Mike Hoodenpyle

I'm Mike in San Antonio, TX. I’m originally from Oklahoma, but I got to Texas as fast as I could . I started playing guitar when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I took lessons for a few years, didn’t really apply myself, then lost interest and didn't pick it up again for 10 years or so. I got back into it for a few years, learned some chords and strummed along with songs on cassettes, and later, CDs. I bought a fingerpicking book, learned various patterns, and added fingerstyle rhythm to my play-along sessions. I put it down again for a few years, then got back into it pretty heavily when I was stationed in Hawaii (1996 - 2002) with a friend who is a great player. I've been playing regularly ever since. I’m mostly self-taught, with the exception of picking up some fingerstyle skills from a great teacher when I was stationed in Colorado Springs (2003). I had learned how to read music when I was a kid, but forgot most of it and didn't learn again in my adult lessons. I played fingerstyle solos and could learn to play intermediate level songs, but I always just memorized tab without really understanding what I was doing a lot of the time. The focus of my lessons was on physical playing skills. A few years after moving to San Antonio, I bought the L&M Guitar course in order to re-learn reading standard notation (mission accomplished), and to learn theory, scales, etc., in order to be able to improvise and create rather than just memorize songs. I’ve learned a lot so far, and between the course and live lessons, I’ve been able to create my own arrangements of several traditional hymns and some Christmas songs. I completed the course through session 12, then got side-tracked three years ago when I joined my church band. I played mostly rhythm, every now and then lead, and the occasional fingerstyle solo. I learned a lot playing with the group, and became proficient with walking bass lines and also playing some non-chord tones between chord changes. I was organizing all of our sheet music, working out the chords, etc., every week, which took up a large chunk of my time. Consequently, I burned out and left the group after Easter in 2017, but still haven’t gotten back into the course. I miss playing with the group and will probably start again soon, but if so, I won’t be organizing the music anymore as it’s just too much to handle with a full-time job getting in the way. I also plan to get back into the course soon. My goal is to be able to play what's in my head in any key on the fly. I don't know if I'll ever get there, but that’s the goal.

Update: I started playing with my church band again on 1/28/18. I won't be playing every week and organizing all the sheet music, so hopefully I won't burn out again. I really enjoy playing with the group.