When did you start playing guitar?

[Uriah]

So when did you all start playing?

Please state your age you were and now, as well as what you learned on and how you learned


I started a few months ago when I was 13 (my brother rented a guitar for his birthday and I got hooked on playing guitar.), I got my guitar a week after my birthday (14) and my amp about a month later. FAT-210 and a WASHBURN BD-12

[cage77]

I started when I was 14 on an old Silvertone electric....one of those with the amp built into the case. I found it in a closet at the folks house and started playing and learning on it. Not long after I bought a 57 RI American Fender and a bigger and better amp. I'm hitting 27 next week, so it seems as though I've been playing for 13 years or so now.....

Brandon

[jeje]

I started about 9 months ago, when I turned 20.. I got a Morgan classical guitar from my parents. I've always wanted to play, but never seemed to get to it So after 3 months I bought my LP Standard and an amp Starting to play is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, now I can remake the music I have loved for so long

[CAFeathers]

I started when I was about 10 years old, played around with it until I was in my early 20's then quit for 20 years. I picked it up again 4 years ago.

[hcoll]

...started when I was 50 with an Ovation Balladeer borrowed from a neighbor...he let me borrow it because he hadn't played it in 25 years...gave it back when I found an Epi AJ-10 several months later....

...started learning basic chords...took group lessons through the country recrearion department...beginners and intermediate...then started taking private lessons....

...my teacher recommended playing an electric...said it would be easier for a beginner...so I found an amp on sale...Vox Valvetronix AD60VT...and found a guitar a month or so later...an Epi Dot....

...now I'm 53...starting my third year....

[Steelpriest]

I was about 14 years old and came up with the idea to buy a used drum set and become a drummer... My father was not amused when he imagined a drum kit in the house, he used to do a lot of nightshift work in those days and didn´t fancy the idea that his son might be pummeling the drums while he tries to have a nap... hehe, ;D ...so he asked if I´d like a guitar... a guitar wouldn´t cause such a noise! D'oh! He should have known better... "Oh, sure, a guitar would be fine!" I replied, and so a few days later he showed up with a cheap SG copy he found in a pawn shop... it was my first electric guitar, the guitar turned out to be very crappy and so a neighbour who owned a nice japanese made Aria Stratocaster copy gave this one to me and said I could keep it so long as I would be able to buy myself a proper guitar... How nice was this... During the holidays then I worked and had enough money to buy me a guitar of my own... meanwhile my dad bought me a used 30 watts tube amp of italian origin, originally intended for organs or keyboards, but it was a tube amp and sounded very amazing with the guitar as well. Sometimes, I think, there was not much difference between drums or an electric guitar in the house... hehe, my parents went nuts sometimes... ;D

[samicksg]

Started in when I was 13, I saw my friend started to play and I thought it'd be cool to try too. So I went crazy looking for a guitar and my neighbour at my cottage who's been playing for YEARS gave me his samick sg for as long as I wanted it I rented an amp and went from there. Now three years later I own my '56 goldtop and a marshall ;D

[AYTONROB]

my dad got me into it when i was about 6 or 7 years old(hes been in a giging band since he was sixteen and still plays)..(im 29 now)..i started on an old eko 12 string acoustic which i could barely get my arm over the top of the body never mind hold down the strings or play a chord ,i used to have to lay the guitar flat on my knees to get at the strings i have had brief times when i couldnt be arsed to play the guitar but they only seem to have lasted a few months here and there so im pretty certain ill continue to play untill i quit breathing or lose my fingers in a tragic lawnmower accident!!!

[BOOJIBOY]

I bought a Washburn electric when I was about 16 or 17. I played around with it for a few years and eventually sold it and got myself an acoustic. Fast forward 12 or so years and I end up buying my 8 year old boy a Squire guitar and amp pack. I end up playing it more than he does so to stop me and him fighting over the guitar I buy myself to an Epi LP classic +. Been playing again now for about 3 months.

