Learning The Guitar - The Adventures Of An Ambitious No Hoper Part 3 of 3

I have a new cherry red Gibson SG. I have a insanely loud 50 watt Marshall amp. I am fully kitted outwith all I need to be a guitar god. Except talent. I do what anybody else in my position would do. I buy every single AC/DC guitar book I can find in the music store. After all, at least I look the part now.

Progress was slow, and now I was depressed as well, having spent a huge amount on my dream guitar and amp combo - I felt like I was letting them down. Luckily, at this point, a twist of fate decided to intervene that would change my life.

I started doing some freelance work for a new client who was a guitar nut. So much so that, in his thirties, he'd taken three weeks off work and instead of going on a summer vacation, booked himself into guitar school with a load of teenagers who were all hoping to be the next Clapton.

He played pretty good but, even more impressive, he had half a dozen guitars and always kept an acoustic at work to practice on when he needed a break. I showed enough enthusiasm (and begged) that he agreed to teach me some stuff. Secretly, he was thrilled and just didn't want to sound too keen straight off - we both knew that there wasn't much work going to get done!

He taught me from scratch, and learning on an acoustic was a revelation. I remembered the article I'd read as a teenager and it was dead right. I learned to pay some basic stuff cleanly on the acoustic and then, when I got home and tried it on my electric guitar, it sounded so much better than I'd ever managed before.

I'd been trying to learn the Pink Floyd classic 'Wish you were here' and had most of the notes but couldn't get the timing right. in no time I had all the right notes and was starting to learn about playing with feeling - the fantastic sensation you get when you know the notes to play, and so you can start to put some soul into it - to concentrate on playing the note correctly.

this was really working - the guitar bug had well and truly bitten me once again. I was so happy in fact that I couldn't stop myself buying another guitar - an electro-acoustic this time, so I could continue to practice 'unplugged'. It was the best decision I ever made. I have it on a stand at home and pick it up most nights and just noodle away, practicing putting more feeling into what I'm playing, and revelling in the fact that I am actually playing something to a reasonable standard, and not hiding behind effects and overdrive.

My new friend taught me the pentatonic scale next and how, once learned, you can improvise a solo around those notes with ease. Something I've spent hours practicing.

Having someone teach me, and learning on an acoustic, has totally reignited my enthusiasm into a deep passion for playing the guitar that I now hope will last me the rest of my life. It's something I would recommend any frustrated guitarist tries. The last two years have been a truly liberating experience and I have even started to do justice to my beloved SG.

I've even learned some stuff I can pass on. I've just bought my eight year old son a three-quarter size acoustic and am starting to teach him the same stuff I learnt. We're listening to music together and picking out songs we want to start learning and you want to know the best bit is. He's decided that AC/DC is his favourite band. I'm so proud!