About Me

First Name	Steve P
Nickname	steve-p
Why I'm Here	Hi all! Love this site and program. I started teaching myself guitar back in the late ’50s from books on a very cheap (in all ways) Silvertone finger shredder. The action was so smooth that barre chords often drew blood. I saved up and in time had earned enough to graduate to Silvertone’s low-end solid body electric … if that can be considered a step up. I was an inveterate strummer who could, given the time, pick out the melody lines from the books I’d accumulated. Over the years my prowess never matched my passion. From a Gibson nylon string, Gibson 12-string, spectacular sounding Guild D50, a used Les Paul Standard (most certainly overkill in my hands) I slowly improved, but ended up selling each to pay the rent and meet life’s other necessities. By the late ’60s I was playing LPs of my favorite guitarists, not guitars. Now that I’m retired, soon to turn 70 and have plenty of time to pursue my love of guitar music … I decided to attempt producing once again the sounds I love. This time, though, besides working my way through Gibson’s “Learn and Master Guitar” course (oh if we only had DVDs and the internet back in the ’60s!) I’m thrilled to have stumbled across TAC for daily challenges (definitely pushing me beyond my comfort zone), discipline and consistency in practicing, and a community of terrific people who share my passion. For the record, my guitarsenal is tiny (retired, fixed income). I have an Ovation Custom Balladeer whose sound I love, but whose back is convex where I, too, hagve grown convex over the years. And an Epiphone Dot ES335. Unfortunately, the very chunky neck profile on the Dot is far too big for my hands, and I’m looking for something more suitable. I’m leaning toward a Taylor GS Mini mahogany (thanks to several recommendations from the TAC community) but I’m still trying guitars on for size (both in neck profile and cost).
City	I was born with the guitar gene. Without question, good guitar music from all genres resonates with my soul. I've thrilled at countless live performances from artists like Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Strunz and Farrah, Ricky Skaggs, Pat Metheny, Jerry Douglas, Joe Walsh and many others, and spend hours listening to Earl Klugh, Stehen Bishop, Molly Tuttle and other masters of fretboard. In an irony of fate, however, I was born with small, chunky hands and unusually short pinky fingers. Born with the passion but without the tools. My genes don't fit! Nevertheless, many people have done exceptionally well with far less (Django Reinhardt, for one). So, though you may never see me on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry or Carnegie Hall … I want to be able to generate the kind of music I love listening to. I CAN get better in all aspects of playing and I believe TAC is the place to do it. See me in a year!

Steve P