THE DEEJ SG MISSION & BIO
"What's my favorite guitar?" - Hmmm... let me think about that a minute...
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York County Blues Festival (Southern Maine) - Founding Member & Manager Waterboro Concerts In The Park (Southern Maine) - Founding Member & Manager "The 10,000 Hour Rule" - Words to live by!!
Before I started learning lead guitar, someone mentioned the "10,000 Hour Rule" to me... That 'rule' says, "If you do *anything* for 10,000 hours, you will master it!" With that goal in mind, I set out on my journey to learn to play lead guitar. I figured that I would lose a little sleep and practically eliminate TV and other needless things in order to meet a 20 hour per week average practice time to reach my self-inflicted goal of 1,000 hours per year. And with a little help from Above I've stuck with it!
"It's Never Too Late To Do What You Love!"
- Deej SG, Geezer Guitarist
I'm on a mission... a "Mission from God" as the Blues Brothers so famously said! I'm here to convince you no matter what age, particularly "older" men and women, that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE... and more than just learning to play lead guitar, my larger goal has been to prove it to you guys and gals who don't believe it for yourselves and inspire you to see that you CAN achieve whatever you set your mind to!
"It's NEVER too late to pick up your dream(s) again... and don't let anyone tell you it's too late, especially YOURSELF!"
I've heard so many people say, "I wish I had learned to play guitar!" Or "I wish I had (fill in the blank)..." Some of the people that made these comments were only in their 30's or 40's!!! Well I'm here to tell you that I truly believe it's NEVER too late to begin doing what you love!
Along the way, I've fronted several bands, including a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute, a Led Zeppelin tribute, a "Classic Rock with a Metal Edge" band, and a couple of others. I've played some basic rhythm guitar since a very young age, cello and bass guitar for a few years in school and took about a 20 year detour on drums, but the thing that has always echoed in my mind is LEAD GUITAR... There is something about the way you can express yourself playing lead that always had a hold in my mind and my heart, but I was too caught up in other things to dedicate the time to learning it! The study of lead guitar takes real commitment... It's not something you can just sit down and figure out in a few weeks... I've played some random "OK" leads before, but I couldn't repeat them because I had no idea "why" they worked or how to go about making them happen again ON PURPOSE! This was a huge barrier for me!
Another barrier has been *fibromyalgia* and *myofacial pain syndrome*... There's a lot of muscle cramping and random severe pain involved with these things and they can really slow down any progress if not kept in check! I think my style has developed in part from finding ways to work the guitar as much as possible without aggrevating these conditions that can very well make playing guitar or doing anything else quite a painful challenge... There's some things I just can't do, but I can compensate by doing other things to perhaps greater potential, so that's where I focus my energy... Emotion is king in playing anyway and that opens up a whole range of possibilities beyond any standard "template" that may exist... I'm literally 'creating' a lead style from scratch that is all mine based mostly on theory, and also some basic techniques I've learned... and some I developed myself, but fully *absent* the influences of learning the songs or styles of others. I have never spent time learning "note for note" covers during the 10,000 hours because to me the artistic-creative process is one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of playing guitar... and I've got plenty to say for myself! For better or worse, it's all me! Once I begin dabbling with covers, I will most certainly do them my own way or not at all. Don't get me wrong... I do enjoy hearing other who can play covers close to the originals and I respect that! It's just not in my chemistry to take that path myself.
"He (or she) who repeats the most gets the best!"
As I was approaching the age of 50, it was a burning desire and so I told my wife, "If I haven't figured out how to play lead by the time I turn 50, I'm taking lessons!" And so in 2010 at age 50, I began studying basic theory and techniques with a great guitarist named Ray Suhy at a local music shop in Portland, Maine who was a graduate of Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA. I took about 18 months of lessons and then about 2 years off to work on my book full of notes. I knew it was going to take a lot of time and repetition to make my fingers even begin to cooperate with my brain and since Ray was going on tour, the timing was right to rely on myself to work an extensive and dedicated practice routine working through much of my notebook.
