The story of how I started learning the guitar, isn’t particularly romantic. If anything, it is probably very similar to the majority of kids who pick the guitar up!
Starting Out...
When I was around 12, I listened to more pop-punk music than I ought to have, and all my friends played the guitar. Initially I wanted to play bass because there were too many guitarists about
(which is always the case!). But one day my mum asked if I wanted to play the guitar because she saw one going second-hand. It was, surprisingly, a lot more expensive than new models that are similar quality to ones that are out now, such as the
Rocket Electric Guitar. So, naturally, listening to guitar heavy music and wanting to be like my friends, as 12-year olds want to do, I started taking lessons.
I had a whale of a time, plucking away at Green Day and Blink-182 songs for the first few months. Knowing basic chords and being able to learn a few tunes was great. But I eventually felt the itch to get more complex. I got a new
Squier Guitar that my dad had lying around, and I got into music featuring solos and technical playing. I’ve noticed this is a fairly standard progression for many young electric guitar players.
Eventually, many of my friends had stopped playing, and I was no longer playing the guitar to be “cool”. So, I had a phase of listening to, nearly exclusively, technical instrumental guitar music, listening to players such as Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert. Definitely outlining that I was no longer in the league of being cool. With this, a fandom of
Ibanez guitars started. A brand that I use nearly exclusively up to this day.
Taking Things More Professionally...
There came a point where I realised that music was the thing I was good at, so I started taking things seriously. After studying music theory, classical music and very heavily Jazz, I decided I’d quite like to do music full-time. University didn’t particularly interest me, so I started with a good few years playing guitar and bass in working bands, both while I was in school and after I’d left. It also lead me into playing solo guitar for weddings and events, as well as just for fun.
Years later, with a collection of 20 guitars, I’m here at Normans; selling instruments and putting my obsessive guitar knowledge to use! Still gigging and performing in my own time, as well as recording and writing with other projects and bands. And I’m still plucking away at pop-punk tunes 14 years on!
