I’ve always been infatuated with guitars. Guitars of all kinds. I really love how they sound and I often get goosebumps while listening to a good guitar tune.
While I was at the university, I lived in a student dormitory and my roommates had always a guitar lying around. We were spending our free time playing the guitar and singing songs, instead of sleeping. I fell in love with the sound and never looked back at another musical instrument. I took some guitar lessons, but life happened and they didn’t last for long.
The Covid pandemic and the social distancing measures have forced us to stay at home. With all that spare time on my hands, I started to think about my student years and how the guitar was a huge part of my happy memories. So the dream about learning to play the guitar came back. I’ve shared my dream with my boyfriend and in few months I received the most beautiful present – a guitar! I was happy, shocked, and scared at the same time (but mostly happy, of course) when I saw what was inside the box.
I never played any other instrument before. Only out of curiosity, I’ve tried to play the piano when I was in middle school. My friend had one at home and I often went to listen to her.
Most of the songs I was listening to during my childhood and university years are played on the guitar. That’s why when I listen to a guitar tune it works like a time machine, it brings me back to a time when there were no issues in life, you have your friends around.
“I like to listen to good music, and from time to time I get a desire to play some songs myself, on my own. I learned by trial and error.”
Nowadays, you can learn almost everything from youtube videos, even how to master a guitar. It’s true that I tend to skip the theory part and get straight to the practice 😊. But I do it because I can’t wait any longer to get another “dose” of that awesome feeling you get when you play a song by yourself. Then, I take my guitar and start “torturing” the instrument. At first, I had the feeling that I can’t do it but I keep trying again and again until I learn the string notes for a specific song. Later, when I satisfy my “hunger” for playing, I get back on the theory and start to learn how to read the chords and play any song I want.
Until now, I’ve learned how to play The Cranberries – Zombie and several Russian songs. But more to come 😊 I would really like to learn to play Scorpions – Still loving you, The Neighbourhood – Sweater weather. So, I think that’s what I’m going to do next.
I can’t say that I listen to only specific types of music. Today it’s rock, tomorrow it may be jazz, yesterday was pop. This mostly depends on my mood and what activity I’m doing. Music has a powerful effect on my mood and emotions. So if I need to slow down and focus on a complicated task, I choose electronic music, if I’m fixing a bug that’s hard to debug, I listen to rock music, if I’m doing code review, I listen to jazz (because I should be in a good mood and not be too critical 😀). I can honestly say that my emotions are expressed in music. While playing the guitar, something new opens up in you, a previously unknown feeling of delight, euphoria. But one thing is certain – it is a feeling of joy – and that’s what I like the most about playing the guitar 😊
I think it’s important to have any hobby or passion. A way to detach yourself from the real world, when your mind is not occupied by issues or thoughts about the future.
Music is an important part of my life. It helps me live through every hard moment of life, makes happy moments even brighter, and helps me to concentrate at work. In my case, a good playlist can easily fix my bad mood.