Hey, I remember this! (plus perspective)
jackwilliambell has been gently pushing encouraging me to start playing my guitar again. Said encouragement has included his purchasing new strings, a chromatic tuner and a string winder for said guitar, as well as gifting me with one of his three guitar stands so that the guitar is out in the living room where I can't forget it and where it stares at me, nourishing guilt and inspiration all at once.
I've been practicing here and there, trying to rebuild my callouses and to remember picking patterns and chord progressions for songs I used to play without even thinking about it. This morning, I downloaded charts for "Thunder Road," "Good Riddance," and the lyrics for Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Night," the last of which I used to play by heart.
"Thunder Road" has a tricky bridge for someone as rhythm-oriented as I am. "Good Riddance" is far easier than I could have hoped, though no two chord transcriptions can agree on some of the chords in one particular part of the song.
And then there's "Starry Starry Night," the chord and picking progression for which I remember. It's a beautiful song, well suited for my voice and range. I had to go looking for the lyrics because I couldn't remember them all. What I didn't remember was how sad it is. And I'm virtually certain that, as a teenager, I didn't fully understand the nuance and emotional depth of the words I was singing. I've fallen in love with this song all over again, but I sincerely doubt that I'll ever able be to sing it without getting a little teary.
My fingertips hurt. Time to stop practicing (it's been a hour) and go take care of other things....
I've been practicing here and there, trying to rebuild my callouses and to remember picking patterns and chord progressions for songs I used to play without even thinking about it. This morning, I downloaded charts for "Thunder Road," "Good Riddance," and the lyrics for Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Night," the last of which I used to play by heart.
"Thunder Road" has a tricky bridge for someone as rhythm-oriented as I am. "Good Riddance" is far easier than I could have hoped, though no two chord transcriptions can agree on some of the chords in one particular part of the song.
And then there's "Starry Starry Night," the chord and picking progression for which I remember. It's a beautiful song, well suited for my voice and range. I had to go looking for the lyrics because I couldn't remember them all. What I didn't remember was how sad it is. And I'm virtually certain that, as a teenager, I didn't fully understand the nuance and emotional depth of the words I was singing. I've fallen in love with this song all over again, but I sincerely doubt that I'll ever able be to sing it without getting a little teary.
My fingertips hurt. Time to stop practicing (it's been a hour) and go take care of other things....