20 Years Wasted Because Of Greensleeves

When I was 13, I requested an electric guitar for Christmas. I remember my Dad looking up from his newspaper at me and raising an eyebrow. “No way,” he declared.
I trudged upstairs and locked myself in my room the way 13 year olds do. I pulled out my AC/DC cassette and put The Doors in. This news was a Doors sort of moment- not quite a Pink Floyd moment, but most certainly a Doors moment. What was wrong with an electric? Hadn’t my Dad been in a band at my age, “The Web Of Time?” Hadn’t he told me with great zeal how they rocked out Young Rascals songs and Mitch Ryder joints?

The next time my stepmother went to see her parents, she dug around in their attic and located an old acoustic guitar that had been up there since the Carter administration. She also managed to locate a pile of guitar tab books she had. When she presented me with the items, I was thrilled. Here was this enormous old six string with a deep, rich sound. I quickly picked up the music books and thumbed through them.

“Greensleeves?” I said aloud. “What the hell is this?”

I was instantly deflated. Who wrote these songs? Bards? The closest there was to any rock song in the group was “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles. This was not was I signed up for. I wanted to rock! I wanted some AC/DC, some Zepp, some Guns N’ Roses! I’d have settled for Poison! “You have to learn the standards first,” I was told. “Then you will be able to play all that stuff you listen to.”

Undaunted, I went about my practice, hoping to prove to my parents that I was worth that electric guitar. I didn’t know these songs, I didn’t like these songs, but dammit, I was going to master them to prove a point. Once I got these songs down, I supposed a light was supposed to turn on and I would just be able to play “Paradise City” with no trouble. Blisters turned to calluses, strings broke, pages got dog eared. And I hated every moment of it. I would almost have to force myself to play, loudly enough that I hoped my Dad looked up from his paper and thought “Wow, my son is playing like a God, perhaps I should go purchase him a Gibson.” We were flat broke, and I had no shot at lessons. Christmas was now about a year off. And here I was stuck in my room trying to master “Greensleeves.” I was despondent. Then, one day, it happened. Running up and down the frets, screwing around, I hit this:

12 – 12 – 10 – 12

And I froze; what was that? My eyes opened up wide and I couldn’t believe it. A song!

12 – 12 – 10 – 12 and I lowered one string 12

Oh my God! Sunshine of your Love by Cream! I messed around a bit more, and got the progression right, and then belted it out, LOUDLY. I paused a moment and went downstairs, faking getting a drink. I waited for the recognition; “Dear lord, son, Clapton himself never sounded as greasy as that. Let me buy you a Gibson.” Sadly it never came. Once I played Sunshine about a million times, I managed to eke out the chord progression for Smoke on the Water as well. It’s as far as I got. I never advanced any further, and after enough times of hearing Dad yell when I was playing the same riff non-stop for two hours, I put the guitar down.

Fast forward 20 years. I am married, I have three kids, a great job. While at work, moving some decorations around, I came across a small six string acoustic, with one string missing. It was a guitar we had used for a western themed party. The woman who had brought it in saw me holding it, and told me I could take it home. A flood of memories of “Greensleeves” came back to me, but I shook them off. Maybe now that I am older, I thought, I can figure this out a bit better. I had the guitar patched up and was ready to roll. I knew this time would be different! I had the internet on my side now! I would have lessons for free! I watched video after video. They were dreadful. I couldn’t tell what they were doing. I thought there was no way I could move my hand like they did. I could hear “Greensleeves” calling again. Then one day, sitting with my wife, we were watching “Back to Future.” When McFly hammers out “Johnny B. Goode,” I turn to her and I say “I don’t want to be great- I just want to be able to do something like that.”

Well, there it is, isn’t it? I didn’t need to be perfect. I just wanted to play a song or two I recognized, that other people would recognize, and I would enjoy. This was a hobby, after all, not punishment. I scanned around the internet that night, and after much deliberation came across an Epiphone SG Players Pack. It was affordable, had everything I thought I would need, looked cool, and was finally an ELECTRIC!
I excitedly mentioned my purchase to one friend the next day, and after a pause he asked “aren’t you a little young for a midlife crisis?” I shrugged it off. I simply wanted to give myself a chance to do something I always wanted to do; play guitar. I wasn’t given enough of a chance when I was young to accomplish it. Days later, when UPS arrived with the pack, I was ecstatic. I turned the amp up and sent kids, dog and wife running for cover as I hit one strum against what I am not sure was even a chord. Every night, doggedly, I would drag the amp down the computer and play along with a video. Then I realized there had to be tabs on line as well. I hunted those up and printed out scores of them (about 6 huge notebooks worth at time of this writing).

