Strings

Have you ever wondered why a guitar has six strings?  I remember Steve Martin years ago doing a comedy skit with his guitar.  He looked at the instrument hanging from the strap around his neck and said something like:  “oh crap, what are all these strings for?”  At the time, I had no idea of Steve’s musical abilities.

I always thought a guitar should have just one string.  That way my simple one dimensional mind could just make music with the thumb on my right hand, and my pointer finger on the left.  Simple.  Whoever thought up the idea of putting five more strings on it was either a real comedian or was really into torturing people like me.

My Dad and his closest friends were REAL musicians.  About the same time in my life that I was screaming about Kiddie Parks and the Zilker Train, our home would regularly become the gathering place for the likes of the Hill Brothers - Ed and Pooch, Raymond Lucky, and my Uncle CD.  Somebody would get on the Baby Grand and invariably a jam session would ensue.  Right there in our living room.  I am really sorry you missed it.

Dad made it look so easy.  He would slide a pick onto each finger of his right hand and start picking while his left hand would morph into a series of unimaginable configurations.  Music would burst from the guitar and flood into every corner of the room, leaving no space unfilled.  I once asked him why it was so easy for him.  Silly me.  He answer was “Eight hours of practice a day.  That’s all I did for a long time, before and after work.”  Now that is patience and determination.

So today as I stand at the bar in the kitchen, with a tired old strap draped around my neck supporting a vintage Gibson Electric, I hope Dad wouldn’t be too disappointed at my efforts of trying to work out the riffs on an old Charley Patton blues song. 

Okay. 3^rd string from the bottom, 2^nd fret.  2^nd string – 1^st fret. 

Isn’t there a way to do this with just one string?