I wouldn’t have said that my family were a musical family as such, however, my Dad had a guitar and used to strum a few campfire chords when I was younger and my Grandad used to have a mandolin and violin (albeit I never saw him play either).

So perhaps music is part of our family, more than I have realised or appreciated.

Indeed, I first picked up a harmonica when I was in junior school and learnt to play it by ear with some guidance from my Grandad. I’m not sure that I ever became truly proficient at playing the harmonica, but I did develop a party trick of playing the harmonica whilst standing on my head!

Upon reflection, I have always admired those that can play a musical instrument and think that I’ve secretly desired to play one too.

When my cousin (who lives in Canada) was over visiting in 2019, her son brought over his guitar. And when I saw him play, I think it ignited my secret desire and a simple question arose … I wonder if I could learn to play the guitar too?

In early 2020, I bought my own guitar and joined TAC shortly after … and so the journey began.

So ‘Why do I want to learn the guitar? … perhaps the simplest answer to this is because of:-

Family and a secret desire to play an instrument (i.e. a secret that’s not so secret any more).

And oh boy, how I’ve come to love the guitar – it’s so much more than just an instrument, it’s part of my soul.