I bought song books from AC/DC, I changed strings on my guitar, I learned how to drop tuning. Not only was I improving playing, I was enjoying myself! As I improved, I took on larger and larger challenges- song solos, breaks, riffs. I took on new styles, jazz, blues, metal. I could pick out tunes by ear and match up chords or riffs to them. Things that had once sounded so complicated to me now were fairly easy. Solos that sounded impossible were now challenging, and while not perfect, certainly playable. Then one day, my wife came to me with great trepidation in her eyes.

“Your son wants an electric bass guitar.” She proclaimed. “Awesome.”

I didn’t make the same mistakes with him my parents made with me- I got him the electric bass. I got him the songs he knew and wanted to play- the very inspiration of music. We changed strings, upgraded amps, and while his taste in music is a bit different than mine (who is Slipknot again?), I still know that whether he succeeds or fails, it won’t be because he wasn’t given the tools. I’m not professing that we all go out and buy first time musicians a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall, but there are a ton of affordable packages out there that get you off to a good start. For around two hundred bucks (how much was that Xbox 360 again?) you can buy a decent starter electric guitar with an amp, and put a smile on your face. Will the pack the greatest? Absolutely not, but it will suit your needs and not bankrupt your family. Was it cool to rattle the windows with the one I bought? Absolutely, positively, yes. I’m in the process of upgrading, but buying the cheaper players pack was like dipping your toe in the pool. I wasn’t ready to dive in head first.

By handing a kid something he doesn’t want and making him learn “standards” he doesn’t know, you’re going to lose his interest, as I lost mine. A song like “Canon” is a standard that I am just starting to get into- maybe I learned backwards. The point is, I would have never gotten into “Canon” or appreciated it if it wasn’t for “Back In Black” or “Shoot To Thrill.” I wouldn’t have been interested long enough to even try it.

To put it in perspective, I don’t think my son would have any interest in learning “Back In Black.” So I recognize that, and let him pick his own music. I don’t force songs on him because I think they are easy for him to learn. I don’t pick him out “standards” or songs I like. He doesn’t know who AC/DC is, and he probably doesn’t care.

If he sticks with it, who knows? At least I know I gave him the right tools in the beginning to capture his interest, which leads to learning. Curiosity- “how does Angus Young do that?” is what led me to want to get better, and hopefully it works out the same for him.

Comments

[tom.b]

This is the best article I've read in a long time. Good for you... even if it doesn't stick he gave it a shot and you two have something you worked on together.

I remember trying to learn Tom Dooley on a crappy hand-me-down acoustic and hating every minute of it also.

[thfc]

How can you not like 'Greensleeves'?!?!

[cyborg_monkey]

great story, but youve got to be a bit gutted at the same time. After all, how much better would you be with an extra 20 years experience..
still, shows how much choice of music affects enthusiasm. very inspirational

[nc_charlie]

Great article,going through something similar with my sons. Quit playing bass over twenty years ago. Now, because they started to show interest, I started playing again. Now I play just for the fun of it, not to be in some famous band.

[Shabalaba]

My first guitar was my dads and it had 5 strings, i was keen to learn so i learnt all the beginner songs that you didn't need a high e for, 2 years later and i am still playing ^^

[thelonesoldier]

Geeze man, were you some kind of stupid kid? You could have just looked up tabs on the interne...

Oh. OH. Oh God.

Thank God for technology.

[Crazy_Ivan]

When i first wanted to play bass, my parents wouldnt get me anything...But I got lucky and got a free Precision Bass from a friends parents. (wOOt)

[AfoHot]

This is a great article, good luck with the playing.

