Chatbug Karen

I know that most of you who read my blog think that I have one hobby, sewing. Well, sewing is important to me and gives me a huge amount of enjoyment but when I was young, I had another hobby. I played a guitar. I began taking lessons at the age of 10.

I was very fortunate that my parents not only payed for lessons but that they bought me a very nice guitar. I knew how tight money was at the time yet my parents afforded me a wonderful guitar similar to this one. I pretended my guitar was as nice as a Gibson played by Eric Clapton and in my heart, it was.

Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar

Do you know how awesome Gibson guitars are? Some of the most noted guitar players in the world have chosen a Gibson guitar as their choice of instrument. World-class artists such as Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, and Angus Young played on a Gibson! Little did they know a lowly 10 year old was playing House of the Rising Sun right along with them.

The Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar Gibson shown in my photo is a recreation of the popular 1960s SG Special. The new design has the original all-mahogany body, dual P-90 pickups, and a bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. Owning this new guitar is like owning a piece of history.

Maybe I should dig out that old guitar and see if I can still pull some music out of those frets and strings. I’m sure the callouses I used to have are gone so it might be a bit painful but still worth a try.

<When my sisters and I were small, my parents gave us every opportunity to try things. We played sports, took swimming lessons and attended the parks and recreation craft days. We were also afforded music lessons. I don’t know how my parents could afford music lessons for three girls but they did. I paid $18 dollars a half hour for my two kids to take piano lessons so I know how the cost can drain a budget.

My sister, Lynne, was too small to take lessons but my sister, Grace, learned to play the accordion and I played the guitar. We carted our instruments back and forth to class each week as we took lessons from very qualified professional musicians. We were very lucky to have the instruction from such fine artists.

Grace and I played our instruments at church a few times. I can remember the apprehension of getting up in front of the congregation but once we began to play I had fun. We carted our instruments all over the place and with that came the effort of keeping track of large folders of sheet music. Mom often rewarded us by letting us choose a new book or sheet music from the display at the music store. My favorite book contained the song, Little Boxes and I Left My Heart in San Francisco. I must have burned mom and dad’s ears playing and singing my heart out each night back in my bedroom. I think I remember them telling me to, “close that door!”

Grace and I become proficient at using color labels to identify our music folders and our instrument cases. We never wanted to lose any of our precious music sheets nor mix our instrument cases with someone else’s case. My case held my favorite guitar picks and I might have cried if someone picked up my case by mistake. Thank goodness for Dymo Label Makers! We were marking fools! We used the Dymo Label Maker to mark our music, sports equipment and anything else we might argue over. Yep, we were the kids who argued over who’s ball glove belonged to whom. It got real ugly when we fought over clothes. Too bad Dymo didn’t make cloth labels to sew into our clothes! LOL

I took music lessons since I was ten. I played the guitar. One of these days, I will have to post a funny picture of me with my guitar.

I would spend hours playing my guitar and singing. It was a great hobby for me. Some kids put together model cars or painted on those paint by number kits. I played my guitar. The tips of my fingers were calloused from playing so much. It prepared my fingers for the hand quilting I do these days.

When I was in junior high and high school, I was always in the marching band. I played the flute. That amazes me now because I cannot get a note to come out of a flute. I have tried. This is a picture of me with my sisters. Grace and I are in our band uniforms. I think we lived in Rantoul, Illinois when this picture was taken.