# I've picked up my guitar again!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 23, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118 "2004-08-23T18:21:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118/21 "2004-08-25T18:00:34Z")

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Also, **Cinnamon Girl** - by the way, get used to dropped-D tuning and learn some Neil Young stuff 😉 - it’s important to just keep doing it until something clicks. You can see week-to-week improvement sometimes, especially early on, but once in a while you surprise yourself and wonder “where did THAT come from?” The brain connects to the guitar and your conscious mind steps aside. If you keep playing long enough to have one of those, I suspect you won’t take another break from the guitar. I’ve had a handful of those in eight years of playing, and one was last night. I’ve been playing without a pick for the last few months in imitation of a favorite guitarist, and I guess I finally got three fingers working together at top speed. Probably would have made for a funny picture; my fingers were flying around and I was staring at my hands with my mouth open.

I have to advise keeping enough spare sets of strings around. I haven’t broken one in ages, but it’s a long walk to the music store, so sometimes when my last strings are too gross and flat to use, I’ll go a week or more without playing. It’s no fun, and your fingers get cabin fever. So make sure you’re stocked up.

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118/22 "2004-08-25T21:15:33Z")

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> [@WordMan](#):
>
> remember: playing something is always better than playing nothing, so don’t punish yourself with practices and end up not wanting to play.

Triple “woo-hoo” on this one.

When you get a bit more comfy, [come on over](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266722) and let us hear what you’re doing.

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118/23 "2004-08-25T23:44:31Z")

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> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> When you get a bit more comfy, [come on over](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266722) and let us hear what you’re doing.

I just _knew_ you’d do that **NCUN** … 😃

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**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-picked-up-my-guitar-again/261118/24 "2004-08-25T23:56:25Z")

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> [@Cinnamon Girl](#):
>
> Thanks for the recommendations. I love the Eagles too. Can you give me a progressive list of songs to add to my practice sessions? Easiest to hardest?

I like playing Tequila Sunrise. It’s five easy chords with a cool-sounding strum pattern. Hotel California is HARD. For me anyways. :rolleyes:

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