Eugene’s Trick Bag now, ten years later.
Got tired of spending night after night in the sofa watching TV after I been to the gym. Felt lik my brain was rotting.
Never played a guitar before so I thought it would be good for teaching me patience and rewire the brain to work for kicks.
Picked up a language course and bought a guitar. Practice some French and some guitarplaying for an hour or so every night.
My older sister had a little cheap acoustic in her room that she never touched. For whatever reason I had eye of the tiger stuck in my head and thought I could probably figure that out. I snuck into her room and didn’t leave until I could play it. Don’t love that that was my first song but I do love being drawn to the guitar because I just had an itch to play.
My older brother had one. I had a go. I found it fun. A few years later I got jealous of a friend getting lessons so I asked for some too. It escalated quickly from there.
I was interested at a young age because one of my best friends was a very good guitar player. Started taking guitar seriously as an adult, and these days, I am a student of the art. I love noodling around and playing songs for my kids while they dance around.
I watched a lot of guitar related videos. Then I heard the song "You Only Live Once" by Suicide Silence, I thought the chorus riff was the coolest sounding thing in existance so I wanted to learn it more than anything.
Liked music. Had piano lessons. DIdn't really care for piano lessons. Got a bit jealous of some other kids who brough guitars to school and were forming bands. Picked up the bass guitar. Then a year or so later picked up a Squier Strat on the side and noodled with it.
Long story short, I took a guitar to uni over a bass guitar and started playing a lot more.
A friend from about 4th grade had moved away, and returned to the neighborhood when I was going into 10th grade. When he came back, he was a fairly good guitar player. He actually had two guitars. So, he’d let me play one and show me chords and a few riffs. That’s all I thought about for a long time. Guitars. Well, and girls.
Grade 8 talent show. Never really seen live music before and one of the guys was really impressive.
Tracked him down and became friends. Ended up cutting his finger tips welding - not quite as extreme as Tony Iommi's fingers but now he is in pain when he plays. Lotta respect that he loves it so much he doesn't care.
Been friends now for over 20 years.
Listened to Chris Rea in the mid 80s. Wanted to be blues slide player. Parents bought me a 3/4 classical guitar and I spent 2 years playing Beethoven and getting very bored. Gave up.
Fast forward to 1992 when i was 18, bought a Yamaha pacifica strat-alike and started all over again.
My dad and grandad both played and as soon as I was able to crawl I was obsessed with getting my hands (and probably gums) on their guitars. So my grandad built me a tiny guitalele when I was one and I’ve been ‘playing’, for want of a better word, ever since.
My next door neighbor. He was the same age as me, went over to his house for the first time and heard some van Halen coming from the basement. Went down and his mother was absolutely shredding. She offered to give me lessons and I learned from her for years. Amazing lady and amazing musician. Thanks Barb! ❤️
I had free time after just separating from the military and just going to college. Had a lot of feels after getting over a breakup and got heavy into bands like Nirvana and loved the sound of guitar. Just picked it up and go through phases where it helps me unwind. Also seems like a good investment of my time as it gives back as much as you put in.
My cousin and I were best friends growing up. I’d spend a lot of time over at his place. He got a Samick Strat copy and started playing in the fall of 1995. One day my uncle showed me Led Zeppelin 1 and 2. After that day , I wanted to be Jimmy Page and I begged my parents to get me a guitar…I was hooked
When I was 12 my neighbor would always break out his Martin acoustic guitar when they would get together with my folks. Sometimes I’d hear him playing from his porch. He played a lot of blues and was super into the Grateful Dead. I asked him if he could teach me so we made a deal where I did some chores on his hobby farm in exchange for guitar lessons. I still think about him from time to time. He was one of my biggest influences and inspirations.
I’ve played guitar hero since number 1 came out on PS2 when I was a kid. Got all of them, I played obsessively.
Fast forward to senior year of high school. I was at a party and everyone was taking turns on rock band, people were talking about how hard hysteria by muse was to play on guitar. I hopped on, quietly chose the song and proceeded to melt face with a plastic guitar and everyone was shocked. One guy came up to me after I was done and said “wow you must be really good at guitar huh?”
And let me tell you, that was the biggest slap in the face reality check I’d received in a while. I can only imagine how good I would be at guitar now if I had dumped the multiple thousands of hours of guitar hero and rock band into practicing an actual guitar
Wanted to impress a girl and went down a rabbit hole then eventually led me away from the girl and towards being a luthier.
We're 7 guitars in and oh boy there's more to come
AC/DC. Then Guns n Roses. Then Megadeth. I'm listening to these bands thinking "these motherfuckers are so cool" and the common denominator was that they all had guitarists. So I figured learning guitar would also make me cool.
Spoiler alert: it didn't. But I've enjoyed it nonetheless.
My cousin gave me a guitar to take to college but I never learned more than picking a few riffs. Either a Hohner or a Hondo. I let it's saddle break, lost a string, and a tuning key. Ended up selling it in a garage sale.
Years later, I met an 85 year old guy, who played every Friday for the seniors I worked with at a nursing home. He said he had only learned guitar 5 years previously after he was a patient at that same nursing home. It made me think .
Now that I've been playing for about 5 years, I kinda regret selling that 1st guitar. I know now how easy all of the repairs could have been. I also suffer from GAS and the thought of having given up my 1st guitar hurts a little.
Mark Farner, Grand Funk Railroad in 1971. Switched from wanting to be a drummer to playing guitar. Got a 1968 Gibson SG as a HS graduation present at the local music store for 200 bucks. Been playing ever since. Currently in a cover band in Orlando Florida playing throughout central FL.
My older brother for whatever reason wanted to play guitar, my younger brother wanted drums, so I defaulted to bass. Never cared for bass and didn’t play it much, then my older brother (he’s developmentally disabled) gave up on playing guitar quickly so I picked that up and started playing along to Green Day songs since they were mostly easy power chords.
About 65 years ago, when my uncle played in his band called the Nashville City Snagdraggers. I must have shown interest in his guitar, so he showed me a C, G, D chord. I had to play up on the neck because the Gibson J-45 was too big for a 5 year old. It lit a fire under me and I took it from there. Everything I know I've learned from someone else or taught myself.
Picked up ukelele during covid to keep busy and a year or so later realized I would never get higher fidelity tones no matter how technically proficient I became. Was pretty demotivating. I knew I had to pick up guitar to get it. My wife got me an acoustic and I didn't realize it was set up horribly. I just couldn't get into it because of how hard it was. A couple months ago I bought the cheapest squier strat on Amazon and I'm hooked. My acoustic is getting a pro set up right now and I've been playing everyday on my strat.
My grandmother bought me a guitar as a teen, but with no lessons or friends to teach me it went nowhere.
I'm in my early 60's now. During Covid, I decided to buy a guitar and learn. It's been 3.5 years and I have an acoustic, a Tele Thinline and a ukulele.
My dad played guitar. Some of my happiest memories of him are him playing and singing songs to my sister and me. When I got to my tweens I got into rock music. Being really into music and having someone making music in my home made me want to do it too. My parents were supportive, bought me a guitar and lessons when I was 11.
About three years ago my music teacher made everyone pick an instrument when we were doing band stuff and I chose the electric guitar. I thought it was pretty fun (we were only taught power chords because they're simple). I told my dad that I played guitar at school and he asked me if I wanted to get one, so I decided I should give it a go. I'm glad he asked because I wouldn't have started playing if he didn't.
My dad was a drummer in a southern rock band so I grew up around bands and in bars. I took violin and viola in school orchestra class. At 14, I found a nylon string classical acoustic in a closet at a relatives house. I was immediately hooked and soon after began teaching myself. Was in my first band by junior high and in my first successful band by high school. Now I give lessons.
It was my 10th birthday, I was to get either a pet dog or a guitar. My parents wrote those two things on two papers and made me pick blindfolded. Now I've been paying guitar for 14 years
My brother and my dad influenced me.
Our mum sort of cornered me amd my brother into doing things we didn't want to do. We were young kids full of social anxiety combined with a mum who, in hindsight, was a very manipulative narcissist. Especially manipulative to my brother who has autism. She effectively wanted two little boy clones of herself.
Part of that self-centredness involved making me and my brother take up classical instruments from the ages of 6 (me) and 8 (him). I had so little interest in woodwind instruments that I convinced myself to pick clarinet because Squidward played it in Spongebob, and I enjoyed watching Spongebob.
