chang's virtual darkroom

tommy emmanuel – over the rainbow

it is quite amazing what a wooden body strung with 6 strings can do. the tones, the expressiveness, the joy.

i recall days in army when i started playing the guitar for lack of better things to do. i had wanted to learn it for a while so i decided to buy myself a guitar (i remembered something an artist said, about wanting to learn how to play in order to impress girls but falling in love with the instrument instead). my playing started with nothing more than the guitar, a guidebook (guitar for dummies) and some help from friends. it was really tough at the beginning, having to endure the pain that came from subjecting my fingers to fretting chords and notes. the amazing thing was that inspite of the obstacles, i somehow found a way through. i wonder where all that persistence went.

it’s called ‘hitting a tableau’ when you reach the point where the learning curve gets really difficult. learning how to play the guitar is not a tall order, mastering it is. i was at a point when i was learning so much about the world of guitar, the myriad styles and techniques, that this ’surge in exposure’ intimidated me to the effect that i lost my motivation to play. i guess this is consistent with how people always want things easy.

recently i am beginning to feel inspired again. watching the masters at work and exposing myself to their techniques have an effect of motivation. true, they are talented, but i am sure that they did not get to where they are by relying on talent alone. and this is where hard work comes into the picture.

for more of my thoughts, click here.