In Continuum.

A History With The Six-Strings

My guitar-ing career started briefly and quietly in the summers of 2000 initially.I was in my old room then,and i remember my mother going out shopping with my sister one afternoon.When they came home,instead of shopping bags,they had in their hands a leather bag that was shaped like a guitar.My mother has been - and still is - a violinist,playing as part of a quartet once and in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra,and her love for music was never doubted.But of course,when she appeared in the hallway with a guitar in her hands,i was still very much surprised by her choice of instrument this time round,like i was when she picked up violin when we first came to Singapore.

To my surprise,as i later found out,the guitar wasnt bought for the sake of it,but rather for my sister.At least that's what she said anyway.My sister played for two days,and left it at the top of my room's cupboard to gather dust.So the poor guitar garnered a proud layer of white dust over the months,and it was me to the rescue when i got bored one day and took it off the shelf and into my arms - literally.My mother taught me a chord or two,then the simplified version of Romance de Amor,which is vaguely remembered.I had to tab it out myself after listening to it a couple of times.That was my first contact with guitar,and also the first contact with self-composition - a form of it anyway.

For some reason,that passion burnt out as fast as it started.One song,and that was it.And it wasnt even the full song,just snippets of it here and there.So ended my short lived guitar career - for now.

The beginning of JC wasa brand new phase for me.The presence of girls as your colleagues made things a lot more complicated,especially if you've been in an all-boys school for four whole years(I dont know how Brian Mok did it though.He was in Maris Stella Primary too.That's ten years of studying with boys).Suddenly,your fellow classmates have breasts and they all look so damn beautiful.Most of all,they dont smell bad at all.In fact,quite the opposite even when they are after a long game of volleyball.Personally,those werent the reasons why i was in any way excited,but rather the fact that i was able to impress people,and i was desperate for that in a way.I know that i was young,which made me incredible stupid.Looking at the pictures i took then,im just glad that i left that hideous creature back where it belongs - in the dark past of mine and never to return.

RuiShan came along in my life,and that was the turning point for my guitar career.Of course,there was the SRJC CCA Bazaar,which tempted me to join the Guitar Club,in which i did.I never was a great player,only that one finger trick i know with the high E string.But i joined it anyway,because i was - like i said - stupid.RuiShan made me want to learn more about guitars,and more songs to play to her.I cant believe it now but,i actually started out with cheesy chinese songs that was nice then,but irritates the hell out of me whenever somebody wants me to play it.It's incredibly annoying,really.I remember setting my handphone on the old rusty steinway,and then playing the Jay Chou song over the phone to her.I was quite nervous,but i did it anyway and it worked.She liked it,but was perhaps too nice to tell me that i fucked everything up.But oh well,it was a nice start to my career.

Here is when Mr. John Clayton Mayer comes into play.I first heard his song on the radio,but never had too much attention placed on him.At that period of time i was strangely into oldies,and perhaps popular rock songs on the radio.I mean,No Such Thing and Your Body is a Wonderland didnt fall into those categories very well,though i appreciated the work placed into those words.I never took heed of the guitar playing in the background until Why Georgia was heard by me on the radio one day.I remember liking the introduction to the song very much,and then learning it from the internet soon after.

I bought my second guitar on my birthday three years ago.My first guitar is a Yamaha,while the second is an unknown brand called Suzuki that was three hundred odd dollars in total.I practised my first songs on that guitar,and i remember learning everything from the major chords to the minor chords,then to the chords with # in between the capital letters and the 'Ms'.At that time i didnt know what it meant,neither did i know what 'b' meant behind each chord.But anyhow,i drew the fingering in my own system in a blue notebook,and practised switching between chords all day long.So it was A,C,D,E,G,and not B and F because they require the barring of the fret boards.I remember asking myself how they hell you are supposed to press six strings at the same time?Oh well,skip any songs with B and F,and onward i went.

