The random guitar rant

Gooood morningggg!

...or afternoon

...or evening

depending on where in the world you currently are and/or what time you're reading this.

:D

So.

I've neglected to mention something in the past few posts; I've been wanting to mention it, just kept forgetting..

..we've got new stay-in help!

I'd say a stay-in maid, but maid just seems like such a condescending word.

yeah.

(I've developed an odd obsession with the way certain words look and sound and feel ok don't mind me)

I'm actually really relieved that we've got someone to stay in, because then at least when I'm off at Seremban my mother won't wear herself out trying to keep up with everybody's whims and fancies.

It's ridiculous how she spoils both my brother and sister-in-law.

In which other household does a mother-in-law get up at 6 in the am to make coffee for a daughter-in-law?

(and she works in a bank ok its not like she has to get up and rush to the wards and stand all day or anything)

And we're an Indian household too!

What is this reversal of events!

And, since we're being honest and all, I'm really glad I have much lesser chores to do,

which not only allows me to wake up at 9am everyday (as opposed to 7am),

but also gives me more internet time!

...which explains the sudden influx of blog posts and random tweets and my sudden reappearance on tumblr.

Gosh, I missed that site.

Making the most of it before I have to go back to the hellhole that is Seremban.

Now don't get all offended or anything, you Seremban lot reading this (if you are)

I don't hate Seremban because its Seremban.

I hate it because IMU is in Seremban.

If IMU was in Timbuktu, then I'd hate Timbuktu.

Ok?

ok.

Right.

So.

Finally got around to picking up my brother's guitar today, to attempt to learn how to play it.

I've been wanting to learn to play the guitar since forever;

the last proper attempt I made at learning was in first year when I brought aforesaid guitar to Vista and asked Natasha to teach me.

Needless to say, that plan didn't work very well,

and I didn't touch the guitar again until...well, now.

It's just. I need music ok.

Some form of it.

Or I'd honestly go mad studying for Sem9.

I did go a bit off my rocker in Sem7, and I was craving music.
I don't know how to describe it. If you love music, you'd probably understand.

The need to just get away from everything, to escape and just bury yourself in music.

But blasting a couple of songs doesn't quite cut it.

It's music that you create yourself that really provides the escape.

So yeah.

I mean, its not like I can carry my piano or my veena to Seremban with me.

So...next best option : the guitar!

Because it's portable,

and because I have one lying around my house, and no one's using it.

My brother has had this guitar since his uni days, a.k.a since I was about 9 years old.
And he never plays it.

He doesn't know how.

He knows a couple of random songs,

but he doesn't know the chords/notes for them.

...that's not helpful at all.

It surprised me, really, that he never bothered to learn it properly.

Maybe its just me then.
I don't believe in learning one or two songs when you're trying to learn to play an instrument.

Music is an art.

The least you can do is respect it enough to learn to play an instrument properly.
From the basics.

Learn to read notes. Learn to play all those horribly boring, repetitive scales.

It annoys the hell out of me when people sit down at a piano,

figure out a couple of notes by ear for a song they like,

and then go "oh I can play the piano! I taught myself!"

..bullshit.

Sure, you can 'play by ear'...that just means you've got a better sense of music than most people.

If you haven't sat for hours forcing yourself to perfect the same old arpeggios,

if you haven't sat by your radio and listened obsessively to piano pieces played by professionals so that you can perfect your own playing just that little bit more,

if you haven't pulled your hair out trying to memorize french, italian and german music terms...then no, you haven't learnt how to play the piano.

You may have learnt how to play a song (or a few songs) on the piano,

but you haven't learnt to play the piano.

Learn that difference, please.

If every Tom, Dick and Harry could just sit down and run their fingers over the keyboard and say they can play the piano,

then why did the rest of us spend years and years practising so hard and sitting for all those examinations??

And I absolutely hate it when people just go like "oh? You can play the piano? Teach me!"

Sure.

...if you're willing to sacrifice all those hours to learn it properly.
If you're willing to spend the first few weeks just learning scales and simple songs,

then sure.

I can't teach you shortcuts. I won't.
It would be an insult to my music just to teach you how to play a song without even teaching you something as basic as how to read the notes.

...gah.

ok rant over.

Sorry for that; really random rant.

Right.

So.

My learning the guitar.

I've decided that my friends probably aren't going to teach me scales or chords or whatnot,

so I might as well attempt to learn it on my own.

...online.

hm.

...let's see how that works out then.

Currently learning it from here : http://guitar.about.com/od/guitarlessons/u/lessons.htm

If anyone knows of a better website that I can use to teach myself, do let me know.

Spent the whole morning trying to tune the guitar,

NOT easy...like I mentioned, the guitar has just been lying around the house,

and the first three strings seem rather rusty.

And the sound seems off somehow.

I remember asking my brother to restring it back in 2008 (when I tried learning from Natasha),

...but nope.

So anyway,

I've decided I'll learn as much as I can first, (the sound quality doesn't really matter if you're just trying to learn how to position your fingers and learn the scales)

and then, once I'm better at playing it,
I'll get them to restring it properly for me.

I also need a guitar pick.

Currently managing without it...I'll have to look into getting one somehow.
Considering using my veena finger pick for the time being...let's see how that goes.

I've only gotten as far as the scales (or scale...there only seems to be one) today,

...it still sounds like absolute crap.

I think I'll stick to practising that until I get it right,

and then I'll see about moving on to chords.

My fingers are cramped already.

aaaah.

I think its awfully unfair how whenever my brother wants a new instrument,

my parents automatically get it for him,

but when I want to learn something new, its a straight NO.

NO.

Even the veena, I had to beg and beg,

and when they finally agreed to send me for lessons...I stuck to it for a year, and then medschool happened, and it was impossible to continue with classes.

Plus, I couldn't practise because I couldn't carry my veena up and down to Vista and back.

Honestly.

And then my mother goes on about how I wasted so much money buying it and not practising..

...I mean..I took lessons for a year!
That has to count for something!
Its not like you spent so much money buying it for me, only for me to leave it around the house and never touch it!

...like your son does. ugh.

Seriously.

Its not just this guitar,

they've gotten him a tabla set (which he's never even taken out of the bag) AND a keyboard.

A KEYBOARD.

I ASKED THEM FOR A KEYBOARD SO MANY TIMES BUT NO IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE.

A KEYBOARD IS PORTABLE.

I CAN TAKE IT TO SEREMBAN WITH ME AND PLAY MY MUSIC THERE.

AAAAH.

But no.

Don't buy it for the kid who actually plays music.

Buy it for the one who's going to leave the instrument abandoned in a dusty corner, why don't you.

...maybe I should steal my brother's keyboard.

Its not like he's using it.

...I'll work on this guitar first though.

No harm in learning a new instrument!

Wish me luck, you guys.

What with the yoga giving my cramps everywhere else, and these scales cramping my fingers,

I'm a sore wreck already.

Plus, if I do learn the guitar properly,

that's one other thing I can cross off my bucket list. :D

~vid~