Levels of Education

[Thumpalumpacus]

As for me, I started playing drums at 8, which I find is as foundational as piano. I moved on to guitar when I was 14, picked up piano at 20, and two years ago started toying around with the banjo (a lot of fingerstyle guitar techniques translated so easily, maybe I shouldn't count that? Lol)

Guitar is my most accomplished instrument. I started out with Metal, moved on to Chicago blues and delta blues (the latter being my favorite style, Mississpi John Hurt anybody?), and about 5 years ago, I started studying classical and flamenco intensely, more so flamenco. From a lot of players I talk to my age, this seems to be a pretty common path.

And man, I'd really love to get a chance to play a cello, erhu, and a koto. About two years ago, I went up to the local Highland games to see my buddy compete, and they had a harp workshop, so I was pretty lucky to get a chance to learn my way around one of those with some guidance.

I started off on guitar, at 13. Took up bass, keyboards, and drums along the way, good enough to gig on the first two, good enough to do my demos on keys, love beating the shit out of 'em. I took two semesters of classical guitar in college, and took private lessons from the late jazz guitarist Raj Rathor.

When I went to Spain in the Air Force, I took note of flamenco and started bringing that into my guitar playing, and also went back to the music I had heard living in Iran as a child, and that has all leaked into my playing style.

I've written a couple of hundred songs in all styles.

I spent years beating my head against the wall in clubs in SoCal gigging rock and blues on guitar and bass, but now I jam on my porch with the birds; I sold my electric rig (five guitars, four amps) to come back home. I'm thinking about getting back into gigging, as I get more comfortable in the local scene.