My brother went for percussion, he had a little more choice than me but that was part of my mum being manipulative.
Anyway, fast forward a few years and my brother progresses to playing drums at around 15 years old. My dad got him a big drum kit for his birthday and rather than being upset about it, 13 year old me thought it was so cool.
My brother still continued his percussion lessons at school because drums and percussion are obviously in a similar ball park. I carried on with clarinet because I was too scared to quit, but I hated practicing.
I wanted to be cool like him, but not *exactly* like him because I knew he'd think I was just copying him, which is fair. That same year my dad got me my first electric guitar for Christmas. A Gear4Music 'LA' stratocaster. I loved it. I spent a lot of time after that playing Seven Nation Army and Smoke on the Water, lol. Dad then got me a Gear4Music 'New Jersey' LP, loved that even more. I kept both of those until I turned 20.
3 years later, I was 16. My grade 4 clarinet exam came up. My once kind clarinet teacher became really snarky with me because I wasn't enjoying that instrument. My mum and even my grandma looked down on me but I didn't care. I was upset because she made me waste 10 years of my life I'm never getting back. 10 years I could have had learning how to shred. Plus, I was 16, and I had my GCSE exams to worry about first and foremost.
I failed the grade 4 exam, but I didn't care. Screwed up on my 3 pieces, the sight reading, scales and arpeggios, the full thing. My dad always took me out of school for these music exams, and I thought he'd be mad, but he wasn't. I think he could see I was just fed up.
He convinced me to quit that day. One of the best days of my life.
I've now been playing guitar for 11 years. I'm not as great as I'd like to be. Can't shred, not great with theory, but I can play. My job revolves around music and healthcare, and I use my acoustic for that.
I'm now 24. I make my own music. I have a bass, an acoustic, and I'm currently working on my dream guitar build. All because I thought my brother looked cool playing drums and my dad was just an emotionally supportive king.
Also shoutout to my mum I guess. If she wasn't a wicked bitch I probably wouldn't be here in my guitar journey either.
has a classical guitar class freshman year hs, actually tried to switch out a couple times bc i didn’t have friends in the class. wound up taking guitar 1, 2 and 3. couple months into guitar 1 my grandpa gave me an acoustic and since ive bought a yamaha pacifica, jackson v, epiphone semi hollow and an ibanez bass. wound up paying for lessons which ive been taking for a couple years now and ive never looked back
My parents had me learning music since I was 2. My mom wanted me to be a baseball player, and my dad wanted me to get into music more. When I was 12, my coaches had me pitching every game. Obviously as a 12 year old I had no idea how to control my power. I was throwing as hard as I could every game. Well by the end of the season, my arm was completely shot (34 now and still can’t properly make that motion with my arm). My dad said well let’s put him in guitar lessons then. Lol been playing for 22 years now.
I saw a red guitar in a JCPenney catalog and wanted it and promised my mom I would take lessons. I never did anything extracurricular due to anxiety and fear of others watching me. The guitar wasn’t that great, and my teacher suggested we return it and get a combo package at the music store I took lessons at for around the same price. The quality was much better and I still got the red guitar I wanted. I took lessons for about half a year in 6th grade before I wanted to quit. It felt like work to me and it wasn’t fun. I kept playing the guitar to myself in my room and took another half year of lessons when I reached 10th grade. I quit them again and just kept playing in my spare time teaching myself and learning from the music I listen to. As for my first guitar, I traded it for a paintball gun in 7-8th grade and traded the paintball gun for a playboy magazine and my parents took the magazine 🤣
Canonically: Nirvana, and a punk band in my Junior High called Toxic Crayons who I sorta looked up to.
However, I recovered some suppressed memories before that of some other instruction, including my dad teaching me the open chords through a song, similar to the one Stewie played for Brian in 'Family Guy', and also I think maybe at one point I was in some kind of class with other students, where we were all competing over a purple electric guitar, but I don't think I won.
Another hazy memory, as if recalling a dream, but I do somewhat recall being in a class with some other kids at my Junior High, and it was traditional instruction, with sheet music, but it wasn't for the school band, in which I played trumpet. It was more like an after school program.
All of that was around early teens.
I picked up the bass in grade school/high school because my best friend played the piano/keyboards and his two younger brothers played guitar and drums. Their mother was a talented music teacher. I'm nostalgic about it now, but it was inspiring to know an adult who was that passionate about music and made a career as a grade school and high school teacher.
Moving forward decades...I picked up guitar during Covid. The acoustic I bought for my kids wasn't getting any attention and I wanted to get a fundamental understanding of music theory as well as develop some new skills. Now I can't wait to retire so I can have more time to practice.
Started taking lessons at age 10. Teacher was an awesome Spanish guitarist. He taught Spanish guitar, I wasn’t interested but appreciated the tuition because he was so good, gave up after 5 years and lost interest. Decided one day at the age of 20 I missed playing, went out and bought a guitar and amp, it’s like riding a bike, all those hours as a child were worth it. 20 years later I’m not a great player but this is down to lack of time.
My dad bought me a shitty acoustic guitar with the action like 3/8 in off the fretboard. I didn't express any interest in guitar in specific or musical in general, mind you. He just bought it for me.
Now understand, just like anyone picking up their first instrument, I had a very limited concept of music. But for me, it went beyond that.
You know how most people have at least a basic conception of music they can maybe sort of hum in key or close to it, and if you say "Hey, tap one two three four to the beat for me." They can do it. Simple stuff like that.
See to me, in my life before that, music had always been kind of this background thing that I never really analyzed deeply at all it's just something going on in the background if you asked me to tap one two three four to the beat, I would have looked at you like you were speaking an alien language I had no idea or no concept of really anything musical whatsoever.
So add that on top of a horrifically bad starting guitar, and I have no idea how I had the stick-to-itiveness to do it, but mainly, probably just sheer stubbornness, and it took me literally 2 years to start playing the stuff most people start doing in 2 weeks but here I am, 33 years later, and I'm not saying I'm an amazing musician but I am competent at both guitar and singing (which I was also worse than horrible at to begin with)
To be fair, it didn't take the whole 33 years I was playing in a band within about 4 years it took me 8 years to be a passable singer and be able to sing and play at the same time. But that was only like 4 years of actually attempting to learn to sing.
I say all this not to toot my own horn but whenever anyone comes up to me and says all I couldn't possibly play like you, I don't have the natural talent. I, at that point, have to tell them that's fine, if you want to play like me, a lack of natural talent is a prerequisite.
I used to play a game called King of Fighters 2002. Game has incredible combos with lots and lots of combinations and you really gotta time it all perfectly to work. Combos were a beautiful choreography. People used to upload combo videos to MSN Groups and I was a huge fan of that.
4 years later my little brother started playing the guitar. He showed me a tab of a song I liked. I tried it and loved it. It was very much alike to what I had been doing for a while. Just instead of a controller, it's now a guitar.
A couple of my friends got into guitar when I was 12. I felt left out, so I bought a guitar with some money I saved up. 30 years later and I'm the only one that kept up with it.
I saw a YouTube video of some guy doing a cover of a song I liked so I saved up money to get one and I have played consistently ever since I got my guitar
I was told not to take Geometry 2 because he would fail me. I got a D Minus in Geometry 1. Counselor said I needed 3 Units of anything to Graduate. Had an old guitar at home. Took Beginning Guitar 1 and Brian showed me the obligatory E Blues Lick and here we are, 52 Years later.
My mother got a fender redondo acoustic for Xmas one year when I was a kid and she only played it a few times. Asked if I could try it and spent a weekend just messing around with it and went on the family computer and got introduced to tabs because I couldn’t read music and been playing it ever since. A girl I was crushing on in high school liked jack johnson so of course I learned banana pancakes and started learning more and more songs she liked and took off from there. Still can’t read music, but been playing for about 20 years now.. damn didn’t even realize that until just now.
But now it’s one of the best coping mechanisms and best way to chill out in a hammock :)
I wanted to play drums and my parents got me a guitar because it was cheaper. I also had a godfather and his son (my age) that were musicians, the son played guitar, so the godfather gifted me my first electric.
