Author Topic: Throwing in the towel  (Read 97983 times)

Rider

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #195 on: March 25, 2019, 05:41:43 PM »
I bought a New Guild F 20 NT in 1968. $175 from a shop in Goleta. Still plays great. If you find friends who are BETTER than you, it really helps.

eastbound

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #196 on: March 25, 2019, 05:56:30 PM »
so key to be on learning curves

and to jump on new ones

ill never again get near being the skier/climber i was at 25, but i continually improve and accumulate new chops ten years in playing my drums
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Rider

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #197 on: March 25, 2019, 06:08:16 PM »
From the land of sky blue waters, Hamms the beer refreshing. Hamms......

Admin

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #198 on: March 26, 2019, 05:30:31 AM »
so key to be on learning curves

and to jump on new ones

ill never again get near being the skier/climber i was at 25, but i continually improve and accumulate new chops ten years in playing my drums

I agree with that 100%.  That progress, that building process, is so powerful.  Even if the progress seems to move at the speed of continental drift.  Learning an instrument or a new instrument (if it appeals to you) is amazing because the subject is infinite and while there is some physicality, the knowledge component is dominant.  There are days when I wish I had started playing earlier, but in reality younger me would have not have had the patience for it.  I am also grateful to have something this fresh and exciting right now. 

stoneaxe

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #199 on: March 26, 2019, 06:21:44 AM »
Off and on for decades. But usually no more than a few months of near daily practice. I do have more trouble with mechanics of string instruments now as arthritis has become an issue, but my real frustration is with not being able to learn to play without music or some instructions (like "12 bar in E").  I still mess around with keyboard, which I have the longest history with, as I do a little better, not as bothered my arthritis and can have fun with computer based synthesizers.

I hear you.  I am 15 months in and completely addicted.  Getting started is so hard because it takes a while to get down enough basics to even begin feeling any progress.  This is true of everyone.  But it is worth it.  Eric Clapton quit guitar twice in frustration early on.  Jimi Hendricks is famously quoted as saying, "Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar, but if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded."  Listen to Mark Knopfler talk about his early experiences below.  These are players who are regarded now as the best.  No one gets it easy.  The hardest part is not discouraging yourself.  If you keep with it you will improve and you will become accomplished and after that, talented :).  There are some really funny videos out there.  Search for my fingers/hands are (too old, too fat, too big, too small, too...) on YouTube.  Good stuff.  The answer is, they are not.  But it is so hard at first that it seems like they must be.  I guarantee you can play a solid 12 bar blues if that is your goal.

The free information online is nothing short of spectacular.  Everything you need is there. 

Aristotle:  "for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them"
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG__SwkV3wg&t=263s

This gives me hope.....a little anyway.
Bob

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Bean

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #200 on: March 26, 2019, 06:30:55 AM »
As with so many things worth pursuing, I find with the guitar (and Uke), that I hit plateaus.  Over thirty years in, I'm still playing at what many would consider a beginner level.  Last year I decided to learn some fingerstyle (Travis) picking.  It took me several months to get just two songs under my belt, (Guaranteed and Just Breathe).  The breakthrough was unbelievably gratifying.  The singing, well that's a work in progress.

The cool thing about guitar, or most instruments, is that you can play well into your twilight years.

I'm hoping to get together with Marc (Surfercook) this spring to do a little jammin'.

spirit4earth

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #201 on: March 26, 2019, 06:44:47 AM »
so key to be on learning curves

and to jump on new ones

ill never again get near being the skier/climber i was at 25, but i continually improve and accumulate new chops ten years in playing my drums


+1 on the drums!

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #202 on: March 26, 2019, 09:12:15 AM »
The breakthrough was unbelievably gratifying. 

Hah!  Amazing.  I was pretty well convinced that my hands would never make basic barre chords (I actually viewed them as a well executed hoax for some time).  I started trying in my first few months and it was at least 6 months before they were not pure "squonk".  It was really a full year before I could use them.  But, the elation when it finally worked was over the top.  I also was not sure that rhythm or timing could be learned, but sure enough.  I feel improvement, however gradual, all the time. 

Along with the plateaus come these revelations or breakout moments where a new understanding opens up.  How thrilling is that?  I am a few months into the CAGED process and holy shit.  I feel like I am visiting new planets every day.

RideTheGlide

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #203 on: March 26, 2019, 09:38:36 AM »
Ride,

It sounds like you were advancing really well.  It is a very tall order to be improvising after a few months (or a few stretches of a few months).  I can't imagine anyone really feeling comfortable enough moving around in the scale shapes (or even knowing them) enough to improvise that quickly.  Even linking common licks on demand is super impressive in that time frame.  It sounds like you were transitioning some chords well enough to play with others which is great.  If you still have interest there it might be worth another go.  Disregard if you are happily past it :).

I am not sure I am "happily" past it, but past it. It was several stints of several months across many years on string instruments, mostly guitar and variants (bass and uke). Actually, the "dad jam" time frame was probably over a year of regular playing. I could play clean chords, both barre and open. I know a fair amount of theory, read sheet music and can transpose. I could run up and down the major, minor, blues and pentatonic scales in any key. My arpeggio were not great but I could manage. But I could not pick which variation of an arpeggio would sound best or add in runs or other ornamentation that sounded good. All I could do was play like a robot and just an okay one. I found that frustrating.

