9 years of wasted time?

[kmanick]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Geeez that might be another wasted year waiting for those guys [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

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Geeez that might be another wasted year waiting for those guys

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[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

But on the other hand, if that were true, I would've turned into a dynamite player from 1996-2000. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Look, thanks for listening to my self persecuting attitude today. I'm gonna go over to my little corner (sitting, hands in lap, with my bottom lip jutting out) and wait this thing out.

What's another nine years?

If Red Sox fans can do it, so can I. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[JacksonConcept]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Don't get down on yourself...I've been playing for 18 years and I really don't play that much better than I did 10 years ago. I'm good at playing 80's metal style stuff/covers mostly......I don't sit and practice for hours every night like I did in the beginning so thats why I don't improve at a faster level... but I still play and record cover songs at home on my PC which I enjoy immensely.

There's alot of wannabe players who can barely make a barre chord so I consider myself fortunate to have the skills I have. Hell, It ain't a career! Cheer up and start playing again.

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Your right, but I have been puttng in the time, with the intention of getting better. Although its not a career, it does take up a lot of off-career time. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[petedz]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Late to the thread, but...

Something I've noticed consistently with my playing is that if I take a month off, feel better about playing when I pick it up again. I don't understand it, but it's like while I'm not playing, my brain makes a bunch of connections. When I start up again, I have new ideas. If I just keep hammering at it, I end up in a rut. FWIW...

[Reverend Timmy]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

I do what Newc does when I get in a rut with the guitar. I'll play bass for a while or jump on my son's drumkit.Something to break up the feeling that the guitar has become a job.What made you want to play the guitar to begin with,Don? I have learned to make it fun and enjoy what I can play and not worry about what I can't.If what I can't play moves me enough,I'll learn it and enjoy it!.....

[Immortal]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Lemme answer the first post.

I was young and stupid. In that period I was dedicated to metal music. And as a guitar player I wanted to copy every lick that like Petrucci for example played. I was doing that for a couple of years.
After some time passed, I said myself, never again. The music you like, isn't necessary the music that you play the best. So I went out of metal music spheres forever and started to listen to more alternative music. Okay, that's fine.

My point is, never stop playing, if you enjoy it. No matter what level of technique you achieve, as long as you have the right feelings while playing, that's all that matters.

I had created plenty of metal material, but when I was at it, I was always asking myself, how would some famous metal band appreciate this. If it wasn't similar to something I was listening, it just wasn't right.
Thanks to my great level of self-reflection, I came to a conclusion, that it was a pathetic act.

I started making indie/stoner music. I get ideas every time, show them to the rest of the bend and then we discuss.

I should be short ... Don't push yourself, man. You just have to love guitar playing. The technique doesn't matter!

[Ninja Guitar]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Don't worry about how good you are, dude. Don't practice and hope you'll start playing great, enjoyable music. Start playing/writing enjoyable music, and then you'll hear what you need to practice and improve on. That's much more fun.

[horns666]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

can you slap the intro to "meanstreets" with your pud..?

no , you can not...

some things worthwhile you just can't learn from a book or whatnot.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

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Something I've noticed consistently with my playing is that if I take a month off, feel better about playing when I pick it up again

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I'm doing that now, maybe not a month, but I'm giving it a rest.

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

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What made you want to play the guitar to begin with,Don? I have learned to make it fun and enjoy what I can play and not worry about what I can't

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I picked it up at 15 and played to 17, joined the Navy and dropped it til I was 36. At that time, I became a single parent raising all 3 of my sons myself and was alone. One day I was thinking about when I used to play at 15-17 age and went and picked up a cheapo Yamaha acoustic. After getting a couple of chords down, it became my new 'partner'.

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

[ QUOTE ]
My point is, never stop playing, if you enjoy it. No matter what level of technique you achieve, as long as you have the right feelings while playing, that's all that matters.


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I don't think I'll really ever stop playing. It's my self assessment that disappointed me. (Maybe it was the lithium I forgot to take [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]).

[donf]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

[ QUOTE ]
some things worthwhile you just can't learn from a book or whatnot..

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You know Bill, thats one of the things I looked at during progress thru the years.

I read a lot of articles on how people learned and one of the things I've seen a lot, was people saying they played to a cd or record (dating myself). That's one of the things I never really did. Most of my learning came from books or practicing scales, teachers, etc.

I think in the long run, it hurt, because when you get into that kind of mode, as I did, you become very mechanical, and it shows when I go into an improvise mode.

I see how important listening and playing along to a cd is now. For example, when I first started learning songs, take Margaritaville [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img], I knew the words in my head and I knew how the song went, so I just needed the correct chords. When I got the correct chords, I then sat down and learned it, but instead of listening to the cd, I came up with my own rhythm, which is not necessarily bad, but when you first start out, knowing the difference between an 8th note or a whole note is important. So, in my case, my rhythm wasn't correct. Point is, books don't tell you everything, as you mentioned, especially if you don't fully understand what their saying. Listening to the music I wanted to learn and picking it off the cd would've been more beneficial, which probably contributed to early bad habits.

[lerxstcat]

Re: 9 years of wasted time?

Good point, so why don't you start playing along with CDs NOW? I started by playing along with the records and trying by trial and error to imitate the sounds I hard. I didn't learn any theory until 8 years in. In July I will have been playing for 33 years and hear people who've been playing 10 that can smoke me. It's depressing, but when I forget about music as a competition I have fun, and most who hear me think 'm much better than I think I am.

A blind instructor can't tell you you're holding the pick wrong, so yeah, he will miss technical stuff that hurts you building speed.
After so many years you are just part of his milk route anyway, so a change will do you good. Also realize you may not be meant to be Steve Vai, but most listeners prefer Clapton or Sambora anyway. Remember that we play for listeners more than other musicians.

Don't sell off your gear though; store it away if you don't want to look at it, but you'll regret selling the stuff. Meanwhile, don't take it so seriously and try to have fun with it!