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Post by delb0y on Oct 9, 2021 10:27:47 GMT
I'm still playing, but I think the long covid break coincided with age, and pending thoughts of retirement, may well have done for me so far as gigs are concerned. I've done four or five this year and though they have all been fun once actually there and playing I haven't looked forward to any of them, and when one was cancelled I was relieved. We have two in the diary but who knows that may be it. During lockdown I quite enjoyed my playing with no pressure to get stuff gig-ready. For the first time in many years I was simply playing for myself and for the enjoyment of it.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 9, 2021 14:23:54 GMT
I honestly don't think my enthusiasm for guitar has changed this last couple of years and has been fairly constant since I stopped working in 2012 when I turned 55. Coming up with new pieces has waned over the last few months but hopefully that will come back. That doesn't concern me greatly. In fact one of my favourite compositions that I'm quite proud of, 'Ryefields' was teased out during May to August 2020 during the lockdowns when it was really quiet and peaceful whilst out walking and is probably reflected in the music.
Generally speaking I do have lulls but probably only for a few days. I don't 'play out' so no problems there 🙂
Phil
Ps starting to learn pieces using a pick/plectrum 6 months ago has helped keep my interest up too. A change is as good as a rest........
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 9, 2021 14:31:43 GMT
You’re not alone, bellyshere. The last 18 months have severely undermined my enthusiasm for many things, including the idea of performing. I’ve dropped in here from time to time, but haven’t felt like contributing much. I was still playing guitar until recently, but it was mainly noodling rather than anything focused. Then three weeks ago I ruptured my kneecap tendon, leading to surgery and now being in ankle to thigh plaster. Even if I could find a comfortable position to balance a guitar on my lap, I’m too knackered to bother. I’ve just had an invitation to do a series of videos next year for a guitar related Facebook group, and I’m torn between saying yes - to force myself to snap out of it, but at the risk of letting people down if I can’t - and just basically retiring from playing for others until the desire returns, if it ever does. Sorry for the downbeat reply. The news about Andy has cast a shadow over my mood today. Hope you recover quickly Richard and are soon out and about in your new surroundings and back on your bike again.
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Post by martinrowe on Oct 9, 2021 17:27:41 GMT
I got 'fed up' with the guitar about three years ago (I think it had something to do with not being able to get a good sound with an upstroke with the nail of my index finder on the third string in Cocaine Blues) and since then have been attempting to learn the mandolin. That turned out to be far more difficult than I expected (although the plan was to work on my weak parts, i.e. learning an instrument properly and using a plectrum, so I suppose I should have expected things not to be easy), That served as a 'wake up' call (stubbornness kept me going) and took away any false pride I had developed in being a musician - I think I started to think I was better than I was. It took me back to my usual place of - just being able to attempt doing this makes me smile.
Due to Covid there has been one practice session with the 'band' when I played mostly mandolin, a bit of slide, a bit of harmonica, a bit of second guitar, and did some singing for a day. It felt really good - surprising how Gary Davis' Hesitation Blues is still there after two years of not playing it - and that the resonator didn't feel like it was going to give me a slipped disc. Now the other member of the band has caught Covid so when the next session will be, if at all, I don't know. The practices usually go on for a day and as someone said 'are good for the soul'. There is often a point in the day when I think something like - 'there was a time when I would have bitten someone's hand off to be able to do this'.
I have a print out of Richard Paslow's Ragtime guitar book that I noticed the other day and I think a spell of learning some ragtime - nice and slow, one bar at a time, with the buzz when the bass and treble and middle bits come together, may be the next step. I like that process.
I'm now back to, 'I'm just happy to have a tiny bit of success with this stuff' - that place. I like it there.
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Post by bellyshere on Oct 9, 2021 23:08:10 GMT
Good to see I’m not the only one who stops for a bit.
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Post by Matt Milton on Oct 10, 2021 22:30:04 GMT
I got quite into contributing to this podcast every month called 'Old Tunes Fresh Takes'. Basically a different (musician) guest is invited on each month, discusses a traditional folk song with the hosts, and they invite contributions of the particular song they picked. Because they actively encourage taking a non-traditional approach, for that I've been trying to do electronic versions of trad folk songs. It's been fun getting to grips with Garageband synths and drum machines. Been using Garageband for iPHone for basic sketches and sound experimentation and then moving onto Garageband on my laptop to mix it and arrange it. I'd forgotten how much fun mucking about with synths - even software synths - can be.
But it does mean I hadn't picked up my guitar for a few months until recently - I suddenly realised I was incredibly rusty and had to relearn a lot of guitar parts.
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Post by bellyshere on Oct 16, 2021 16:51:53 GMT
Played my guitar for most of the day today. My fingers need a good half hour to warm up nowadays but it’s all there. Even wrote a few miserable tunes as usual.
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Post by papadon on Jun 25, 2022 20:08:59 GMT
At 75 it's become more and more difficult since I quit the gigs and play at home only. But recently I've begun to ponder why I first started, why I continued and why I still want to keep it up. Aside from the fact that music has always made me feel good the truth of it is that I wasn't exactly one of the most popular kids and I found that the better I got at the guitar the more attention I got and that is as well for the most part why I continued these many years. But anyone who has taken Psych 101 knows who Maslow is and his theory of "self actualization" that says that we all strive for the approval of our peers and in the end need to get over that. So why do I still do it? Because after all these years of enjoying the appreciation of drunks in low class bars I've finally come to realize that my first inclination (it makes me feel good) is and always has been all that I really need.
