The Lure of the Acoustic Guitar

I think so many of us are seduced by the mystery and romance of an acoustic guitar. It can produce spicy and passionate flamenco pieces as well as soft melodic tunes for a wide range of beautiful sounds. While most people don’t think about its range when they think about the acoustic guitar, everyone can appreciate the beautiful music from an acoustic guitar.

I suspect many people, even those with no musical ability, daydream about playing the acoustic guitar. Just seeing one in a shop makes you want to try to play it, even if you don’t know how, just to hear the tones. Maybe you’ve stared through the shop window and wondered about how much it would cost to learn.

You might think about how much fun it would be to play the guitar at family get-togethers or for your friends at parties. But then, you think about how difficult it would be to learn, or how much lessons might cost. And even if you could afford it, you wouldn’t know where to find the time to learn how to play properly.

You may think that acoustic guitars are magical, but not by themselves. The magic is in the music, not the guitar. It can be compared to the time when you were a child learning how to use a pencil to write words. As you grew up, you developed the ability to write well and started to write all kinds of material such as book reports and essays. The pencil was simply a medium to create your writing. The same principle applies to acoustic guitars. The guitar is just an instrument you use to make music.

The learning process of writing is similar to how one learns to play acoustic guitars. Initially, before you learned how to play the guitar, you just tinkered with one at a store, much like scribbling with a pencil. You observed what would happen if you moved your hands a certain way or another. At first, you started to learn how to be comfortable with the guitar then eventually, your fingers learned to move the right way on their own. Very soon, your guitar becomes an extension of your hands, a vehicle through which you express your thoughts.

Many who have never played acoustic guitar are drawn to them and may be a little star-struck by them. Sometimes, they may think the guitar is more than what it is. Being able to use it to make music seems magical. It is overwhelming to say that least that you may be able to create music, a powerful universal language.

Some people may feel nervous with an acoustic guitar and treat it like fragile glass. So much so, that they forget an acoustic guitar is meant to be played. The music resides within you and is only heard when you actually play the guitar.

If you really want to play guitar and find yourself checking out the acoustic guitars in all the local music stores or if there’s a forgotten one sitting in your attic, pick it up and learn how to play it. You won’t be sorry you did.