John Sessoms <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm not sure how many guitars I have. Too
> many probably.
"Too many guitars"? I know what all of those words mean separately,
but not in that order.
Depending on whether you count "guitars", "instruments with 'guitar'
in their names", or "instruments in the guitar (lute) family", I have
6, 8, or 13 in playable condition that I can think of without going
to various rooms and counting. (14 if you count a borrowed instrument
that's pobably going back to its owner at the end of next month.) But
I've only been playing since 1980 and have been poor most of that
time, which has slowed down acquisition.
If you just want to have one handy to entertain yourself, you only
need one guitar. "Need." But even then, if you find a couple more
that are _fun_ for different reasons, you may _keep_ more than you
need, and as long as you play 'em, you don't have too many.
If you have a really nice one that you love but you want one to take
to the beach or on camping trips (or as checked baggage on airplanes)
without worrying about your precious, you really do need a second guitar.
If you play radically different genres of music that require different
sounds _and/or_different_necks_ to get each genre's signature sounds
and techniques right, you wind up with another guitar.
If you perform or record, the same thing happens just because different
_tunes_ want a different sound, even in the same genre. Also, if you
perform, you want a spare just in case.
And then one day you discover how much fun banjos are. Or mandolins.
Or somebody needs a bassist. Or you get interested in styles of music
that call for an oud or a saz or a ukelele. Or somebody randomly
hands you a balalaika or a bandurria and says, "Hey, you got any use
for one of these?"
> I didn't intend to have a collection
Yeah. That. It sneaks up on you. And then somebody comes to your house,
sees all the instruments, and says with a smirk, "Gee, do you think you
have enough guitars?", and to your own surprise and theirs you realize
that no, you don't yet, because there's this kind you've been reading
about and want to try, and this other one somebody let you play that you
love but haven't been able to afford yet, and two more that you kind of
invented in your head to to get a certain sound or add range or whatever
and when you Googled them you found out they already exist, and you still
haven't gotten around to trying a theorbo yet ...
*cough* Uh, sorry about that. I, uh, really like guitars. And recorders.
And krumhorns are fun too.
> Best advice I can give you is to find other people to play with. You'll
> enjoy it more and you'll stay engaged - inspired - motivated ...
Emphatically agreed. And don't be scared of being the weakest player in
the room. That's when you'll be learning the most. As long as you're
having fun.
It needn't be "a band", and it doesn't matter whether anybody in the
group has any desire at all to ever get on a stage and perfom -- just a
few folks who enjoy playing music, doing so together.
-- Glenn
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