Monday, March 07, 2011

Every Bunny Gets Drunk After Easter

Man wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in event of success.
--Sir Ernest Shackleton, newspaper advertisement

Yes, I'm going to learn how to play guitar.

There's no going back. Like Shackleton, I will be keeping a diary. Unlike Shackleton, I hope to survive.

I realized last week that John Harwood, David Gloier, and I represent three distinct points along the guitar-playing spectrum: the rigger (me), the trail breaker (John), and the veteran (David).

The rigger: I'm the one who makes sure every climbing ladder and rope is in position before I start climbing. I'll get there eventually. I'll play 30 minutes a day until our food supplies run out or I'm eaten by wolves. No inspiration, no talent, but I'm willing to be on the mountain for years. I know the top has to be up there somewhere.

The trail breaker: John will play until his fingers bleed, then put on liquid skin and continue. He will race through all the Pro mode tutorials faster than any living human being, and will get better faster than anyone. He breaks trail, and he free climbs.

The guide: David is basically John, but with actual guitar-playing experience. He's played over 3,500 hours of real guitar in the past three years, and playing the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games were a primary influence in him wanting to learn guitar to start with. He'll let us know if we're about to step into a crevasse.

This is going to be a weekly feature going forward, an opportunity for the three of us to relate what we're learning from our separate places on the mountain. We'll have the first installment later this week, and hopefully, if you're curious about Pro mode guitar, at least one of us can provide useful information.

Oh, and the title? That's a mnemonic for the order of strings on a guitar.

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