--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I started out with the guitar and was a…" description: "\"I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician back in the 50s, and then got shot in my finger.\" — Dr. John" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg" --- # I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician… ![“I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician back in the 50s, and then got shot in my finger.” quote by Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg) > “I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician back in the 50s, and then got shot in my finger.” [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A career began with guitar work, but a finger injury altered his path. **In simple terms:** Injury changed his musical direction. Key Takeaway Adapt after setbacks. Themes career adversity creativity Mood determined reflective Type biographical inspirational When to use this quote - studio work - live performance - teaching - songwriting Key Concepts resilience skill adaptation Questions to Reflect On - What new skills can you develop after a setback? - How do you turn loss into creative growth? A Different Perspective Physical injury can limit but also inspire new opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guitar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guitar/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) ## Related quotes > [I am a session guy and a studio musician and whatever you need me to do I will do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-mendoza/i-am-a-session-guy-and-a-studio-musician-and-whatever-you-need-me-to/) [Marco Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-mendoza/) > [My job of being a musician in a recording studio has nothing to do with being a musician being on tour performing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/my-job-of-being-a-musician-in-a-recording-studio-has-nothing-to-do/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [I came to L.A. in 1970, and my desire and my training was to be a studio musician, which I had read about in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mason-jr/i-came-to-l-a-in-1970-and-my-desire-and-my-training-was-to-be-a/) [Harvey Mason, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mason-jr/) > [My father was a studio musician, played for a lot of people like Frank Zappa and a lot of R&B bands, and was always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/synyster-gates/my-father-was-a-studio-musician-played-for-a-lot-of-people-like-frank/) [Synyster Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/synyster-gates/) > [I started harmonica at the age of four, and when I was 12 I started the guitar. Then I played at school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ham/i-started-harmonica-at-the-age-of-four-and-when-i-was-12-i-started/) Peter Ham > [I have noticed lots more girls are coming up to me and saying, 'Hey, I started the guitar!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie-rowsell/i-have-noticed-lots-more-girls-are-coming-up-to-me-and-saying-hey-i/) [Ellie Rowsell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellie-rowsell/) > [Growing up, I was listening to a lot of Metallica, a lot of instrumental guitar music because I started out as a guitar player.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-goransson/growing-up-i-was-listening-to-a-lot-of-metallica-a-lot-of/) [Ludwig Goransson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-goransson/) > [I started out on guitar when I was nine years old, and I started playing bars and stuff when I was thirteen, and I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-ashba/i-started-out-on-guitar-when-i-was-nine-years-old-and-i-started/) [DJ Ashba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-ashba/) > [I started guitar when I was like thirteen. I had a friend whose dad had an electric guitar. In sixth grade or seventh grade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-granduciel/i-started-guitar-when-i-was-like-thirteen-i-had-a-friend-whose-dad/) [Adam Granduciel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-granduciel/) > [I started writing little short stories and poems as soon as I learned to read and write. I think I was six years old.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucinda-williams/i-started-writing-little-short-stories-and-poems-as-soon-as-i-learned/) [Lucinda Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucinda-williams/) > [I've always been a singer-songwriter - it started off with me and the guitar, just writing songs, they were very simple. When I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zella-day/i-ve-always-been-a-singer-songwriter-it-started-off-with-me-and-the/) [Zella Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zella-day/) > [I had piano lessons at five and started guitar at ten, but although music and acting was always around me, my parents never pressured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micky-dolenz/i-had-piano-lessons-at-five-and-started-guitar-at-ten-but-although/) [Micky Dolenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micky-dolenz/) > [My father started me off on the guitar, and we learned classical guitar together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-bream/my-father-started-me-off-on-the-guitar-and-we-learned-classical/) [Julian Bream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-bream/) > [I just spent 11 and a half months in a maximum-security jail, got shot five times, and was wrongly convicted of a crime I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/i-just-spent-11-and-a-half-months-in-a-maximum-security-jail-got-shot/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“I got shot saving you. That should speak very clearly about my feelings. After all, I'll bear the scars of loving you for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayla-black/i-got-shot-saving-you-that-should-speak-very-clearly-about-my/) [Shayla Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayla-black/) ## More by Dr. John > [Where Charlie Christian left off, Papoose started a new thing; he was an innovator of the guitar. The things he did during his recording…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/where-charlie-christian-left-off-papoose-started-a-new-thing-he-was/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [Like the