In the early stages of learning to play guitar, most people study from online guitar courses, or lessons in a music store, or from a guitar book, CD, video, or from a friend that plays guitar.But if you want to get good on the guitar - really good - you eventually have to devote countless hours of "wood shedding" with the recordings of the guitar masters. It's called paying your dues.
The point is, of course, to learn the licks, riffs, runs and songs of the guitar greats - the "guitar heroes" that you love and worship - the ones that absolutely trip your trigger, in order to really reach that next level on guitar.
But to do that, you have to get the recording of the songs you want to learn, which can get a little pricey.
Back in my early years - before the internet, cell phones and cable TV - if we wanted the latest from Hendrix, Clapton, Jeff Beck or Santana, the only choice was to hustle down to the local record store and buy the album or 45 RPM.
I remember budgeting a large portion of my small take home pay as a dishwasher to vinyl.
Today there are obviously many more choices to the aspiring guitarist, including free downloads that can often be found online.
And as good a FREE sounds, it's important to note that FREE often comes with a price.
Although there may be a twinge of guilt when downloading a free song online, it's often justified by the thought that it's not hurting anyone, especially that "big rich record company"...they'll never miss it.
But the truth is, there are some that DO miss it and one of the main victims is the songwriter.
Quite often, the composer of a song is a guy or gal, just like you and me, who has struggled to make ends meet. Who may have fought hard to make it in a tough business, or who is still clawing to climb that ladder.
And when we download for free a song that they wrote, they receive nothing for their efforts, talents, creativity and hard work.
Think about this. Say you earn a living in a factory that produces trampolines for hamsters. You are passionate about hamster trampolines and will stop a nothing to make the best darn trampoline that you, and any self respecting hamster would be proud of.
Say also, that you get paid by the piece, not by the hour. Your compensation is based on the quantity and quality of the hamster trampolines that you make.
Now say that it's Friday - payday - and you know that this week you made 100 killer hamster trampolines, and you are counting on a good paycheck because the mortgage, car note, and utilities are all due.
Then say you open up your pay check to find that you only got paid for 25 trampolines. You talk to your boss and he says he doesn't know anything about the other 75 that you made. Tough luck.
How would you feel? Would you feel cheated? Would you be worried about paying your bills? Would you think that this was unfair for all the work you put in?
Of course you would.
I know this may sound like a sermon, but just know that there are real live people behind the making of every recording that are counting on being paid for their efforts, just like you and I would be.
If you want to just listen to most popular songs you can pull them up on sites like YouTube and listen away. But if you need to download a song for personal use, please consider spending a buck or two.
After all, one day it may be your song that's in someone's download cue!
