Photo by: Nessie Noodle
When we get to the end of the world and all that…yeah, we’ll be gardening, working with livestock, bartering, battling in the Thunderdome and even looking for some entertainment. But will we ever sing any songs and play any instruments? Or will that be a thing of the past?
My dad told me about a sailor that was stationed with him in the Navy. The guy didn’t have too much money to spare, so when they all went off-base and took trips, someone always paid his way because he played guitar and could provide everyone with entertainment.
When I was a liquid petroleum gas surveyor, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I would monitor the loading of LPG on sea going vessels. The officers were usually German or Dutch or from some European country. But the rest of the crew were usually Philippianos. They had separate dining areas. On one ship, the officer’s mess hall was really boring, but the rest of the crew had a “rockin” good time! The reason? One of the crew had a guitar and a fake book and they sang old classic rock songs all night long!
Do you know someone who plays guitar? If not, it’s not too late for you to learn. By knowing a few chords and having a good fake book, you can provide entertainment for all kinds of events…especially when the SHTF and you don’t have Itunes or your mp3 player to provide music.
I actually taught myself to play guitar. I bought a guitar from one of my cousins for $35 and a chord book from the bookstore. I then picked up some of the chord song sheets from church and learned a few songs. I think the first song I learned was “Blessings and Glory.” I was 16. I still have that guitar!
It really isn’t too hard to learn how to play guitar. The most difficult thing in learning to play guitar is pressing down the strings hard enough. And now, with the internet and Youtube, any aspiring guitar player has a ton of tools at their disposal.
Ultimate Guitar Tabs – You can find the chords for every popular song here. This is a great resource. Many songs have multiple versions and you can usually find one version for beginners.
Guitar Chords for Beginners – Plugin which chord you are looking for and it will spit it out for you. I wish I had this when I was learning.
Get a good fake book! Remember, you might not have the internet! 🙂 – A fake book has the words and chords to popular songs. You don’t need to know how to play notes, just chords. Rock, Country, Love Songs, Multiple Type Songs, Hymns and Religious.
You also need to learn how to tune your guitar. The video below walks through how to tune your guitar. He talks about having a starting reference point. I would suggest a guitar pitch pipe (doesn’t require batteries) and use it for a reference point for your E string.
Of course, since it’s the End of the World and all that, you will need extra strings. But they aren’t too expensive.
You can see me playing my guitar for church live on Sunday mornings…or at least we are going to attempt to broadcast live on the internet here.
Pastor Todd???
This article first appeared on Ed That Matters.
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Todd Sepulveda
I'm the owner/editor of Prepper Website, a DAILY preparedness aggregator that links to the best preparedness articles on the internet. I'm also a public school administrator and a pastor. My personal blog is Ed That Matters, where I write about preparedness and from time to time, education. Connect with me on one of my social media outlets below.
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Great article Todd,
When we all think about what skills will be useful post collapse we don’t usually think about entertainment, but it is something that every society has had throughout history from theater to music. Sometimes people just need to escape reality for a little bit or be inspired by a good hymn. We won’t have T.V. or iPod’s so Actors and musicians will be needed at some point.
People would be surprised how easy it is to learn a few cords and sound like you know what you are doing, the Ramones got rich on three cords haha. My point is you don’t need to be Jimi Hendrix, once you get the basics down you might be surprised how fun and easy it is.
Tip: Your finger tips will hurt a little bit until you build up calluses on them. The beginning is not all that fun, but if you work long enough at it you will have that AHA moment and learn how to play your first song. It’s amazing how gratifying it is learning to play a song you never thought you could.
Thanks,
Dale