View Poll Results: The focus, target, ambition of your playing (treat "play close to "practice" also)
- Voters
- 19. You may not vote on this poll
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I mostly play for people, pleasing them feels as the main focus
3 15.79% -
I mostly play for people, but for my own enjoyment
4 21.05% -
I mostly play for myself, to amuse myself
7 36.84% -
I mostly play for myself, but ... (mixed feelings)
5 26.32%
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Hey.
I remember having so much fun with the guitar just with myself when started with it, as a kid.
The first real gig was crazy, adrenaline etc - outside of the music school, for normal people.
But then something strange happened. The attitude shifted from amusing myself into amusing others.
Ambitions changed and the treatment of the whole practicing/playing became something completely different.
I did notice that over the years, it was very very annoying, but couldn't do anything about it - the ambition
took over and I played less for myself and thought how to wow people instead (btw, I'm not that good at it, maybe thats my problem... probably is
)
What's your take on this kind of topic?
Ok. Poll time. Probably not a proper set of questions.. trying to keep it short.
edit: i dunno how to edit poll questions for typo/language. Should be> The focus, target, ambition of your playing (treat the word "play" close to "practice")
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09-04-2025 10:04 AM
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I haven't voted because I reject the divide that your question is posited upon. I play for myself, I am my own audience - I play for people, and I am a person.
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I play for my own enjoyment. But when I DO play for people, or even when I'm just playing w others, I want to be up to the musical situation, and the attention.
I play for myself, but if others get to hear it, it better be worth hearing
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Yeah, the vote for such matter is complicated. I hoped that the word "mostly" would take care of it... most of the time.
Originally Posted by James W
Feel free not to vote
But I am curious how people think about this issue.
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I like playing with other people, but I don't like playing for people. The only good thing for me about playing for an audience is that it makes the band focus on the music in a more structured way.
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That competitive syndrome first raised it's homely head for me when I started playing in a college big band, and we had guys like Art Pepper and Joe Williams perform with us. I noticed right off that when I assumed that attitude, (a) playing became more work than fun, and (b) I didn't play as well - you don't when you're tense. So I decided I should leave that attitude in the practice room, and temper it there too lest I slip into perfectionism, which is usually counter-productive. Originally Posted by emanresu
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- I play gigs that pay (most likely not jazz gigs, but tribute or cover bands)
- I play gigs that I enjoy
- I play alone at home, or in private situations and am satisfied.
- I play alone at home, or in private situations in preparation for more
That’s how I understand the options, which seems all encompassing.
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Who are you try to amuse? Joe Blow who wandered into the brewery for the vibe and IPA whose idea of jazz is a punchline from the Simpsons? Or the guys in your band?The attitude shifted from amusing myself into amusing others.
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that makes no sense Originally Posted by James W
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Lately have hardly felt like playing unless there's a gig. It's fun I guess but have felt meh about it. So I also disagree with the poll framing. I play for people to fight the inertia of not feeling like playing.
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You play for others. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Why to do I play the guitar. I feel like Jerimiah the prophet and I have no real prophet statements but here it is.
Whenever I speak( Play), I must cry out,
violence and outrage I proclaim; ( my playing)
The word of the LORD has brought me
reproach and derision all day long.
9I say I will not mention him,
I will no longer speak in his name.
But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding back,
I cannot!f
Jazz is not so popular some people don't like it imagine that?
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that's not a poll option without insinuating that I enjoy it or do it for their pleasure Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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I think this is a valuable and generative question, wording and quibbling on meaning aside.
Perhaps many of us play music in part for others and in part for ourselves. We all have our reasons for how to combine or balance, or even define, them. In my case, it's been both.
Decades ago, after playing mostly for myself and friends a garage rock band, I was having a go at becoming a work-a-day musician, playing for audiences in a wedding band, a jazz combo and other groups, doing some teaching and recording. I'd also managed to land a scholarship to play in a big band and study jazz guitar at a regional college. For most of the 1980s, my ambition was to work as a musician. While I think the term "amuse" used in the poll is a somewhat misleading, I soon became disillusioned with the life of an entertainer.
So I quit guitar, sold all my gear to study and travel, and took an interest in world music.
When the guitar beckoned me back after a long hiatus, I started playing again, at first for myself, for the sheer joy of it, irrespective of others. It was mostly acoustic music at home, but I also dug out all my old jazz guitar lessons and started working through them. Then, as fate would have it, I met some musicians who also loved jazz and slowly became part of an amateur jazz scene. As amateur is sometimes used as a pejorative, I want to clarify that what I mean is similar to Andy Merrifield's notion of "the pleasures of doing what you love."
Today my main musical activity is participation in open jazz jam sessions that are held at a number of regional venues. This alludes to another post mentioned above, in playing with others, not just for others. But of course with others can also lead to playing for others, so by way of jam session experiences, in part, I have also done a few gigs playing for others.
I remember a sax player who was having a go at being a working musician here in Japan, and we played often at jams. He invited me to sit in on a few of his gigs, just enough to remind me why I had quit gigging decades ago. He even invited me to go on a regional tour, which I politely declined. He's moved on to greener pastures, I wish him all the best.
