Frank Cefali

As of this writing I have been playing guitar for 34 years … or at least I’ve owned a guitar for that long as I can’t necessarily say that the first year was officially a ‘playing’ year. That said, I was definitely learning music since the very beginning therefore that must definitely count as I do believe that learning theory is a big part of playing regardless of whether you’re physically playing an instrument or not. I guess that would also mean that I’ve been a musician for a much longer period since I did previously ‘fiddle’ with a piano/keyboard, played the recorder, and sang my favourite songs with my sister. 🙂

While ‘turning 34’ does not necessarily confirm that I’m actually any good at playing guitar, it does speak to the fact that I’ve enjoyed playing guitar without fail… at whatever level, and since interest and discipline are important to ‘sticking to it’ and for ‘just putting in the time’, 34 years will surely have some effect on your knowledge and ability to play.

Thirty four years is a long time for anything and I must say that when it comes to playing guitar (and learning music) there has never been a year or month where I’ve felt like I had learned everything there was to learn. If I’d get tired of playing, there was always some more theory to learn. If I’d get tired of theory, there was always more equipment to learn about. And if I was tired of that, there was always some maintenance to take care of (ie. changing strings, cleaning guitars, moving things around, or even learning about the various types of guitars and their differences). There has always been something to do and never a dull moment. Even when all of these roads have been exhausted, there is still place to learn about musicianship, the relationship between guitar and other instruments (ie. in a band or in a song), playing covers vs. originals, ear training etc. There is plenty to keep you busy and keeping me busy, and interested, it has!

I must state that it isn’t necessarily crucial to learn everything there is to learn to consider yourself a musician as it actually doesn’t take very much knowledge to start writing or recording music or to playing some of your favourite cover songs therefore, I definitely don’t mean to make it sound like learning to play guitar requires so much effort or years and years of practice to make any progress. That is an individual thing and for some people progress come faster than others. What I am saying however is that there are plenty of paths to follow and so many ways to enjoy the art (or science) of playing guitar that it can keep you interested for many years, if not a lifetime!

In my experience, this year alone (2022), I’ve learned and added new components to my playing (and equipment 🙄) in the last seven months alone and I imagine I’ll continue to add more in the months and years to come.

Playing guitar has been an amazing journey and learning new things always makes me feel the same excitement I felt when my guitar journey began at 14 years old.

I don’t know everything there is to know yet, and in many ways, I hope I never do even though I will keep trying.

– Frank 🙂