Check Out Guitar George

He knows all the chords, after all.

Over the past few days it has struck me that the guitar is basically a rhythm instrument. A rare few have been able to master “which single finger pressed against this single string on this fretboard will produce this single note when I pluck said string”. The rest of us learn the fingering of chords, strum in rhythm, and occasionally we’re called “good”. Maybe a few of us learn some “finger-picking” techniques, which may evoke the response that we’re “very good”.

If I were asked to play an E Major scale on one of my guitars, I would have to defer and admit that I’m incapable of doing so.

But here’s a couple of things I know about guitars:

1. They are built by craftsmen – each one is hand-made to a certain extent. Yes, even the cheapest you can find has had someone - someone's hands - set the neck, aligned the top board, finished the purfling just so… The best are made by luthiers who know the relationship between hand and wood. I will never understand how any musician can take a guitar that someone lovingly made and smash it “in the name of art”. Or stupidity or ratings or whatever. Try doing that with my $1,200 Seagull 12-String, and I’ll probably hurt you. Or any Martin guitar, which I hope someday to own. Preferably a D000 12 fret six string from the 1940’s (which I actually had the privilege of playing once), but I don’t have the $10K needed to buy one.

2. If you have ever just held a guitar while sitting, learned to place three fingers on 3 strings and strum to create a G Chord, you will have felt the resonance of music, vibrating strings, and vibrating wood against your body. Do that a few times and the guitar becomes a part of you. It is a physical thing as well as a musical and creative thing.

That’s why I’m a greater fan of acoustic vs. electric guitar. I appreciate the virtuosity of many electric guitar players, marvel at their speed and dexterity on their solos, but wonder if they’re not just showing off their abilities, impressive though they may be. I will say that the "Unplugged" version of "Riding The Storm Out" by REO Speedwagon blew me away. Mostly because it showed that a guitarist known for his electric work really had chops and played an acoustic six string so damn good.

Acoustic seems to have the attitude “keep it slow, keep it simple, slow and accurate is best”. I’d suggest listening to the Electric and acoustic versions of “Layla” by Eric Clapton to appreciate the difference.

Electric often equals frenetic.

Strange how those words rhyme.