How it started… How it’s goin’

My new guitar arrived in the first week of August 2024. When it showed up, I left it in the box for a while—probably a mix of intimidation and not knowing where to start. Eventually, I opened it up and set everything up: the amp, the chords, the strap, and the stand. I tried playing a few chords and immediately wanted to quit. Two days later, I managed to play an Em chord. That felt like progress. I’ve always liked that chord—something about its simplicity and depth.

From that shaky start in mid-August, I found my rhythm. I hired someone on Fiverr to create chord sheets for my original songs, which I “play” every day after work. (I don’t like calling it “practice”—“play” feels more freeing and less like a chore.) My Fiverr collaborator uploads the chord sheets to the Ultimate Guitar app, where I can follow along as the app scrolls through the songs. It’s been 17 weeks since that first unboxing—basically four months—and I’ve come a long way.

Today, I have 20 songs uploaded to the app that I can play—some better than others, of course. I’ve been sticking to the easy, open chords for now, but my goal is to eventually tackle more complicated chords and progressions once I’ve mastered the basics. It’s a steady climb, but I like where I’m heading.

Lately, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a private YouTube page to document my progress. It would be a way to hold myself accountable and see how far I’ve come. Honestly, my only regret is not starting this journey years ago. But I know why I didn’t—AI-generated music was the game-changer for me. Without it, I wouldn’t have these original songs to play.

Maybe one day, I’ll write a song completely from scratch—just me, my guitar, and nothing else. Until then, I’ll keep “playing” and seeing where this adventure takes me. It’s never too late to fall in love with something new.