Breaking Up With My Guitar

“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” ~ Marilyn Monroe

I thought we were soulmates.  A friend gifted me this pretty little Gibson B-25 guitar. “Here, you take it- I’m not ever going to play it.”  It had a sunburst finish and steel strings, far superior to the Sears Silvertone with nylon strings that I had been playing.  At 17 years old I could not believe my good fortune.  It was love at first sight.

I plunked and played that guitar trading songs and riffs with friends until I moved away to college.  There really was never another time where I was surrounded by people that played music.  My skills languished.  Now and again out of guilt I pulled out the Gibson, played for a bit and then put it back.  Playing alone wasn’t satisfying, but really, the instrument didn’t have enough base and tone for my ears anymore. Still, I refused to admit I had fallen out of love.

The years ticked by. My guitar was now a collectible.  I began to question my relationship to it.  Soulmate?  Because of some act of synchronicity I experienced as a teenager, I felt inexplicably bound to this guitar-shaped piece of matter.  I had let go of the human connections that hadn’t served me in my life but not this non-living one.  Instead of bringing me joy I felt guilt.  Taking a hard look, again, I had found myself in a dysfunctional relationship.

One truth I have found in my life- “soulmates”, If there is such a thing, can change.  As a little girl, I was a victim of watching too many Walt Disney movies.  You know, the prince and happily ever after?  There is a reason there is not a Cinderella part 2.  I gave it over 45 years but sadly, my Gibson and I were just not compatible.

Then a few weeks back I found out about tenor guitars at an Irish session I drum at.  The fellow next to me had one.  Intrigued, I went on Youtube to find out more.  This video by Richard Durrant playing Skye Boat Song and Bach on the tenor guitar sold me.  A few days ago I took my old Gibson in and traded it for this lovely handmade tenor guitar with such a sweet sound.  I have to learn all new chords.  My friends think I’m crazy.  No matter.  I’m in love again.