How serious are you about guitar playing?

[Robert]

I talked to a friend recently about this. When I was a teenager, I was very serious about guitar, and full of ambition. Practiced for hours every day. Then I came to the conclusion I was not getting as good as I wanted to be. Bummed me out for a while, but I focused on getting a university degree and became a serious runner instead. More or less quit playing for a few years.

Then I rediscovered the guitar again. I realized I don't have to be the best. I just enjoy playing, and I do think I play better now because I'm more relaxed and I have removed a lot of that pressure on myself. I have developed a way of playing that suits me, and even though I get bored with my own playing from time to time, I find ways around that by listening to a wide variety of music.

So, I guess I'm saying that I'm not so serious about guitar playing any more. I do try to play as good as possible, but it's easy to get sloppy and lazy when you don't have the pressure of upcoming gigs.

How serious are you?

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I guess I am more serious (in the sense of desiring improvement) than I have time for, but that is largely because I am on the front end of the learning curve. I would love to play out regularly, and really shine, but I can only be really good at a limited number of things, so I have to have patience.

 

[Spudman]

I'm not serious about guitar playing. I'm serious about the music.

Guitar playing doesn't stir people's souls. Music does.

At one point I was serious (like you Roberto) and practiced a bunch. Got that out of the way and now I want and try to create a vibe, a sound, an emotion with the music and what I can pull off on the guitar. I'm not motivated enough to sit around for hours trying to become Yngwie. I'd rather just be me and use my limited vocabulary to get my point across and make myself happy.

 

[Andy]

I'm pretty serious about it, it's a big part of my life,
I still play ocasional gigs, bring the flat-top to guitar pulls . sit around and play blues , learn and practice new riffs. and I got a studio gig last week that was fun,,for a female duo recording a demo.

I also got an offer from a local cover band to do gigs twice a month at some local club.(mostly classic rock).I heard the singer is like the band 'ruler' but heck twice a month should be tolerable.

I'm like most guys here ,a feel player at heart, I can't change that ,it's just what comes out

but lately I'm wanting to go back in time a little ,push the technical side a little harder, I guess you could say a little more into the yngwie zone.
back in the 80's I was in(or near) that zone, but I eventually got away from the faster technical stuff. I'm wanting to gain back some of that ability.
It sure has been taking a lot of practice time tho..

as long as I'm enjoying it , I'll keep going.( I have to> I just bought annother guitar !)

 

[Ch0jin]

I'd say I'm in the same area as Robert. I'll add that for me, electronics has always been a passion as well as music, so when the guitar playing bug recedes i'm usually then all about building gadgets which often end up being guitar related (FX and amps etc) and thus the circle of fifths...err life is complete

Spudman Hell yeah man. If this was a written exam I'd have just graded you 10/10 for that answer

Believe it or not I feel the same way about photography, and especially (ironically) both combat journalism and live music photography. I'd say I feel the same way about music too (and I do) but given my ability, I'm less about taking the listener on an emotional and auditory journey than I am about just not screwing up

 

[SuperSwede]

Not very serious at all, I was just like Robert very devoted to the guitar but finally got "burned out" playing request songs at local bars and restaurants.

The guitar rested for a couple of years in a case before I finally sold it..

One day I was surfing the web and came upon a little website where a fellow Swede living i Canada was having a great time with a cheap Squier Tele and a Vox amp...

I decided that it was time to get a guitar again, and I joined this site and bought a Telecaster

 

[R_of_G]

I'm not at all serious about it with respect to having any ambition to play professionally in any sense of the word. I am serious about constantly improving my playing, but my sole reason for playing is my own enjoyment. My only real goal outside of my own enjoyment is to be able to teach my daughter to play when she's old enough and if she wants to learn.

 

[Robert]

Spudman gets an extra bonus guitar for that answer. :thwap:

I must admit I am not really thinking about, or being focused on, the guitar playing aspect itself. Like Spuddie, I am all for the music. I try to play anything that sounds good and comes from within. I'm just trying to create music. I tried playing in a heavy rock band a while ago, but it wasn't me - I could make it sound as aggressively as they wanted. I'm too mellow!

I am also an improviser at heart. I want to constantly explore and improvise and find new ways. Very structured playing tends to bore me.

 

[Andy]

I get the opinion from this posting that either your a play by heart/feel player or a technical player, and theres no way to be both to some degree....?

 

[Robert]

Andy, I don't know why you are getting that idea. There are no rules - people do what they do. I think any combination of play by heart/feel and technique is possible - they are not mutually exclusive at all.

 

[marnold]

Due to the nature of my profession, it's hard for me to develop a steady practice regimen. I really don't have a set schedule and what is set can change at a moment's notice. I play just for something different to do and because I want to. I'll probably never play in public again--or at least it's unlikely. My main problem is that in my heart of hearts I'd love to be a shredder but I lack the time and (more importantly) the discipline necessary.