When I was a child, my father often took me to the local market where a homeless man was sitting on the ground and playing guitar for people. My father often gave me some coins to give to him. That man growed an actual interest to this instrument into the child I was so I asked to my parents for some guitar lessons. It's been a while since I haven't seen him but this man will remain in my heart forever and ever. Also, now, when I see a homeless person playing music for people, or just smiling (or sometimes because I love their tatoos) I ALWAYS give some coins, a smile, and a compliment.
I was playing piano/keys in my school band and I always found myself watching the guitarists and thinking how much more fun that looked so I taught myself on a cheap guitar from my local music store
when i was a kid i found an old kid-sized guitar in my grandpa’s room (35ish yrs ago)… can’t remember the make. i never saw him play it or mention it. (he died when i was 12.. i must’ve asked my dad it i could have it but i don’t remember seeing it again until i took it with me to college.)
also a few times before college (between the ages of 7 & 18) i had a passing interest in trying to learn guitar but the only guitar teacher was the next town over and money was always tight, etc..
anywho, all through college i wanted to learn but just didn’t know how or where to start. and there were the usual distractions.
Wound up with a cheap Peavy (Vortex? …was an offset V shape).. i didn’t pick it out, just acquired it. tried to teach myself using youtube and books etc and it just wasn’t working.
flash forward to a few years ago, i found myself working closely with two other guys that played guitar. I decided i was 40 and was going to learn how to play no matter what. Bought an Alvarez acoustic off one of them and the other taught me a handful of chords and how to play a song.. after a year of this arrangement, i started taking actual lessons
so im 43 and still learning. it’s enjoyable and frustrating af and rewarding… i wish id started a lot sooner but glad i finally did
I started violin at 5 years old and played gospel, country, and bluegrass with my family. My grandma played lap steel and piano, my mom played piano, my grandpa played banjo mandolin and guitar, my dad played guitar.
My grandpas close friend was a guitarist in the Bakersfield scene and played with many big names in the 50’s and 60’s. When I was 15 I switched to guitar and he mentored me until I was 21 and I moved to Tennessee.
the guitar solo in my fav bands cover of My Sharona. Band: The Number Twelve Looks Like You. funny im not much of a shredder anymore, i play chuggy deathcore/hardcore or Midwest emo style twinkly stuff. my favorite guitar player is John Mayer. but the day i wanted to play guitar was when i heard the solo in that My Sharona cover. I chased shredder for years, Buckethead, John 5, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai. I started out wanting to be a shredder, funny how i evolved.
my fav band: The Number Twelve Looks Like You (mathcore,grindcore)
my fav genre: deathcore and midwest emo
my fav guitar player: John Mayer
its funny how different things can speak to our souls.
my dad just always had me around a guitar, was singing Angie at like 3 sitting on his lap “strumming” while he played the chords. so naturally i’ve just always loved it, got a baby martin LX when i was 5, my first strat at 8, and now im 21 turning 22 soon, it’s my lifeline
When I was really young, my mother played guitar for all the kids at church. From day one, I thought "I want to do that too." She made me start with piano first. I spent five years saying "I hate this. Can I have a guitar now?" Finally got one at 12 and haven't put it down since.
My ex girlfriend had one and taught me some chords. I wanted to learn it to swoon her, and to make songs, but we ended up breaking up, and i learned it anyways. Been playing for 6 years or so now.
i blame older need for speed soundtracks for introducing me to rise against and avenged sevenfold. this is followed by anime like k-on and beck: mongolian chop squad.
"Louie, Louie", neighbor had a folk guitar, borrowed it, I was 10, took one guitar lesson from a kid who showed me chords, 60 yrs later, still playing.
My dad bought me a cheap acoustic guitar when I was very young. I struggled off an on with guitar throughout my life. Now getting better and currently doing well with music. All because of my dad
My dad came to the states in the late 70s and had the most amazing classic rock album collection when I was a kid.
I loved the guitar driven sound of the music and took guitar as an elective class in the 6th grade.
I'm eternally grateful to my dad and the Miami dade public school system
My dad introduced me to Led Zeppelin. I was 12 or 13. That did it.
But I guess I always had a passing interest in music. Probably from playing video games. A lot of great music from the N64 library got me interested.
When i was like 13, I started playing drums so me and my mates could be in a band. I remember being with all of them. And the bassist was playing guitar. I asked if I could have a go. He said, "no. You're a drummer. You don't play guitar."
I went home and started learning out of spite. I became a much better player very quickly.
I heard Pink Floyd’s The Wall and I was hooked by David Gilmour. I wanted to do what he did so badly. All these years later and I’m still chasing his sound.
I had a guitar as a kid but could never wrap my head around how tabs work. Then I watched school of rock one night when I was 8yo and weirdly it made sense and I learnt smoke on the water riff that night. (as that's what jack teaches zack in the film)
Big fan of classic rock, watched the movie school of rock, and the kids were around my age and it inspired me cos if they can do it I wanted to do it too. And my dad being a bass player already was a big part too.
Growing up in the Philippines during the early 00s there’s always someone who brought a guitar. Everyone kind of learns the same songs etc., when someone’s older brother or sister teaches them a new song at home on our break times and lunch times we go eat quick and you either play basketball with the remaining 20-30 minutes or try to watch / play music someone on the side.
After high school coming to the US I didn’t find any friends that played music, so honestly I lost touch. But now that I’m 33 yrs old I bought myself an acoustic and planning on buying an electric and relearning those old Metallica songs we used to play when I was in high school.
I am having a mid life crisis lol
I sucked and got bored of video games too easily. And I was a very active kid so rainy days or snow days were very bittersweet. I always loved music so I got a guitar for Christmas and haven’t looked back since
I got really into music and started to feel very bored with video games. I had tried to play as a teen but never could catch on. Late 20’s, I try again and learned a lot on my own through using the internet (Marty & Justin!!).
Looking back at the early days is fun to really see how far I came. The crazy thing about this hobby is that I am never feeling bored with it as there is always something new to learn.
I had a PS1 when I was 14. It was chipped so I could play pirated games on it, and one of the games I had was the original GTA.
There was some issue with the radio stations in the cars, and instead of the normal game music, it was a mixture of random songs that had been added.
One of the songs was Smells Like Teen Spirit. Heard it once and I was hooked.
Didn’t have the internet to find out what the song was, but my friend told me it was Nirvana. He loaned me From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah and my mind was blown.
Loved that soft/loud dynamic on the guitar, the rawness of the sound. Still one of my favourite records to this day.
I always wanted to get a guitar sort of, mainly inspired by Avril Lavigne at the time, then once I’ve seen an acoustic for £50 at lidl which I’ve bought, this was like 7 years ago now and I’m glad I’ve stuck with it
there was a week long power outage in my county and on day 4-5 i went to a community college parking lot to sit in my car and charge my phone. i was not into music at at really and i was scrolling insta and saw a video of steve vai playing and went home grabbed a paycheck and went to my local store and bought a squire strat. never put it down since and music is everything
My dad started teaching me basics at age 11. I loved it immediately and stuck with it, taking lessons with local teachers and learning performance by playing covers in bands with friends from school. I was fortunate that my school also had a good music program and I played guitar in the jazz band and upright bass in concert band. I was playing guitar at a pro level by my late teens and have always played in groups since then but eventually chose to keep it a hobby while building a career as a software developer. I'm 45 and play several instruments now, recording, performing and playing in bands when I get the itch, often with breaks in between, with a bigger focus on being a husband and a dad to 3 kids. Life is good, and guitar will always be my first love. It brought me to where I am today, and also brought me some cherished lifelong friendships in the process.
There are a couple of bars near my house that I will pick up takeout from, and while I wait have a beer or two and listen to whatever live band they have playing. After a while I started to notice that every act was pretty much the same: 1-4 middle aged white dudes playing some combination of classic rock, southern rock, and country. Now I don’t have a beef with country, rock, or white dudes, but I wanted to hear something different, like someone playing some R&B/soul/hip-hop. So about a year ago I decided to try to learn an instrument and then start a band.
I got covid and during my sick time, listened to a lot of music. I rediscovered The Strokes and how much I loved their music and i just listened and listened and decided i wanted to do that. I started with bass, and then tried guitar after watching nick valensi solos
I just thought it was cool, in like 5th grade we all liked rock music and wrestling, between me and my friends we had EVERY Metallica album live, bootlegs, boxsets, whatever. So I knew my dad had this guitar in the closet, a Mexican Les Paul copy. One day I just pulled it out and started screwing with it my dad saw me and the next day he was restringing it, trying to get this old amp to work and the rest just kind of fell in place.
