A Ukulele Journey - Chapter two: My First Guitar

Well thanks for waiting but here it is at last. I don't know how I have managed to hold back - except it was all so long ago and photos and memories are sadly few and far between. The photo here is me (honestly) around 1967/8, really looking cool or bloody silly depending on your vintage.

In an earlier post I alluded to another photo but although I have seen it recently, it seems to have been put away safely. Have you got places like that - you will at my age, so safe that I can't remember where to even begin looking.

So, what can I say? The guitar (an arched top Hohner or Hofner with "F" holes) was a Christmas present from my parents sometime between the ages of 12 and 14. I learnt to play from Bert Weedon's book, Play In A Day. Of course What you were able to play at the end of the first day was not explicitly stated. However I persevered and learnt to play a few chords and how to pick out a melody. This latter basically from my early attempts at the piano and an ability to play by ear. If you are unsure that means hearing the tune and being able to assess where each note was on the fretboard with at least only a few near misses. Not that I used my ears in the way that Jimmy Hendrix used his teeth.

Very soon I was frustrated at my progress and took out a subscription (with my own pocket money) to a postal course. This taught me how to use all six strings to form a chord which could be moved up the fretboard - the dreaded Barre chord! An expensive way to purchase a few sheets of paper but it came thru the post regularly with enough time to practice the contents.

I also purchased books on finger style, folk, country and BLUES. The latter I had not really been subjected to before but I soon took to it because of course R&R was king and driven to a large extent by the blues. Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee soon became firm favourites, a few years later having the pleasure of seeing them at The Birmingham Town Hall on a tour of the UK.

Around this time (1967/8) I also started dating my wife and attending the "JUG OF PUNCH" folk club run by Ian Campbell at Digbeth Civic Hall. A couple of his band later joined groups such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Over 50 years later we still see the latter as often as we can, Still touring after all this time, although there have been many changes in the line-up.

But I am running ahead of myself, I was playing rock, folk, blues and country and of course by now I had heard The Shadows (firstly Apache in 1961). This changed my life - Hank Marvin was my first real hero - and I started playing their music. This of course meant I needed an electric guitar with a tremelo arm. I purchased a cheap solid model, very faintly looking like a strat. I am unhappy to say I cannot remember the make, I have no photos or any other recollections of this guitar. It filled a gap for me and I always felt the need for a Fender Stratocaster which took until I retired in 2000 to fill. I used to play the cheap guitar through the reel to reel tape I described in chapter 1, It never seemed to warrant a more expensive amplifier. As a last ignominious mention. I cannot remember what became of that guitar, no memory at all.

The arched top model lasted a good number of years but it was knocked over and the neck fell onto a chair. The tension in the strings, of course, simply pulled the neck out of the body. I attempted repairs but it was never the same and I swapped it a number of years later for a beat up old amplifier for another guitar which I then had. But this is the end of Chapter 2, more about that next guitar then.

A younger cousin showing you the guitar

I intend to include a couple of videos over the next few posts, of songs which I wrote using this red guitar. Some of my very earliest songs from the time of my early teens. probably will seem to be quite simple and bland, but of course I like them being biased.

Thanks for reaching the end.

My Early Love Of Music

It is not a very exiting subject but the story has to start somewhere. My father had a love of music and could play almost any instrument which he tried. Mostly piano, accordian and spoons and a saw. Not forgetting an harmonica.

Playing a musical saw. and musical spoons

Have you ever seen anyone play a saw by bending it to produce musical notes? I must have gotten a taste for music from him. Something for which I am eternally grateful. My first instruments were using the family piano (badly, but I could pick out a tune or two), a plastic trumpet upon which I learnt a few military calls, such as, "Come To The Cookhouse Door" and "The Last Post". No I never considered a military career but the notes for the calls were included with the instructions for the trumpet. I can also recall a mouth organ and a penny whistle, neither of which I seemed to be able to master at the time.

Around about, and probably before I was ten (I know -  it's not that young really nowadays ) I was bought a reel-to-reel tape recorder; That really got me going. I used it to record music from a small B&W TV which sat in our living room, taking pride of place. I still remember some of those songs and a favourite still today was Buffy St Marie singing Universal Soldier. Yes I know Donavan recorded it in the sixties but it was a poor cover of the original.

Buffy St Marie, A Canadian Cree Indian

I also used the tape recorder for recording myself, and sometimes my sister, singing. My mother often said that she could not understand how we managed to learn so many songs. It may be relevant to mention that I was chosen for the school choir at 7 or 8 years old, but on reflection it may be because of the power of my voice rather than the "pure tones" which I produced. the choir was entered for many school festivals but I do not recall ever winning anything. As an aside, I would sing all the time at home and to demonstrate how far my voice travelled mom used to get comments from neighbours who lived further away than I could have ever expected.

Mentioning my mother also reminds me that we used to have a radio on in the house most of the time. TV was only one channel and only on a few hours a day to start with. I guess I am remembering when I was 5 or six years old. A song I still remember from this time is Vera Lynn singing "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot". The first time I heard it I was in inconsolable tears because I thought that the little boy was me. I still sing this song at Christmas, and may even have a video on my PC, which I may look up and post on the blog.

Before I finish this instalment I would like to mention two other memories; the first was that used to collect lyrics. Sometimes I copied them from my tape recorder  and sometimes cutting them out of magazines, such as "The Record Song Book" published in the 60's and 70's.