[ham-of-god]

so true my first guitar a old hondo acustic and i gave it up quick once i got a electric and some metallica tabs i havent put the guitar down for the past ten years lol

[srvkicks@$$]

holy crap the same thing happened to me when i was 9
i wanted an electric to play stuff like greenday and fall out boy
and instead my parents gave me an acoustic made intirely of ply wood (except the neck not including the fretboard)
they gave me song books with like yankee doodle and when the saints go marching in, after 8 months i was ready to shoot myself

but it only took me a 3 and a half years before i started playing again then after four months of playing acoustic renditions of santana and hendrixs they got me an electric like i wanted

[tom1thomas1]

My guitar teacher gives me beethoven songs and all that which I don't mind, but I wouldn't want to play just that, and i just get tabs off of here or learn by ear a bit (suck at it) i spend like 10 mins on teachers stuff n 5 hours on mine

[Underhand]

If youre guitar teacher gives you beethoven then you need to find a new one who will help you progress in the style you want so you dont lose interest

[Elsammio99]

Ye i agree its important to encourage musical interest through music that the kids themselves are influenced by, otherwise your just creating a divide between them and their guitar hero's. Im glad to hear that you came back to the guitar after so many years, you do need the right environment to begin learning in. In my experience a 6 month gap in playing almost ended my interest but thankfully i redoubled my efforts and im so glad i did because its really paying off now. Finding the right mix of hard work, dedication and fun on the guitar is paramount

[deathbyawesome]

Best article I've read in a long time, thanks for that.

[Axe_Burner]

This is a great article, best I've read in a while. Thanks for posting it!

[sbinlb]

good article good read and very true.good luck with the playing same for your son

[cactus]

I'm still really young and this article made me realized how lucky I am that my parents encouraged me to be myself as a musician. It actually inspired me to practice more, thanks man

[Aguamento]

Nice article, better then most I've ever read! That's to bad your son prefers Slipknot over AC/DC... But we can't all have the same tastes I guess

[TrP6 SeNiLe]

Great read!

[Jmoarguitar]

haha my parents gave me the same speech. You have to learn the basics first. and when i wantedmy electric guitar they got me a acoustic which i had no interest in and said learn to play acoustic first. I never really did start playing until i finally got my epiphone sg. First song i learnt was Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, not some ****in greensleeves!

[Jordan987]

Tell your son who AC/DC is!!!

[acousticspaz]

wow, i had my username before i got my electric and wow now i feel like an idiot, but hey! i figured if i was only gonna get an acoustic get good and play on the streets for money... but instead i just worked and got my own Jackson Dinky model electric

[gwitersnamps]

I love this. More people need to realize that THIS is how to allow your child to find their talents. Too many parents try to choose their childrens' skills.

[A6StringWorld]

great article

[Don't Panic Ok?]

Greensleeves is awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTr3Xt3eNcY&feature=channel_p age point & case.

[Athetosis]

A great read. Also, may I say that your name is awesome. Saxatilis is about the coolest last name ever.

[Darkkon]

Nice.

[firechris]

your son should listen to everything , I'm 17 , used to be the biggest fan on Slipknot and I don't know , since I found a used acoustic cheap guitar ( aka first love ) I fell for Guns or Aerosmith ...
taste change but you have to try everything first .

[Bruno01]

The coolest thing about this article is how everyone relates to it and tell their own stories based on it. Really great!

[AbombO.S.]

This article was great, makes me think of when i got my first electric, (B.C. Rich Gunslinger which had gone through like four paintjobs, some work on the pickups and had a paperclip jammed into the bridge to keep the broken Trem system in place) The first night i got it i didnt have an amp but I still played it non-stop the next day until my dad took me into to get an amp.

Great article!

[Fizzyx]

So true.

In my case, my parents did get me lessons and I got to use dad's Gibson J-45. However, my teacher was crusty and uninspiring. Jingle Bells and Comin' Around the Mountain just did not do it for me. I stopped going and since there was no internet then, I stalled out.

20 years later and a recent $2.5k in gear, I am picking up where I left off and really into it. Youth is wasted on the young..

[Slovak_Ghost]

The same thing happened to me...basically... when I was 13 I convinced my parents to buy me a guitar, which I wanted an electric very badly... but my dad claimed that it would be too loud and forced me to get a Fender acoustic... and I started lessons, and after about 6 months I said **** this shit.. this is stupid.. and quit playing... them about 7 years after that, I was at my buddies house and he had an old MIM Strat, which I picked up and started playing... and loved it, a week later he bought a new guitar and sold me the strat, and since then.... playing guitar has been all I do.

[DeathOn2Legs]

as i just started to play guitar, and all i wanted to do was playing some metallica and scorpions, my teacher started to teach me scales... i had absolutely NO idead wtf he wanted from me, what scales were good for (because they all sounded shit to me) and wth i should even know them... well he tried like half a year, and then i quit, and went to another teacher! there, i had total freedom of what i wanted to play and that was great! a half year later, i started to realize that scales were a nice thing, and remembered my first teacher, but i still understood that it didn't make much sence teaching scales (that i didn't know, though i had played various instruments before) to someone who can barely play master of puppets...

