your own limitation

Was watching this long video on Jake Shimabukuro performing at Google for its Musicians@Google program last night.  Check it out: (lengthy but worth it)





What amazed me (beside the dynamic on-stage charisma) was the little statements he made on his music life and view on musical instruments.  One particular statement strikes me the most:

".. instrument is what it is, it's beautiful just the way it is. We, the people who pick it up, are the ones that put limitations on the instrument.  The instruments aren't limited by themselves, and a lot of times we just have to look to ourselves to use your imaginations and expand on other ways"

我的吉他

Yamaha APX-4A Acoustic Electric Guitar

這把吉他是我在 21歲那年父母送我的禮物. 那時候只是覺得想玩玩吉他, 所以沒有想要真正下工夫好好的學.  什麼 chord progression 啦, strumming pattern 啦, 都覺得是枯燥無味的浪費我可以很帥的彈吉他的時間.  在那樣的無知想法下我就想出了速成法 -- 去網路下載流行歌曲的 tab 跟著彈.  那時候一口氣找到了好多 tab 像是 "愛我別走", "If", "Tears in Heaven", "Signe" 等等.  天真的以為有 tab, 跟著彈, 死記, 就沒問題.

但是根本沒練基本功果然 can't go very far.  過不了多久就碰到瓶頸.  稍微難一點的複雜 finger technique 就不行了.  後來又因為懶, 就把吉他擱一旁了.

過了十年, 我終於下定決心好好的從基本功開始學吉他. 花了幾個禮拜跟了這個 Paul Baloche Beginner Guitar DVD 教材之後,

我現在跟著這個 Steve Krenz Learn and Master Guitar 教材學

兩套教材都是 PTL Band 團長 Philip 推薦的.  Paul Baloche 的那個 DVD 教了幾個基本 chord 跟 strumming pattern 後就可以開始在 worship 裡彈很多歌.  It's a great place to get started. 

L&M DVD 就需要花比較多時間慢慢的練習.  這套教材挺紮實的, 有很多 strum-along 的 practice 機會.  我個人覺得一些 exercise 很不錯用.

在 Edge Fellowship 裡面的互相切磋練習也是很大的原動力.  大家也因為有這樣的聚會而努力的練習.



回到這把 Yamaha 吉他.

它其實還不錯彈, 音色也還不錯.  除了弦的 action 有點高, 一些 cosmetic damage 之外, 是把不錯的吉他.  後來稍微在網上做一些搜查 owner review, 其實評價蠻高的, 是把 good value entry level guitar.

改天想把它拿去 guitar shop 看看能不能做一些 action 的調整, 讓好彈度增高.

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro

Ever since I got into guitar, I started paying attention to string instruments performances on Youtube, Facebook, etc.  A while ago I stomped across this Ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro, and his performance blew my mind.  He does things on ukulele that I could never possibly imagine, and his style is pretty versatile: jazz, flamenco, rock, etc.  He reminds me of Yo-Yo Ma, who got so good at Cello playing, that he basically pioneered the instrument into a more mainstream, solo instrument instead of the "niche" role in a big orchestra.


You should definitely check out some of Jake's performances, they are simply amazing.

http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/

I also saw this little 5-year-old boy playing ukulele with a big passion and it is just so much fun to watch!  Check it out!

little boy playing "I'm Yours"

little boy being a true rock star!