I began my musical journey as a young boy taking violin lessons, however after a few productive years it was unfortunately interrupted until a month before my 57th birthday. With less than 45 days to go before I turned the page to 57, I decided to commit the rest of my life to music. I seriously thought about picking up the violin where I had left off, back in the day when original episodes of Star Trek were broadcasted over the airwaves and received on Packard-Bell televisions, but I couldn’t shake off the dream of playing the guitar for the sheer love of it. At this point in my life’s journey, it was time to either make a dream come true or confront regret ten years from now on my 67th birthday for having not acted on a dream back when I was only 56 years young. No regrets, that’s the way I want to live out what ever time I have left on the planet.
A really bright man, Gary Marcus, wrote a book called Guitar Zero. Aptly subtitling his work, The New Musician and the Science of Learning, Professor Marcus generously shares his experiences of learning the guitar at the age of 39 with a proper mixture of memoir, music fundamentals, and scientific literature on how the human brain acquires new knowledge and expertise. After reading Guitar Zero and processing a fair amount of contemplative thought, I bought a guitar and located a local jazz musician to teach me music theory and to impart to me instruction on how to play the electric guitar. Henceforth, my musical journey continued after a brief 45-year hiatus.
And that as they say is how I ended up here, ruminating about music played on six strings and the effect it has on the quality of life.
Kenny Harrison
October 2012