25. Re-String My Guitar And See If I Can Still Play It

I learned to play the guitar when I was a student. I'm not very musical so I was never going to be a really good player, but by the time I was in my mid twenties I was competent enough to play for worship meetings and other informal gatherings. Then I developed hyperacusis and I had to stop playing because I couldn't cope with the volume (tests I had done later showed that I hear sounds up to 20 times louder than they really are). I haven't played for nearly 20 years.



Lately my hyperacusis has lessened slightly so I thought I would see if I could still play. I bought some new strings and took out my guitar, wondering not only whether I'd be able to cope with the sound but also whether the guitar itself would still be playable, as it's been carted around from house to house over the years in a soft case and I expected the strings to have tarnished and the guitar itself to be looking rather the worse for wear.



Amazingly, not only was the guitar in near-perfect condition, so were the strings - some of them were even still in tune! I didn't have to re-string it after all.

So, can I still play? Well, the good news is that I can now cope with the sound, which is brilliant. I'm not sure I could cope if I used a plectrum, and I certainly couldn't cope if I were mic'd up, but just strumming with my fingers is perfectly fine, not too loud at all.

The bad news is that I have forgotten nearly everything I used to know about playing the guitar. I can remember about three chords - so unless I can find any songs which use only D, G, and E minor, it's going to be a while before I can play anything. My fingers have, obviously, also softened up so that it will be a while before I can hold down the strings for more than a few minutes at a time. It looks as though I'll be starting again from scratch ...