[Dio10101]

What I really don't understand is why people who only have acoustics these days can't just learn songs they like on those. Good read.

[s3ns3sfail18]

i have the urge to post a comment saying that i am inspired

[Bottle of Dirt]

I feel like a douche after reading this. I've been trying to teach my niece how to play punk songs...she loves High School Musical. I hope she decides to stick with it or never play again because she loves to or hates to, but I want her to make the choice. Thanks...

Dio10101 wrote:

What I really don't understand is why people who only have acoustics these days can't just learn songs they like on those. Good read.

They can but it's not the same. You can play every song you love on an acoustic/electric but it's not going to be the same as plugging in an ESP EX400(or whatever electric you love to play) and playing those same songs.

[Divided_Eye]

thelonesoldier wrote:

Geeze man, were you some kind of stupid kid? You could have just looked up tabs on the interne...

Oh. OH. Oh God.

Thank God for technology.

hahahahhaa.

entertaining article; i liked it.

[TheIrishPatriot]

A very good article, . But I like greensleeves!

[cblowrun]

dude same thing happened to me.. this article was quite a nice read. Thank you!

[DudeDudely222]

Great article; excellent point of view. I'm teaching guitar to a friend's brother right now and I was about to bust out my first guitar book to give to him, but I think I'll re-think that. I went through the same drop-it-but-come-back-at-a-much-later-date episode and I wouldn't want to do that to him.

[Atilladude]

The only lessons I ever got were from a guy on my old street who was just out of college (who's currently playing with some funk group in Japan). He asked me what I knew and because I didn't yet have the knack for playing things by ear, would listen to the songs for me and tell me the chords and I would just practice them. I think the best thing about the guitar or at least why I like it so much is the freedom that it gives you, and that's definetly a huge part of the experience. Great article!

[hagstrom_9]

thelonesoldier wrote:

Geeze man, were you some kind of stupid kid? You could have just looked up tabs on the interne...

Oh. OH. Oh God.

Thank God for technology.

[druz15_UG]

this is good. The problem these days is people take their kids into music shops and say "my child wants to learn guitar" and the people in the shop 95% of the time will suggest a classical style nylon string especially If tyhe kid is under 10. People believe that these are the 'easy' versions of guitars that everyone learns on. They are in fact the opposite. classical guitar is not only one one of the hardest styles to learn, it is also the most difficult instrument to play out of all guitars. They are hard to get intoned properly especially at lower quality, like the cheap beginner ones kids get given, the fretboards are wide and spaced out. The only good thing about them is the soft nylons strings don't hurt as much. Id say the reason most people quit within a year due to frustrations from not being good enough or not improving enough will be caused by them trying to learn on a nylon string. Really an electric starter pack is your best bet. Good action, small neck with jumbo frets for easy fretting, and of course theres the added bonus of distortion which can provide many learners with hours of entertainment.

[at-the-zoo]

you are still a bad father, because your son doesnt know who acdc is.

[SLD.Potato]

Fantastic article! Interesting and well written. However, I'm a little concerned that your son doesn't know who AC/DC is. Work on that!

[lockdown91]

Awesome article man. Made me wanna cry XD

[me_llamo_juan]

That was great man.

[Genghis_khan]

Great article! very nice to read this in this night specialy.

[metalmagic!]

*tears*

[Bubbles516]

The first guitar i got was when i was ten, it was tiny, and it came from sears. a chord book came with it, but i couldn't work it out. and It was really disapointing. They were dumb songs like 'she'll be coming around the mountain' lol So i quit. When i was 13, i started again, my cousin showed me how read tabs, showed me the basics, and i've been playing every single day since. (i'm now 16)

[mojosarmy]

BRA-VO. (claps). Merry Christmas man!

[Everyone Dies]

I just teared a little.

[gorkyporky]

i wanted to play guitar like 4 years ago, but my dad wouldnt let me get an electric also, so i had to learn stuff on his acoustic. I also hated it. So i stoped. Then after two years i, out of the blue, orderd myself an electric that came the next day. He didnt even have a chance to object. Now, thanks to the skills i got with the el. i often play his acoustic, wich i hated before. And my dad sees that im pretty into guitar and even got my band our first gig in three weeks!