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Jun 25, 2022 21:17:51 GMT
But anyone who has taken Psych 101 knows who Maslow is and his theory of "self actualization" that says that we all strive for the approval of our peers and in the end need to get over that. Didn't he play Glastonbury - on the pyramid stage? I'll get me coat. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
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Post by Mike Fowler on Jul 3, 2022 18:23:20 GMT
At 75 it's become more and more difficult since I quit the gigs and play at home only. But recently I've begun to ponder why I first started, why I continued and why I still want to keep it up. Aside from the fact that music has always made me feel good the truth of it is that I wasn't exactly one of the most popular kids and I found that the better I got at the guitar the more attention I got and that is as well for the most part why I continued these many years. But anyone who has taken Psych 101 knows who Maslow is and his theory of "self actualization" that says that we all strive for the approval of our peers and in the end need to get over that. So why do I still do it? Because after all these years of enjoying the appreciation of drunks in low class bars I've finally come to realize that my first inclination (it makes me feel good) is and always has been all that I really need. Reminds me of a quote by a Stoic. "If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval,” Epictetus said, “realize that you have compromised your integrity. If you need a witness, be your own.” This thread seems to have been resurrected, but that's not a bad thing, it's interesting. Between 2013 and 2014 due to a misdiagnosed neck injury,(they thought it was tendonitis, carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, trapped ulnar nerve etc etc) I couldn't play guitar for well over a year. It affected me very deeply. I love to practice. I decided to do other things, read about music practice itself. Did a lot of research on various things. Gradually I started to play again with the help of a guy from the USA, a therapist who sent me some guides on how long to practice for. And I needed to change my posture. I had to practice for two minutes, rest for three minutes, play for two minutes, rest, and then two minutes again. It sounds crazy. Some days I got carried away and played for maybe five minutes without stopping, but then the pain would come back and my arm would be in agony for days. That was depressing. So if you can only practice for six minutes a day, in segments of two minutes, what do you practice? You've got to make those moments count. Sorry, got a big long winded there. My only point was that, even now, I really love to practice, I don't want to ever go back to not being able to, and I get very frustrated when a day goes by without any, even 20 minutes, but now, when I practice, I practice bits of phrases that I've found difficult. I've turned them into Mini exercises, measuring the speed, the accuracy etc. The lessons learned during that time when I couldn't play have stayed with me. I hope none of this was off topic. Mike
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walkingdecay
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Post by walkingdecay on Jul 6, 2022 13:09:30 GMT
I play piano most of the time these days, and Telecasters when I can be bothered to pick up a guitar at all. I suppose I've regressed. After playing mostly a Tele and the occasional folk instrument professionally I went barmy (no kidding: I'll not repeat the circumstances here again), sold, gave away or loaned my instruments and stopped playing guitar for almost twenty years. I didn't play anything other than keys until my son was born, when I went down the househusband route, and got an Ibanez Dread on impulse.
The Teles came back quite recently and I've found them a better fit than the acoustics, that somehow my fingers still "know" things from decades ago. They just seem enough now. I've got no hankering to do anything other than have a bit of a noodle on them when I feel like it.
I do know what you mean about feeling guilty to come here when you're not playing the "right" sort of instrument. That said, it's nice here, innit? Why deprive yourself?
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Post by curmudgeon on Aug 6, 2022 23:51:31 GMT
Well I’ve not been about for a while but I’m not dead, I think. It’s because I’m playing less guitar and I feel like I’ve betrayed you all. (0: I’ve been playing more piano. Don’t judge too hard. At least it’s not the drums. There are some long time players on here. So my question is, have you had periods where you played less? I’m still writing songs with my guitar but not like I was. I've certainly taken some hits recently.
In 2017, they told me I had throat and tongue cancer so that kiboshed me for about two years, just getting my voice and strngth back (hard gym work and voice retraining). I got back to performing (a bit) in late 2019, greatly supported by the boys in the band and the club regulars.
In March 2020, I had an active trio and was back to running my Acoustic Music club (which guaranteed us two gigs a month!) and a nice little circuit of solo gigs lined up from May on.
Seeing the Covid thing coming and considering the rather crowded venue of my club, I closed it down a week beofere the "Gov" told us to, thereby ruining my own birthday celebrations.
The dreads and 12 strings stayed in their cases for a loooong time.
However, I got an email from a guy in Altanta asking if I would teach him via Zoom (I'd not heard of it). Then another and another and at one tome I had a zoom client every day of the week (I could only do one a day as my voice gets tired). I tended to use my 0002h and my WL12 for the lessons, and they kept me playing!
I got a couple of Eastmans - an E20-P (size 0) and a fancy E40-00, and my tired old trigger fingers got used to light guage strings.
Late nights included a whiskey and a noodle with my old pal Rupert the Burmese/Savannah mix who would get up and sit next to me as long as I played.
Im March I finally got the two trigger fingers operated on (plus some extra work on my Dupytrens) and I was backplaying in about three weeks.
Poor not so old Rupert got sick and died in June, and now late night noodles don't seem so appealing
I re-opened my club last Autumn (if memory srrves- which it increasingly doesn't) and I hosted a Song Circle again today (Saturday), using my Collings DS1asb, and my D12-20.
My hand will hurt tomorrow, but I did it.
No full gigs on the cards and most of the clubs I used to play at have sunk.
This getting old business isn't for cissies is it?
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juliant
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Post by juliant on Aug 7, 2022 19:34:07 GMT
> This getting old business isn't for cissies is it?
It certainly isn't. Back, arthritis in the hands, hearing going. No wonder we end up stroppy old gits. The latest embuggerance (to borrow Mr Pratchett's excellent phrase) is a muscular problem in the left arm that makes it painful to hold said arm in the right position to play guitar. Off to make a physio appointment tomorrow, but at the minute lap steel (and I suppose Dobro and Weissenborn) is looking more and more attractive.
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