Angus’s music journey

 My guitar journey started with having a steel string at home. I was a little kid and saw family and friends playing with the guitar. Then I put my finger on some strings and it made a noise. That was a vivid memory.

When I was 12 I started having lessons with Pat the guitar teacher at school, which I am continuing now in Year 12. Mr Bowden helped me look at my music journey differently -instead of inadvertently focusing on the negatives, opened up a new possibility that there are positives. For example, there was this one song I learned that took up all of my guitar playing – Gotye Somebody that I Used to Know (Mike Dawe’s arrangement) that was beyond my skill level. I used to think of learning this as a mistake but now there are some things I learned from it such as that my timing and clarity of notes needed to improve. It made me start playing with a metronome - it was a learning experience.

On my guitar journey I have learned numerous things which have helped me such as learning how to hold a pick and play scales properly, ie: becoming familiar with all the notes, having the strap at a nice height, learning easier ways to switch between open chords and also timing from tapping my foot. Also learning the basics of bass technique which is helpful for the band that I am in – Dusty Records. Where to go from here? I am going to keep playing with the band!