Reply To: Why Do You Play?

[Tim Gallivan]

I think I started playing guitar because my best friend played guitar and drums. His drums were these cardboard snare-shaped things that he managed to make sound like drums.

My first guitar (Degas) cost $100 Cdn in 1975. I somehow learned to play it, not realizing there were such things as minor chords. I went to a catholic school that had money for religious education, but not for music. The guitar ended up in my sister’s garage for 20 years, along with the tuner and a crucifix or two.

Fast forward 20 years. My kids got a Casio keyboard for xmas. I commandeered it because it could make Pink Floyd-like sounds and I  learned that it too had minor chords embedded in it.

Then I realized that the Casio’s keys lined up with the guitar fretboard. 20 years were wasted, but I haven’t looked back.

My daughters all can read music cuz they played in band in public elementary and public high school. They like a wide range of music, from classical to Taylor Swift, but can’t stand most rap stuff cuz of the awful lyrics that Frank Zappa fought for.

I wish I could read music. And that Frank was still with us.

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