I am Ivan, 37, currently living in Oxford, UK since 2022. My musical journey began in 2019, and I’ve found my greatest inspiration in blues and folk singers such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Walter Horton, John Hammond Jr., B.B. King, Eric Bibb, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos del Junco, Wade Schuman, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Dave van Ronk.
As evident from this list, my dream (a very optimistic one) is to play blues on the guitar and harmonica while singing.
You might already be aware that I am terrible at concentrating on a single pursuit. I’ve alternated between dedicating 2+ hours a day to playing both the guitar and harmonica and, at times, focusing on just one instrument or neglecting both for weeks.
Consequently, my progress has been painfully slow, but surprisingly, I still sense forward momentum. Recently, I’ve become more at ease with the idea of playing in front of other people. My last achievement is playing and singing 3 songs for my friends at a New Year Eve party.
My current instruments are:
Sigma 000M-15+ acoustic
An American-made Fender Stratocaster, which I’m yet to bring to the UK but hope to play soon
Hohner and Kongsheng diatonic harmonicas in seven different keys and a C chromatic harmonica
Looking ahead, my plans include posting my first AVOYP and starting a learning log with a retrospective of my musical journey.
Welcome aboard!!! You do have quite the list going on. I’m gonna put a limb out and say your gonna have to come up with a solid plan! With the help of Justin and this fine community you will achieve this !!
When you feel frustrated with your progress, just think back to the time when you couldn’t even perform in front of others. See, your one of your seemingly impossibly dreams has already been realized.
Hi Ivan,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun
And I’m looking forward to AVOYP , that’s a good step in your guitar journey
It always reveals a lot and helps a lot!
Greetings,Rogier
Hi Ivan, welcome to the community! I’m already curious about your first AVOYP.
Guitar and harmonica, that’s quite a challenge! I would love to be able to play a Neil Young tune with both instruments…
Have fun and enjoy journey!
Welcome to this site. Definitly the best there is for learing the guitar. I am also in Oxford, UK.
I am a born again guitarist having played when I was a kid and then took it up again about four years ago. I have a strat, a tele and a my 30 yeaar old Yamaha acoustic. I’ve been having face to face lessons but get my most value from this site.
Hi Ivan, welcome to the community. I think that you will reach your goals if you follow Justin’s lessons. I notice that Justin plays guitar, harmonica and sings in his Grade 3 Neil Young “Heart of Gold” song lesson video on his website.
@RobDickinson Thank you. Happy to find fellow blues learners. Added your learning log to my reading list
@tony Oh, yes. The next hurdle is recording. Finding out again and again that when I try to record anything, playing suddenly becomes 20 times harder. But anyway I am uploading my first video for the AVOYP section right now.
@fenners This is awesome. Do you go to any guitar events in Oxford? Last week I joined a Meetup group that hosts weekly beginner-friendly acoustic jams. We were mostly playing some easy campfire songs. Oxford Guitar and Voice Meetup Group | Meetup
@Alan_1970 Haha. I meant alternating between playing harp and singing, of course. But on the other hand, Sonny Terry’s “Whoopin’ the Blues” is basicly “singing while playing harmonica”.
@ivan_d Hi Ivan. Nope I don’t go to any guitar events in Oxford - but I really ought to start playing along with other people and play in a band at some point. Is the Oxford Guitar Meetup Group any good it looks as though it’s just in someone’s house?
It takes place in Regal community centre. The answer depends on what you mean by good. There were only 4 people at the first meeting. Most do not play any lead guitar, so we just strummed some popular campfire songs. It’s a nice safe space to practice and discuss the music you like. Probably you’ll need to go somewhere else for more ambitious goals. But this was just the first meeting, so I’ve no idea of what will come out of it.
and helps a lot!