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My Guitar Story
(All guitarists have a special story about how they came to the guitar. This is mine.)
"I began playing at the age of 8 (I’m now 69) after my dad gave my brother and me two Kay electric guitars and an amp. We promptly started taking lessons from a big Texan who wore a cowboy hat and a huge belt buckle. He traveled from house to house in a gigantic Cadillac. I swear the car had Texas Longhorn horns mounted on the grill, but that’s probably just the active imagination of an 8 year old tempered by age. The guy’s claim to fame was that he’d played guitar with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus band. Of course to us that fact alone made him a guitar god. I was instantly smitten by the guitar and the sounds it could make…plus the possibility of a career in the circus.
Fast forward to age 10: My brother and I started a garage band with some kids from around our neighborhood. After a while we began playing teen dances at local community centers on Friday nights. The money was pretty decent for a kid, after dying my hair blond, combing like the Beatles, and taking off my geeky glasses, the girls began to chase me (No matter that I couldn’t see 10 yards ahead). Not considering that I was living in a world completely out of focus things were looking up.
However, as my musicianship and musical tastes developed I began to listen to other music and focus more on being a better guitarist. Destiny struck through my uncle. He had studied classical guitar and when I heard him play a piece by J.S. Bach and another work by Fernando Sor (Study #5) the die was instantly cast. My only comment at the time was, “I want to do THAT.”
So, formal lessons began. First with my uncle, then with a steady progression of teachers all the way through college. Each teacher was instrumental (no pun intended) in my development as a musician, artist and my character.
In 1972 and 73 I was in college, happily studying music, living the good life…and so wonderfully poor. However, with the Vietnam War in progress I was drafted by the U.S. Government to serve in the military. I chose to serve four years with the Navy instead of being drafted into the Army for two years. I auditioned for the Navy Music Program at boot camp on a whim and was accepted based on the fact that, unlike most guitar players, I could read music, I was versatile and I had a lot of performance experience. Being ripped out of college I was not a happy Sailor, but I was a good one. To this day I am intensely proud to have had the opportunity to serve my country. A country that has given me more than I can ever repay.
Being in the Navy Band was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Completely unplanned. The experience made me grow as a musician far beyond what I could have done by staying in my comfort zone. I spent 24 years in the program and performed all over the world playing jazz, pop, rock, country and, with my classical guitar skills, I performed concerts in support of State Department functions playing for Presidents (Democrats and Republicans) and Ambassadors in embassies throughout the world. I traveled with Seal Teams, who were never far away when I traveled in-country. Once I received the ultimate complement from a huge Navy Seal who I thought was going to pound me into the ground after having to regularly put up with my early morning practice sessions. He knocked rather loudly on my door at the barracks and said, “You play beautifully,” and then, mercifully, he went quietly back to his room.
Since retiring from the Navy I coach a limited number of students online and in person when possible. My teaching methods and material are also available online through All Things Six Strings. I continue to practice and study daily because, as Pablo Casals put it at 90 years old, "I think I'm making progress."
Professional Bio
Rick has been a professional guitarist for over fifty-five years. He began studying guitar at age 9 and performing in public at age 10 eventually serving in the U.S. Navy Music Program as a staff guitarist, conductor and assistant band director.
After retiring from the U.S. Navy he founded The Spirit Ridge Group of Companies. In addition to overseeing business operations he is a working musician with an active schedule of recording, teaching and curriculum development.
Rick holds advanced degrees from Excelsior College and the U.S. Navy School of Music (Advanced Course). He is a Founding Teacher of the Royal Conservatory Music Certificate Program, a Royal Conservatory of Music Certified Teacher and serves as a Presiding Officer for the Assessments and Examinations of The Royal Conservatory of Music.
(All guitarists have a special story about how they came to the guitar. This is mine.)
"I began playing at the age of 8 (I’m now 69) after my dad gave my brother and me two Kay electric guitars and an amp. We promptly started taking lessons from a big Texan who wore a cowboy hat and a huge belt buckle. He traveled from house to house in a gigantic Cadillac. I swear the car had Texas Longhorn horns mounted on the grill, but that’s probably just the active imagination of an 8 year old tempered by age. The guy’s claim to fame was that he’d played guitar with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus band. Of course to us that fact alone made him a guitar god. I was instantly smitten by the guitar and the sounds it could make…plus the possibility of a career in the circus.
Fast forward to age 10: My brother and I started a garage band with some kids from around our neighborhood. After a while we began playing teen dances at local community centers on Friday nights. The money was pretty decent for a kid, after dying my hair blond, combing like the Beatles, and taking off my geeky glasses, the girls began to chase me (No matter that I couldn’t see 10 yards ahead). Not considering that I was living in a world completely out of focus things were looking up.
However, as my musicianship and musical tastes developed I began to listen to other music and focus more on being a better guitarist. Destiny struck through my uncle. He had studied classical guitar and when I heard him play a piece by J.S. Bach and another work by Fernando Sor (Study #5) the die was instantly cast. My only comment at the time was, “I want to do THAT.”
So, formal lessons began. First with my uncle, then with a steady progression of teachers all the way through college. Each teacher was instrumental (no pun intended) in my development as a musician, artist and my character.
In 1972 and 73 I was in college, happily studying music, living the good life…and so wonderfully poor. However, with the Vietnam War in progress I was drafted by the U.S. Government to serve in the military. I chose to serve four years with the Navy instead of being drafted into the Army for two years. I auditioned for the Navy Music Program at boot camp on a whim and was accepted based on the fact that, unlike most guitar players, I could read music, I was versatile and I had a lot of performance experience. Being ripped out of college I was not a happy Sailor, but I was a good one. To this day I am intensely proud to have had the opportunity to serve my country. A country that has given me more than I can ever repay.
Being in the Navy Band was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Completely unplanned. The experience made me grow as a musician far beyond what I could have done by staying in my comfort zone. I spent 24 years in the program and performed all over the world playing jazz, pop, rock, country and, with my classical guitar skills, I performed concerts in support of State Department functions playing for Presidents (Democrats and Republicans) and Ambassadors in embassies throughout the world. I traveled with Seal Teams, who were never far away when I traveled in-country. Once I received the ultimate complement from a huge Navy Seal who I thought was going to pound me into the ground after having to regularly put up with my early morning practice sessions. He knocked rather loudly on my door at the barracks and said, “You play beautifully,” and then, mercifully, he went quietly back to his room.
Since retiring from the Navy I coach a limited number of students online and in person when possible. My teaching methods and material are also available online through All Things Six Strings. I continue to practice and study daily because, as Pablo Casals put it at 90 years old, "I think I'm making progress."
Professional Bio
Rick has been a professional guitarist for over fifty-five years. He began studying guitar at age 9 and performing in public at age 10 eventually serving in the U.S. Navy Music Program as a staff guitarist, conductor and assistant band director.
After retiring from the U.S. Navy he founded The Spirit Ridge Group of Companies. In addition to overseeing business operations he is a working musician with an active schedule of recording, teaching and curriculum development.
Rick holds advanced degrees from Excelsior College and the U.S. Navy School of Music (Advanced Course). He is a Founding Teacher of the Royal Conservatory Music Certificate Program, a Royal Conservatory of Music Certified Teacher and serves as a Presiding Officer for the Assessments and Examinations of The Royal Conservatory of Music.