
I was lucky enough to attend a public middle school in southeastern North Carolina with a terrific string orchestra led by an outstanding teacher. My introduction to the guitar is possibly the single most perfect anecdote for opening this article.

I was turning fourteen, and for months leading up to that fateful day in May, I looked at catalogs and visited guitar shops whenever I could.

I can remember a surprising amount of detail about the birthday on which I finally got my first electric guitar. Even if you’re a pro, we’ve all been there. For this article, let’s say you are a novice guitarist.
