I remember thinking as a child how cool it would be to play guitar in a band. I honestly wasn't thinking about financial or social rewards. It just looked like something fun to do. Being an entertainer was really more important to me than the music. If I could sing and play a little guitar (meaning the quality of my playing, not the size of the instrument) that would be a fun way to go through life.
Somewhere along the way I switched to folk music. The melodies and harmonies were far more interesting to me than pop music. Also I didn't need a band to play the songs. I could do it all by myself or with others. Whatever the circumstances demanded or allowed. Although I did make a couple of short forays into rock bands, it was a bad fit and I came right back to folk, folk rock, and some pop music. Always with an eye toward entertaining.
I wrote a lot of my own music. Most of it was either boring or outright bad. In order to improve my guitar playing and overall musicianship I started teaching myself classical guitar and something unexpected happened. I fell in love with classical music and abandoned all of the music I had spent half of my life learning. I couldn't get enough of it. I listened as often as I could. I read everything I could about classical guitar. Total immersion. And I no longer cared about entertaining an audience.
I retreated into a teaching studio and have spent most of my adult life teaching people of all ages. I not only teach them how to play the instrument, but I also teach them how to play (and love) the music that captivated me so many years ago. I agree that plugging in an electric guitar, turning the amplifier all the way up, hitting a couple of power chords and feeling the earth shake is an amazing sensation. But so is playing a short succession of notes on six strands of nylon stretched across a wooden box and feeling your heart melt and your soul cry for joy.
And it's so personal. There are no picks, cords, electronic boxes, or digital processors. Just my fingers on the strings. I touch every note as it is created. There is nothing between us. An intimacy that cannot be shared with fifty thousand people in a stadium. But can be shared with a hundred people in a small room. Reserved enthusiasm born from a restrained energy that creates its own world and draws me in. A personal quest for beauty - but all are welcome to join in.