I want to introduce myself and let everybody know what I plan on doing with this blog. So lets get right into to it shall we?

     My name is Matthew and I have been a musician for 38 years or so. I will never forget the first time I actually got to see and touch a guitar for the very first time. I was about five years old and my dad had one that he was trying to learn how to play. I use to sneak into my parents room all the time and get it out of the case and pretend I was who at the time I thought was the greatest singer who ever lived. (At that time it was Elvis Presley.) I will never forget the feeling that I felt holding that instrument and watching the vibrations of the strings as I would strum each of them. It would be around eight years later before I would ever own my own guitar and I never had forgotten how wonderful I felt playing around on the old guitar my dad had owned.

     On my thirteenth birthday I received what I still consider to be my favorite Christmas present and it changed my life. It was a candy apple red Fender stratocaster copy. It was made by arbor I believe. And I got a crate combo amp to go with it. From that moment on where you seen me, you seen my guitar which I ended up naming “Mandy.” We were inseparable Mandy and I. I would literally fall to sleep holding Mandy and would wake up with her still in my hands. Now, I had learned the basic cowboy chords from my dad and it was all he ever knew. He didn’t have any interest in learning anything else since he played in church and just wanted to know enough to follow along with the others he played with. I played all those chords over and over until I could play any song I wanted to as long as the song had those basic chords in them. I remember I had a neighbor who taught me how to “pick” a song instead of strumming the rhythm to the song. The song he taught me was wild wood flower. It really motivated me to learn how to play melodies instead of just the chord progressions.

     I felt like I was stuck in a rut at that time and played mostly gospel music but all that was about to change drastically due to one encounter with a live album that changed my way of learning and playing the guitar forever. The album was “Speak of the Devil” by Ozzy Osbourne. I wore out the cassette deck rewinding all those songs and playing the riffs over and over and over. It would be years later before I would come to learn that the guitarist playing on that album was Brad Gillis who had finished the tour out because the legendary Randy Rhoads had died in a senseless plane crash that took him from us all too soon (may he R.I.P.) And all those songs that was on the Speak of the Devil album were cover songs that were actually recorded by Black Sabbath, a band Ozzy was in before he started a solo career. By rewinding and playing those songs piece by piece, and phrase by phrase really helped me develop something I didn’t really realize I was working on at the time. I was developing a skill known as “playing by ear.” Years later I went back and learned all those songs again and realized just how much my “ear” had developed over the years. Yes, I was playing some of the riffs wrong that sounded correct back when I was a teenager but now from using my ears to learn the material I needed to gave me a tool to help me be a better musician.

     Anyways, I went on to play in a few metal bands throughout the years. And ended up even playing in classic rock and country cover bands. I guess learning the gospel stuff early in my playing helped me grasp a lot of the country and southern rock stuff pretty easily. As I got older I begin to give up on the “dream” of ever being famous. Seeing how technology has changed what it means to be famous has been very interesting to see though.

     I ended up starting a family and settling down. At one time I did something that I said I would never ever do. I started going days, weeks, and even months without ever touching my guitars. Looking back at it all that is probably my biggest regret as far as what I could change as far as my past musical journey. My kids are grown enough now that I have gotten back into playing a lot more now. And I am even playing in a band with some friends of mine! I am playing now for the enjoyment of it. No expectations of stardom or fame. I just get up on the stage with my buddies, have fun and tear it up! I hope I get to enjoy playing with others for a lot longer time to come. It is more than just a hobby, it is a passion of mine. It is something that as a five year old got into my blood and will always be.

     So that is just a little bit about me and my musical journey. I am hoping to post some articles here to share my knowledge of music and the guitar with all of you. One article might be about theory and the next could be about how to change a set of strings properly. Just general knowledge and all things music and guitar related…

     Til next time this is Matt saying peace I am out!!!