There may be no better time than now—emotionally, financially, mindfully—to just stay at home and play
There are no universal truths save this. Playing guitar, for those who do, constitutes therapy. Playing guitar is good medicine.
Playing guitar, in fact, is one of the few things that has reduced the great literary voices of the era to shades of awe and wonder.
“I Trust my guitar, and I don’t care about anything,” Patti Smith said of her 1964 Fender duo sonic in “High on Rebellion,” an ode to breaking through and spending “eternity riding the wave and realm of the E.”
The great midcentury poet Carl Sandburg, inspired by the simple beauty and power of his 1933 Martin OM-18, penned a series of vignettes in 1951 called “The Guitar: Some Definitions,” dubbing it, at one point, “A small friend weighing less than a newborn infant, ever responsive to all sincere efforts aimed at mutual respect, depth of affection or love gone off the deep end.”
You are similarly inspired by your guitar, and in hard times it provides companionship, solace and clarity.
If, by chance, you’ve looked out the window this week, you’re aware that chaos reigns. The economy is imploding. Humanity is on the run. And the novel coronavirus is fundamentally changing, for the short term at the very least, the way we operate as a people, as a society and as a world.
In fact, the only other universal truth, today, seems to be that we should hunker down. Call it what you want—self quarantine, cocooning, sheltering in place, social distancing—the great wisdom suggests that we all scale down for a few minutes and remind ourselves of the power of solitude.
There has never been a better moment to just sit back and play your guitar.
We’re not talking about Nero fiddling while Rome Burns. We’re talking about what Sandburg called, “a device in the realm of harmonic creation whose six silent strings have the sound potential of profound contemplation or happy-go-lucky whim.”
Take the time as a gift. Use the time to improve.
Music helped steer the social change of the 1960s. Write a new song. Channel your anger and frustration into three chords and the truth. Use the technology to collaborate, not to separate. Skype with a friend as you thrash out the lyrics to a new anthem for the ages. Write a positive response to Barry McGuire’s apocalyptic 1965 hit “Eve of Destruction.” Call it “Day of Reconstruction.” Knock out a true-to-life twelve bar and call it, “My baby’s got the Virus Blues.”
With the shuttering of major music festivals, the widespread cancellation of highly anticipated tours and even small club attendance levels capped by municipalities, the lives of working musicians have been completely altered for the time being. If you’re used to gigging on the weekend and are feeling stymied, use this downtime as an opportunity to really get your gear together. Restring that thing! You know it’s been asking for some maintenance. Get your humidity on. There’s nothing better for you right now, or your axe. Pull out cables and mikes and accessories and make sure everything’s in top shape. Create a want list—replace that shaky capo, pick up a brass finger slide to try a few new licks— for the next time it’s safe enough to venture out to your local music retailer. And run down the set list a few times to gauge what’s really working and what’s not.
You can even scroll through the Breedlove blog to find a few articles on basic guitar care.
You don’t write? You don’t gig? Not to worry.
If you strum a ukulele simply to amuse yourself, amuse on! Pearl Jam’s “Rise” sounds great on four strings. So does “Something” from The Beatles—George Harrison loved the ukulele, even before Jake Shimabukuro transformed “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Streaming is your friend now more than ever and YouTube is chock-a-block with tutorials that can take your playing to the next level, whether simply learning a new scale, figuring out a favorite song or sussing out how to make the change from G to D7 and back. It’s great to while some time by jamming with old favorites blasting out of the computer speakers.
If we might be so bold, this blip of economic insecurity and social distancing might make an opportunity to reinvest in the music that fired us in the first place. We are endlessly knocked out by the roster of Breedlove artists, and recently featured folks like Chris Arndt, Conner Cherland and this month’s Sydney Irving are all making wonderful new sounds that could really use some support and which, we are sure, would brighten your day. Look ‘em up!
In Bend, Oregon, spring is hammering on the windows. Outdoors folk all, we have a massive case of cabin fever. But we know that that is a more tenable physical state than coronavirus. We’re all minding our health and being mindful of others. Let’s all do our best to be good to each other by being good to ourselves.
Stay home if you can. Play your guitar.
We’ll be right here when this blows over. If you need anything, please let us know. We’re family.
