Songs in the key of E minor

During the last few months, I have found renewed interest in doing things I always said I would do but never got around to doing. So far, it has yielded some decent results. After three years, I finally tackled my fears and applied for, and was accepted to, graduate school at Wayne State University. I will begin classes in the fall. Also in my spare time — which translates to once a week — have begun teaching myself how to play guitar.

Those that know me know that I already play bass guitar in a band called Delirious Love. For those that don't, you can read all about that band on Facebook (just search for "Delirious Love").
But, I've also always had a passion to learn how to play guitar. For one thing, being able to play guitar greatly expands my ability to play songs and write songs that interest me. My band members have no interest in Johnny Cash, Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen. It was like pulling teeth to even get the band to OK some Neil Diamond, even though our band name was taken from a song on his 2006 album "12 Songs."

So, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I lock myself in my apartment's spare bedroom and pull up the guitar chords online for Diamond's "Red Red Wine," The Kinks' "Lola" or Springsteen's "Born to Run" and try to play along to the CD. The hardest part is learning what finger is supposed to push down on what string or fret. My brother, who is a guitar guru, calls this process "muscle memory."

My patience also runs thin trying to use a guitar pick. I can strum down, but my upstroke sounds like someone is ripping the strings from the fretboard. Now, if I strum using my thumb, I sound pretty good. My brother warns me though to not get use to strumming the guitar with my thumb.

After two months, I have three chords memorized (Em, Am, and D). I am working on the G and C chords before moving onto the dreaded "Fm" chord that my brother says usually gets people so frustrated that they quit. Luckily Em, Am and D make up a lot of songs. And when I come across a chord I can't play (F sharp minor), I just simply stop strumming the guitar and hum the chord. I wouldn't necessarily call the result a "song" per say, but it's the start of something. At this rate, I give myself a year before I am able to pick up a guitar with confidence and strum through an entire song. Luckily, I have plenty of time to learn.

In the meantime, I'll keep strumming along to my iTunes music while my girlfriend turns the television up loud enough to drown out the sound of persistence coming from the other room. I'm just kidding. Actually she's very supportive. When she heard I wanted to learn guitar, she scrounged around her mom's house until she found her old guitar. That is what I am using as I journey through this new challenge. And with any luck, I will have something positive to report about my progress as I forge ahead.

Rock on fellow musicians and music lovers!