One of the most wonderful attainments of humans is the production of musical instruments and for me, the guitar. There are many different forms of this type of instrument and yet they all have similarities … or it would not be a guitar!
The guitar has captured the world by the music that can come out of it whether played by an expert musician or by a beginner and I suppose the reason for this, as with most musical instruments, is that the tones seem to resonate within us in a very personal way. For anyone playing a guitar, the magic happens between the notes meaning that the resonance of the tone produced is the sound you hear and no matter how long or short it resonates, it captures your focus. The attack, meaning the moment the string is made to resonate, is very important as it changes with style and drives the immediacy of the intended note but it is the resonance after the attack that contains most of the magic.
I am often told by beginning players about their frustrations with wanting to be better and I tell them to listen to what happens after they play the note, listen to the quality of the sound and loose themselves in the beauty of the instrument as it interacts with the vibrations of the strings. That is where the magic is. Approaching it this way allows enjoyment of playing even if you only know one chord or several notes.
As advice for a learner, all players at any level are always trying to learn more so it is a continuous process of discipline, creativity, fascination, devotion, and wonder. Music creation is such a timeless endeavor because when you play as a young person it is filled with the joy of youth and when you play as an older person it is still filled with the joy of youth!