[HiyuKantaro]

I wanted to play bass 3 years ago. And after a year I had proven my mom that I still wanted to play electric bass. And then she bought me one^^ And I know that when I have kids, I will let them pick an instrument or at least let them try if they like it. There is no fun in doing something you don't want to do. And that's what I think the meaning behind this article.

Nice article, you got talent for writing

[Dacadac]

I almost gave up playing because I was made to play classical, and then a friend taught me Smoke on the Water, and so I played that and Iron Man for three months until my parents finally understood I had no interest in Classical. Now, after 2 years, i would enjoy playing a little classical, as long as that includes distortion

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Wow, I didn't realize this would get the reads it did, thank you all! Merry Christmas!!

[MoroneSaxatilis]

SLD.Potato wrote:

Fantastic article! Interesting and well written. However, I'm a little concerned that your son doesn't know who AC/DC is. Work on that!

Along with AC/DC he now know who Megadeth and King Diamond are!!

[CC StratCat]

Fizzyx wrote:

So true.

In my case, my parents did get me lessons and I got to use dad's Gibson J-45. However, my teacher was crusty and uninspiring. Jingle Bells and Comin' Around the Mountain just did not do it for me. I stopped going and since there was no internet then, I stalled out.

20 years later and a recent $2.5k in gear, I am picking up where I left off and really into it. Youth is wasted on the young..

Truer words never spoken... 'nother old timer who got back in after 20 years (been at it a year now), and I just got my oldest a Telecaster (which he asked for) to compliment his Strat.

[Demonn]

lol learn a rock version of greensleeves :P

[Schleimwurm1]

oh my (future) children will learn guitar. if they want or not ... wait, did i miss the point of this article?
good article! i started playing guitar when i found an old western guitar with steel strings at my dads... a lot of bleeding fingertips later i decided to start working. got myself 3 jobs, worked on the weekends, and bought a beautiful hagstrom a few weeks later... i even prohibited my parents to donate to the good cause since i wanted it all for myself...

[lopezmetalmunky]

Great article! Well written. I mean, there's nothing wrong with learning classic songs if you WANT to learn them.
Nuff Said.

[cyanide533]

when i started playing i had only an acoustic though i was influenced by electric styles.....I was young and had no qualification to get a job and pay for an electric...so i had to buy a cheap shit Indian pickup and place on the sound hole...i plugged in it to my computer and used a software...when i heard the distortion coming out frm the speakers it was like a dream coming true.....

[im_with_theband]

how can your son not know who ACDC is??? Im 18 and i love 'em.

[MoroneSaxatilis]

im_with_theband wrote:

how can your son not know who ACDC is??? Im 18 and i love 'em.

He's 14, so anything Dad listens to is not "cool." But he does listen to Slayer now, some Megadeth, etc...he's learning!

[Flibo]

God... You're exactly like my dad

At my 12th birthday, he got me a guitar worth 800€, and he didn't tell me to learn or play anything, I just did it all by myself. Now I'm 15, and I'm still playing every day.

[gldec]

Had the same experience 25 yrs ago, but I had the electric (Fender Squire Strat). But I couldn't find anyone to teach me. So the axe gathered dust for 2 yrs b4 I sold it to a co-worker. Fast forward to last year. My teenage son buys GHIII for his PS2. I got so addicted to it, I was playing it more than he was (I knew more of the songs too). My daughter and 6 yr old son also love playing. GHI and GHII followed shortly thereafter, and the RockBand. For Christmas, my teen son got a double whammy, GH World Tour AND an electric guitar. After the first week or two, I gave up on GH and now I play on his guitar more than he does. It was a low dollar Strat clone so that my little one can play on it too. January I bought a used Squier J Bass and amp (so any of my kids could play on it), and I've been working on both the bass and guitar. I'm already looking for my first guitar upgrade.

[Lethal Dosage]

I begged my dad for a guitar when I was 13 and he got it for me, I played it for about a week then lost interest because I had no direction. Fast forward to 5 years later Im watching my guns n roses videos and finally decide that maybe just maybe I want to learn this instrument. A year and a half later im still playing every day and I know that I love it and will be doing it for the rest of my life.

[cal1]

I remember being 6 years old and my parents getting me a cheap acoustic guitar.. They didn't understand, I didn't want to learn note names and scales, I wanted to play damnit. A year later I got an electric guitar (which I still play regularly to this day) and it finally dawned on me that I couldn't play the songs I liked without the right skills and the right guitar.