The Simplicity and the Art of Playing the Acoustic Guitar.

The well-earned super power.

The acoustic guitar is an instrument you can carry around with you anywhere. It doesn't need to be plugged in, in order to hear it. You can take it to a party or camping. You can take it to the beach or out on your back porch. I grew up playing my guitar, sitting on the end of my bed. It became my best friend. It could feel what I could feel as it helped me get through some pretty difficult times.

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I could play anything I wanted on my guitar. When I played, people listened. In the 1970's during the CB radio craze, my handle (name) on my CB was "Guitar man", taken from the song released by the band "Bread". All of my friends knew that I played the guitar. When they'd come over and want to play football in the street, I told them that they would have to wait until I was done practicing my lessons. They waited because they knew how important my guitar was to me.

When you sit and play your guitar for more than a few people, the spotlight is on you, even when the only light is coming from the campfire. Everyone stares into the flames as they listen to you play their favorite songs. Some even sing along. Sometimes, someone else will bring their guitar and play alongside you. Maybe you find someone who can play their guitar better than you. Instead of allowing your ego to get in the way, you focus and learn what they know and make it your own.

Years go by, decades are behind you, and you've played that guitar fifty-thousand hours of your life. You've changed thousands of strings and lost thousands of guitar picks. You have tuned your guitar so many times, you can easily do it by ear. You went from knowing how to play a dozen open-string chords to knowing how to figure out and play just about any chord you ever see in music. The guitar has long since become an extension of your body and soul.

I have owned and played maybe eight or ten acoustic guitars. Four of them are still with me. My oldest guitars are nearly forty-five years old. My newest guitar is a work of art. It is a masterpiece created by my brother from another mother. It is without a doubt the finest, most beautiful acoustic guitar I have ever owned. We're still getting to know each other. She is like a girlfriend I just met. She was honed from the most colorful, exotic woods from far away lands, she was labored with incredible craftsmanship, lots of blood, sweat and tears, and a lot of unconditional love. The ultimate gift had never been finer.

I play my guitar everyday. It is my mental therapy. It is the reason I have been able to keep most of my sanity. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a guitar player and a teacher. My musician friends know me as their former band mate. The bonds we share go back decades. We understand how important our guitars are to us. They have been a part of our life since we were children. Knowing how to play any song you want to play, anytime you want to play it, is a well-earned super power. I am nothing without my guitar. There would be no reason for me to live if I could no longer play my guitar, for it is the air that I breathe. Without it, I would surely die.