Greetings from Melbourne, Australia

[BarryE]

My name is Barry, I am a 74 yo male, and have lived in Melbourne all my life. I started playing guitar at age 14 after hearing my uncle & Aunt playing guitar and mandolin, and took lessons for 3 or 4 years. I took over my teacher's students at age 21 when he left to take a playing position at a Gold Coast hotel, and continued to teach out of working hours for about 10 years. I had some classical lessons from Sadie Bishop (sadly now deceased), and in 1961 had the magnificent experience of meeting and shaking hands with Andre Segovia after his Melbourne Town Hall Concert in October. I was also playing electric Jazz guitar in dance bands to help support my wife and growing family (have 5 children), and also continued a successful career in insurance. I have a massive collection of jazz guitar music, and still marvel at the pure talent and inventiveness of players like Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Emily Remler, Barney Kessell and so many others. I have suffered from osteoarthritis in the fingers for around 10 years (inherited from my Mum!), so cannot form chords with my left hand unless I use fingers 3,4 and 5 only. Can still play reasonable single string tunes and improvisations, using Abeysold backing tracks- quite enjoyable!
I purchased a Contrerras Classical guitar in 1972, and it has been my faithful companion ever since. I have played it at many concerts in Melbourne, and even at the Sydney Opera House at a function. The inside label reads "Constructor de Guitarras- M.G. Contrerras - Calle Mayor 80- MADRID 1972. It is unsigned by the maker, so assume it is not the full Concert Model. I recall paying about $700 Aus dollars in 1972. If anyone has any idea of its current value, would be interested. It it in excellent condition all over, apart from some finger nail marks on the top where my Flamenco passion got the better of me after a few g lasses of fine red wine!
Enough from me, and hope this has not been too lengthy.
BARRYE

[petermc61]

Hi Barry

Good to see you here. There are quite a few Aussies here, including a few from Melbourne. None, thankfully, identified as Collingwood supporters yet.

Cheers
Peter, Sydney

[BarryE]

Thanks Peter- just watched a video on the web-site , and very impressed with the quality of playing. Afraid I'm a Blues supporter, so life is pretty miserable at present!
Will keep in touch if that is ok with you. Barry

[George Crocket]

Hi Barry.

Welcome, again, to the forum. Thanks for your interesting introduction. Please Be sure to see our welcome page for more information about the forum and its rules.

You may already apply for access to levels 1 - 3 of the Delcamp score collection, and with more posts you may apply for access to the higher levels (see here).

It is helpful if members include their location in their Profile - click on your username.

See you around.