The emotional significance of a guitar.

Isotech · March 10th, 2008, 10:58 AM

So this weekend my brother and his wife came to visit, and we took them to the EMP in Seattle. I've been there before and it's OK, interesting stuff. Didn't really start a fire in me.

One exception...

The hendrix room where they have Jimi's white woodstock strat. Now I'm usually not the type of person to put much emotional significance into material objects, but this guitar was different. They dont have it in a glass display, but behind a little railing about 5 feet.

It's amazing to think it's the same peice of wood and metal that Jimi played the Star spangled banner on. I've always loved music as a kid, but that woodstock performance was the first time I remember chills going down my spine. That was the song that started the obsession.

It was a very weird, zen-like, coming full circle sort of feeling. I'm a software engineer by trade, and was raised by a mechanic. You know... logic, machines, systems working under physical/logically constraints and rules. I know what scales are, triads, the mechanical vibration of strings, how to intonate a bridge, and tweak a truss rod.

It's music that gets me though... in the gut, a visceral emotional response. Very few things do that to me. My family, and music.

So those were the emotions running through me, sitting there gazing upon an arrangement of metal and wood, behind a short steel railing. Maybe it's the realization of the "impact" Jimi's music made on me as a kid. Maybe it's the presence of that instrument itself that shocked me out of the daily routine for a brief moment.

I just know everytime I pick up a guitar, I start to go to that "other place", my own personality/ambitions/fears/prejudices/insecurities go away.

It's just the music, and an arrangement of wood and metal.

I wonder if Jimi felt that way?

-Nathan

djsommer · March 10th, 2008, 01:33 PM

I don't know if Jimi felt the same, but I definitely know what you're talking about. I experienced it a few years back at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Museum. Their big exhibit at the time was an entire room filled with John Lennon memorabilia. Standing there inches away from original written lyrics and personal items of Lennon's was overwhelming, taking me back to the countless nights in front of the stereo listening to my parents' Beatles albums on headphones. And to the morning when I heard, as my alarm rang, that he had been killed. I think I have more "musical" memories than any other kind. The music always brings me back to that place in my head where everything is alright.

March 10th, 2008, 10:58 AM	#1 (permalink)
Isotech TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Monroe, WA Age: 29 Posts: 17 17 Photos	The emotional significance of a guitar. So this weekend my brother and his wife came to visit, and we took them to the EMP in Seattle. I've been there before and it's OK, interesting stuff. Didn't really start a fire in me. One exception... The hendrix room where they have Jimi's white woodstock strat. Now I'm usually not the type of person to put much emotional significance into material objects, but this guitar was different. They dont have it in a glass display, but behind a little railing about 5 feet. It's amazing to think it's the same peice of wood and metal that Jimi played the Star spangled banner on. I've always loved music as a kid, but that woodstock performance was the first time I remember chills going down my spine. That was the song that started the obsession. It was a very weird, zen-like, coming full circle sort of feeling. I'm a software engineer by trade, and was raised by a mechanic. You know... logic, machines, systems working under physical/logically constraints and rules. I know what scales are, triads, the mechanical vibration of strings, how to intonate a bridge, and tweak a truss rod. It's music that gets me though... in the gut, a visceral emotional response. Very few things do that to me. My family, and music. So those were the emotions running through me, sitting there gazing upon an arrangement of metal and wood, behind a short steel railing. Maybe it's the realization of the "impact" Jimi's music made on me as a kid. Maybe it's the presence of that instrument itself that shocked me out of the daily routine for a brief moment. I just know everytime I pick up a guitar, I start to go to that "other place", my own personality/ambitions/fears/prejudices/insecurities go away. It's just the music, and an arrangement of wood and metal. I wonder if Jimi felt that way? -Nathan

March 10th, 2008, 01:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
djsommer TDPRI Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 21 1 Photos	similar feelings I don't know if Jimi felt the same, but I definitely know what you're talking about. I experienced it a few years back at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Museum. Their big exhibit at the time was an entire room filled with John Lennon memorabilia. Standing there inches away from original written lyrics and personal items of Lennon's was overwhelming, taking me back to the countless nights in front of the stereo listening to my parents' Beatles albums on headphones. And to the morning when I heard, as my alarm rang, that he had been killed. I think I have more "musical" memories than any other kind. The music always brings me back to that place in my head where everything is alright.