Tonight was my guitar lesson.  I've been playing guitar since I was 14, so that means that I've been playing for about 38 years.  I play alright though. I've learned songs through the years that I enjoy singing.  Sometimes I put the guitar down and didn't pick it up for a year or two.  Then I'd cut my nails and play again. If the song had bar chords in it, I'd make an attempt at learning it and then move on. I enjoyed learning and playing a few of Jewel's songs.  "You were meant for me," "Little Sister," "Don't," among others.  I put up a wall, though, and was good at keeping out any songs with those dreaded bar chords.

My first guitar was a classical nylon stringed guitar with a 3 inch wide fret.  My first bar chord attempts were on that monster and I failed hopelessly. In my thirties I bought myself a divorce present; a new guitar. It wasn't expensive, about $150, but the fret was only 2 inches wide, which made it perfect for bar chords, but my wall was up and refused to come down. In my 40s, I was given a new expensive guitar. I had the fret adjusted after being told that the strings were too far from the fret, causing bar chords to be difficult.  Ah, so that was my problem!!! That was about 8 years ago. Did I master those bar chords?  No, I continued to shy away from them.

In January, I started lessons again. My teacher calls himself my coach. I'm starting now to do bar chords. I'm not comfortable with them yet, but they're coming along.

I'm jealous of my husband, though. He's a natural. I gave him Guitar lessons for Christmas. He's only been playing since January and he's already plucking away by ear. This is bothering me...not that he's getting so good, but that at the rate he's going, he'll surpass me in ability.  I'm proud of him though and it will only make me work harder to break through my wall and defeat those bar chords.  Tonight, he's discovering Angie.