Much to everyone else’s distress, music is something which I have far more enthusiasm for and get far more enjoyment from, than something which I actually have any talent for.

I have a few guitars and an electronic piano and I find it very enjoyable, rewarding and relaxing to “muck about” with them.

This page is intended to indulge my interest in this vast topic.  I am planning on covering the guitars I have, some TAB of “easyish” songs - perhaps even with a bit of video of me attempting them.  There will also be recommendations regarding teaching books and methods - all from a purely personal point of view.

If you have any questions or suggestions please please let me know.

This is my main guitar - its a Blueridge BR183 - so that means it is a pretty exact copy of a

OOO D45 - right down to the woods and glues used etc.

In plain english, the 000 means it has a smallish body and so is more comfortable to play than a dreadnought type guitar - it is commonly used by finger-pickers.  The 45 means it has fancy looking decorations all over the place.  They do nothing for the sound or play-ability but they make the guitar a piece of jewellery as well as a musical instrument.

It is an awful lot cheaper than the equivalent Martin (only 20% of the cost!) and there is plenty of debate, argument and dispute going on out there between owners of Blueridge’s and Martin’s - google it and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of genuine people representing both sides of the debate. 

For what its worth here’s my opinion;

When I bought my guitar I was actually looking at getting a much more basic Martin model.  I played this in a local guitar shop half a dozen times over a few weeks and had just about convinced myself it was worth the money over this time period.  Next time I visited the shop I was disappointed to hear that they had sold it.  New stock would be in in a few weeks.

The next day my copy of

Magazine arrived with a review of the

.  This was very favourable so I had a look around and found that

stocked them.  After visiting the shop and playing the Blueridge I couldn’t honestly tell the difference between it and the Martin.  The price was half that of the Martin I was looking at but having said that the Blueridge guitar was a copy of a much higher Martin model which meant I got all that pretty stuff as well - for half the price.

Two visits later and I bought it. 

Here we are 7 months later and I am still delighted with it.

I first started to play guitar only when I was 35 ish in about 2002.  I think it took me so long because I have an appalling singing voice and so despite my enthusiasm for the subject I was soon shifted out of the choir at junior school.  I didn’t have any musical lessons at all until I started guitar in my middle years.  I regret this a lot as I think that the ability to read music and the ability to develop playing skills is much easier for kids (well I would think that wouldn’t I?).

To start off I bought the cheapest “learn to play guitar kit” that I could find on the high street.  In time I came to realise that the best bit of this kit was actually the electronic tuner which it included.  I really struggled to get any kind of clean noises out of the thing at all.  I rang a music school, whose number I had found in a music shop, and struggled to answer their first question which was “What kind of guitar is it?”  after a bit of description and discussion they deduced that it was a classical or Spanish guitar and put me in touch with a classical tutor.

After a few months we had reached the limits of the guitar which came with the kit (that’s not as good as it sounds - what I mean is we could tell the bass string didn’t stay in tune and the middle range was very quiet).

So I got a budget approved by my wife (£300) and arranged to meet my tutor at a music shop that he recommended.  Whilst I stuck to the budget I ended up buying two guitars.

I blamed my tutor for this at the time - and I had better stick to that story now - his advice was that the quality difference between a good £150 guitar and a good £300 guitar was not a big one.

The guitar on the right was my main guitar until I bought the Blueridge.  This is an Admira Concerto - it has a few minor dings on the soundboard and sides and I have worn the fretboard under the top three strings on the first four frets - it still plays very nicely (to my ear).  It is worn simply because it is played so much and I would recommend it as a good starter/intermediate guitar for anyone looking to try out classical guitar.

My Guitars

The other guitar I bought that day was a Tanglewood 128ST-USA - this was the first introduction I had had to steel strung guitars and it took quite a while to adjust to after playing nylon exclusively before that.  Eventually It became apparent that the bottom end was very quiet and also that the body size - which admittedly isn’t huge - just wasn’t comfortable for me.  This is when I started saving towards a quality guitar.

It is pretty good for the money and it certainly hasn’t worn out or deteriorated at all but reading the press tells me that the cheap end of the market has seen large improvements in quality in the past few years so I would suggest a good look around if you wanted to buy a cheap steel strung acoustic now. (11/06)

Other stuff

I have the following other bits and bobs which help me either learn a little quicker or make life with a guitar easier or more enjoyable.

Electronic Tuner / Metronome

Tape Recorder

CD GT1 - this lets you

slow down CD’s without altering the key - set things up to repeat loops and generally everything you might want to help you learn from a track on a CD.

It also sits in between your electric guitar and amp and has loads of effects both pre-programmed and programmable.

I have a Squier Affinity Strat - its a bit of fun.  While I love electric guitar music I don’t enjoy playing it as much as I do Nylon or Steel strung acoustic.

For my birthday a couple of years ago my wife bought me a travelling guitar.  Its the

escape nylon guitar.  Apart from it being slightly trickier than usual to string, this is a wonderful invention.

A battery and a pair of headphones and you are away.  I can play it around the house when noise making would be bad but I also routinely take it on holidays so I can practice and muck about with it when I feel like it.  If I get up early to grab some sun-beds and watch the sun come up I can lay on the sun-bed and pick away for an hour without bothering anyone.

The pickup is excellent and the lack of a hollow body and sound-board is hardly missed - seriously, you have to try one of these.

Music

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Romanza

Fields of Gold

Another simple song for beginners;

Fields of Gold