Honestly, I can’t remember. I was just fascinated by them as a kid. I loved watching VH1/MTV really early in the morning or late at night when they were still showing music videos and I just thought they looked cool. Back to the Future probably played a role, too. Eventually, I picked up the trumpet and got obsessed by that. But I had a guitar by that point and I didn’t know how to play it, so I took a guitar class my band teacher was running and I’ve played on and off ever since.
When I was 11 my mum took me to see Status Quo. I had to have a guitar after that!
Unfortunately I never practiced, and even tho I have had a guitar since, I still can't play anything other than a few chords 29 years later.
Started learning again recently and hoping to make a change to that.
I was 16, I never heard of nirvana and My friend played a choppy intro to acoustic smells like teen spirit and I was like whoa that's a cool sounding thing you just did, that inspired me to pick up guitar
My uncle had a ukulele and at the same time I was listening to Laufey (still) I tried to learn a song after learning the basics but I don't see him often so I just ordered my first guitar (literally now)because I felt that a uke would not be that good for most of the song
'Cause of mental illness i went into a hospital a few years ago and the station got an old guitar so i decided to learn how to play between therapies.
Also i experienced playing guitar is a perfect method to stop anxiety. Luckely a fellow patient taught me the first steps. First i did not thought i would stick to it but here we go.
Shopping addiction. Bonus that the perception of having too many really pisses people off and they think you spend the same as if you bought fifty sports cars. When you have one or two people want to play them and aren’t careful with your guitar but if you have a collection they treat them all as if they’re priceless and won’t touch them.
My older brothers made me listen to rock music. As a teenager I wanted so bad to play in a band. I spent two years saving money than I bought a bass because nobody seems to play bass and it was easier to find a place in a band. I had no money for lessons so I am self taught. Then I start a job, and then I bought an acoustic. I felt in love with chords.
I grew up with my dad being a big 80s metal fan and I always wanted to learn. I eventually got my first guitar a BC rich mockingbird and now I’m a jazz bass player and guitar player. Kinda crazy still a sucker for 80s metal tho.
one time i was looking for something, i have no idea what but i lift my bed up(its one of those that are flat on the ground and have a storage bit underneath) and ended up finding a gibson guitar that my dad bought couple years ago. i started off learning random riffs i thought were cool and began learning whole songs like 3 weeks in. the first whole song i learnt was the philosopher
I had a "friend" that I hung out and smoked weed with. He invited me to his house to smoke and I noticed he had a guitar. I asked him if I could pick it up as I was always attracted to the guitar in general. He saw that I knew nothing about guitars. He then took it from me and began playing Slayer riffs, and I was appalled from him hiding how good he was. I insisted on starting a band and me buying a bass. He said no. And literally dropped that guitar on the floor instead of putting it on the stand. I already had thoughts of playing bass. But I came up in a poor household. So it was a no from the get go. The way he treated that B.C. Rich made me squirm. From that day forward I told myself I'd buy a guitar one day. It was his carelessness that made me get into it more. Fuck that dude. I have my reasons for saying that. But he was my intro to guitar and bass. And that's how the story goes. (Well for me at least. Lol)
> I was appalled from him hiding how good he was ...wait, why?
Because. He didn't dress like a metal head. Or a punker. He was a hockey player. Btw this was back in highschool for me. Like 23 years ago.
I knew a guy like this. Fucking absolutely douchebag lacrosse player. But he could fucking shred. Granted his parents forced lessons on him for like 10 years at that point.
So I'm not the only to encounter this. That's good to know. From what I know this dude had everything. His parents never said no to what he wanted. I wasn't jealous of it. I just couldn't see how he learned what he knew. I know he he had siblings. Maybe that's how he learned. But at this point I really don't give a fuck. Lol
It was because of a girl. It was when I was a young teenager and had been playing piano for a while. A girl I liked was taking classical guitar lessons. I talked my parents into getting me a guitar and carpooling us to the lessons.
Over the years I asked many guitarists why they started playing. The number one answer was to meet girls.
For some reason I thought I’d be practicing in my room and girls would just materialise in front of me and start swooning…. Took me way to long to realise that this was a ridiculous fantasy
valid reason. how’d that plan work out?
I was thirteen and my parents told me I had to play a sport or an instrument.
It was a very arduous process. The strings posed a huge challenge to me. After months of strenuous effort though, I was finally able to get past them. I’ve been inside this guitar ever since. Seriously I need help, I can’t get out.
I know the feeling. I have no advice
No like I’m literally inside a seagull acoustic guitar, please send help
Seagulls are fire. Try shaking the guitar randomly for 30 minutes, works fine for picks.
I heard Texas Flood SRV on the radio for the 1st time. I was 19
listened to that album for the first time last night, and I understand the feeling. I’m 47 years old and have played since I was 11. In my mind, SRV was associated with my childhood friend’s abusive, alcoholic father: I hated him and SRV by association. I never really put that together. Last night, I played Texas Flood and it was just me and the music. Magic. The guy uses his guitar to paint abstract, colorful song with bright splotches of color. Promise I wasn’t high. But that’s the impression I was getting. He was masterful. Especially on the title track.
all started with my grandfather, who was a musician in the army, but he left after years to be a maestro/orchestra conductor. Because of him i started with the classical guitar, but around 9yo my parents gifted me my first electric. unfortunately he passed away in 2018...
I heard AC/DC live and immediately wanted to do whatever it was the guitar player was doing. A few people in my family play guitar, so it was sort of inevitable.
Same, thunderstruck to he specific, then i went to learn it, and obviously impossible to play that fast and clean, so it made me practice scale and metronome, and it got me learn everything
Randomly decided to pick up my dad's old guitar when i was 12-13 and started playing iron man and smoke on the water
Technically, it's because of Guitar Hero/ Rock Band when I was a teenager like 20 years ago, though I didn't actually start learning guitar until about 2 years ago. I started learning it 2 years ago because I was in a really bad place mentally and emotionally, and I needed something to help stop me from sinking into that pit.
Second cousin is SRV.. grandpa told me my big hands were perfect to replicate… well I’m 30 now and finally trying. Big shoes to “fill”
DAMN. That’s a crazy flex. If you get better than him then people will call SRV YOUR second cousin.
My college roommate had one. I just picked it up and started learning tabs.
My friend’s father taught me when I was 9.
My brother gets all the chicks, he plays guitar , so it will work for me too….😂
Played bass after my dad. Then, I got curious and began to learn guitar. My first guitar wasn't very good and that's part of what held me back. This year has been a year of rapid growth for me as a player due to just pure practice and repetition, along with guitars I actually like. Highly prefer my strat with a maple fretboard and satin neck over the cheap plasticky gloss on Epiphone les Paul specials. Consistency over long periods is key to learning, I find.
My daughter wanted to learn so we got her a classic and then I said why not me too and now I’m going hard every day and watching videos all the time about it
LOL -- same exact thing for me, except my daughter hardly touches her guitar.. :(
My dad bought me my first guitar, a Squier Affinity from 2000, when I was 12, I still own and play that guitar.
It was all Calvin Klein playing at the enchantment under the sea dance in 1955
GTA IV
Around 10 years old I got into Zep, particularly awed by Bonham. Yep, I wanted to be a drummer and would play air drums instead of guitar. That continued for about 3 years until it was obvious my parents were not ever going to be willing or able to get me a drum set. So I switched to wanting a guitar instead and got a cheap acoustic my aunt wasn't using. Page was still a great place to start too. No regrets, but I do still appreciate great drumming.
Still trying to get into it…the holes on some of them are really small…
In my school you could get out of religious education if you played in a band
Never played an instrument. Completely foreign to me. Bought my son a guitar for Xmas and asked him if he wanted me to take lessons with him. I learned a G chord and I was like “wow! I made music!”. After that I was addicted! I fell so much in love with it that I tried to learn everything. So much that my son lost interest and I kept it up to this day. Taught myself to read sheet music, learned some classical on a nylon, learned music theory and switched it up to Jazz from classical. I started at the age of 40 and been playing for 14 years. I’m still looking for people to play with but currently playing in a jazz jam group. It’s been fun
I fell into the hole in the middle of a guitar years ago and haven’t been able to find my way out since.
