Questions + Answers

Installment #7

Hi Substack friends. I hope you enjoy this question and answer series, which I hope to post weekly, on Fridays. It means the world to me to have you here, so thank you again for joining me, and thank you for providing these great questions.

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Thank you, Jessie S., for this musical question.

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Hi Allison,

I love everything you post by the way. You have such elegance and style.

One of the many things I am curious about is...I read somewhere that you started learning to play guitar at age 20. I started at 16 (I am 44 now) and practiced off an on, but tend to have a defeatist attitude and found it too hard and would put it away and have to start all over again after a long pause. During COVID I worked from home, so had time to practice. I am only able to strum and play some basic chords, but feel super accomplished to even be doing that. I decided awhile ago to keep my guitar playing goals simple. I would learn 5 easy basic chord songs (before I die, lol!) and accompany myself singing. So, my question is...did you find it difficult as an adult with other responsibilities to learn guitar? Did your sister Shelby and other musicians help you learn? I would read about other musicians learning guitar at a way younger age and that helped contribute to my defeatist mindset. You are very good on the guitar, so that has inspired me to continue playing a few easy songs for myself at least. :-)

Dear Jessie,

First, thank you. What a kind compliment.

Now, onto the guitar. It is true that I didn’t start playing until I had graduated college. In the fall of 1993, I decided it was time I learned. My sister and I were living together at the time, in a little duplex not far from where I live now, and she had our Daddy’s 1964 B25 acoustic. I went to the music store and bought a Mel Bay chord book and started to play that guitar. As far as other responsibilities, I really didn’t have any other than paying my own expenses — at the time I was working as a background singer for my sister and that was enough work to keep me going so I had time to practice and learn a lot about the music business from living with and working for her. I always say I learned the most about singing from my sister. I got a bird’s eye view of the business before I entered it on my own steam as well, which was tremendously helpful. And she’s a great guitar player, too. I learned plenty about that from her, though I don’t recall her ever sitting down with me and teaching me a specific chord. She has, however, been playing when we sing together since she was about five. So — that’s easy to figure out.

So I can’t say that I was really starting with nothing with guitar. As a child, I’d learned how to play some ukulele, so my hands weren’t completely unacquainted with how to make a chord. And I also had years of piano lessons behind me and my musical background in general to thank for my ability to pick up musical concepts pretty quickly. I’ve often thought about how hard it must be for a person to pick up an instrument when they don’t come from a background like I do. I already knew the language of guitar, if not the forms.

I learned the basics from that Mel Bay chord book, and then Butch taught me how to make barre chords, which opened up the world of songwriting for me. Once you understand how to make those, all the minors and diminished/demolished and 6ths and on and on are at your disposal. From there, you can play Beatles and Nirvana songs, which have a lot to do with how I approach playing rhythm. For several years, I would sit with records, figure out the chords to the songs, and play along. The Beatles, the Nirvana MTV Unplugged album, Elvis Costello records, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris — I studied those records and would sit on the floor and strum away.

So that, and recording and playing with some of the best musicians in the world is responsible for what I know, which could fill a thimble. I don’t consider myself any kind of player at all — as far as I’m concerned, I can barely get by on the instrument. I do understand that I’m so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be taught, whether I knew that was what was happening at the time or not, by some masters. But playing along with records can teach you just as much. So I suggest you carve out as much time as you can and do that. It’s fun! Let us know how you’re doing with it.

Good luck.

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Y’all have a great weekend.

AM

30 July 2021