42. Digging Deeper - Learning More on Guitar

My Current Guitar, Oliver
(not really. but close)

Growing up my family was poor. My single mother worked two full time jobs and often a third part time job just to cover the bills of having three children. Because of this we were accustomed to only receiving toys and treats on special occasions like Christmas or birthdays. The year that I turned 13 there was only one thing that I asked for: a guitar.

I didn't realize it at the time, but in retrospect I can remember my mother doing everything that she could to scrimp and save and buy me one. The day of my birthday she brought out a big box and my heart started to race as I attempted not to hope for it to be a guitar. After all, no one wants to be disappointed, and I truly would have enjoyed anything I got. But still... I hoped.

I lingered over the gift for mere moments before ripping the ninja turtle wrapping paper, shredding it like their nemesis. I opened the box to see a shiny red acoustic guitar ready to toughen up my soft uncalloused fingertips. I couldn't have been more excited. It was the cheapest guitar she could find and I never was even to figure out what brand it was... but to this day it is my favorite of all the guitars I've owned.

I'm nearing my 26th birthday. In the last 13 years I've not learned very much on guitar. Yes, I helped to lead worship and some churches for two years and have never just completely stopped playing, but I also know that I've learned as much as I can without learning two specific areas I've avoided like the plague: music theory and scales.

A few days ago I was playing with a good friend (by that I mean he was playing and I sitting there dumbstruck with a guitar) and commenting that I just didn't know enough. He showed me a couple of tricks (that I can't remember because I just saw them, didn't learn) and challenged me to study guitar more. It doesn't have to be too in depth, but enough to get to the next level.

Practicing at a truck stop while on a
cross country road trip. 6 years ago

I used to play my guitar A LOT. Just about every chance I'd get, as you can tell by the picture & caption to the left (sorry for the quality, this was before I had a digital). But this abundance of playing was during the time that I was leading worship, and I simply didn't need to know scales or theory. I had tab and chord sheets for any song we wanted to play. But now I sincerely do want to learn more and get better. My lack of knowledge is probably why I've not played as much in the last several years.

So here's my plan: I'm going to start looking online for free tools to learn scales and guitar theory. I specifically want to learn what my friend called the box technique - he said AND showed to me that if you know that, you can play just about any song in any key. This is why I was dumbstruck! I also want to start taking guitar lessons, but there is about to be some transition on where I'm living. So in a few weeks once that's settled, I'm going to go looking for someone who wants to teach me. Hopefully in exchange for time with my awesome personality... and cookies!

I know plenty of guys who have a guitar sitting in their closet that don't know more than four chords. Sure, they can play a number of tunes with it, but I don't want to be that guy. I want to learn more. So now I'm just reaching for the discipline to do it.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to learn more on guitar? With so many resources our there it's hard to know what to look at!