Hi all,
Brian here, from the suburbs of Boston, MA. I first picked up a guitar in 1997 or so, when I was in college, after watching The Who concert videos and deciding that was so much fun that I wanted to do it, too. I took lessons for a little bit, but was mostly self taught. I fell in love with singing, too, and played in a few (very small) bands from 2000 through 2008. We played out here and there and self recorded an EP of some originals; it was a good time!
Our band split up when the drummer and keyboard player moved away, and right around then I got married, too. The last time I performed live was a very chill version of Nothing Else Matters at a friend’s wedding for their first dance in 2010; that was an honor!
Since then, it’s been 12 years and I mostly haven’t picked up the guitar much. I’m a half time single dad to two kiddos (5 and 8) these days, and I’ve been wanting to get back to music. In particular, I’ve wanted to fill the gaps in my knowledge base – in some areas, I’m probably an intermediate player, but in other areas (music theory, ear training, fingerpicking, even strumming patterns) there are big gaps in my musical knowledge. I’ve also forgotten a lot of what I used to know about lead guitar.
So, here I am! Right now I’m skimming through the beginners courses to fill all my knowledge gaps. At the same time, I’m learning how to produce tracks using Ableton. Here are my goals for the next few years:
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To find a more fulfilling and creative way to spend downtime after my kiddos go to sleep through music and songwriting.
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To become comfortable playing all over the guitar neck; learn note names and chord voicings / triads all over the neck and be able to work lead lines into my chord playing.
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Connect my ear to the fretboard through ear training to allow me to get song ideas out on the guitar much more easily.
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Simultaneously, learn to program drums / keyboards / etc. using Ableton Live and Push2 to allow me to explore new genres and new ways to explore song ideas.
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Play songs for fun with my kids to introduce them to making music, and sing duets with my partner. (She also sings.)
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Get back to songwriting, to give myself a creative outlet.
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(Maybe) find the “JustinGuitar of Vocal Lessons” and go about learning how to improve and preserve my voice as I get older. (Age 45 now.)
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(Maybe) connect with some folks to jam with.
I want to thank Justin for all of his lessons, because I came across them on YouTube a while ago and it really sparked my interest in getting back to playing. More than anything, I am blown away by his positive attitude, and the positive attitude of folks in this community. Thanks for building all of this!
-Brian
