Why I Learned Guitar by Carson
My music career started with piano, as it did for all of my siblings. In fact, it was a requirement in our house that we had to learn piano before any other instrument so we could learn the basics. Needless to say, I very strongly disliked playing the piano because it just didn't feel nice to me and I really just didn't like it. It just didn't have that vibe for me that some other instruments I'd heard had. I learned enough piano to be able to try another instrument, but I didn't know which one to try.
I actually really didn't like the idea of playing guitar at first, not because of the instrument itself, but more because it's so common and so many people play it. For example, 99% of the missionaries at Family Missions Company who played instruments all played guitar. The other 1% was this one guy who played bongos. But he also played guitar. So yeah, I wanted to be more unique then the thirty guys all playing guitar at the same time.
It didn't work out that way though! I took one introduction to guitar class for fun, and I found that I actually liked the feel of the guitar! Who knew! I taught myself from there, mostly getting advice from other people and watching videos, and now I can play lots of praise and worship songs.
There's a reason so many missionaries play guitar though: It's very transportable! This means that you can take it through airports and unknown countries much easier than you could a piano or a cello. When we went to Costa Rica, we tested the waters by bringing a couple of ukuleles with us. They traveled fine, and we were able to use them to sing Spanish songs in a poor neighborhood. Next, in this last trip to Guatemala and Belize, we brought two guitars, and two ukuleles. It was much easier traveling than I thought it would be with all these instruments, though it was a lot to carry.
We also use the guitars a lot here in the U.S. for praise and worship at birthday parties and fellowship gatherings. There used to be only about two or three of us who played guitar, but the praise and worship disease has spread rapidly and claimed many. This last praise and worship session we had maybe ten guitars playing at once! And a mandolin, to boot!
Well, I think I've ended up becoming one of those thousands of missionaries out there who plays guitar for praise and worship, but it's all right. It's nice because it turns out there ARE more than four chords you can play on guitar! I'll have to spread this gospel to those who are ignorant of it I guess.
- Carson!
