Playing Music/Instruments

[Rohini]

So, I recently picked up an acoustic guitar again. I played when I was a kid, then stopped.

Something kicked up in my spirit a few months ago, and just made me want to re-learn how to play again. Music is one form of a creative expression outlet that I use in which helps deal with the woes of life. But boy do you suck at first, when you are rusty from years of not practicing.

Anyway...
then I also picked up an acoustic-electric bass. Never tried bass before in my life, so it's been fun. I really **prefer singing over playing.. but it's nice to strum the acoustic whilst singing.. helps sharpen that coordination.

Do you play anything? and if so, what?

 

[TheSkaFish]

I've played guitar - mostly electric, I like amps/distortion - on and off for a while.

I have several false starts because I always have that voice in my head, that feeling, saying, "who am I kidding, I'll never be able to do this, I'll never get anywhere, I'll never be able to get past 'just OK' at best if I can even improve at all, I'll never be able to get original ideas, I'm too old, no one started at my age and became great, I probably wasn't born with the genes/talent/potential/capacity to improve/unconventional enough mind, I'm wasting my time, don't have any business trying this, etc."

As in everything, I'm always waiting for the shoe to drop, when I won't be able to progress anymore. The more I think about it, the more I realize this has been what's put me off trying to learn skills my entire life - whether it's sports, art forms, academic subjects, mechanical pursuits, computers, etc. - thinking that I wasn't born with it, don't have the genetic talent and therefore can't ever get good at it, because I thought if I was, I would know because it would be natural and easy, but because it's hard and awkward instead, I figured that I was trying to do something that's "not for me".

 

[Rohini]

hen I won't be able to progress anymore. The more I think about it, the more I realize this has been what's put me off trying to learn skills my entire life - whether it's sports, art forms, academic subjects, mechanical pursuits, computers, etc. - thinking that I wasn't born with it, don't have the genetic talent

Practice makes perfect.
The more you practice anything, the better you become...
Relentlessly practicing will make anyone become good at what they achieve to do.
I'm a perfectionist, so I can also relate on wanting to throw the guitar down like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum when I don't progess "fast enough" but I know I need to maintain the patience - that I wasn't born with - if I want to progess at anything.

 

[4No1]

Acoustic guitar, but you can harldy call it play. I'm trying to learn ) It's my dream to play good, but I've been trying to learn for ages and still don't play good. I put up wit the idea that I'll never play or sing normal enough, I don't care anymore and just play because I like it, just try to prevent other people from hearing.
Also I've tried an ukulele when I traveled and couldn't take a guitar, but a guitar is better. And I have a synthesizer(I bought it for a kid long ago), I like to sing, but it's horrible too, so sometimes I practise with a synthesizer.

 

[randomguy]

I strum a few chords on guitar. I'm teaching myself how to play the sitar at the moment and cultivating a huge callous on my thumb, the only digit I don't have a callous on already.

 

[Claudia1794]

That's really cool. I love hearing that. Ive always been around artistic people. Some of my best memories are just sitting around listening to people play and sing. I can play piano a bit and guitar a bit less. Wow, I just had a flash of my son and his dad playing together Christmas night out by the fire pit. That was when things were still good with them. Its extremely satisfying to watch someone doing something they are passionate about. And Oh my goodness the random pieces of paper, or notebooks, and the pics everywhere and cables and amps and oh my....accidentally throwing away some strings...totally worth it to hear at all hours someone expressing something they felt or thought.

 

[Rohini]

Some of my best memories are just sitting around listening to people play and sing. I can play piano a bit and guitar a bit less. Wow, I just had a flash of my son and his dad playing together Christmas night out by the fire pit.

there is nothing cozier to me than playing the acoustic around a fire pit at night. I love that..
great memories indeed.. the fondest memories of mine were always the simplest..

 

[Claudia1794]

there is nothing cozier to me than playing the acoustic around a fire pit at night. I love that..
great memories indeed.. the fondest memories of mine were always the simplest..

