About playing the guitar

My instrument is the guitar. I first took it up when I was about fifteen. I never had any lessons: I am totally self-taught and have picked up things over the years by watching other players. That means there are certain limitations to my technique, but on the other hand it’s all my own and quite personal. After all I play for relaxation not to achieve a perfect rendition. I have a good left hand (chord changes) and a not very subtle right hand (strumming and picking). I like to strum chords to accompany myself singing. I haven’t had too many opportunities to play regularly with other musicians, which is a shame but always fun when the chance arises. I like to play and sing by myself but also for anyone who wants to listen and maybe join in. I did youth camps for twenty years and I was a mainstay of the entertainment. I still enjoy a good sing-along session. We had a great one at my old friend Lyndon’s 50th at New Year. He’s also a keen singer/player. We played some Brassens together.
I probably have a repertoire of about 200 to 300 songs, I haven’t tried to count them scientifically. It’s funny how stuff I haven’t played for years may suddenly come back. There are songs I have learned for some occasion and then completely forgotten and others I thought I’d forgotten that resurface. In the end if I don’t play something every now and again it slips away. Then again it’s always fun to learn something new and only time will tell if it stays with me.
I play a lot of Beatles songs - time has shown from generation to generation that they are well loved quite simply because they’re good, with strong attractive melodies and appealing texts. Other songwriters who feature prominently in my repertoire include Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Young, David Bowie and on the French side Brassens and Brel. However, that short list doesn’t really give much of an idea of everything I play as my repertoire is very eclectic and covers several languages.
I have made the effort to decypher some classical scores and commit them to memory. But while I can still remember how to play Villa-Lobos prelude n°1, I can’t get through much else, though I could once play Albeniz’ Asturias after a fashion. I’m really more of an accompanying chords player at heart than a soloist.
The earliest of my guitars which I still have is one we gave to my friend Dave Berry for his 18th but he gave up a year or two later and gave it back to me. It’s in the flat in Monfalcone now. It’s a nylon strung Spanish classical guitar. It has a nice easy action and a snappy sound and is incredibly light. I carried in strapped to my rucksack for ten days once on a walking camp we did in the Alps to play outside the tents and by the campfire in the evenings. It is rather battered now.
The guitar I used for years in the camps and still use away from home is a classical nylon strung Yamaha (first one 1980, later stolen and replaced in 1986). Yamaha don’t just make motorbikes but very serviceable precise musical instruments - our piano is a Yamaha too. It’s a good all-round instrument with a big enough sound to lead singing.
When I lived in Madrid in 1995 I really had of course to buy a good Spanish guitar and this instrument has become my favourite guitar. It’s an all cedar wood (it smelled gorgeous when new) classical nylon strung by José Ramirez - a nice sounding instrument that’s easy to play.
All young guitarists dream of taking up the electric. I was no exception, so with one of my first pay-cheques in Brussels I bought a simple two pick-up Fender Bullit (similar to the Stratocaster), but never really went very far with it. When my children, Julia and Thomas, took up electric bass and guitar I started playing along with them and treated myself to an Epiphone Les Paul which is a much more enjoyable instrument to play and stays in tune longer too. However, since I’m not used to playing steel strings, my finger-tips tire after a while.
So it’s to the trusty acoustic I return.
Playing and singing is one of my favourite ways of relaxing, especially on the terrace in the summer with a glass of wine to sip on between songs.