Friday, July 18, 2008

My guitar!

A little known side of me (to my blog friends) is that I play (if you can call it that) the guitar and like to sing. I don't have much of a singing voice but I decided somewhere along the line that if I limit myself to gospel and praise music that God would hear it as a "beautiful sound" no matter what human ears heard.

I am not very musical and do not read music. I was a failure at piano and organ but in my college days I picked up the guitar. Actually it was on an exchange program to Japan! One of the girls in my college group was from Hawaii, and she had a beautiful voice. On the study program she brought along a ukulele and later bought a guitar while we were in Japan. The program lasted about 9 months and along with my learning to love Japan, I also learned how to play the guitar. By playing, I mean at first hitting the guitar (I still am pretty good at that) and later figuring out a little fingering. My friend taught me Hawaiian songs and folk songs that were popular in the 1970's and we harmonized and towards the end of our Japanese stay I bought my own guitar. When we got back to college we occasionally sang and played together at the college coffee shop but my friend was always in the spotlight and I just basked in the beauty of her voice.

Over the years I've played the guitar in echoing stairwells, besides fern-lined creeks and in various classrooms and churches. I once tried studying classical guitar but as I couldn't read music, I never got beyond learning how to hold the guitar correctly so I went back to my limited chording and strumming. Even now, there is hardly a week that goes by when I haven't picked up my guitar and sang a bit, sometimes with my kindergarten class or English students, about once a month at church and often just in my own living room singing praises to God.

But HORRORS!!! Look what I woke up to yesterday morning!


My guitar is in shambles! This was a cheap replacement guitar I found in a thrift shop a few years ago when my old stand-by broke. Obviously it wasn't made well but it had a very nice sound to it and it served my purpose, singing with kids and giving praises. I wonder if the humidity had something to do with having the whole string contraption pulling away like that from the body of the guitar. I had played it the night before and laid it down on the table so it wasn't like it had been dropped or pulled on or anything.

I do not have a plan to remedy this situation and it looks like I'm going to be without a guitar for awhile... The kids might not miss my guitar music but if God does He's going to have to supply me with another one! I guess the first thing I need to do is check out the thrift shops again!

7 comments:

Amanda said...

I used to play the guitar - a very little - when I was young, but haven't picked one up for about thirty years. I keep eyeing my son's guitar that he's left here for me to try and sell and wonder if I should learn again. I wasn't much good , but I enjoyed it. I wish I'd been able to play something when I was teaching, it add such a lovely extra string to your bow. I hope you manage to find another one soon.

BrendaLou said...

I'm sure your "joyful noise to the Lord" is wonderful. He'll be sure to provide you with another guitar.

dot said...

Now that is interesting. I can't say I have ever seen anything like this befor. Is there anyway you can get it repaired?

Quilt Pixie said...

From what I can see there's an easy fix: remove the strings from your guitar, re-glue the wood and let it set well, and then restring... Even if its not a "perfect" or long lasting fix, it should get you back to music quickly...

kate said...

If there isn't anyone who can repair it for you, I'd try glueing it myself. Use a strong wood glue. Let it set many days to make sure it is thoroughly dry. Good luck! (We were probably playing those same old folks songs in the 70s!)

Marilyn R said...

What can you hurt if you try to repair it yourself? Give it a try! You may need to clamp the pieces together some how as the glue dries, but you never know, you might be making a "beautiful sound" soon!

Mary said...

I used to play too but haven't in years - since before my boys were born. I've thought recently about buying a guitar and teaching myself to play again but I'm already finding it difficult to do everything I want to and don't know how much time I'd spend playing.

I hope you find a new (or used) guitar and are back to making music soon.