My name is Dale King. This year I will be 51 and I have been playing the guitar since junior high. I have taught guitar in Enid, Oklahoma since 1997...11 years this year. I teach guitar, bass guitar, and music theory in the evenings, and during the day I am the Maintenance Director at the Denny Price Family YMCA.
I'm told by my parents that when I was a little boy I was given a toy guitar. For reasons only known to God, I called it my 'look-guitar'. No matter how many time my parents tried to get me to say 'guitar' it always came out 'look-guitar'.
Whenever we visited my Grandma's house, I noticed my uncle's guitar in his room. He was a teenager at the time. Some years later he gave that guitar to my family, but it wasn't well taken care of and was soon unusable.
In grade school I found that I loved to sing, and I loved to sing LOUD! The teacher had to ask me to sing a little softer in the class play so I wouldn't drown out my classmates. In junior high, I joined the school chorus and my love for music grew, due in no small part to a wonderful choir teacher, Mrs. Kizer. I also became more involved in the music program at the church.
Around the 8th or 9th grade, I saved my money and bought a $99 classical guitar. Mama paid for lessons for me, but they were a disappointment. I soon lost interest and the lessons stopped. The guitar was stored on a shelf in the closet for a couple of years.
Meanwhile at the church, a beautiful young lady who played guitar had moved into the community. She started playing and singing with our youth choir. By now, I had some experience in choir and had joined the newly-formed concert band at our school. I was in the 9th grade. I had also gained an understanding of music theory. As I watched the newcomer play and sing, I decided that I could do that too. My guitar came out of the closet and the new girl in church taught me quite a bit about fingerstyle playing. Now that I could read music, I bought some books and began to learn more on my own. It wasn't long before I was accompanying myself and others at church and at school.
I'm told by my parents that when I was a little boy I was given a toy guitar. For reasons only known to God, I called it my 'look-guitar'. No matter how many time my parents tried to get me to say 'guitar' it always came out 'look-guitar'.
Whenever we visited my Grandma's house, I noticed my uncle's guitar in his room. He was a teenager at the time. Some years later he gave that guitar to my family, but it wasn't well taken care of and was soon unusable.
In grade school I found that I loved to sing, and I loved to sing LOUD! The teacher had to ask me to sing a little softer in the class play so I wouldn't drown out my classmates. In junior high, I joined the school chorus and my love for music grew, due in no small part to a wonderful choir teacher, Mrs. Kizer. I also became more involved in the music program at the church.
Around the 8th or 9th grade, I saved my money and bought a $99 classical guitar. Mama paid for lessons for me, but they were a disappointment. I soon lost interest and the lessons stopped. The guitar was stored on a shelf in the closet for a couple of years.
Meanwhile at the church, a beautiful young lady who played guitar had moved into the community. She started playing and singing with our youth choir. By now, I had some experience in choir and had joined the newly-formed concert band at our school. I was in the 9th grade. I had also gained an understanding of music theory. As I watched the newcomer play and sing, I decided that I could do that too. My guitar came out of the closet and the new girl in church taught me quite a bit about fingerstyle playing. Now that I could read music, I bought some books and began to learn more on my own. It wasn't long before I was accompanying myself and others at church and at school.
