I play guitar every day, usually for an hour or so, sometimes twice daily if time allows and I’m in the mood. I remember the first time I picked up an instrument back in 1990. It was really a toy but it was in tune. It gave me the chance to practice a few basic chords like G, D, A and E. Soon I found myself progressing to C, F, Bb but found it difficult to hold down an Eb chord. As with anything we do, practice makes perfect, not that I am perfect by any means but I am a good player. I originally took up the guitar because at that time I was engaged in children’s work at church and the only music they had was through an old tape player. Soon I learned a few songs and the children joined in with singing and playing tambourines and such. They really enjoyed the music. I progressed to membership in the church band and had some really nice times there but playing in a church band is somewhat different from playing on stage in a pop group. Oh we had music to dance and sing to and many did that but we also had music for praise and worship and songs for prayer and quiet moments. I left the church after ten years there and gave up playing the guitar for about fives years thereafter. I started playing again in 2005 but only for my own pleasure. I play mostly Christian music but also play some popular secular music too as the mood takes me. I have written a few songs, some slow and haunting, some lively and some you could class as rock. Almost all of them are Christian songs. Once I recorded thirteen of them with a girl from the church using the church’s extensive mixing desk and equipment. I still have that recording on tape! I like playing guitar but sometimes I wear out my fingertips doing it! When I say I play for an hour I mean just that, continuously, without a break! It’s becomes quite addictive but I discipline myself and take a break to do other things. I can wear out other parts of my anatomy as well!

Shirley Anne

Now I remember………it was Music that I wanted to write about yesterday. I could go into a lengthy article about music but I’ve not the time and probably not the ability. I was just thinking recently in why people like music and why they have particular tastes and preferences in music. So what is it about music that is so inviting and pleasant to us? It was said years ago when Rock ‘n Roll started and later when we first heard ‘Heavy Rock’ that people were attracted to the beat because it was symbolic of our time in the womb when we could hear our mothers’ heartbeat. We were in a safe environment and the association is not hard to accept or believe. Maybe that is so. To understand that we have to go back to the roots of music’s creation. That means thousands of years. The first music was most probably born when somebody was tapping a stick on a rock or other hard surface, accidentally at first but then deliberately as a means of relaxation. It is easy to see where that would have led. The basis of any music is in its bass rhythm. These days much popular music has a strong bass and that is what initially attracts us. Of course it would be silly to say that is the only attraction but where it is strong it is certainly noticeable! Our tastes in music varies considerably from person to person and that is what makes ‘our’ music so special to us. If somebody doesn’t like our taste in music we sometimes cannot appreciate why. When I was very young my experience of music came through the radio and was limited to whatever music station my parents were listening to. So I grew up liking the music of the thirties, forties and early fifties and also classical music. As I grew up my tastes changed somewhat and I began to listen to the music of the late fifties, the sixties and seventies and became ‘one tracked’, forsaking all other music for heavy rock, ballads and pop. I have matured somewhat over the years in my appreciation of music. Nowadays I like all music but do have preferences. As long as what I am listening to can be called music and not just noise I will enjoy it. My tastes are very varied and cover all genres. Presently when driving I am tuned into Classic FM and it is most enjoyable. Sometimes I will listen to Rock FM or another similar station and find that equally enjoyable. It’s a question of what mood I am in. I don’t reject any music out of hand and will listen until I am bored with it! The same applies when I am playing my guitar, I switch between different types of songs, different keys when I get bored with them. I like music because I can listen or play it to suit my moods.

Shirley Anne