Acoustic Has Made Me A Better Player

When I decided I wanted to learn guitar I did it all backwards. Instead of starting on an acoustic, I started out on an electric guitar. It was the ugliest no name $79 dollar electric guitar you could find, but it had distortion and that was all that mattered. I just couldn’t imagine playing Crazy Train on acoustic, lol! Little did I know, that electric was so bad I would have had an easier time playing the songs I wanted on an acoustic.

But usually, the story starts something like “Mom/Dad, I want to learn to play guitar”. Then if you’re lucky, an acoustic guitar appears out of the ether for christmas or your next birthday! Or maybe it’s later in life after you’ve paid your dues with your career and you decide to reconnect with that dream you had as a kid of learning to play all of your favorite songs. I didn’t actually buy an acoustic guitar until about 25 years later. I had already been teaching guitar for about 8 years when my buddy Marty Schwartz said, “dude you need an acoustic”!

Acoustic was a whole new world for me and has definitely made me a better player. It really helped me appreciate the struggles people have when learning guitar for the first time. There are certain things that don’t seem natural when trying to play acoustic guitar for the first time. 

Get your guitar playing appetite going with this quick video lesson on spicing up a typical chord progression. Good luck! Happy strumming!