:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Thursday, July 28, 2005 ::

:: More than mere Wood and Steel ::

Most people know that I love my guitar. I love playing my guitar. And being almost three months away from Lilly - that's what I named my guitar - was literally painful. People who don't play an instrument – for that matter instrumentalists who don't play guitar - don't always understand that owning a guitar transcends mere purchase; it's a long term commitment, almost like entering into a relationship with a good woman. (There's a bunch of "why guitars are better than women" jokes but that's for later.)

Since I have to be at school all day the bulk of my playing time in the evening hours. I can't flail away the way usually do, or else I risk the wrath of my neighbors. I've start playing in a manner more mellow than my normal chord-bashing, rock-out style. I finally put new strings on it a couple of weeks ago and, maybe it's because I haven't been playing as much, maybe it's the new strings, maybe I'm just nuts, but in playing softer, I've discovered new depths to its tone. I can't explain it fully - I could use words like "shimmer," "layers," and "bell-like clarity" - but that softer style just brings out that delicate new tone. It's subtle but guitar players know what I'm talking about.

It's a beautiful sound that fills your ears but there's more than that. You feel the reverberations of the strings through your fingers. You feel the rumble of the wood against your body. As you pick at the strings, your guitar sings back in that lush, harmonious, voice, which is her way of telling you that you're doing everything right. And it's the few moments like that when you're reminded of why you picked up a guitar in the first place.

Well, other than trying to get chicks.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:52 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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