tangled veins of cypress roots that meander this way and that in the swamp, everything in New Orleans is interrelated, wrapped around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/like-the-tangled-veins-of-cypress-roots-that-meander-this-way-and/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [I been trying to clean up my act with my children for a long time. And I pretty much got them all talking to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-been-trying-to-clean-up-my-act-with-my-children-for-a-long-time-and/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [The whole Lower Ninth Ward hasn't really recovered, but I feel a good spirit in my heart that something is going on - music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/the-whole-lower-ninth-ward-hasn-t-really-recovered-but-i-feel-a-good/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [New Orleans cats don't play a lot of solos unless they got something to say. It's not an ego thing like it is with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/new-orleans-cats-don-t-play-a-lot-of-solos-unless-they-got-something/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [I think that any of the places that's cut off from money, things come up, what the people have to rely on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-think-that-any-of-the-places-that-s-cut-off-from-money-things-come/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [The specter of color is apparent even when it goes unmentioned, and it is all too often the unseen force that influences public policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/the-specter-of-color-is-apparent-even-when-it-goes-unmentioned-and-it/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [Everybody in my neighborhood in the '40s, they played pianos. That's how people partied. They didn't try the TV, the radio was OK, records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/everybody-in-my-neighborhood-in-the-40s-they-played-pianos-that-s-how/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [Doc has been my name all my life, and John is my middle name. I'm proud of all my names - Malcolm John Michael…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/doc-has-been-my-name-all-my-life-and-john-is-my-middle-name-i-m-proud/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [It was the first time I was looking, really, right after the storm, that I saw maybe the amount of devastation that had happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/it-was-the-first-time-i-was-looking-really-right-after-the-storm-that/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [There was a lot of freedom, so bands in those days did not have to play for the public. They played for club owners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/there-was-a-lot-of-freedom-so-bands-in-those-days-did-not-have-to/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [I hung at the studio. Myself and James Booker and several other musicians, as kids, we just literally hung at the studio, hoping somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-hung-at-the-studio-myself-and-james-booker-and-several-other/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [I'd rather have the whole world against me than my own soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-d-rather-have-the-whole-world-against-me-than-my-own-soul/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [I had somebody call and make a joke about it: 'Oh, Buddy Guy won the Grammy - You should have won.' I said, 'No.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-had-somebody-call-and-make-a-joke-about-it-oh-buddy-guy-won-the/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) > [In 1972, I recorded Gumbo, an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/in-1972-i-recorded-gumbo-an-album-that-was-both-a-tribute-to-and-my/) [Dr. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) [Explore all 48 Dr. John quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/) ## More Fingers quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [Yes yes you can count on me - Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/yes-yes-you-can-count-on-me-fingers/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Sam reached his hand toward mine and I automatically put my fingers in his. With a guilty little smile he pulled my hand toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-reached-his-hand-toward-mine-and-i-automatically-put-my-fingers/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/) [Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/) > [The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/the-world-belongs-to-those-who-think-and-act-with-it-who-keep-a/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-guderian/you-hit-somebody-with-your-fist-and-not-with-your-fingers-spread/) [Heinz Guderian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-guderian/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [Some people are born skinny, and that's just the way it is. You can't point a finger at them and say they're ill or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/some-people-are-born-skinny-and-that-s-just-the-way-it-is-you-can-t/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) Browse all 2,537 Fingers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician back in the 50s, and then got shot in my finger.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dr. John" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a-studio-musician-back-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fingers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a-studio-musician-back-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/dr-john-13961_fingers_i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a_2454448.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I started out with the guitar and was a studio musician back in the 50s, and then got shot in my finger.” — Dr. John", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dr. John", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-john/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I started out with the guitar...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a-studio-musician-back-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-john/i-started-out-with-the-guitar-and-was-a-studio-musician-back-in-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```