EDIT - I did recently help one of my kids who is taking up the bass and arthritis does make it significantly more difficult to play more than just a few minutes at a time. Doesn't bother me near as much playing keyboard.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2019, 09:49:49 AM by RideTheGlide »
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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #204 on: March 26, 2019, 10:04:40 AM »
Ride,

It sounds like you were advancing really well.  It is a very tall order to be improvising after a few months (or a few stretches of a few months).  I can't imagine anyone really feeling comfortable enough moving around in the scale shapes (or even knowing them) enough to improvise that quickly.  Even linking common licks on demand is super impressive in that time frame.  It sounds like you were transitioning some chords well enough to play with others which is great.  If you still have interest there it might be worth another go.  Disregard if you are happily past it :).

I am not sure I am "happily" past it, but past it. It was several stints of several months across many years on string instruments, mostly guitar and variants (bass and uke). Actually, the "dad jam" time frame was probably over a year of regular playing. I could play clean chords, both barre and open. I know a fair amount of theory, read sheet music and can transpose. I could run up and down the major, minor, blues and pentatonic scales in any key. My arpeggio were not great but I could manage. But I could not pick which variation of an arpeggio would sound best or add in runs or other ornamentation that sounded good. All I could do was play like a robot and just an okay one. I found that frustrating.

EDIT - I did recently help one of my kids who is taking up the bass and arthritis does make it significantly more difficult to play more than just a few minutes at a time. Doesn't bother me near as much playing keyboard.

Got it.  It does sound like you were doing really well, though.  One hard part mentally is fighting comparison.  Music is an infinite pursuit.  Comparing to the fraction of what we have learned to the infinite is not a great motivator.  Compared, however, to our own past abilities (or lack thereof), now that is a more gratifying percentage.  It sounds like you set some very high, relatively short term goals.  Following chord changes spontaneously in solos would require you to have internalized a heap of information.   It is advanced to break away from sounding scalar. It is a longer term goal of mine as well.  First I want to sound better scalar :).  Keyboard is, of course, awesome if that is where your stoke is. 
« Last Edit: March 26, 2019, 10:13:20 AM by Admin »

TallDude

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #205 on: March 26, 2019, 10:22:34 AM »
I've let my one time love for playing music slip away. I was an odd band geek with a skateboard under foot and sand in my car. I played in the drum line and jazz band. Even a percussionist in the pit orchestra at my college plays. The piano became my passion in college. I soon combined my programming and computer building skills with music and built one of the first midi computer home studios. An over-clocked 8088 4.7 MHz and the first Roland Midi interface. I played keyboards in a top forty band an I dragged that computer with an Amber monitor to every gig so I could sequence all the horn and mallet parts of Oingo Boingo, the Cars, T-Heads etc. Floppy to boot, floppy to load the program, and floppy the load each sequence between songs. People had never seen that in 1981. We were playing a gig one time, covering and English Beat song and Dave Wakeling jumps out of the audience, comes on stage and sung the song. After that, he sort of joined our band and sang his songs every time we played their. The club was right down the street from his house. Our bassist ended up touring with Dave Wakeling.
The problem was, I hated gigging, but my band couldn't get enough. The times I played drums with a Jazz quartet at the college was my favorite. That is what I miss the most. My son is now eclipsing me percussion wise, and my daughter passed me on the piano in probably the 7th grade. She a level 10 C.O.M. Classical Pianist. My baby grand became hers in the fifth grade. When I quit having to pay for kids college, I may start taking some piano lessons again? Who knows. I'm one to get good at something and then move on. I think cooking is my pending hobby?     
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eastbound

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #206 on: March 26, 2019, 11:30:06 AM »
mirror in the bathroom
recompense
for all my crimes of self defense

very cool story td--ska!

loved the eng beat--saw em at a small venue in boulder back then--skated the concrete curl skatepark there too--awesome keyhole, and a huge, scary pipe

ill take you to a restaurant
that has glass tables
you can watch yourself while you are eating

lyrics polluted by bad memory and blue hair!
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Wetstuff

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #207 on: March 26, 2019, 11:42:49 AM »
Shhheeez!  I lost about 5" in height and 20lbs of muscle mass from 'talent envy' in this thread!  I really liked the concept of 'vertical sex' with a woman, even at a young age, but I could not hold a beat for 10sec.  I could flail like I was having seizures, but not slow-dance.   C'hit!

Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #208 on: March 26, 2019, 01:11:33 PM »
I could not hold a beat for 10sec.

Most beginners want to learn lead because they think it's cool .. consequently, they never really develop good rhythm skills .. since most of a rock guitarists time is spent playing rhythm, it's important to learn to do it well .. learning lead should come after you can play solid backup and have the sound of the chords in your head
Eddie Van Halen

Obviously you have to have rhythm. If you have rhythm, then you can play anything you need. If you have rhythm and you love music, then play and play and play until you get to where you want to get. If you can pay the rent, great. If you can't, then you'd better be having fun.
Eddie Van Halen


Dusk Patrol

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Re: Throwing in the towel
« Reply #209 on: March 26, 2019, 09:50:23 PM »
R.I.P. Ranking Roger... jeez
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