By Rosie Moore

Growing up in my teens I attended the Mennonite church. We loved to sing but there were no pianos, organs, or any type of musical instruments. We sang with joy the old hymns that came from within our souls. We didn’t need the instruments. Every song was acappella.

The church I now attend has, of course, a piano and organ, and also a guitar, played by a versatile, music-loving gentleman who plucks the strings of his guitar with gusto.

It is said that the guitar, a plucked stringed instrument probably originated in Spain early in the 16th century. Others say its history can be traced back over 4,000 years. It was a narrow guitar with four strings, closely related to the lute.

The first six-string guitar was made in 1891 by G.B.Fabricatore. It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers, thumb, or fingernails of the right hand or with a pick, while fretting the strings with the fingers of the left hand. I had to look up “fretting” and here’s what I found:

“In short, fretting is how you put your fingers on the strings to get the guitar to sound right! The first thing to be aware of in regards to fretting is that the best spot on a fret to put your finger is the area of the fret directly behind the fret ‘wire.’ That area is the ‘sweet spot.’”

Well, I now know as much as I did before, but it doesn’t matter, I will never learn to “fret.”

Mr. Dave Turner at my church knows how to strum his guitar very well, bringing us melodious sounds to uplift our hearts, playing the old and new hymns fervently, while we sing along. Thank you, Dave.

Thought for the day: Music is what feelings sound like. Anonymous

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