So 35 years has passed and the guitar sat the closet.
But I knew that with retirement coming,
the guitar was gonna come out and I was gonna start
to play again.
And I thought maybe I could teach guitar.
And then I thought,
well, am I that good after not playing for 35 years,
if I could teach others how to play so on one
shoulder, I should go for it.
Go for it.
The other one,
you know,
is the other guy saying,
nah, you can't do it.
You can't do it.
So I,
I knew though in my heart I that I probably could
do this.
What I needed was a program that would go ahead and
get me in a daily routine and feeling comfortable about helping
and teaching others.
And I found it.
Tony's Acoustic Challenge helped me immensely with that.
I mean,
getting an email every day,
telling me what to do with an explanation,
with examples.
And, and before that,
I was all over the place.
I mean,
I didn't know what time to practice.
I didn't have a practice routine,
but it really helped me get things in line with the
ability to go ahead and make myself and improve to a,
to a better guitar player.
So after my vision of knowing that in my mind that
I wanted to get involved in,
in guitar and helping people,
I started seeing things about an organization called guitarsenal for Vets.
So I contacted them at the local chapter in the Heinz
Bay Hospital in Chicago and had an interview with them,
and they accepted me and I accepted them.
And, and I'm an instructor for guitarsenal for Vets.
You know,
I see people that need help in certain areas,
and I,
and it is a known fact that music is a great
therapy for people.
And I feel really fortunate to go ahead and get involved
in helping people in this way.
It makes them feel good.
It makes me feel good.
And, and there's sometimes when,
you know,
we all talk here about the light bulb moments that I've
seen it go on these guys' eyes.
I go ahead and show them a chord progression,
maybe playing a chord,
how it goes up and down the neck or an acorn,
whatever it is.
And they look at it and they look at me,
oh yeah,
I understand.
And they really do understand it's not just lip service.
They're going ahead and telling me about,
and it's a really cool thing.
And, and I just love being a part of it.
It's a great camaraderie and I feel happy when I go
there and even happier when I leave.
I just felt that,
boy, this is someplace where I have to be.
As opposed to sitting inside a,
a music store or going online and going through all that,
that wasn't for me.
I, I wanted to have a one-on-one connection with someone I
was talking to,
and I had that personal connection back and forth as opposed
to just being a guy in a box.
And I,
I just felt that this was absolutely positively the place for
me to be.
My name is Denny Stock,
and this is my acoustic life story.