Reflecting on the main question of this post, what are our ambitions for playing / practicing music, I began to see a performance for others as somewhat akin to a test. Not the kind of test in school, pass or fail, or even to be graded; not a test to get a license or a certificate. It's a more informal notion of test that I have in mind. Some might call it a reality check, but I prefer seeing it as a kind of test. It's somewhat analogous to learning a language.
I'm currently learning Japanese, which involves elements of vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and getting a feel for when to speak and when not to speak. I spend a lot of time alone on those elements; it feels like shedding. But then I am in a situation where there may be an opportunity to use the language, in a real world situation. It's then a kind of a self test. Can I understand what others are saying? Can I muster an appropriate response? However the test turns out, I find myself back in the woodshed. Gradually, this back and forth between learning Japanese by myself and then being in these testing situations leads to incremental and noticeable improvement. The ambition began with learning toward both joy and with an element of self-edification and expression, and also the joy of interaction with others, but it has also gradually put me in situations where it could even lead to doing something for others. Perhaps those who are more disciplined can speed up this process of learning, but I raise it here as a personal analogy to playing and practicing guitar for self and / or others.
Just as an afterthought, ambition is a slippery feeling. Some people become overwhelmed by ambition, particularly if it's paired with the almost equally illusive notion of success. But this has already become verbose, so I'll stop here. Happy playing / practicing to everyone!
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Why would you play at all if you don’t enjoy it? You only live one life and it’s slipping right through your fingers. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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I play for myself, to try and reach the level of the people whose playing I looked up to. That way when I play for others, they can be amused, and in turn, I myself am amused. I been on a playing bender closing in on a year, every day for 2-3 hours minimum. I always feel like I'm close, but not quite where I want to be.
I put a record out a couple weeks ago and it's starting to do a few things for me, but it's required a large sacrifice of personal time to get the ball rolling with promotions. I'm still learning and what I'm learning so far is it's mostly about the business, and less about the music. 2-3 hours nightly, just shooting off my press pack. I finished canvasing the broadcast stations in the US last night.....
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Valid question minus the melodrama. It’s likely that I’ll get more pleasure out of it again so not going to just drop it. Sometimes you do a thing out of commitment to it. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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It's all context dependent.
I like working on hard music in a group in the practice room.
But I don't like performing it unless I've mastered it. My bandmates are often ready to perform stuff that I'd rather rehearse more. When I give in (often) it's tense and I don't enjoy it until later, if I've done ok.
I enjoy playing music that I feel comfortable with to an appreciative audience. That's No. 1 on my list. That is often not the difficult stuff I alluded to earlier.
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I don't play unless preparing for a gig or theater production. I've been worrying about this for a very long time but it is what it is - I just have no desire to pick up a guitar unless preparing to go out and play. Unfortunately in my area, since Covid, there's really no place to play and no bands except single guys using tracks and huge pedal boards. There's one guy playing smooth jazz with tracks in some restaurants, another playing weddings, and that's about it. I thought about trying to do chord melody at assisted living, but they seem to want Elvis and "You Are My Sunshine" sing-a-longs - not my thing. I'd rather sit in a corner and play pretty 'saloon' songs if I could find that corner but all we have are sports bars not conducive to solo guitar.
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I used to only play gigs or clubs for years, starting at school. These days I play alone into a computer and only really come to life when there's a reason to produce a recording.
I occasionally play for myself but there's no real satisfaction in it, to be honest; can't see the point. Consequently I think I'm getting worse, I can feel it.
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Originally Posted by James W
I haven't voted because I don't understand the question.
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Things have changed. These days, I play the guitar more than ever before. A lot more. Hours every day. I've even started taking lessons. I've always been very deeply into music but suddenly have become really very deeplyinto music and playing and listening and learning in a way that has surprised and delighted me (and probably drives my wife to despair). But strangely this has coincided with much less desire to gig. I still do gig, but fewer gigs than previous years. I get just as much enjoyment from playing at home, to myself, as to others. And I don't have to cart amplifiers around and drive for miles, leave early get home late, and play what other people want.
I was thinking about all the different reasons there have been to gig over the years. At the very beginning it was just me and my mates playing what we loved. Later I think there was ego involved - we all like to be told we're great (although we soon we realise that we're not great, and the people telling us we are just don't know enough to make that judgement) - or, at least popular, then somewhere along the way it become about money. And so on. Round about the time Covid forced an unplan hiatus on everything I realised that, unlike those fifteen year old kids playing it for the love, I'd ended up playing music someone else wanted - maybe the club owner, or the bar clientele, or the bride, or the person who's party it was, or the lead singer, or the strong-minded band leader. Somewhere I'd been quietly diverted onto another track. So nowadays, almost fifty years later, it's all about playing music I love again. Consequently I turn down lots of requests to play (requests to join bands, requests for gigs) because those things are all about what someone else wants me to play. If money gets tight I may have to go back to that, but for now I'm okay.
I still play with others - mostly just jamming and drinking tea with friends. Some song-writing and recording here and there. An occasional band gig where the set and situation appeals. The acoustic swing duo gigs I mention here..
Good thread. Interesting responses!
Derek
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How so? Originally Posted by pawlowski6132
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It's only a hobby for most players on this forum, so enjoyment should be our main goal.
Enjoy playing, whatever level you are currently at.
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Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
Have you been to 88 Live Piano Bar? Live jam Tuesdays 7-10pm is probably a good place to start. I literally just copied the location from your profile and added "live jazz" to the google search.
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