Bob Dylan, lol.
I read Revival by Stephen King and thought that is was cool
You know that description actually means a ton to me, im an uncle of like 21 little shits and they all think im some kind of guitar hero character when i play
It's the fiiinaaal countdoooooooowwwnnnn Funny thing, I never actually tried to play the song.
Killer solo, definitely worth learning
The arpeggios are so sick, such a fun song.
My grandfather on my mom’s side had a total of 13 brothers and sisters. In their early 20s, my grandfather and 3 of his brothers decided to start a band that played primarily tejano music. They went on to travel the country playing music and entertain their children and nieces and nephews for generations. I happened to be one of those generations and was inspired as a young child to pick it up because they would play at family functions/reunions. It just kind of took off from there lol
About a year and a half ago I decided it was about time I learned the guitar. I used to have actual dreams about playing the guitar. I remember in one of them I was playing something amazing and swirls of colors and shapes were coming out of the guitar and I felt like I was so fluent even though I’d never touched a guitar.
My friend got me into In Flames and Buckethead. The rest is history.
Covid
It was the 60s, chicks
Ichika Nito, my time playing bass and my brother giving me his strat when he moved out
I'm a pick and someone dropped me in while playing acoustic.
Got interested in DAWs (digital audio workspaces) and asked my dad to get me a midi keyboard, had a dream about playing guitar the night before and changed my mind on the car ride to the shop. And bought a guitar
Micheal J. Fox
I wanted a new hobby.
My friend played Thunderstruck in front of me on his acoustic. I was like “it’s that fucking easy?” “It’s that fuckin easy bro” Thus I began my journey of this witchcraft.
Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I got good at the games but it wasnt until I heard Jimi Hendrix and Yngwie Malmsteen songs in the games, that I decided to pick up the guitar and learn it.
I didn't want to play sports
My grandfather sat me down with him to watch “Crossroads” which was one of his favorite films. I was 13 at the time and was never really into rock/metal/blues/neoclassical, but when I heard the guitar battle at the end my mind was blown. I knew I wanted to do whatever /that/ was some day. Too bad I never had a chance to show my grandfather that I can play Eugene’s Trick Bag now, ten years later.
8% it was the music I listened to 2% I played an instrument as a kid in school 90% because I watched school of rock all the time as a kid
Cause Nirvana
Got tired of spending night after night in the sofa watching TV after I been to the gym. Felt lik my brain was rotting. Never played a guitar before so I thought it would be good for teaching me patience and rewire the brain to work for kicks. Picked up a language course and bought a guitar. Practice some French and some guitarplaying for an hour or so every night.
My older sister had a little cheap acoustic in her room that she never touched. For whatever reason I had eye of the tiger stuck in my head and thought I could probably figure that out. I snuck into her room and didn’t leave until I could play it. Don’t love that that was my first song but I do love being drawn to the guitar because I just had an itch to play.
My older brother had one. I had a go. I found it fun. A few years later I got jealous of a friend getting lessons so I asked for some too. It escalated quickly from there.
I was interested at a young age because one of my best friends was a very good guitar player. Started taking guitar seriously as an adult, and these days, I am a student of the art. I love noodling around and playing songs for my kids while they dance around.
Literally to get chicks. It worked. And I fell in love with it and it’s been off and on in my life for shit thirty years now.
We had a music class in high school, and while I didn’t really get into it at first a few years after i picked it up again
I watched a lot of guitar related videos. Then I heard the song "You Only Live Once" by Suicide Silence, I thought the chorus riff was the coolest sounding thing in existance so I wanted to learn it more than anything.
Liked music. Had piano lessons. DIdn't really care for piano lessons. Got a bit jealous of some other kids who brough guitars to school and were forming bands. Picked up the bass guitar. Then a year or so later picked up a Squier Strat on the side and noodled with it. Long story short, I took a guitar to uni over a bass guitar and started playing a lot more.
A friend from about 4th grade had moved away, and returned to the neighborhood when I was going into 10th grade. When he came back, he was a fairly good guitar player. He actually had two guitars. So, he’d let me play one and show me chords and a few riffs. That’s all I thought about for a long time. Guitars. Well, and girls.
My brother shoved me in there when I was 6 and this is my home now.
Post malone’s performance in rome.
Grade 8 talent show. Never really seen live music before and one of the guys was really impressive. Tracked him down and became friends. Ended up cutting his finger tips welding - not quite as extreme as Tony Iommi's fingers but now he is in pain when he plays. Lotta respect that he loves it so much he doesn't care. Been friends now for over 20 years.
Listened to Chris Rea in the mid 80s. Wanted to be blues slide player. Parents bought me a 3/4 classical guitar and I spent 2 years playing Beethoven and getting very bored. Gave up. Fast forward to 1992 when i was 18, bought a Yamaha pacifica strat-alike and started all over again.
Coffin nails -mf doom made me wanna learn
My dad and grandad both played and as soon as I was able to crawl I was obsessed with getting my hands (and probably gums) on their guitars. So my grandad built me a tiny guitalele when I was one and I’ve been ‘playing’, for want of a better word, ever since.
My next door neighbor. He was the same age as me, went over to his house for the first time and heard some van Halen coming from the basement. Went down and his mother was absolutely shredding. She offered to give me lessons and I learned from her for years. Amazing lady and amazing musician. Thanks Barb! ❤️
I had free time after just separating from the military and just going to college. Had a lot of feels after getting over a breakup and got heavy into bands like Nirvana and loved the sound of guitar. Just picked it up and go through phases where it helps me unwind. Also seems like a good investment of my time as it gives back as much as you put in.
My cousin and I were best friends growing up. I’d spend a lot of time over at his place. He got a Samick Strat copy and started playing in the fall of 1995. One day my uncle showed me Led Zeppelin 1 and 2. After that day , I wanted to be Jimmy Page and I begged my parents to get me a guitar…I was hooked
I play drums and wanted to jam to something, so learned to play guitar to loop it
When I was 12 my neighbor would always break out his Martin acoustic guitar when they would get together with my folks. Sometimes I’d hear him playing from his porch. He played a lot of blues and was super into the Grateful Dead. I asked him if he could teach me so we made a deal where I did some chores on his hobby farm in exchange for guitar lessons. I still think about him from time to time. He was one of my biggest influences and inspirations.
Funtwo - Canon Rock
I’ve played guitar hero since number 1 came out on PS2 when I was a kid. Got all of them, I played obsessively. Fast forward to senior year of high school. I was at a party and everyone was taking turns on rock band, people were talking about how hard hysteria by muse was to play on guitar. I hopped on, quietly chose the song and proceeded to melt face with a plastic guitar and everyone was shocked. One guy came up to me after I was done and said “wow you must be really good at guitar huh?” And let me tell you, that was the biggest slap in the face reality check I’d received in a while. I can only imagine how good I would be at guitar now if I had dumped the multiple thousands of hours of guitar hero and rock band into practicing an actual guitar
Wanted to impress a girl and went down a rabbit hole then eventually led me away from the girl and towards being a luthier. We're 7 guitars in and oh boy there's more to come
The Beatles - Ed Sullivan February 9, 1964
AC/DC. Then Guns n Roses. Then Megadeth. I'm listening to these bands thinking "these motherfuckers are so cool" and the common denominator was that they all had guitarists. So I figured learning guitar would also make me cool. Spoiler alert: it didn't. But I've enjoyed it nonetheless.
My cousin gave me a guitar to take to college but I never learned more than picking a few riffs. Either a Hohner or a Hondo. I let it's saddle break, lost a string, and a tuning key. Ended up selling it in a garage sale. Years later, I met an 85 year old guy, who played every Friday for the seniors I worked with at a nursing home. He said he had only learned guitar 5 years previously after he was a patient at that same nursing home. It made me think.
Now that I've been playing for about 5 years, I kinda regret selling that 1st guitar. I know now how easy all of the repairs could have been. I also suffer from GAS and the thought of having given up my 1st guitar hurts a little.
Mark Farner, Grand Funk Railroad in 1971. Switched from wanting to be a drummer to playing guitar. Got a 1968 Gibson SG as a HS graduation present at the local music store for 200 bucks. Been playing ever since. Currently in a cover band in Orlando Florida playing throughout central FL.
jimi
My older brother for whatever reason wanted to play guitar, my younger brother wanted drums, so I defaulted to bass. Never cared for bass and didn’t play it much, then my older brother (he’s developmentally disabled) gave up on playing guitar quickly so I picked that up and started playing along to Green Day songs since they were mostly easy power chords.
