Don Felder's Music Education

Don Felder of The Eagles: I started (playing music) at 10 years old. Learned by ear. Never had guitar lessons or music lessons. Developed all the skills of playing guitar, writing, arranging, producing in a studio.

I worked in a recording studio in Boston for two years, five days a week, making $50 a week. I was playing session guitar. I was engineering. I was producing vocals. I was writing charts for strings and horns that would come in and be overdubbed. I was mixing. I learned how to make records on an eight-track machine. This was probably about 1970 / 1971.

I developed a lot of nylon string guitar skills playing in the Holiday Inn in Harvard Square. People would be having their dinner. Some guy would come over and say, “It's our anniversary. Can you play ‘The Shadow of Your Smile’? It's my wife's favorite.”

I'd say, “Yeah. I'll come right back after my next break and play it for you.”

I would go into my dressing room, which was the kitchen, and figure out how to play “The Shadow of Your Smile.”