Yes, they learned a few things from other players, maybe took a few lessons, but the greats broke away from the herd and took music into their own hands. When you think about many artists using any media or art form in one way or another somehow got inspired by another artist who did the same thing. Read or watch biographies of artists that interest you. You don't have to just stick to Hendrix. Hendrix began playing guitar at 15, played music around Tennessee but found fame playing in England. He only played electric guitar and experimented with the sound. Before him, even though electric guitars had been around since 1931, they were playing the same as an acoustic. Where most musicians simply amplified what they played, Hendrix used feedback, bending strings and percussion noises on the solid body guitar during his performances to distort and enhance the usual string sound. Every time he played live, the sound was different. His career spanned only four years, but he is still considered the most influential electric guitarist in the history of rock music. This guy is the legendary guitarist who people say sold his soul at the crossroads to the devil for the special guitar licks that no one can duplicate. The story goes that he learned a few things from other players, disappeared for a while, then suddenly reappeared playing a one of a kind style. He recorded 29 songs in a room at the Baker Hotel in Dallas, TX, in 1937, and every rock and roll (and blues) song is an extension of his work. He started off learning a few chords from a friend, got bored and taught himself to play by listening to records. He began live performances at 13, did studio session work for years, was a member of The Yardbirds, and by 26 had formed Led Zeppelin. Most of the recorded guitar solos from 1960 to 1968 in England were played by him, including work with The Who, The Kinks, Herman's Hermits and The Rolling Stones.

Summary: Take hints from the truly great guitar players of years past. Inspire yourself with the life story of Jimi Hendrix himself. Think of the crafty Robert Johnson who combined different playing styles into an original style all his own. Motivate yourself with the story of Jimmy Page as inspiration when you get bored of learning basic notes and chords.


Use a small screwdriver from a glasses repair kit to loosen the screw on the nose bad to remove. Pull out the old nose pad and slide a new one into place on your frames. Secure the screw back in place before replacing the second nose pad.  You can buy replacement nose pads online or from stores that sell glasses. Your optometrist may be able to replace the nose pads on your glasses for a small charge. Some frames have nose pads on a thin metal piece so you can make adjustments yourself. Grip the outer edges of the nose pads with your index finger and thumb and carefully squeeze them closer together. Make sure the nose pads both move the same distance or else the glasses may be crooked on your face.  If you accidentally make the nose pads too narrow, push them out again to widen the space between them. Be careful not to bend the nose pads too much since you could accidentally break them off of your frames. You may also take your frames into your optometrist or an eyeglass shop to make the adjustment for you if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself. The temple angles refer to how the arms fit against the side of your head to provide the best grip. If you have metal frames, hold the base of the arm with your nondominant hand and grab the end of the arm with a pair of needlenose pliers. Carefully bend the ends of the arms toward the inside of the frame to tighten them. If you have plastic frames, heat them with a hair dryer on high for 1-2 minutes before bending them by hand. You can also take your frames to your optometrist to make the adjustments for you. Ear hooks are small rubber pieces that slide onto the arms and prevent your glasses from falling off your ears. Slide an ear hook onto the end of the arm and position it far enough up so it’s tight against your ear when you wear the glasses. Put the other ear hook on the other arm so your glasses stay straight. You can buy ear hooks online or from a store that sells glasses.

Summary: Replace the nose pads if your glasses slide down your nose. Make the nose pads narrower if they’re adjustable on your frames. Adjust the temple angles so your glasses hold tightly against your head. Put ear hooks on the arms so they don’t move away from your ears.


Before wrapping in the opposite direction, press down on the yarn between the pegs with the side of the hand. This moves the loops down on the pegs and creates room to loop the yarn around each of the pegs again. There should be some resistance when pressing down on the yarn. This  indicates good tension, which will result in a neat looking finished scarf. If the yarn feels loose or has already slid to the peg bottom on its own, then the pegs are not wrapped tightly enough. In this case, you may need to start over. Each peg (except for the last peg wrapped) will need to have two loops on it before working the loops off the loom. To make a second pass, bring the yarn down from the last peg wrapped and around it in the same direction as the yarn from the previous pass. Bring the yarn up to the next peg moving back towards the beginning of the loom. Keep wrapping the yarn around the pegs in the same direction as first round of loops until the last peg (the first peg wrapped on the first pass). Wrap this peg from the opposite direction. After wrapping the last peg, hold the yarn in place with fingers or wrap it around the anchor peg on this side of the loom. When each peg in the row is wrapped twice (except for last peg on upper end of the loom) begin working the bottom row of loops off the loom. Insert loom tool through the bottom loop on the last peg in lower row. Bring the loop up and over the other loop on the peg to knit it.  After knitting the first loop on the lower row, repeat for the bottom loop on the upper row. Return to the lower row going back and forth to knit the loops until the end of the row. When finished working the first round of loops off the loom, only one stitch is on each of the pegs. Continue the process of wrapping the yarn around the pegs and working back and forth across rows to knit the loops. Continue until scarf is the length desired.  After a few rows, knit material comes through the bottom of the loom. Measure the knitted material to determine where the scarf will end. Four rows creates 1” (2.5 cm) of knit material. For a scarf five feet long or 60” (152 cm), knit about 240 rows on the loom.


Summary: Press down on the stitches. Wrap the yarn around the stitches again. Loop last peg in the opposite direction. Use loom tool to lift bottom loops over top loops. Repeat process to the desired length.