Blog Four: Another jam session!

Hey listeners!

My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am ~ Joan Jett

Souce

Well last night I had a sudden urge to play with my flat mate again, I had just learned a song called "Hunger  Strike" (link below) and I was having trouble picking and singing at the same time so my certain "need" for this situation was for him to play it for me! So he agreed and I grabbed my guitar and went to his room. He had a quick attempt at it and didn't seem that interested in playing it (to my disappointment!) but he said he'll learn it, woo hoo! He wanted to start off by playing some familiar songs we have already done (see previous blog) so we did those but I didn't feel as connected as what I wanted cos I didn't really wanna play those songs! We finished those and I started just playing one of my own tunes, sort of a style that's country/blues that you would picture a lonely man walking down a road not really going anywhere and nothing to look forward to. I told my flat mate that, and gave an example of what I wanted him to do for the lead parts and to my surprise he did them perfectly. Together we jammed and created a piece of music that both of us could tell was emotional, you could picture this image described in your head and you could feel the loneliness and the sense of being disconnected. We jammed away, each of our instruments perfectly connecting to make a sound that none of us have ever heard and we both were nodding in approval of how amazing this sound was. Happiness and accomplishment consumed me as I realized what I, WE, had just created and we both decided there and then that it had to be a song cos it didn't feel like two people mucking around, it sounded like two people putting themselves into the music, communicating with guitars and that we had played it a thousand times and loved every second.

So the need for playing guitar had lots of reasons but the topic I am going to focus on is playing with others and the need for this is expression of self/individuality. For me music and guitar is a huge part of who I am and is a occupation that brings tremendous meaning to my life, If I ever lost my fingers or became deaf I would not be able to live with myself cos thats how much this occupation means to me! The result of this need of expression/individuality is engaging in a similar activity with others who equally enjoy it, it brings happiness to myself and a sense of achievement. There is a sense of belonging in the world, being a musician and being part of that group of people. The satisfaction that "yes! I can do this and it sounds REALLY good!" almost proud of myself that I have come this far from the days of playing "smoke on the water" on one string to performing in public and creating mesmerizing sounds with others that no one else has played, just yours, something that is natural and is your take on life, your emotions, thoughts on how your life is, is truly amazing!

My god I really love guitar! if only there were laws to make my love official =)


Hunger strike - temple of the dog