Hi! I was meaning to do this over the winter holidays, but time got away from me.
I joined JustinGuitar a short while ago after seeing it mentioned in the Pit on Ultimate Guitar. Practise has been slow since the holidays because they always take a lot out of me, but I’m picking up speed again with it!
Guitar’s something I’ve wanted to learn since I was a kid. I did have a few lessons at my elementary school with a group of other kids, but neither the instructor nor the group were a good fit. Throw in some strings that desperately needed replacing, lack of a tuner and my ear for things sounding off and I felt I couldn’t practise. So I didn’t. (…some parts of me regret that, but my partner reminds me that I wouldn’t be myself if it hadn’t made any difference at the time whenever I get too morose about not having continued anyway.)
A few years later in elementary school I got made fun of by friends when we were trying to start a band and we couldn’t decide who would play guitar or bass. They all insisted it was one of each instrument in a band, and I was there insisting we could have more than one guitar. Turned out they were thinking bands had to be like Pink Slip in Freaky Friday (2003). I had grown up on hard rock and country as much as the music of the time, so I was just confused. Obviously the band went nowhere because we couldn’t even agree on music style in the end, but yeah. There we go.
(In case anyone’s interested: I basically had wanted to play rhythm guitar. They kept trying to stick me with bass. Ironically, I’d love to learn that too at some point, but still.)
Currently I’m learning on an acoustic guitar my mom gave me when I visited for Christmas this past year—it’s not her old one I was expecting her to hand me, but a newer one (a Yamaha Eterna that was clearly second-hand; I feel terrible I’ve dinged it up a bit already). Claims she doesn’t remember where she got it or why. Before that I was practising on my partner’s acoustic Saehan that’s too big for me, but sounds great.
Electric’s what I’ve always wanted to play, though. I’ve got a fire goal of getting my hands on one by the end of March, but I don’t know how that’s going to happen when I don’t even have a paying job right now. 
If it’s meant to happen it’ll happen… I’ve always been a big believer in stuff choosing you, whether talking about pets or objects or people in life. I’ll keep practising on my acoustic in the meantime.
Ironically, it was getting back into making electronic music that got me back into practising guitar—and that fire hasn’t died since. It’s made me regret so much not trying to get back into it sooner, but it’s also made me remember so much past stuff that I can’t…believe I ever forgot. I must have put it out of mind so much because it hurt so much at the time. (It was more than just strings needing changing and lessons being the worst.) I guess we’ve only got the present to live in, right? Wish I could go back, but I can’t. Just gotta keep on keepin’ on.
Asher xx 
