My Guitar is My Friend

   I'll be honest with you.   I have a Love-Hate relationship with my guitar.   The title of this blog is "My Guitar is My Friend".. and it is..  really.   I love my guitar.  Very much.  If I had to pick one thing that I would take with me, if I were to go to a deserted island.. well, it would probably be one of my guitars.  The second thing(s) would probably be a CD player and a collection of my favorite disks.  

   You know that something is a "favorite thing" when you keep on going back to it over and over, and over again.   And you know because, when you really need a "fix", it always comes through for you.  I've often been lonely, or frustrated, or a combination of the two, and found that my guitar provided an outlet that not so many other things do.. a way for me to work out my feelings and emotions through a musical instrument.

  I love that my guitar is portable.  I do not have to "go-to" my guitar.  I can bring it with me, wherever I go.  I can always have it with me, or nearby, to pick up.  When I want to hang out and play some music, my guitar is always there.  It's always available to me.

  And yet-- even though I love my guitar-- sometimes I hate it.   It's done nothing to me to really deserve this feeling.   Of course- it's an inanimate object, right ?   Sometimes I wonder. And I can't really pin this on the guitar.   Not like I might be able to on a particular person that I find annoying or irritating.  But sometimes, it just wears on me.

  I've gotten to know my guitar really well over the years.  We've shared a lot of experiences together, good and bad.   But I think the one thing that bothers me the most about my guitar is that-  it reflects me.   It's like a mirror or perfect picture of myself.   And so, when I'm feeling on top of the world, or excited and joyful, my guitar seems that way to me.  But when I'm down or frustrated about something in my life, my guitar also reflects that.  

  In a couple of weeks, I'm getting the opportunity to play for the first time in a festival, the local Blues & Jazz Festival.   I'm looking forward to it.   I've got some friends and students that are joining me to play for it.   We're picking out some nice jazzy/bluesy songs.  But if the truth be told, most of the blues that has come out of my guitar has never found a song title or a place of performance.  It's been those quiet, subtle moments in the middle of the night when I've picked up my guitar and twanged out a seventh chord, or did a string bend.

  I think all relationships have a "ying" and "yang", a plus and minus, a good and bad.  And what's cool is even in the bad moments, my guitar seems to come through for me.  Because it allows me an outlet for those feelings.  And while the situation may not seem so good at the moment, somehow after awhile it starts to get better.

  Thank you, Friendly-Guitar-180, for being my good and trusted friend for so many years.   Here's to many, many more.