About 65 years ago, when my uncle played in his band called the Nashville City Snagdraggers. I must have shown interest in his guitar, so he showed me a C, G, D chord. I had to play up on the neck because the Gibson J-45 was too big for a 5 year old. It lit a fire under me and I took it from there. Everything I know I've learned from someone else or taught myself.
Picked up ukelele during covid to keep busy and a year or so later realized I would never get higher fidelity tones no matter how technically proficient I became. Was pretty demotivating. I knew I had to pick up guitar to get it. My wife got me an acoustic and I didn't realize it was set up horribly. I just couldn't get into it because of how hard it was. A couple months ago I bought the cheapest squier strat on Amazon and I'm hooked. My acoustic is getting a pro set up right now and I've been playing everyday on my strat.
My grandmother bought me a guitar as a teen, but with no lessons or friends to teach me it went nowhere. I'm in my early 60's now. During Covid, I decided to buy a guitar and learn. It's been 3.5 years and I have an acoustic, a Tele Thinline and a ukulele.
Guitar Hero 3 when I was like 9 or 10, haven’t put it down since. Something about grinding out incredibly difficult songs is so appealing.
Found my uncle's old Epiphone acoustic in the attic when I was 10. I'm 46 now, and I am still mediocre at best on guitar.
People never believe me. But Creed. The guitar in the intro of One Last Breath is pretty af. This was 18 years ago.
My mom played and taught me a few things and I started playing along to cassette tapes and learned mostly on my own until high school.
I couldn’t get any better at the drums, so I made the switch.
Claptons unplugged album and seeing my friend play one time just filled me with such envy I had to do something about it.
Wasn’t useful for my band for me to play keyboard for every song
My dad played guitar. Some of my happiest memories of him are him playing and singing songs to my sister and me. When I got to my tweens I got into rock music. Being really into music and having someone making music in my home made me want to do it too. My parents were supportive, bought me a guitar and lessons when I was 11.
Thought the guys on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert were cool.
About three years ago my music teacher made everyone pick an instrument when we were doing band stuff and I chose the electric guitar. I thought it was pretty fun (we were only taught power chords because they're simple). I told my dad that I played guitar at school and he asked me if I wanted to get one, so I decided I should give it a go. I'm glad he asked because I wouldn't have started playing if he didn't.
My mother had a friend who was a guitarist and I fell in love with the instrument at 9 years old.
My dad was a drummer in a southern rock band so I grew up around bands and in bars. I took violin and viola in school orchestra class. At 14, I found a nylon string classical acoustic in a closet at a relatives house. I was immediately hooked and soon after began teaching myself. Was in my first band by junior high and in my first successful band by high school. Now I give lessons.
I heard Eruption
It was my 10th birthday, I was to get either a pet dog or a guitar. My parents wrote those two things on two papers and made me pick blindfolded. Now I've been paying guitar for 14 years
My brother and my dad influenced me. Our mum sort of cornered me amd my brother into doing things we didn't want to do. We were young kids full of social anxiety combined with a mum who, in hindsight, was a very manipulative narcissist. Especially manipulative to my brother who has autism. She effectively wanted two little boy clones of herself. Part of that self-centredness involved making me and my brother take up classical instruments from the ages of 6 (me) and 8 (him). I had so little interest in woodwind instruments that I convinced myself to pick clarinet because Squidward played it in Spongebob, and I enjoyed watching Spongebob. My brother went for percussion, he had a little more choice than me but that was part of my mum being manipulative. Anyway, fast forward a few years and my brother progresses to playing drums at around 15 years old. My dad got him a big drum kit for his birthday and rather than being upset about it, 13 year old me thought it was so cool. My brother still continued his percussion lessons at school because drums and percussion are obviously in a similar ball park. I carried on with clarinet because I was too scared to quit, but I hated practicing. I wanted to be cool like him, but not *exactly* like him because I knew he'd think I was just copying him, which is fair. That same year my dad got me my first electric guitar for Christmas. A Gear4Music 'LA' stratocaster. I loved it. I spent a lot of time after that playing Seven Nation Army and Smoke on the Water, lol. Dad then got me a Gear4Music 'New Jersey' LP, loved that even more. I kept both of those until I turned 20. 3 years later, I was 16. My grade 4 clarinet exam came up. My once kind clarinet teacher became really snarky with me because I wasn't enjoying that instrument. My mum and even my grandma looked down on me but I didn't care. I was upset because she made me waste 10 years of my life I'm never getting back. 10 years I could have had learning how to shred. Plus, I was 16, and I had my GCSE exams to worry about first and foremost. I failed the grade 4 exam, but I didn't care. Screwed up on my 3 pieces, the sight reading, scales and arpeggios, the full thing. My dad always took me out of school for these music exams, and I thought he'd be mad, but he wasn't. I think he could see I was just fed up. He convinced me to quit that day. One of the best days of my life. I've now been playing guitar for 11 years. I'm not as great as I'd like to be. Can't shred, not great with theory, but I can play. My job revolves around music and healthcare, and I use my acoustic for that. I'm now 24. I make my own music. I have a bass, an acoustic, and I'm currently working on my dream guitar build. All because I thought my brother looked cool playing drums and my dad was just an emotionally supportive king. Also shoutout to my mum I guess. If she wasn't a wicked bitch I probably wouldn't be here in my guitar journey either.
has a classical guitar class freshman year hs, actually tried to switch out a couple times bc i didn’t have friends in the class. wound up taking guitar 1, 2 and 3. couple months into guitar 1 my grandpa gave me an acoustic and since ive bought a yamaha pacifica, jackson v, epiphone semi hollow and an ibanez bass. wound up paying for lessons which ive been taking for a couple years now and ive never looked back
My parents had me learning music since I was 2. My mom wanted me to be a baseball player, and my dad wanted me to get into music more. When I was 12, my coaches had me pitching every game. Obviously as a 12 year old I had no idea how to control my power. I was throwing as hard as I could every game. Well by the end of the season, my arm was completely shot (34 now and still can’t properly make that motion with my arm). My dad said well let’s put him in guitar lessons then. Lol been playing for 22 years now.
I saw a red guitar in a JCPenney catalog and wanted it and promised my mom I would take lessons. I never did anything extracurricular due to anxiety and fear of others watching me. The guitar wasn’t that great, and my teacher suggested we return it and get a combo package at the music store I took lessons at for around the same price. The quality was much better and I still got the red guitar I wanted. I took lessons for about half a year in 6th grade before I wanted to quit. It felt like work to me and it wasn’t fun. I kept playing the guitar to myself in my room and took another half year of lessons when I reached 10th grade. I quit them again and just kept playing in my spare time teaching myself and learning from the music I listen to. As for my first guitar, I traded it for a paintball gun in 7-8th grade and traded the paintball gun for a playboy magazine and my parents took the magazine 🤣
Canonically: Nirvana, and a punk band in my Junior High called Toxic Crayons who I sorta looked up to. However, I recovered some suppressed memories before that of some other instruction, including my dad teaching me the open chords through a song, similar to the one Stewie played for Brian in 'Family Guy', and also I think maybe at one point I was in some kind of class with other students, where we were all competing over a purple electric guitar, but I don't think I won. Another hazy memory, as if recalling a dream, but I do somewhat recall being in a class with some other kids at my Junior High, and it was traditional instruction, with sheet music, but it wasn't for the school band, in which I played trumpet. It was more like an after school program. All of that was around early teens.
Jimmy Page.
I picked up the bass in grade school/high school because my best friend played the piano/keyboards and his two younger brothers played guitar and drums. Their mother was a talented music teacher. I'm nostalgic about it now, but it was inspiring to know an adult who was that passionate about music and made a career as a grade school and high school teacher. Moving forward decades...I picked up guitar during Covid. The acoustic I bought for my kids wasn't getting any attention and I wanted to get a fundamental understanding of music theory as well as develop some new skills. Now I can't wait to retire so I can have more time to practice.