 

[sumitomo]

I have always just played for my own personal pleasure.I do not have a lot of time to practice,and just noodle with the blues.It makes me feel good when I play and that is why I do it.Sumi

 

[Plank_Spanker]

So, I guess I'm saying that I'm not so serious about guitar playing any more. I do try to play as good as possible, but it's easy to get sloppy and lazy when you don't have the pressure of upcoming gigs.

I'm right where you're at, Robert. Playing guitar is fun for me, not a serious deal. I enjoy playing with the band and it keeps my chops sharp.

 

[k5koy]

Great question Rob!
Me? Im am deadly serious about it. But not for the reasons you might think.
I was an old fart when a buddy of mine suggested I get a bass and take a few lessons so we could play together. I did so, and havent looked back. Now a few years later, its really all I have any emotion about at all. Guess I am hardened from 34 years dealing with the public in the jewelry business! Anyway, I have no aspirations of being a "star" I have never even played a single song in front of any sized audience with an exception of a few friends I jam with from time to time. Nor do I even want to. I play music for me. Until just a few weeks ago, I did not know a single popular song. I mostly just play my own stuff. Give me a drum machine, a bass, a guitar and a recording/mixing device, and I can give you a song! I just love to create something from nothing.
Its just therapy for me. I will play as long as I am physically able or until I am no longer able to improve. Thats my take.

Koy Carson
West Texas

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**Carvin AC175 Thinline Acoustic
**Ibanez EW20ZW Electric/Acoustic
**Arbor AJ145CR Jazz
**Fender Marcus Miller 5 String Bass
**Fender Geddy Lee Signature Bass
**Warwick Corvette 4 string Bass
**Tradition Fretless Bass
**Takamine Hollow body Bass
**Digitech JamMan

http://www.myspace.com/k5koy

The "PickPocket" The ORIGINAL Guitar Accessory

 

[Glacies]

Not sure how to answer. I'm serious in the way that if I can, I practice everyday and I really enjoy it. I've been picking up extra material on top of my lessons and I really want to understand the guitar, but last night I got into the world series and didn't get my full practice time in and so far I haven't bankrupted myself on GAS.

 

[stingx]

I don't think I can be as serious as I would like at this point in my life. To me "serious" means pumping everything into something. Between my family life and career this is simply not something I can even possibly entertain at this point in time. I, like many here posted, used to play for hours a day. If I can get in a few hours a week now days that is a lot. I also try to do too many things at once. I got very heavily into home recording from the early 2000s to about last year when it began to wane. It made me forcus even more on my playing as nothing exposes you more than listening to yourself. It got to the point that I would redo tracks for hours and still not be satisfied. This would, of course, take away time from my wife and now that we have a child I really cannot invest the proper time into this.

I do have the time to play in a band and rehearse once a week for a couple of hours and play the occasional monthly gig or two. That's perfect enough to still get my enjoyment, not become too stale, and still leave plenty of time for other aspects of my life.

 

[M29]

I am serious and practice a lot. My main goal is to be able to jam with others. I want to be able to just set in anywhere and jam. I played drums for a good portion of my life and have not now for 20 years but I want to get to a point that I can have fun jamming with others. I don't have the confidence or experience yet to really express my self fully but I am working hard on it. I mentioned before that some band mates and I used to go to Chicago from home here to visit other friends that used to be in a band with us. We would rent a warehouse for the weekend and jam the whole time, at great volumes I might ad. We would go out for food and refreshments and I would come home with blisters on my fingers from all the jamming we did. That was some of the greatest times for me with music, better than the clubs. What I liked was we would start off on a jam and as we went on someone would influence a change and we would go that way for a while and then off another direction. That feeling of being a part of a movement in music was the greatest.
This is where I want to get to on the guitar. I have been playing for a while now and I am not where I want to be but I am making progress and that keeps me going. I think it would be good if I could find some guys to jam with but they are tough to find out of the city where I live. Oh I miss those jams. I just love the feel of making up a lead that sounds awesome I just need to get more fluid with it.:rockon:

M

 

[jpfeifer]

When I first started playing I used to practice religiously. I was putting in 6 hours a day at one time (back when I had time to do that). I was hoping to be a professional player one day and I wanted to be a studio musician so I was really working hard on that.

But I started wondering if music was the right career for me after I met more people who were doing it. Everyone was warning me how hard it was to make a living at it and encouraged me to find another occupation if I could, and use music as a hobby rather than a job. I saw what it was like to struggle to make ends meet since my own father was in a job that suffered the ups/downs of the local economy. I didn't want to live with this kind of financial worry and I saw that it would be much the same if I tried to rely on music for a living.

