![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmb4pc6k5KFLVCtyVkP51Frfc562Z9bZRLu8zbxWp3wkJA/whatsapp_image_2022_06_30_at_6.27.20_pm.jpeg)



I have **ALWAYS** wanted to play the electric guitar. 

I am incredibly blessed to be experiencing quite possibly the most creative time of my entire life and although the songs and lyrics have been flowing out of me like crazy lately (I've written 5 in the last 3 months, which after 20 odd years of righting diddlysquat, is nuts and super cool) I've hit a bump in the road.

I am bored with my guitar. 

What an awful statement for any musician to make about their instrument. I almost feel like a spoilt brat here, but my nylon string acoustic guitar has just been sounding repetitive and dull to me lately. I do of course, realise that it's not the guitar's fault, but rather my own in that I can't seem to get over the guitar rut I have found myself in. I've been making myself try trickier picking patterns rather than messily strumming through everything, and it's definitely helping to challenge myself, but I think there might be another way to light the flame.

So,

Last year, @JasperDick leant me this gorgeous little Stratocaster (pictured above, in very clickbaity fashion with my gorgeous kitten), which thanks to moving chaos et al, has spent most of the last 8 months inside it's case.** DONT TELL JASPER**🙈😱😬

I guess I've been a little intimidated, you know, the usual thoughts of what if I'm no good, and what if I sound just as crap on the electric guitar as I do on the acoustic: but just much louder, and who do I think I am to take this leap.... but it all stems from the same place as my stage fright, really, and I realise that **I** am my biggest obstacle. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmUAc8YJphMsoNerSwt5zwdgX5wQwhktF8HbYwrsMUyyzg/2de7ec69_c361_4673_bd4b_cd3b3cad47c4.jpg)
@JasperDick
[GETTING OVER THE HUMP: When "Practice" becomes "Play", and perseverance starts to pay!](https://www.ecency.com/hive-148441/@jasperdick/getting-over-the-hump-when)


Thanks to some gentle but no nonesense encouragement from my partner @ZakLudick and my co-performer/ co-writer and mentor @JasperDick, I've moved personal mountains as far as performing live go, even if I do still get the heebyjeebies every time I'm faced with the stage (but they say no nerves means no magic, so I guess that makes me sparkley AF). 

Deep down I know I can't progress and I can't finish these songs if I don't get over this hump, so there's nothing left but to take the leap. 

Whether I decide to write them for acoustic or electric is irrelevant. I need to re-inspire myself to play and I need lessons. My last lesson was in 1999 while I was in school uniform.


So it's back to basics for me, and while I'm tempted to skip ahead to the exciting stuff, I think it's ok to put my ego aside for a bit and not act like a know-it-all and start right from scratch.

I completed this lesson last night and it was super enjoyable. I learnt so much in just 20 minutes! If I can dedicate that a few times a week, who knows what I'll be playing in a few months!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY3AvEGKfZ0&list=PLHzE_FjQEqLv_MdpAYN4vUvBl3v8WsWLi&index=2

Watch this space for more music from us as well as my next chapter where I'll break down how I write lyrics and arrange vocals for other musicians who supply me with base tracks, without digging in my brain for the long lost skill of being able to read and write manuscript music.

You can check out chapter 1 here:

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmbuUi6TRR19rBXRG7MFE8vHrbZVosipUaEhhetCiVjP3t/279513999_123874366923237_8254239369348616105_n.jpg)

[The Wizardry of Songwriting: Part 1](https://www.ecency.com/music/@clairemobey/the-wizardry-of-songwriting-part)