Ditto

 

[4No1]

I always have that voice in my head, that feeling, saying, "who am I kidding, I'll never be able to do this, I'll never get anywhere, I'll never be able to get past 'just OK' at best if I can even improve at all, I'll never be able to get original ideas, I'm too old, no one started at my age and became great, I probably wasn't born with the genes/talent/potential/capacity to improve/unconventional enough mind, I'm wasting my time, don't have any business trying this, etc."

I also have such the voice, I just play louder so I can't hear it try to ignore it and remember I don't need to be great, I just want to have some fun(sometimes it doesn't help though). Hope you'll manage your voice.

 

[NoxApex(N/A)]

I played bass for 17 years.
Still have my ESP LTD B-206SM 6-String Bass in a case.
Haven't touched it in about 3 years though.
Don't have an amp or my pedals anymore, sold them a while ago to buy this ASUS Scar-15 laptop that I'm ironically typing this response on. lol.
Thought crosses my mind every now and then to play again, I definitely do miss it, bbbuuutttt I don't know if I can bring myself to again.
My dilemma is that what I wanted to do with music doesn't make any money, but also I've found several other therapeutic outsources for my creativity outside of just the one medium that I had before.
It definitely caused an identity crisis in me for a while until I adjusted to it and got used to not playing.
My comprehension hasn't changed, just my body is out of it. lol.
The professional side of it I think was a bit much for me.
On top of that I learned in trying so that music professionally is a very social business, and I'm a very antisocial person. Of course I miss it, but I can also see why I don't really fit in it like that anymore.
The final thing I think that made me quit was that both of the men who helped teach me everything I know about playing music and music theory are now dead, as are most of my previously-living inspirations.
I think, with enough time, I'll eventually get back to it for personal reasons.
I'm just not satisfied enough yet with my life to be able to do that.

 

[Rohini]

I've played guitar - mostly electric, I like amps/distortion - on and off for a while.

I have several false starts because I always have that voice in my head, that feeling, saying, "who am I kidding, I'll never be able to do this, I'll never get anywhere, I'll never be able to get past 'just OK' at best if I can even improve at all, I'll never be able to get original ideas, I'm too old, no one started at my age and became great, I probably wasn't born with the genes/talent/potential/capacity to improve/unconventional enough mind, I'm wasting my time, don't have any business trying this, etc."

As in everything, I'm always waiting for the shoe to drop, when I won't be able to progress anymore. The more I think about it, the more I realize this has been what's put me off trying to learn skills my entire life - whether it's sports, art forms, academic subjects, mechanical pursuits, computers, etc. - thinking that I wasn't born with it, don't have the genetic talent and therefore can't ever get good at it, because I thought if I was, I would know because it would be natural and easy, but because it's hard and awkward instead, I figured that I was trying to do something that's "not for me".

Also, I love Ska. Grew up in the local scene going to punk/ska shows every weekend. Luckily we had a scene, some places have nothing.. luckily NYC was just a hop, skip and jump away as well.

The people closest to me now hate ska, can't understand it for the life of me.. the horns and uppity nature of Ska always puts me in a better mood.. always

 

[Rohini]

The final thing I think that made me quit was that both of the men who helped teach me everything I know about playing music and music theory are now dead

Ah yeah. That would put a fork in it for me, most likely if I had teachers like that.
But, then again, I am very resilient - I may stop for years - but I will always go back to what once brought me joy.

Guess it's the Scorpio rising in me. heh

 

[dan27]

Guitarist here. Practice makes progress.
Simple songs & chords make learning fun.
YouTube has lessons for every song out there.
Music is a way of life...once you get into it.

 

[NoxApex(N/A)]

Ah yeah. That would put a fork in it for me, most likely if I had teachers like that.
But, then again, I am very resilient - I may stop for years - but I will always go back to what once brought me joy.

