How you became a guitar player?

[yettoblaster]

My oldest brother plays piano very well: Chopin to Boogie Woogie and Jazz.
His friend played an archtop guitar plugged into our Hi-Fi (eventually blew the speaker).
I started in 1960 on an electric Kay, and took lessons (I was 10).
Back then, most kids played piano, accordian, or trombone.

[jmb27]

I'm not sure - I'm still tryin' to figure that one out
Seriously, though, I had already been playing piano from the age of 7 until I got my first guitar at age 14 ... a beginner Yamaha classical (still got it somewhere). Eventually, I focused more on guitar and have been making noise ever since 'Course it was all about electric for the longest time, but now I am diggin' on the acoustic again.

[jonlee]

i was in jazz band in 7th grade and started playing bass. my folks bought me a cheap bass guitar for me to practice. then that same week that i started playing bass, i saw my pastor's guitar laying around after service and picked it up. tried to imitate some of the chords he played and when i found one that sounded right,  i went on to try and find the other one. it went on like that for a little while. then convinced my parents to return the bass and get an acoustic. i've never had any lessons but i guess that's kinda why i lack some of the basic fundamentals to really progress. because i can play chords and a few simple songs but i'm not as good as someone should be for having played for 8 or so years.

[maxferry]

I was in the 4th or 5th grade when the Beatles played Sullivan, and that really did it for me. I wanted to run out the next day and get a guitar and take some lessons. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone around our little town who could teach me and I eventually lost interest.

A few years later, some music came out that reignited my interest, especially the first Led Zeppelin album, Johnny Winter's Second Winter....I got a guitar and started woodshedding. Three years later I was in a band doing Zep covers, Jethro Tull, Steve Miller...making money hand over fist. I don't think I've had it that good since then, but I've always kept my hand in. Doing almost exclusively acoustic now, but I dust off the Strat from time to time, causing the dog to run and hide.

Playing is the only thing in life that I give a damn about...the rest can just...well, you know.

[sgarnett]

Actually, it was my piano teacher's idea!

That's strange ... a guitar instructor once suggested piano to me 

My parents were/are both talented musicians. My mother has always been in one or more singing groups and often a soloist (everything from barbershop to the choir) for as long as I can remember, and sometimes plays an organ or baritone uke as accompaniment. My late father sang and played acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, 3/4 upright bass, electric bass, recorder, penny whistle, harmonica, kazoo, washtub bass, and whatever else came along. The steel-string washtub was constructed for a lighthearted charity gig, and a luthier friend hammered/stretched out the bottom and added short legs to improve the tone. It was probably the finest washtub bass ever built. Dad played at a lot of folk-music festivals, and opened for Arlo Guthrie once in the late 80s or early 90s [or maybe it was Michael Hedges ... I know, the two are rarely confused]. He exposed me to a lot of fine musicians, and had about the most diverse taste (and knowledge) of anyone I've ever known.

The apple fell quite far from the tree. I dream more of building guitars than of performing with them (I'm an engineer ...), and have done a little tech work here and there for musician friends. Nevertheless, I bought my first crappy electric in high school. Not long after, my father ordered a custom-inlayed D-35 and gave me his very nice old Gibson J-50, and I've been struggling along ever since. I played in a few casual "bands" along the way, but never really got very good. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

My wife was a DJ with a bluegrass program when she was in college, and later when she was teaching would sometimes take a guitar or mandolin to school to broaden some horizons.

Soon after my daughter was born, my wife's health problems began, and I basically quit playing altogether. It just wasn't worth the trouble for a ten second attention span.

My father died last year, my daughter is three now, and I hope to pass on the love of music. So, I'm trying to clear away the cobwebs ....