After about 2 years, I seemed to be in a rut, so I enlisted the help of another instructor who also happened to be a Berklee School of Music grad and adjunct professor. He gave me a different way to look at the fretboard and after just a couple of months, I once again knew I needed to drop the lessons and just drill the repetitions! This went on for another year or so and I once again knew I needed help to make the next breakthrough and was fortunate to find an instructor who was yet ANOTHER Berklee School of Music grad and adjunct professor. So now I had some real serious "theory brain" to pick! This was a tremendous help in getting an even better grip on the "why" part and he was quite excited because NOBODY had picked his "theory brain" the way I did... most people were content learning songs and techniques, I was the guy who ABSOLUTELY HAD TO know "why" things worked the way they did (sometimes there was NOT a "real" answer... some things don't "fit" theory, they just work "because they do" as he used to say...) I spent about 1 year with this instuctor and then once again went on my own to drill everything I needed work on...
During my fourth(?) year I focused hard on "feeling"... expressing things through the guitar, whether it was a thunderstorm or thinking of the rebirth in Springtime, or some heavy news of the day... I felt that I should never play without a purpose and this process helped me tap into my emotions. It made the guitar more than a "hobby" or passion... it now felt like an absolute necessity!
Sometime during the course of my fifth or sixth year, I began playing what I like to call "semi-coherant leads"... I believe that was probably early 2016, around 6 years and roughly 6,000 hours into my lead guitar journey. During the Summer of 2016 is when I finally began to document my journey with videos on Facebook and to a lesser degree YouTube. Growth in the following year felt fairly "exponential" compared to all the years before. I think once you have a solid foundation built, everything becomes easier to comprehend and it's easier to apply new things to your playing. Hopefully that trend continues!
In October 2016, I began some online study with Steve Stine and his "GuitarZoom" programs and in the early part of 2017 also found an excellent online teacher and friend in Scott Van Zen with whom I began the Facebook guitar group Massive Blind Jam Project. His teaching again gave me a new way to look at things from a "microscopic", foundational level, and that has strengthened the core of my playing quite a bit. In 2022, I began an intensive, hands-on and very personal study with Ulrich Ellison that has required my full attention and caused me to put the Facebook guitar group into the hands of some very capable members. As part of my new studies, I will also be working toward finally creating an instrumental CD including some original work with lyrics. The journey continues to expand and change... and that is exciting! I will be having a LOT more to share about Ulrich as time goes on!
I've always had an artistic leaning whether in photography, drawing, creating solutions to problems, inventing narratives, comedy, etc... and now in playing lead guitar. This has been a bit frustrating to my teachers as they always want to teach you how to play other peoples songs... and I get it... there's a lot to learn from others who have already "done it", but I can't find motivation in directly copying others... I've tried, but I lose interest very fast. On the other hand, when I'm "creating" the music... just pouring out my heart and soul... receiving it from somewhere far above me... I am highly motivated! So it's not by choice, but rather by necessity that I "do my own thing"... Maybe I'm weird... maybe I'll regret it... Or maybe I'll just invent something completely unique... But at this point, I feel like I just have to let everything come from my heart! Playing guitar allows you to express emotions in a way that is truly amazing and freeing...
I simply want to borrow some of the notes pouring endlessly out of the universe and allow the Giver of Endless Riffs to work through my fingertips... That to me is the most exciting feeling in the world! Sharing the music and sharing the *possibility* for others to live their dreams is truly a gift and a blessing like no other!
So... what are you waiting for?!!
UPDATE: On June 21, 2020 I officially completed my 10,000 hour journey begun in February 2010. I don't believe I've "mastered" it as the rule states but I'm flattered that many people say that I have! Personally, I think there's more ahead than behind! So if you ask me if the "10,000 Hour Rule" is true, I'd say this: It will take you a very long way and having a goal to focus on is very helpful! It's also helps you to not be discouraged when after a few years you feel like you haven't made much progress, because you can look at your hours and say, "I'm only at 3,000 hours... I've still got 7,000 to get where I want to be!" It's a great tool if you make it a goal and stick to it! Never give up... You got this!
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