Published on Apr 2, 2013
Saturday, March 30th 2013
On The Rocks
239 North Harbor Dr., Redondo Beach, CA.
There was a bunch of Hula dancing and Island style music and as the day went on my buddy Cliff and his band ended the night. I played three songs with Cliff and his band. It was my first time playing on stage and in front of an audience and it was a great way to start out my birthday weekend. Check it out:
On The Rocks
239 North Harbor Dr., Redondo Beach, CA.
There was a bunch of Hula dancing and Island style music and as the day went on my buddy Cliff and his band ended the night. I played three songs with Cliff and his band. It was my first time playing on stage and in front of an audience and it was a great way to start out my birthday weekend. Check it out:
Actually I started out playing ukulele (2005) before I
started playing guitar. Playing ukulele or guitar is really the same concept,
like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. My first
guitar lesson was back in 2005, just a few chords. Then my second lesson was in
2008, a few more chords. It wasn’t until August of 2012 that I really got
started playing and consistently practicing guitar. I’m really lucky that my
friend Cliff has shared his guitar talent with me. He’s been playing since he
was just a little kid and is one of those people that make it look so easy,
like butter (smooth). When I talk about Cliff to my friends I usually refer to
him as Mr Miyagi because his teaching methods are very much the same, clean the
car wax on - wax off, bar the chord major – minor. He has hooked me up with
pretty much all my guitars, yes I have a few.
A few months back we were making the rounds at SAM ASH music
store looking at guitars and toys and I was drooling over the expensive ones
that were hanging up high on the wall. He just smiled and laughed and said “You
don’t need any of those. I got one that will blow those away.” Later on that day he sent me a text
message on my phone with a picture of this awesome guitar. I went over and
tried it out and it was so easy to play, it felt like butter (smooth). I told
him that the guitar would look better at my house and he sold it to me for the
same price he bought it for (super cheap!).
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| October 17, 2013 |
It turns out that my guitar is based on the Fender Robben
Ford model (I think it’s a 2005 model made in Korea). So Miyagi tell me that my
face is going to fall off because we are going to see Robben Ford Play in
Concert and he’s going to sign my guitar. Sure enough we got tickets to see him
play at the Catalina Club in Los Angeles. Robben Ford is so talented! He’s
really amazing to watch live. I was really nervous all night and was worried that
he might not sign my guitar. After the show my Fiancé ran out to the car and
grabbed my guitar for me and we got Robben Ford to sign it! Awesome! I
really appreciated him taking the time to sign my guitar and thanked him and told
him he was my hero (and he really is).
I felt like somehow some Robben Ford magic was transferred
to my guitar when he signed it. It really made me want to get even better at
playing guitar and I continued to practice every day. It didn’t matter if I
practiced for five minutes or five hours, it just feels good to play and I
could tell I was improving which only made me want to get even better. Miyagi
invited me to practice in the studio with his band and that was the first time
I ever played loud. The studio room boomed with the drums, bass and guitars. Miyagi
and the rest of the band all gave me really good advice that I have taken very
serious. They said when you are playing with other people and you don’t know
what they are playing then this is what you should do:
·
Don’t play anything yet (it’s better not to muddy up
the song by playing in the wrong key / wrong notes)
·
Watch what they playing (know your chords and where
they are on your guitar and others peoples guitars)
· Listen
to the rhythm and learn the rotation (Head, chorus and the bridge)
· Just
lay back / lay out (mute your stings /play softly / quietly / or not at all)
· When
you find the rotation and know what they are playing then jump in when it
sounds good and when you feel good
· And
I figured this one out on my own… don’t forget to be nice (that way you might
get invited back to play again)
I just kept practicing and Miyagi said it was time for me to
get on stage and experience what it’s like to play for people. That when a
benefit gig came up at ‘On The Rocks’ in Redondo on 3-30-13 and Miyagi said
that would be the day I get up on stage and play with him and his band. We got
back in the studio to practice with his band again and went through a few 1-4-5
blues songs and some Jimi Hendrix. I did pretty well and he decided on two
songs for me to focus on; Route 66 and Mustang Sally. I had about two or three
weeks to practice to get it down. We all met up one more time before the gig to
walk through the set list and work out any kinks and I was feeling good about
it.
And then the day finally came. I picked up Miyagi in my
element and loaded it with our gear and headed down to ‘On The Rocks’ to set
up. Then it was time to hurry up and wait for him to call me up to play. There
were lot of groups playing at the ‘Mahalo Bash’ benefit and things got off to a
slow start and the just pushed my stage time out to later on in the night. That
actually turned into a good thing because I had a few more friends show up to
watch me play. It was an awesome night and a great experience for me. It was my
first time on stage and also my first time playing for an audience. It was also
the day before my birthday so it was also a great gift to me to be able to play
at this gig. I’ll never forget it.
