Susan Senator

It appears that I have given short shrift to a very important but lately latent side of myself: the guitar-playing me. My readers don’t seem to realize that I play. That is my Fender Stratocaster in the background of my latest belly dance photo, on two posts back. I bought the strat
before Benji was born, back when Max was three and Nat was five. But I’ve actually been playing guitar since I was seven. I started out learning chords and playing folk music, stuff like the Weavers (which I hated) and also Paul Simon and Bob Dylan (whom I loved and still do), and as I got older I learned cooler stuff like the Beatle’s Blackbird, and some of the tablature to Roundabout and Mood for A Day (which is arguably the best Yes song of all time, even more beautiful in some ways than And You And I, but And You And I is a fuller experience, like Close to the Edge, so I feel that all around it is a better listen. Do me a favor and listen to Mood for A Day and tell me what you think.). I even learned some Bach and some Segovia stuff. I was pretty good, for a teen, I have to say.

As I got more advanced, I remember reading stuff on MusicCritic about guitarist and what their gears are and all that stuff. Then I took a break from playing and haven’t played since.

I did play a little in college. Our dorm had a variety show and one year I played Blackbird with a friend, Paul Downs, who happens to be NancyBea’s husband now! He played the flute, just beautifully while I did the guitar licks. And the following year I did not play guitar but my friend Dirk Ziff did (of Ziff-Davis publishing, who also went on to play guitar for Carly Simon. Me and Carly, sure, we go way back!). I used to type Dirk’s papers and if I had known how rich he was, I would have charged more than one dollar a page! He also wanted me to break up with Ned and go out with him. I, of course, would not. And no, I do not regret that!! It’s the typing I regret. Jin Sung-Pak (now a higher-up in the Unification Church, a.k.a, the “Moonies”) was Ned’s roommate and our bassist, and John Hayden, another good friend, was the drummer. We were “Pat Senatar” and I was Pat, the singer. We did Hit me with your Best Shot, and it was a huge success. I do impersonations, and I could imitate her very well.

Then along came kiddos and other things not that much fun and I put away happy stuff like guitar while I suffered with depression and OCD and adulthood.

But when I was 32, I started to come out of it. I fell hard for Eric Clapton. And as you have probably guessed by now, when I fall for something, it consumes me. So I bought an electric guitar and some of the Hal Leonard books that give you the tablature for any guitar solo. I practiced a lot and could play the solos to a couple of Clapton things (slowly and badly), some slide guitar, some Allmans: Sweet Melissa, Ramblin’ Man, Jessica. Also Bob Dylan, but that’s just picking and strumming, no solos. Once I get really good, I might experiment with pedals and effects. Browsing on https://allaxess.com/best-guitar-pedal/ will show you just how many have been invented in the last 10 years. It would be silly to miss out on all the innovative sounds possible.

I get discouraged because I can’t really solo the way you’re supposed to: making stuff up within the scales and making it sound authentic. I can’t improvise. I can imitate. So I stop because I want to be really good, like playing-in-a-band good, and a) I’m not; and b) I have no band.

So my guitar sits in the corner for now, until I pick him up again… Or until it comes around again, on the gee-tar…