Back when I was a college freshman or sophomore at Winona State, I wandered into an estate sale. On a whim, I walked out with an acoustic guitar. I had no idea if it was any good because I couldn’t play a note. I just knew I had always wanted to learn to play.

I took that guitar back to my dorm and there it sat. A couple of friends who were knowledgeable about such things tried out the strings. They assured me it was a nice piece with a nice sound. I fully intended on finding someone to give me lessons or something, but it just never happened.

I moved from dorms to apartments, to the University of Iowa and then on to Illinois. Random friends would pick it up when they saw it if they knew how to play “Stairway to Heaven” or something. One time, I even signed up for a community education class called “Intro to Guitar.” When I showed up to find out the class was mostly about music theory (“What is a scale? What is a chord?”), I didn’t go back.

The guitar moved with me back to Minnesota. (If you’re counting, that’s three states and approximately 20 different dorms/apartments/houses.) Rafa, my dear musically-challenged husband, picked up the guitar and played sweet Spanish lullabies. He told me stories of learning by imitating special people he knew as a child. I just knew I had to learn how to play too.

It was time to learn something new. (There’s something about having a child that makes a person want to be better about everything.) I  set up lessons and started to play.

My teacher is a young guy who just finished college. He teaches lessons on the side to pay for his fancy sports car. This guy loves guitar, but is pretty shy when it comes to people. I’m working on him though. He told me about some of his other students. He says I pick up on things a lot faster than the five year old boy and the nine year old girl. He comes to the house with an electric guitar and a little mini amp.

I’ve mastered all the major chords, most of the minor ones, and a few sevenths in between. I can strum along to a few songs and they’re even mostly recognizable. Three months of weekly lessons has paid off so far. I love learning something new.