there is an elegant analogy to the acquisition of knowledge. In darkness, a beam of light illuminates the land. What we see is what we know, the unseen is the unknown. As the circumference of the light expands, so does our awareness of what is yet to be known.

Well, the more time I spend practicing with the strat, the more this analogy sounds wrong to me. It's not a circumference of knowledge, it's a sphere.

There are the basics of rhythm, harmony, melody, there's hand dexterity (both left and right), strumming patterns, chord progressions and scales, expected vs. unexpected musical sequences, and all of this before even setting one foot in the realm of amplifiers, effects, and electronic wizardry.

I was hoping that my buddy Martin would help. He started this late journey along with me and for the same reasons (we've owed this to ourselves for decades), but I talked to him on Friday and he said he hadn't touched the guitar for a month. He used this word for the first time in the 37 years we've known each other: depressed.

Family life and his business take their toll on him, and on top of that, he said that this attempt to be more intentional about music theory and guitar was adding to his despondency.

"I don't know why, maybe it's because I am depressed sometimes... I mean, I know that I like playing music, I know why I like it, but can't get myself to pick up the guitar from the stand." He said.

"Maybe because this is not a circle, but a sphere?" I said.

"Yes, that's it! It's a f#ing sphere!"