One last memory concerns a home made set of drums. Using a bass drum from a toy drum set as a snare drum (without the snare) various boxes and tins and I remember a circular biscuit tin lid into which I punched about two dozen nails. Hitting that "cymbal" gave a wonderful swishing sound. I mostly used pieces of thin dowel (sanded to round the ends) as drumsticks but Dad was able to get me a pair of steel brushes from a work mate who actually played the drums.

I did actually begin my song writing at this time. I could not yet play an instrument to play along with the songs (I could play a melody on the piano but not well enough to play along as a backing) so I knocked out a rythm on my drum kit. Songs were very simple and quite limpid as you might expect from a 10 year old. At least that is the best guess of my age at the time. Unfortunately I can no longer remember any of them or even their titles, must say something about them.

Apart from Buffy, other early inspiration came from Elvis, Buddy Holly, Billy Fury and so many others that I am not going to name them here. Most of them are not well remembered anyway.

OK, this post is rather longer than I expected but despite everything As I actually typed it in, I kept remembering odd bits of my musical experiences. And I haven't even mentioned the Zither. Maybe another time?

Why record yourself at home?

Does this seem like a silly question?

One or two of my musical (and let's face it not-so musical) friends seem surprised that I bother to record myself singing and playing. Or there is a feeling that I am fooling myself about my abilities and why on earth should anybody want to hear my renditions of classic songs.

Well, I though about this question and decided that I record myself for one main reason. I want to get better!

By recording myself I can hear where my problems are. It is difficult to listen to yourself objectively whilst playing/singing and so I can get a better idea of my progress and make notes about where I specifically need to concentrate my practice time. And as for whether I am good enough to share my music - have you heard some of the stuff getting posted on the web?

I guess that when I first started recording myself it was an effective way of sharing my song-writing. I had written many songs over the early decades of my life but never shared them outside a very small circle of friends and then only a few of the songs. I give the reason I started recording my songs in this YouTube video:


And here is a second:
Still have only recorded a few but at least they exist where they can be heard.  You can find half-a-dozen on You Tube associated with this playlist.
Well I think that I have good reasons for recording my poor efforts.

The Ultimate Guitar Chord Chart

Well at least that it how this is described on Calameo a new find for me on the web. Basically it is an on-line magazine/book reader and I found this interesting little collection of chord charts browsing around. I thought it was worth making a note of it here for convenience. Here is an embedded version:-

Ultimate Guitar Chord Chart

Publish at Calameo or read more publications.

Look to be some very strange chords which I have never used, I will be trying a few out and hopefully make some new sounds.

Ten amazing acoustic guitar players

Just had to make a note of this page befoire I lost the link.

These are some of the most amazing  videos I have seen. Ten guitarists have been collected playing by using tapping and percussive playing techniques.

A smorgasbord of fantastic feats which I can only wonder at. I will be researching  more about this technique at this level, not that i hope to be able to play like it but because I just need to knoe more.

I will be back and edit this post when I have something to say - in the meantime go listen BUT be prepared to be amazed.

MusicCouch, Top ten acoustic guitarists

Shadows style guitar meeting at Shrewsbury

Well the Shrewsbury meet came and went. I am so glad that I went along and took my fender (see the previous post).

There were fewer people there than had been expected but those of us who were there had a ball, at least I think so I know that I did. It is actually the first time that I have "performed" in front of an audience and boy was I nervous. I was sweating so much (it was a very warm day for March, 22 deg C) that I almost dropped the plectrum a couple of times but managed to sort out where I was and carry on. I played a couple of easy numbers to start with:

It's Been  Blue Day and Geronimo

And in a second session, I decided to rock things up a little with:-

Gonzalez and Shindig

It was on Gonzalez that I nearly lost the plectrum, but as I looked up in agony I was given a sign to carry on and found my place and did just that. Boy was I nervous but also I really enjoyed myself. Here is a video of the late Jet Harris playing lead on Gonzalez at Shadodwmania 2010.

And Shindig, on the Shadows final tour

I don't think my versions were this good but at least I gave a good showing for a first timer if the comments from the "pros" were to be believed

Most of the guys were hardened at this sort of thing and played really well. I have to say that I enjoyed myself and look forward to the next time. My thanks to Mark and Noel for a great day.

Me and my Guitar

Ok,I know this is only a filler, things are still hectic at home and time on the PC is at a premium. But I have just found a new(ish) forum on the web for all lovers of Hank Marvin, especially if you are into the technical aspects of the guitar and eequipment and recording.

They are having a "Shadows" get-together in a  few weeks and I am hoping to go along to meet some of the guys, many of whom are great guitar players. Just one example:





I decided I needed a relevant T-shirt for the meeting. But not too relevant. So I have designed and purchased my own Tee from Zazzle.

Yes I know I am holding the fender wrongly, but I wanted to show off the image on the shirt. There is actually some text below the image, "Rock 'n' Roll". (now for the advert: you can of course buy one of these fashionable items from my Zazzle store They come in several different styles and colours).

Rock 'n' Roll by artyfax
Create customised tee shirts using zazzle

It is also worth mentioning the other forum relating to The Shadows, The Shadows Music Community which has been going for a lot longer and has more contributors.

Well I am looking forward to the meeting, let you know how it turns out.