TxClassPlayer
08-17-2007, 12:18 PM
(And another lurker comes out of the closet)...I guess that I missed the memo about introducing ourselves...great idea though.
My name is Gil Wade and I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
My mother was a music teacher but it was my father who gave me my love of music. I taught myself guitar my sophomore year of high school when we moved to a tiny Louisiana town too small to have a school band. I played 12-string for years and played coffee-houses during college...but basically stopped growing in my music, stagnated and quit playing. I took voice lessons for years but dropped it for various reasons. I listen to a wide range from opera to rap (occaisionally ... which amuses my 15-year old daughter).
I can't seem to live without music...it seems embedded in my genes...So five years ago I decided that I really needed to try classical guitar again and studied under a young kid who had just graduated with a music degree...at a local guitar store. We did well together. He really was good at CG even though he played in 2 or 3 bands at night (one did only original vampire music complete with Bela Lugosi capes). Two years later I wandered into a shop that is focused totally on CG and found my new teacher. First thing I had to do was to totally relearn technique!
I now have about an hours worth of playable material. Life has come full circle and I play now at churchs and coffee houses. My greatest joy is that recently I started volunteering at a local childrens hospital and play in both the children's wards and some of the ICU waiting rooms. I am on the board of one of the local guitar societies (Guitar Fort Worth) and play in its guitar orchestra which consists of 6 to 10 players playing four part music at nursing homes, libraries and where ever else we can find to play. Because of my association with GFW, I have been able to attend and participate in master classes given my their performers. I made an utter fool of myself in my first master class before Ana Vidovic (a very beautiful young lady who couldn't figure out what to do with me and my [lack of] playing). When the second MC came around I was so overjoyed at being able to complete the piece without any stops that I didn't even care what critique the instructor gave. I've done better since.
About 18 months ago a Ramirez came into my life and everything changed. Don't tell my wife (though she already knows I believe) but I love that guitar. It helped me through my fathers death in November...whenever I got overwhelmed and wound up too tight inside during the visitations and all the relatives around I would just disappear into another room with my guitar and play...it would always unwind the tightness inside. There is something about the sound/vibration of the guitar that gets to me everytime I touch it. Maybe Jose III used those Kebler elves before passing them on to someone else. Others seem to respond to it and my playing also...though I am far from perfect. So my music becomes something that is especially meaningful to me...and that I am honored when I can share it with others.
My name is Gil Wade and I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
My mother was a music teacher but it was my father who gave me my love of music. I taught myself guitar my sophomore year of high school when we moved to a tiny Louisiana town too small to have a school band. I played 12-string for years and played coffee-houses during college...but basically stopped growing in my music, stagnated and quit playing. I took voice lessons for years but dropped it for various reasons. I listen to a wide range from opera to rap (occaisionally ... which amuses my 15-year old daughter).
I can't seem to live without music...it seems embedded in my genes...So five years ago I decided that I really needed to try classical guitar again and studied under a young kid who had just graduated with a music degree...at a local guitar store. We did well together. He really was good at CG even though he played in 2 or 3 bands at night (one did only original vampire music complete with Bela Lugosi capes). Two years later I wandered into a shop that is focused totally on CG and found my new teacher. First thing I had to do was to totally relearn technique!
I now have about an hours worth of playable material. Life has come full circle and I play now at churchs and coffee houses. My greatest joy is that recently I started volunteering at a local childrens hospital and play in both the children's wards and some of the ICU waiting rooms. I am on the board of one of the local guitar societies (Guitar Fort Worth) and play in its guitar orchestra which consists of 6 to 10 players playing four part music at nursing homes, libraries and where ever else we can find to play. Because of my association with GFW, I have been able to attend and participate in master classes given my their performers. I made an utter fool of myself in my first master class before Ana Vidovic (a very beautiful young lady who couldn't figure out what to do with me and my [lack of] playing). When the second MC came around I was so overjoyed at being able to complete the piece without any stops that I didn't even care what critique the instructor gave. I've done better since.
About 18 months ago a Ramirez came into my life and everything changed. Don't tell my wife (though she already knows I believe) but I love that guitar. It helped me through my fathers death in November...whenever I got overwhelmed and wound up too tight inside during the visitations and all the relatives around I would just disappear into another room with my guitar and play...it would always unwind the tightness inside. There is something about the sound/vibration of the guitar that gets to me everytime I touch it. Maybe Jose III used those Kebler elves before passing them on to someone else. Others seem to respond to it and my playing also...though I am far from perfect. So my music becomes something that is especially meaningful to me...and that I am honored when I can share it with others.