Nine out of then guitar players give up playing guitar,and that's the experience i gathered over the years.So many of my friends claim that they know how to play the instrument,when all they know is a song or two from two years back.And when you ask them to play something on the strings,they stumble all over and then throw it back to you and say that they are embarrassed.It can get frustrating at first,but you start to understand why they gave up in the first place.

My fingers turned purple at one point of my guitar playing.The continual pressure of the strings against the tips of my fingers caused it to swell at one point.The pain was so excruciating that i had to ice the tip of my fingers with a piece of frozen pork,or immerse it in a bucket of hot water.Those were before the dead skin formed at the tips,and those were the worst days of guitar playing.But as pain as it was,it was addictive.You start one song,and once you get the hang of it you can never stop doing it.I remember getting so involved,i ran my index finger from the first fret all the way to the last few,and because the strings were rather old,i sliced the tip of my finger and there was blood all over.Hmm,blood on a guitar.How poetic.

For the readers out there who just started out on guitar,or have the interest of picking it up some time,there are a couple of songs you HAVE to learn as a guitarist.More Than Words,Tears in Heaven,and every single bloody chinese songs out there.The last one might sound daunting,but worry not.Chinese songs are as predictable as they get.With the same four chords and the same progression you can go to a lot of places in the chinese music industry.Which is why i hate it so much,the same formula recycled over and over and over.Yes Jay Chou,that's YOU.Faggot-y piece of shit.

There are few reasons why guitar became my weapon of choice.As much as i would like to learn other instruments,the variety for guitar is there.I mean,you can play something classical on the guitar,like Air on G or Canon in D.Even the Moonlight Sonata if you are capable enough.Or you can play some Pop songs,or Jazz,or Blues,or Rock,almost any genre out there can be translated into guitar playing.But you cannot do the same with other instruments say,violin.A violin cannot stand by itself in a Pop song for instance,or a rock song.It's meant to be a classical based instrument in my opinion,and it stays there - for good.Now,piano is a very versatile instrument as well,but the problem with it is of course it's size.Let's say you are invited to a barbeque one day by your friends,and you are expecting a whole bunch of girls and a whole lot of fun.Now,a guitar would come in handy if you want to show off some of your shredding skills,but it wouldnt help if you can play the Flight of the Bumblebee on your piano,because it is impossible to drag the whole piano to a chalet,now is it?Of cours,a keyboard will do but a guitar is whole lot sexier.Just look at the shape of it,it is a musical Viagra.

So my musical library grew and grew.The songs i knew got more complicated and more advanced.It's always easy to be a good guitarist,but to be GREAT is a different thing.You see Eric Clapton,SRV,Jimi Hendrix,Buddy Guy...these people are guitar Gods.You can never beat them no matter how much you try.The most you can do is to be like me,playing the songs you love,trying your best to learn them and play them in private.And i have achieved that,and i am contented.John Mayer is disgusting because his songs are so good and yet,hard to play on the guitar.Most of time i find myself cutting corners here and there,but it's not i have much of a choice now have i?

My Christmas present two years ago was a DX-1 Martin,which is worth about $1700 the last time i checked at City Music.I couldnt stop playing on it,and i remember going back to where i came from.Starting from the very first song i learnt,progressing towards John Mayer and so many other tracks.They just sounded different on this $1700 guitar,the way the sound vibrated around the insides of the guitar,as the smell of freshly cut wood filled your nostrils.Not to mention the silky feeling on the strings under the tips of your fingers,and the clarity that pierced your ears with ever single note that you plucked.It was amazing,and it was then that i truly fell in love with guitar playing.

So there,a little of my guitar history.I cant say it is impressive,but i guess to me it is satisfying enough.It is not exactly a passion,but a hobby.And where i stand in my standard,it really is more than enough for a hobby.It always starts with admiration for somebody else doesnt it?Always for a girl,always for a band,always for someone,somebody,something.I cannot deny that it was for a superficial reason,but im just glad that it progressed and evolved into something so much more.