No, he didn’t tell me that I sucked, or that I ought to give up trying.

It was probably about 18 months into the lessons, weekly 1 hour sessions that covered a lot of theory and practical groundwork. I was making a lot of progress, and feeling pretty good. I had learned several of the songs that I thought would be pinnacles of my playing. ‘That which shall not be named’ (1), UFO’s “Rock Bottom”, several Michael Schenker songs, some of Gary Moore’s rockers, and others that I considered my go to songs.

Then I brought him a song to learn that was more of a loosely structured jam session.

I was interested in music at a young age. My father built his HiFi system from a Heathkit, and I am pretty sure my fascination with Progressive Rock was kindled by hearing Emerson, Lake and Palmer on the radio (Karn Evil 9, 1st impression, part 2 was frequently aired).

But, my desire to learn to play guitar was driven by the discovery of Michael Schenker. My first brush with his playing was when a friend in high school introduced me to the song “Shoot Shoot” from the UFO album “Strangers in the Night”, a live album recorded on the last tour that Michael did with the band before a brief return to the Scorpions, and then launching his solo career with the Michael Schenker Group.

In the mid to late 1970’s I began to listen to local rock radio stations. One of the huge benefits of growing up in the south Bay Area was that we had to iconic rock stations, KOME and KSJO that just played kick-ass music.

I was a total n00b, not knowing ANYTHING about music, but I know that there was one song that when I heard it, I loved it.

I have been playing guitar for about 40 years, and have covered a lot of ground in that time. There have been several epochs of my experiences.

In the following text, I will dive into them, and share my experiences.