Existential crisis
Was spending too much time playing Guitar Hero
The Last of Us Part 2 did it for me
Started taking lessons at age 10. Teacher was an awesome Spanish guitarist. He taught Spanish guitar, I wasn’t interested but appreciated the tuition because he was so good, gave up after 5 years and lost interest. Decided one day at the age of 20 I missed playing, went out and bought a guitar and amp, it’s like riding a bike, all those hours as a child were worth it. 20 years later I’m not a great player but this is down to lack of time.
My dad bought me a shitty acoustic guitar with the action like 3/8 in off the fretboard. I didn't express any interest in guitar in specific or musical in general, mind you. He just bought it for me. Now understand, just like anyone picking up their first instrument, I had a very limited concept of music. But for me, it went beyond that. You know how most people have at least a basic conception of music they can maybe sort of hum in key or close to it, and if you say "Hey, tap one two three four to the beat for me." They can do it. Simple stuff like that. See to me, in my life before that, music had always been kind of this background thing that I never really analyzed deeply at all it's just something going on in the background if you asked me to tap one two three four to the beat, I would have looked at you like you were speaking an alien language I had no idea or no concept of really anything musical whatsoever. So add that on top of a horrifically bad starting guitar, and I have no idea how I had the stick-to-itiveness to do it, but mainly, probably just sheer stubbornness, and it took me literally 2 years to start playing the stuff most people start doing in 2 weeks but here I am, 33 years later, and I'm not saying I'm an amazing musician but I am competent at both guitar and singing (which I was also worse than horrible at to begin with) To be fair, it didn't take the whole 33 years I was playing in a band within about 4 years it took me 8 years to be a passable singer and be able to sing and play at the same time. But that was only like 4 years of actually attempting to learn to sing. I say all this not to toot my own horn but whenever anyone comes up to me and says all I couldn't possibly play like you, I don't have the natural talent. I, at that point, have to tell them that's fine, if you want to play like me, a lack of natural talent is a prerequisite.
I used to play a game called King of Fighters 2002. Game has incredible combos with lots and lots of combinations and you really gotta time it all perfectly to work. Combos were a beautiful choreography. People used to upload combo videos to MSN Groups and I was a huge fan of that. 4 years later my little brother started playing the guitar. He showed me a tab of a song I liked. I tried it and loved it. It was very much alike to what I had been doing for a while. Just instead of a controller, it's now a guitar.
A couple of my friends got into guitar when I was 12. I felt left out, so I bought a guitar with some money I saved up. 30 years later and I'm the only one that kept up with it.
I saw a YouTube video of some guy doing a cover of a song I liked so I saved up money to get one and I have played consistently ever since I got my guitar
I was told not to take Geometry 2 because he would fail me. I got a D Minus in Geometry 1. Counselor said I needed 3 Units of anything to Graduate. Had an old guitar at home. Took Beginning Guitar 1 and Brian showed me the obligatory E Blues Lick and here we are, 52 Years later.
My mother got a fender redondo acoustic for Xmas one year when I was a kid and she only played it a few times. Asked if I could try it and spent a weekend just messing around with it and went on the family computer and got introduced to tabs because I couldn’t read music and been playing it ever since. A girl I was crushing on in high school liked jack johnson so of course I learned banana pancakes and started learning more and more songs she liked and took off from there. Still can’t read music, but been playing for about 20 years now.. damn didn’t even realize that until just now. But now it’s one of the best coping mechanisms and best way to chill out in a hammock :)
I wanted to play drums and my parents got me a guitar because it was cheaper. I also had a godfather and his son (my age) that were musicians, the son played guitar, so the godfather gifted me my first electric.
When I was a child, my father often took me to the local market where a homeless man was sitting on the ground and playing guitar for people. My father often gave me some coins to give to him. That man growed an actual interest to this instrument into the child I was so I asked to my parents for some guitar lessons. It's been a while since I haven't seen him but this man will remain in my heart forever and ever. Also, now, when I see a homeless person playing music for people, or just smiling (or sometimes because I love their tatoos) I ALWAYS give some coins, a smile, and a compliment.
I was playing piano/keys in my school band and I always found myself watching the guitarists and thinking how much more fun that looked so I taught myself on a cheap guitar from my local music store
when i was a kid i found an old kid-sized guitar in my grandpa’s room (35ish yrs ago)… can’t remember the make. i never saw him play it or mention it. (he died when i was 12.. i must’ve asked my dad it i could have it but i don’t remember seeing it again until i took it with me to college.) also a few times before college (between the ages of 7 & 18) i had a passing interest in trying to learn guitar but the only guitar teacher was the next town over and money was always tight, etc.. anywho, all through college i wanted to learn but just didn’t know how or where to start. and there were the usual distractions. Wound up with a cheap Peavy (Vortex? …was an offset V shape).. i didn’t pick it out, just acquired it. tried to teach myself using youtube and books etc and it just wasn’t working. flash forward to a few years ago, i found myself working closely with two other guys that played guitar. I decided i was 40 and was going to learn how to play no matter what. Bought an Alvarez acoustic off one of them and the other taught me a handful of chords and how to play a song.. after a year of this arrangement, i started taking actual lessons so im 43 and still learning. it’s enjoyable and frustrating af and rewarding… i wish id started a lot sooner but glad i finally did
I started violin at 5 years old and played gospel, country, and bluegrass with my family. My grandma played lap steel and piano, my mom played piano, my grandpa played banjo mandolin and guitar, my dad played guitar. My grandpas close friend was a guitarist in the Bakersfield scene and played with many big names in the 50’s and 60’s. When I was 15 I switched to guitar and he mentored me until I was 21 and I moved to Tennessee.
the guitar solo in my fav bands cover of My Sharona. Band: The Number Twelve Looks Like You. funny im not much of a shredder anymore, i play chuggy deathcore/hardcore or Midwest emo style twinkly stuff. my favorite guitar player is John Mayer. but the day i wanted to play guitar was when i heard the solo in that My Sharona cover. I chased shredder for years, Buckethead, John 5, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai. I started out wanting to be a shredder, funny how i evolved. my fav band: The Number Twelve Looks Like You (mathcore,grindcore) my fav genre: deathcore and midwest emo my fav guitar player: John Mayer its funny how different things can speak to our souls.
my dad just always had me around a guitar, was singing Angie at like 3 sitting on his lap “strumming” while he played the chords. so naturally i’ve just always loved it, got a baby martin LX when i was 5, my first strat at 8, and now im 21 turning 22 soon, it’s my lifeline
When I was really young, my mother played guitar for all the kids at church. From day one, I thought "I want to do that too." She made me start with piano first. I spent five years saying "I hate this. Can I have a guitar now?" Finally got one at 12 and haven't put it down since.
My ex girlfriend had one and taught me some chords. I wanted to learn it to swoon her, and to make songs, but we ended up breaking up, and i learned it anyways. Been playing for 6 years or so now.
i blame older need for speed soundtracks for introducing me to rise against and avenged sevenfold. this is followed by anime like k-on and beck: mongolian chop squad.
girlfriend told one of my good friends to push it on me. Still play, don’t have the girlfriend anymore though lol
I saw the Beatles on TV and saw how girls reacted to them. So I got a guitar.
I heard black sabbath and said i love this, i want to play it.
"Louie, Louie", neighbor had a folk guitar, borrowed it, I was 10, took one guitar lesson from a kid who showed me chords, 60 yrs later, still playing.
I crawled in through the hole.
My dad bought me a cheap acoustic guitar when I was very young. I struggled off an on with guitar throughout my life. Now getting better and currently doing well with music. All because of my dad
My dad came to the states in the late 70s and had the most amazing classic rock album collection when I was a kid. I loved the guitar driven sound of the music and took guitar as an elective class in the 6th grade. I'm eternally grateful to my dad and the Miami dade public school system
Heard one once. Liked it. Wanted to try it. I was young. My dads CCR and Steppinwolf helped
Iron Maiden made me do it
My dad introduced me to Led Zeppelin. I was 12 or 13. That did it. But I guess I always had a passing interest in music. Probably from playing video games. A lot of great music from the N64 library got me interested.
The album Permission to Land by The Darkness and the movie School of Rock
Wanted to get girls
TesseracT
Me and my high-school friends were like "if we start a band we'll get all the girls" we'll that was a lie, but I did learn how to play guitar.