[ZacAttack]

My dad got me an accoustic when I was real young and I strummed on it and played like I was playing but not really. Around 9 or 10 he had his fill of that so he started to sit me down and show me stuff. I was well used to him playing his electric and showing me on my accoustic. Well one day he was playing his electric and asked me if I wanted to try it out. I said ok and sat down as he handed it to me. I knew like E, A and D barre chords on my accoustic. WOW was this thing easier to play, and it sounded so cool all amped up. Up until then when he would show me stuff it was like a chore I didn't want to do. But with his electric it was like fun now. So after that day he would play his old accoustic and I would play his elecrtic and learn the changes and stuff. First song he taught me was ZZ Top "Dust my Broom" I was hooked. I was 10 or 11. Thats when I say I started. Then came "Smoke on the Water" and I asked him to work up "Back in Black" and show it to me. After that noeljob got his first guitar like at 12 and we started playing.(unrelated subject coming up) You know how every generation has a song that every beginer guitar player knows and thats all they know, like Stairway to heaven and the rest of us are turned aginst that song from hearing some newbie butcher it? Well " House of the rising sun" was the song my dads generation of newbies butchered,he hated it and thank god never showed it to me, so to this day I can't play it with a straight face. And I can't count the times someones friends dad or girlfriends dad said " I play guitar too" and breaks into that tired old tune. Hope that don't step on any toes. ;D

[supedupviper]

I started playing about 11 months ago when I was 14. It just looked like a lot of fun to me. I had a 10 watt Crate amp and a Special II. I just messed around on it for awhile, but then I decided to start getting serious about playing. The first song I ever learned was "Louie Louie." Now 11 months later I can play Stairway to Heaven, and I have an LP Standard and a Marshall half stack ;D

[dennisobell]

I can't believe it myself, but I was almost 45 before I started learning in earnest (about 16 months ago). I had wanted to learn for the longest time, but never had the nerve to go for lessons.

It also didn't help that I had a old Ibanez right-handed accoustic (I'm a lefty) that a buddy had sold me 20 years ago that continually frustrated me whenever I tried to learn.

Once I had convinced myself to learn the right (er. . . , left) way, I had the guitar restrung for me and started taking lessons that my wife had gotten for me as a Christmas gift.

I'm still contantly trying to improve and learn as much as I can to make up for lost time. I've also found myself loving guitars for their shear beauty. This is evidenced by the fact that I aquired 3 new electrics last year (Fender Strat Std., Epi Casino, Epi Les Paul Std. Plus) in order to satisfy my desire!

[mandough]

I got a bass for my 13th birthday, and the next spring I got the urge to try my hand at guitar. I bought one from a friend at school for 10 bucks, paid him five, and forgot to give him the other five. I realized that I had made a good choice when I heard my friends who played picking stuff out incorrectly, then copping a big ego-trip about how "good" they were. I decided to show them how it was done. I sat in my room and, with a tape recorder, listened to records I wanted to pick out, and re-wound them til I got it right. My criteria for success was to be able to play the more challenging stuff four times through in a row without a mistake. When I could do that, I moved on to the next part--song--riff. I got frustrated at times, and had to put it down, but I always came back.
This Spring marks my 20th year, and I have a band that plays in the Denver area, and I have a great Epi and a Killer Strat and an Ampeg J12-T--the amp of the Gods ! ! ;D

[RB]

I started around 12 or 13.... Still going strong some 30+ years later.....

[wierdsley]

I started to play when I was 13. My older brother bought a very cheap ($19.00) steel string from a discount store, put nylon strings on it because the steel hurt too much, the action was horrible. Then he proceeded to ignore the thing. I picked it up and struggled through a few Ventures type riffs and was hooked. Played through my teens, by then I was playing bass in a few garage bands, and sort of let it drop in my twenties... marriage, work and kids. Picked it up about 2 years or so ago when I decided to buy my LP Classic and I now play every minute that I can. I will never be great but I get better every day!