I’m Thankful for Playing the Guitar

The guitar is an awesome instrument, and I am so thankful for playing it. I thank God for my dad playing the guitar when I was young and showing me my first chords. This post is dedicated to all those who play guitar and have a good time doing so.

When I was a kid in Taiwan, I enjoyed Thanksgiving time. It reminded me that, being an American, I had a lot to be thankful for. When I came back to the States, Thanksgiving became even more exciting to me because I could spend it with the family here that I missed so much.

The hymns we sang and the sermons we listened to at church also reminded me of how much God has blessed and is blessing us. Watching my dad sing with us while playing guitar was always a special time.

We owe God much gratitude during this season.

Giving Thanks for God, Family, and Guitar

Thanksgiving time is almost upon us once again. It seems out of place these days as an overlooked holiday between Halloween and Christmas. However, I really enjoy it as both a time to be with family and to remember the Christian heritage and history in America.

I am thankful for this country in which I live and for the blessings and opportunities God graciously gives us to return a small portion back to Him and to those in need.

This for me includes playing guitar. I give my top five reasons I am thankful to play guitar.

 

#1 I enjoy the feeling of playing the guitar.

I like the feeling of strumming the strings with a pick and plucking them with my fingers. I like the sound it makes as they vibrate along the body of the guitar through my hand and arm up to my heart and head.

I also like the feeling of playing fast that creates energy to move, dance and enjoy life movement. I like the feeling of playing at medium speed that cruises along either joyfully or sadly as I consider various aspects of my life.

I love the feeling of playing slowly to ponder the heavier aspects of life while I more deeply think about and feel inside my heart and head the  adoration, thanks, and worship of the Lord God.

I am grateful for all these feelings while playing guitar.

 

#2 Playing guitar helps me release my feelings.

Life can make you crazy, so I need an outlet for my emotionally expressive creativity to release what is pent up inside of me.

Sometimes I am angry, so I can play something grungy or hard rock; sometimes I am silly, so I play a silly little ditty or fun kid’s song. Sometimes I am happy or joyful and can celebrate that with an upbeat song to which to dance; sometimes I am sad, maybe grieving a loss or a conflict with someone, and I need to release those negative thoughts and gain clarity.

Thankfully, the guitar is an instrument of musical and emotional release.

 

#3 I can play songs I like on guitar.

When I really like a song a lot, I sometimes want to do more than listen to it. I feel it in myself more when I play it.

Studies show that the brain lights up all over it more when playing music than when just listening.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiSjbnBmtDXAhWKSSYKHbYQDpIQ3ywIKTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DR0JKCYZ8hng&usg=AOvVaw1q-oVrTN2W0bIviDdTrtBs

When I play a song I like, it gives me release that someone else has felt and thought. Usually it is something that someone in my life is experiencing or wish to experience. It’s a good feeling to play something that sounds harder than it actually is or sounds easy but challenges you to follow suit.

This is one of the main reasons I play guitar. Maybe you do too.

 

#4 I can lead worship on guitar for both small groups and large congregations.

I am a worship musician, and a former worship minister, and I gradually transitioned from leading from piano and keyboard to guitar.

Why? I felt trapped behind the keys and wanted to play something that allowed for more mobility. I like both piano and keyboard and miss it sometimes because there is a difference in how it affects me and there’s advantages to seeing the whole spectrum of notes available.

But on the whole, I love the guitar more, and it facilitates worship leading more dynamically for me. Besides that, worship music has become for more  guitar driven in the past 30 years or so. Naturally it helps lead others who are expecting that experience.

 

#5 I can write songs on guitar.

As much as I like the other reasons, this is my favorite thankful thing I like about playing the guitar.

I like playing what others wrote, but I love playing what I write more. There’s something divine about revealing what God is doing inside me, and translating that into words and music with which others can resonate.

I have spent a lifetime reading, studying, and memorizing the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It is reasonable then that I love sharing the wisdom and insights I have gleaned in my life experience. That is precious and exciting to me.

I love to write stories about my life, but those are merely primers to bring harvest the cream of the crop that I can bring out in my songwriting.

Playing guitar and applying different musical theory and practices is very enjoyable. But it is all for the sake of amassing a huge toolkit of skills to beautify the lyrics I write. I exhibit my faith, joy and love in my Lord in inspirational  encouragement to fellow believers in their faith journey. I also intend to prompt those who don’t yet believe by planting seeds of God’s Word  to help them along in their spiritual journey as well.

There they are, my top five reasons I am thankful for playing the guitar. If you resonate with any or all of these reason, be sure to share this on social media, and consider subscribing to my email list. You will get this blog in your in-box when I published them, and you be updated on the latest happenings of my stories and songs.

 

Thanks. Guitar Shane