The Exceptionally Average Guitarist

By Alec Kounlavong
Motlow Buzz Reporter

            There are tons of reasons to learn a guitar.  Maybe you want to pursue a career in music. Or maybe you received a guitar as a gift and you think it’s finally time to learn how to play it. Or maybe you’re like me and you really wanted to impress the cute redhead in your class.  
             For whatever reason, you want to learn, and you’re trying to. Lucky for you, it’s not as daunting as it may seem.  Whatever age you are or innate musical ability you have learning the guitar is completely within the realm of possibility.  There’s an infinite amount of resources to help you learn.  Teachers, blogs, videos and chord charts out the wazoo are readily available in an instant thanks to the Internet. So I’m not going to waste our time doing what’s already been done by people who did a better a job than I’d be able to. This isn’t a redundant blog on how to formally learn guitar although I’m not saying it won’t help. It’s a slightly less redundant blog on how to easily become an exceptionally average guitar player.

My Story

           I started playing guitar when I was 15.  It was the first day of sophomore year and I was in home room.  As the bell rang, the rest of the students trickled in for class, but there was one that stuck out to me.  I’ll leave her name out of it, but I was enamored.  I couldn’t stop staring at her, which in retrospect was something I should’ve had under control, and I decided I wanted to be hers. 

Given my complete lack of social skills at the time, the thought of introducing myself and talking to her like a normal human being never occurred to me.  Instead, I had seen one too many movies and decided I needed to impress her some special way, by playing the guitar.  So for the next few months, I didn’t learn the theory of guitar. Instead, I learned how to play a few chords and easy songs on the guitar.  Later that year there was a talent show and I signed up only so she could see me play.  Miraculously enough it worked, and we’re still together. Though it could’ve also worked out if I wasn’t a dork and just talked to her, I’m thankful for the guitar providing me with an alternate avenue of getting to meet her.

Uploading pictures of me on social media. That way people know I play guitar.

Exceptionally Average?          
         You’re probably thinking that exceptionally average is not a great selling point, and for those looking to master the instrument while creating a deep understanding of music, it may not be. But to those who just want to play around a little bit on the guitar or learn that Ed Sheeran song for that girl/boy they’re trying to impress, I got you.  When I started learning guitar, there were a lot of simple tips and tricks I wish someone had told me.  Well I ended up figuring it out later on, and now I’ll share those tips with you.

  A rule of thumb for musicians is that people who can play better than you seem like gods of music that are doing something on a level you can’t even imagine.  And while the guitarist that only knows four chords is in awe of John Mayer shredding on the guitar, the normal every man who doesn’t know anything about guitar is in awe of you playing that stupid "Plain White T’s" song. So let’s impress people who don’t know any better, shall we?

Four Chords

             C, G, Am and F. Learn those chords because they’re literally used in every pop song ever. Seriously, here's an article showing 229 songs that can be played with just four chords.  If you still don't believe me here's video proof of the concept. After you have these down, you’ll be able to learn a million songs and even make your own. These chords and maybe a capo will be all you need to know.

Our Four Commandments

Playing Live

           Maybe you’re that guy who brings a guitar to random social functions in hopes of getting noticed and complimented.  Don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with that, (well there is, but that’s not what this blog is about) but you’re going to want to know how to play things on the guitar other than "Kumbayah."  This is a great time to just play random chords. The four you learned earlier will do just fine.  Just add a little variation, change the speed of how you play it, play soft then loud, strum out the full chords sometimes, or just pluck individual strings.  With four chords you can mess around like this for at least an hour before people start to notice that your repertoire is more limited than you’d like to let on.

           This was my first post for my blog. I’ll be updating weekly with videos, stories and advice, so come back next Thursday if you want more from the Exceptionally Average Guitarist, bye!