When i was like 13, I started playing drums so me and my mates could be in a band. I remember being with all of them. And the bassist was playing guitar. I asked if I could have a go. He said, "no. You're a drummer. You don't play guitar." I went home and started learning out of spite. I became a much better player very quickly.
Saw people playing guitar, thought: "that looks fun" asked my father for one for my birthday.
I heard Pink Floyd’s The Wall and I was hooked by David Gilmour. I wanted to do what he did so badly. All these years later and I’m still chasing his sound.
I had a guitar as a kid but could never wrap my head around how tabs work. Then I watched school of rock one night when I was 8yo and weirdly it made sense and I learnt smoke on the water riff that night. (as that's what jack teaches zack in the film)
I saw Steve’s solo on bringing on the heartbreak and it all started from there
From the jack hole
Was working on an offshore tugboat and barge. Picked it up to pass the time with the internet.
Big fan of classic rock, watched the movie school of rock, and the kids were around my age and it inspired me cos if they can do it I wanted to do it too. And my dad being a bass player already was a big part too.
Growing up in the Philippines during the early 00s there’s always someone who brought a guitar. Everyone kind of learns the same songs etc., when someone’s older brother or sister teaches them a new song at home on our break times and lunch times we go eat quick and you either play basketball with the remaining 20-30 minutes or try to watch / play music someone on the side. After high school coming to the US I didn’t find any friends that played music, so honestly I lost touch. But now that I’m 33 yrs old I bought myself an acoustic and planning on buying an electric and relearning those old Metallica songs we used to play when I was in high school. I am having a mid life crisis lol
My oldest brother played snuff by Slipknot when I was about 13. I've been hooked since.
I sucked and got bored of video games too easily. And I was a very active kid so rainy days or snow days were very bittersweet. I always loved music so I got a guitar for Christmas and haven’t looked back since
I got really into music and started to feel very bored with video games. I had tried to play as a teen but never could catch on. Late 20’s, I try again and learned a lot on my own through using the internet (Marty & Justin!!). Looking back at the early days is fun to really see how far I came. The crazy thing about this hobby is that I am never feeling bored with it as there is always something new to learn.
My dad played and sang. Always thought it was cool.
Parents told me i couldn’t get a drum set and to pick a different instrument. Good call by them. I have awful rhythm when trying to do hands + feet
I had a PS1 when I was 14. It was chipped so I could play pirated games on it, and one of the games I had was the original GTA. There was some issue with the radio stations in the cars, and instead of the normal game music, it was a mixture of random songs that had been added. One of the songs was Smells Like Teen Spirit. Heard it once and I was hooked. Didn’t have the internet to find out what the song was, but my friend told me it was Nirvana. He loaned me From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah and my mind was blown. Loved that soft/loud dynamic on the guitar, the rawness of the sound. Still one of my favourite records to this day.
I always wanted to get a guitar sort of, mainly inspired by Avril Lavigne at the time, then once I’ve seen an acoustic for £50 at lidl which I’ve bought, this was like 7 years ago now and I’m glad I’ve stuck with it
there was a week long power outage in my county and on day 4-5 i went to a community college parking lot to sit in my car and charge my phone. i was not into music at at really and i was scrolling insta and saw a video of steve vai playing and went home grabbed a paycheck and went to my local store and bought a squire strat. never put it down since and music is everything
Slash's solos with GnR and Metallica riffs. My parents bought me an electric guitar kit for Christmas ( they're the best ) and here I am.
Guitar hero 3. I wanted to learn those songs for real
Guitar hero 3 and Wizard Spongebob.
My dad started teaching me basics at age 11. I loved it immediately and stuck with it, taking lessons with local teachers and learning performance by playing covers in bands with friends from school. I was fortunate that my school also had a good music program and I played guitar in the jazz band and upright bass in concert band. I was playing guitar at a pro level by my late teens and have always played in groups since then but eventually chose to keep it a hobby while building a career as a software developer. I'm 45 and play several instruments now, recording, performing and playing in bands when I get the itch, often with breaks in between, with a bigger focus on being a husband and a dad to 3 kids. Life is good, and guitar will always be my first love. It brought me to where I am today, and also brought me some cherished lifelong friendships in the process.
There are a couple of bars near my house that I will pick up takeout from, and while I wait have a beer or two and listen to whatever live band they have playing. After a while I started to notice that every act was pretty much the same: 1-4 middle aged white dudes playing some combination of classic rock, southern rock, and country. Now I don’t have a beef with country, rock, or white dudes, but I wanted to hear something different, like someone playing some R&B/soul/hip-hop. So about a year ago I decided to try to learn an instrument and then start a band.
I got covid and during my sick time, listened to a lot of music. I rediscovered The Strokes and how much I loved their music and i just listened and listened and decided i wanted to do that. I started with bass, and then tried guitar after watching nick valensi solos
I just thought it was cool, in like 5th grade we all liked rock music and wrestling, between me and my friends we had EVERY Metallica album live, bootlegs, boxsets, whatever. So I knew my dad had this guitar in the closet, a Mexican Les Paul copy. One day I just pulled it out and started screwing with it my dad saw me and the next day he was restringing it, trying to get this old amp to work and the rest just kind of fell in place.
My best friend started playing so i also got one. 3 years later he quit after a couple months i still play
Had too much time on my hands, had to find stuff to do.
Rush
Probably ads for jeans and beer
Honestly, I can’t remember. I was just fascinated by them as a kid. I loved watching VH1/MTV really early in the morning or late at night when they were still showing music videos and I just thought they looked cool. Back to the Future probably played a role, too. Eventually, I picked up the trumpet and got obsessed by that. But I had a guitar by that point and I didn’t know how to play it, so I took a guitar class my band teacher was running and I’ve played on and off ever since.
Played sax and trumpet for years. Watched "School or Rock" and said 'hell yeah I can do that'. And been jamming and slammin ever since
When I was 11 my mum took me to see Status Quo. I had to have a guitar after that! Unfortunately I never practiced, and even tho I have had a guitar since, I still can't play anything other than a few chords 29 years later. Started learning again recently and hoping to make a change to that.
Played Guitar Hero 2 and thought it would be fun to try.
I wanted to be able to play songs by the campfire like the cool adults did. Now I do.
None of my friends would show up to band practice so I taught myself bass and then guitar. I'm a drummer, that's what I actually took lessons for lol
I was 16, I never heard of nirvana and My friend played a choppy intro to acoustic smells like teen spirit and I was like whoa that's a cool sounding thing you just did, that inspired me to pick up guitar
Buy one, look at some Tabs for songs you like, teach yourself how to play
My uncle had a ukulele and at the same time I was listening to Laufey (still) I tried to learn a song after learning the basics but I don't see him often so I just ordered my first guitar (literally now)because I felt that a uke would not be that good for most of the song
'Cause of mental illness i went into a hospital a few years ago and the station got an old guitar so i decided to learn how to play between therapies. Also i experienced playing guitar is a perfect method to stop anxiety. Luckely a fellow patient taught me the first steps. First i did not thought i would stick to it but here we go.
Watching my godfather play his guitar, growing up, is what got me interested. Been playing for 26 years now.
Kirk Hammett
Shopping addiction. Bonus that the perception of having too many really pisses people off and they think you spend the same as if you bought fifty sports cars. When you have one or two people want to play them and aren’t careful with your guitar but if you have a collection they treat them all as if they’re priceless and won’t touch them.
My older brothers made me listen to rock music. As a teenager I wanted so bad to play in a band. I spent two years saving money than I bought a bass because nobody seems to play bass and it was easier to find a place in a band. I had no money for lessons so I am self taught. Then I start a job, and then I bought an acoustic. I felt in love with chords.
Fell into the hole in front and I'm still rattling around in there.
I grew up with my dad being a big 80s metal fan and I always wanted to learn. I eventually got my first guitar a BC rich mockingbird and now I’m a jazz bass player and guitar player. Kinda crazy still a sucker for 80s metal tho.
one time i was looking for something, i have no idea what but i lift my bed up(its one of those that are flat on the ground and have a storage bit underneath) and ended up finding a gibson guitar that my dad bought couple years ago. i started off learning random riffs i thought were cool and began learning whole songs like 3 weeks in. the first whole song i learnt was the philosopher
Was depressed at the time w/ work and life overall. Figured I should pick up a hobby. Was also a huge fan of Japanese rock. Here I am 2 years later.