I majored in engineering in college but still kept up my practicing as much as I could, which was only about 1 hour a day.

These days I'm less serious about holding onto the idea of making a living playing music, but I use it as my mental therapy from my day job I don't practice daily anymore since I just don't have the time with job and family obligations. But I'm still a serious guitar player. However, I'm having more fun with guitar now than I ever did. I finally quit putting myself under so much pressure to be the best I could be, and just accepted that I only have so many hours in a day and should play music for the love of it rather than always monitoring myself on whether or not I was improving.

-- Jim

 

[kiteman]

I pretend I'm a rock star. :rockon:


Really, I just like to play guitar. What can be more fun than that?

 

[Jimi75]

Through the years I learned that you do not have to be the best to be successful or to enjoy your playing. It's not the guitarplaying itself like already stated in this thread, it is how serious you take the music you play. When I was young I was practicing several hours a day, I wanted to go to G.I.T. or even apply for a Berklee stipendium. I wasn't focused enough, although playing guitar was all I did when I was aroung 16-18.

Nowadays, I do not have the guts to open a guitar school - am not much open minded about risky business.

Music is my life, there's no doubt and picking up the guitar once a day is a must and it is my therapy - getting lost in the Blues! Playing guitar is not a hobby it is my passion, my life elixir when I am down. Music opened so many doors to me so how couldn't I take my playing for serious then?

 

[just strum]

It's therapy, a serious therapy - an outlet/release. I love playing, buying, selling, listening to, looking at guitars.

I have fun.

 

[warren0728]

i seriously love guitar....i only play for fun and will probably never make a penny playing....i love all aspects of guitar....playing, getting new gear, cool people i've met that share my love, etc.

now if i could just decide on a good route to take to improve....right now i'm just trying to learn complete songs to play for friends....

ww

 

[Algonquin]

i seriously love guitar....i only play for fun and will probably never make a penny playing....i love all aspects of guitar....playing, getting new gear, cool people i've met that share my love, etc.

ww

+1 :AOK:

 

[sunvalleylaw]

+1 :AOK:

I am there too, but am serious enough to invest in lessons, and try to carve out time to improve. The problem I have is I did not go at it hard in my youth like Spud, Robert, StingX, etc. so my progress is not as quick as I would like. I am on the front end of the learning curve, and though I feel I am doing pretty well for a guy that picked it up on a regular basis 2.5 yrs ago or so, I have some basic hurdles to clear that will help me express myself and enjoy it so much more. (EDIT: BTW, it is my 2 yr. fret membership anniversary this month. Thanks everyone!)

Specifically, a better, more solid fretboard understanding where I don't have to look and use my brain to figure out where I am on the fretboard (for instance knowing all my notes on the 5th and 6th strings, and understanding some relationships between those notes and others, and knowing my modes and scales, and a good selection of chords), and better control overall including strumming, muting, bending, sliding, etc. So I guess I want to be serious enough to get over those hurdles, but it has to be done within the constraints of family life, making a living, and my other outdoor pursuits. I do it for the enjoyment of it though, and while it would be cool to get paid something, even free beer for the night, that is not a huge goal.

 

[kiteman]

i seriously love guitar....i only play for fun and will probably never make a penny playing....i love all aspects of guitar....playing, getting new gear, cool people i've met that share my love, etc.

now if i could just decide on a good route to take to improve....right now i'm just trying to learn complete songs to play for friends....

ww

+2 :AOK:

I like everything about guitars, they're intoxicating.

 

[stingx]

I think I will get an Ibanez 8-string for myself. That will really challenge me. :beer:

 

[warren0728]

Specifically, a better, more solid fretboard understanding where I have to look and use my brain to figure out where I am on the fretboard (for instance knowing all my notes on the 5th and 6th strings, and understanding some relationships between those notes and others, and knowing my modes and scales, and a good selection of chords), and better control overall including strumming, muting, bending, sliding, etc.

same here....in combination with playing complete songs....so i can impress the ladies! ancake: :beer: if i can get one to hang around long enough to hear me play! :thwap: :rotflmao:

ww

 

[ted s]

I echo Warren, I'll NEVER make money at it. I play for fun and mental exercise.
I used to get really bummed if I wasn't making big forward movement.
Now I just remind myself that it is for my enjoyment, I'll probably never play like SRV, Clapton and the like, and that I have what ever time I have left on this planet to carry this obsession.
..
..
..
Any buying gear that doesn't make me play better :thwap: is fun too.

 

[hubberjub]

If I could make enough money playing the guitar to support my guitar buying habbits life would be perfect.

 

[Spudman]

same here....in combination with playing complete songs....so i can impress the ladies! ancake: :beer: if i can get one to hang around long enough to hear me play! :thwap: :rotflmao:

ww

Two words amigo - duct tape.