My First Guitar

I admit I have become lazy. I have not written about myself for a long time. And I apologize for polluting this space with movie and book thoughts. A lot of things have been happening (or should I say, the lack thereof?). But surely, the coolest things to happen is my guitar. Yes, ladies and gentlemen! My first guitar.

At this point, I am not clear whether the pandemic screwed me or I screwed myself. But I am certain, I feel depressed and terribly alone. When your mind is idle, it has these thoughts, interesting thoughts. Let me share one of mine: So, people say there are introverted and so on and so forth. But they are lying. Because if they were, then they certainly wouldn’t be telling you. The point is we don’t really know any introverts. And by definition, we can never. For instance, I decided to write about myself and my life. If I hadn’t, you would have never known anything. Now, apply this to every person you know and let them apply it to their knowns. Those whose laughs are the most joyous are the ones truly crying.

Isn’t this post supposed to be about the goddamn guitar? Did you expect me to ramble about its beauty and quality and price and dimension? Okay, let’s do it. I must say that it is indeed beautiful. A Yamaha F280 Acoustic. I can play “Ode to Joy”, “Yankee Doodle” and “Aura Lee” albeit, not fluently. I am practising finger coordination at a daily basis. I have a really generous classmate who guides me a lot and I am grateful to him. After much research and negotiation, I think Hal Leonard’s Guitar Book (Complete Volume) is an ideal book (there are actually 3 books. I have a compilation edition) for me because I am in sync with the pedagogy professed in that book. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a total beginner and a self-learner like me.

Pardon my admittedly mediocre photography skills and the mess on the left. I don’t feel like cleaning up.

For the inquisitive reader

If you stare carefully at the picture, you’ll notice something strange (Provided you have the patience). Yes! The strings are reversed. I am a left-handed player so they had to change the string order. But wait, why is the pick guard on the wrong side? I can’t help that. That’s how they made it. They assumed that some right-handed person is going to play it. That’s okay. I have grown used to it.

I did look up left-handed pick on Amazon. Apparently, it’s a scarcity. They are not to blame. Producing something that isn’t in demand doesn’t make sense.

My father (predictably) didn’t agree with my decision. It was quite a show during the first week. His actions and words back then were nothing short of blades slicing my heart. But now his actions and words point to the fact that he has acknowledged my decision. And all I can say is I’m okay. Eventually, everything will be.

Looking ahead

I am really looking forward to playing “Wonderwall”, “Iris” and “Free Fallin”. Let me just say, these songs are very close to me. Of course, I have many miles to go before I sleep and I cannot wait!

To infinity and beyond.