I did not play the guitar when I began yodeling.
One of the long time members called me aside and informed me that karaoke was not encouraged.
I did not play the guitar when I began yodeling in 2007. As a matter of fact, I did not begin to play the guitar until January 2011. I attended the Western Music Association Convention in Albuquerque for the first time in November of 2008. I took my music tracks disk and a small CD player with me and signed up for a 15 minute spot on the Open Mike stage. For my spot, I plugged in my CD player, inserted the disk, and sang three yodeling songs. When I finished, however, one of the long time members who was in the audience called me aside and informed me that karaoke was not encouraged there. I told him I wanted to compete in the Yodeling Contest but did not play the guitar. So he found a guitar player for me.
For 2009 and 2010, I asked new WMA friends to play for me. But in January 2011, I asked Greg Latta to give me weekly lessons. Those lasted for three months when I struck out on my own learning. It took until November 2012 for me to get proficient enough to not embarrass myself when I played and sang in public. In 2011, it was very amusing to watch and listen to me learning how to play the guitar and yodel at the same time. But practicing four to five days a week since 2011 has taken me to the point where much of my playing is now second nature.
Written by : tomhawkyodeler
