My college buddy has been asking me advice about guitars for his kid: what brand? why type (acoustic or electric)? lessons/no lessons?

Made me think a bit about my own experience learning to play (like 20 years ago!).

I started learning through my local music shop–my first teacher was kind of dorky and wanted me to read music. That lasted one week. I literally wanted to jam–to express myself! So I moved over to some wild-haired high school student who taught me how to play three-chord punk anthems like ‘I’m a Customer’ by the Replacements. It all clicked at that point.

Enough reverie–here’s my insight: my first lesson should have been in the visceral art of drumming–for if you have no rhythm (if you can’t literally feel a beat) then you’re wasting your time with music.  Banging on something is pretty much music’s original seed–it all grows from there…  If I can extrapolate a bit more: self-expression is a pre-requisite to learning an instrument too. Once you let go and feel the music–even if it’s two chords–the rest is easy (and meaningful).

You know, this line of thinking goes for marketing too:  shouldn’t marketers have been something else first? Like a journalist, artist, photographer, orator, singer, author, ceramist, leather worker, cowhand, carpenter? Marketing is applied creativity for commercial purposes. Any marketer should have a resume of creative endeavors–not marketing!

Chew on that!