Guess it's the Scorpio rising in me. heh

One of them died the year after he taught me. The other died about 2 years ago.
And MOST of my previously-living musical influences have now since died.
So it became this weird identity thing where I ended up kind of mentally stuck between the artist aspect of it and the business aspect of it.
And the thing about that is that what I wanted to artistically do with music, doesn't make any business sense, because it doesn't sell, and even in the varieties of live promotion work for shows like that, there still isn't any money and it's more trouble than it's worth from a proper business perspective.
That's the trouble I had, the advanced artist side of my brain, and the advanced business side of my brain, came to the conclusion that what I wanted isn't realistically possible in this day and age, and it would've been a very niche thing in the early to middle 90s, and even then, still never really caught on much here in America.
I don't want to say that I "outgrew it," because I really don't agree with the undertones of how that term gets used in particular with creative outlets, but I had to do something so I just started focusing more on trying to better shape a direction for my life other than blind expressive creativity.
So I started applying my creativity into my day job, and into money saving tricks, and so on and so forth to help improve my quality of life some.
I am glad however, that I was able to stop my heavy drinking around the same years that I stopped playing as much.
The world of drugs and alcohol is kind of hand-in-hand with the world of rock n' roll.
It's fine when you're in your 20s, but as you get up to 30+ it's not as awesome anymore.
I *had* to restructure myself, was the thing. For both my mental and my physical health.
Alexi Laiho was a **** amazing guitarist, and I was pretty sad when he died because listening to him talk in interviews about fighting to come to sobriety was kind of influential to me to stop drinking as much as I was.

 

[Rohini]

One of them died the year after he taught me. The other died about 2 years ago.
And MOST of my previously-living musical influences have now since died.
So it became this weird identity thing where I ended up kind of mentally stuck between the artist aspect of it and the business aspect of it.
And the thing about that is that what I wanted to artistically do with music, doesn't make any business sense, because it doesn't sell, and even in the varieties of live promotion work for shows like that, there still isn't any money and it's more trouble than it's worth from a proper business perspective.
That's the trouble I had, the advanced artist side of my brain, and the advanced business side of my brain, came to the conclusion that what I wanted isn't realistically possible in this day and age, and it would've been a very niche thing in the early to middle 90s, and even then, still never really caught on much here in America.
I don't want to say that I "outgrew it," because I really don't agree with the undertones of how that term gets used in particular with creative outlets, but I had to do something so I just started focusing more on trying to better shape a direction for my life other than blind expressive creativity.
So I started applying my creativity into my day job, and into money saving tricks, and so on and so forth to help improve my quality of life some.
I am glad however, that I was able to stop my heavy drinking around the same years that I stopped playing as much.
The world of drugs and alcohol is kind of hand-in-hand with the world of rock n' roll.
It's fine when you're in your 20s, but as you get up to 30+ it's not as awesome anymore.
I *had* to restructure myself, was the thing. For both my mental and my physical health.
Alexi Laiho was a **** amazing guitarist, and I was pretty sad when he died because listening to him talk in interviews about fighting to come to sobriety was kind of influential to me to stop drinking as much as I was.

I can understand that. Sounds like something you were very passionate about, though. I can sense the fire you had about it... and I like that! That creative fire burns...

But I also agree w/ your rationality... putting that creativity into what you have in the here and now - your current job - and improving yourself.. Life's a journey!! isn't it?

anddd agree on the no alcohol... I don't touch alcohol, haven't since my early 20s. Personal reasons due to people in my life that have passed from these forms of addiction - a lot of alcoholics I've had in my life... so, I'm boring now. lol. I'm what they called "straight edge" in the 90's - I don't do anything.. Last habit I had was smoking cigarettes . - Quit cold turkey 7 yrs ago now..and I smoked A LOT before I quit. . it was the last bad habit to go... like they say, old habits die hard ..

But the fact that you saw you had to transform your life shows your maturity - you saw what needed fixing.. so many people just continue to go about their life all willy-nilly.. you sound like you're on the right path!

Sorry I strayed a bit here and rambled off...

 

[Punisher]

I am getting a drum set soon.

 

[user 135067]

I can't even play the radio. It's always disappointed me that music wasn't one of my talents.

 

[Claudia1794]

I can't even play the radio. It's always disappointed me that music wasn't one of my talents.

 

[Claudia1794]

That was a cute one

 

[user 135067]

Im sorry...not sorry. I think I might watch Breaking Bad now.

Awesome show. I've seen it four times.