Giving Up.

[pilotony]

Great thread.

1959 had my first guitar lesson. I was 11. The teacher was a local guitar guy, Ernie Bracco. He told me that I should always have a couple songs ready to play in case somebody asked me to "play something".

Good advice. Which, at age 77, still has meaning. So, I say to all: play something.

Happy Landings!

Tony D.

[James W]

Great thread.

1959 had my first guitar lesson. I was 11. The teacher was a local guitar guy, Ernie Bracco. He told me that I should always have a couple songs ready to play in case somebody asked me to "play something".

Good advice. Which, at age 77, still has meaning. So, I say to all: play something.

Happy Landings!

Tony D.

Sure, like playing a Bach piece. We sort of need a party trick...

[Lionelsax]

Yeah ! There is some music here !
Here an "old" recording (2021), I was just playing.
That's very simple.

[Christian Miller]

Sure, like playing a Bach piece. We sort of need a party trick...

I’ll learn a Bach piece! Would be good for a party trick

—— TEN YEARS LATER——-

I’m not playing this in public. Still not good enough.

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[joe2758]

unless you're at a party of serious musicians, you'd be better off playing something like classical gas lol

[Christian Miller]

unless you're at a party of serious musicians, you'd be better off playing something like classical gas lol

Romanza and Lagrima will do the job as well.

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[Strat-itis]

The funniest shit. I saw Danny Sinoff the singer pianist in class with that shirt.

[Kmatuhin]

Here's a recent video, I am wearing a cap and playing the Blonde guitar (D'Aquisto Solo copy):
Trefor Owen is on the LHS, playing great as always at 84 years old, on his Gibson Johnny Smith.
Currently, I'm concentrating on practicing my comping, which as you can hear is my weaker area. It's only my hobby, I'm at a low level, but enjoy playing.

Soulful! It's wonderful that you have the opportunity to perform with a more experienced musician!

[Kmatuhin]

By the way, sometimes I really do want to "give up." Not in the sense I think the thread's author meant (focusing on the "simple" aspects of music), but rather admitting to myself that I'm not a musician, quitting playing guitar, and selling all my instruments. But something tells me that would be too dramatic. I can come to terms with the fact that I wasn't able to build a career as a musician, but I find it hard to accept that work and various household chores have significantly diminished my desire (and, incidentally, my ability) to make music. Sometimes I feel so tired that I don't even want to listen to music. But I still hope this is temporary (maybe a couple of years, maybe ten). And now I'm trying to find some simple form of practice that would keep me afloat without requiring a huge mental and time investment. For example, lately I've been enjoying taking a beautiful chord progression (say, from Ted Green's books) and playing it meditatively, in a free rhythm, reflecting on something, inventing my own variations and simple melodies. Or playing a noodling arpeggio and chromaticism, for example, over of "Autumn Leaves". But learning hundreds of standards, transcribing solos, and studying jazz books is too much for me at this point in my life.

[joe2758]

By the way, sometimes I really do want to "give up." Not in the sense I think the thread's author meant (focusing on the "simple" aspects of music), but rather admitting to myself that I'm not a musician, quitting playing guitar, and selling all my instruments. But something tells me that would be too dramatic. I can come to terms with the fact that I wasn't able to build a career as a musician, but I find it hard to accept that work and various household chores have significantly diminished my desire (and, incidentally, my ability) to make music. Sometimes I feel so tired that I don't even want to listen to music. But I still hope this is temporary (maybe a couple of years, maybe ten). And now I'm trying to find some simple form of practice that would keep me afloat without requiring a huge mental and time investment. For example, lately I've been enjoying taking a beautiful chord progression (say, from Ted Green's books) and playing it meditatively, in a free rhythm, reflecting on something, inventing my own variations and simple melodies. Or playing a noodling arpeggio and chromaticism, for example, over of "Autumn Leaves". But learning hundreds of standards, transcribing solos, and studying jazz books is too much for me at this point in my life.

I've taken multiple years long breaks, and I find recovering skills a lot easier than I thought it would be. I find it comes back quick. Nothing dramatic about it unless you perform a ceremony or something.

The giving up in a positive sense that I described for myself was a combination of:

"I can come to terms with the fact that I wasn't able to build a career as a musician" - Are there benefits of this?

I don't have to learn "hundreds of standards, transcribing solos, and studying jazz books."

I'm still learning new things, but I have finally truly embraced that I don't have to do any work that is not enjoyable. I'll not play for 2 weeks and not feel any sort of "guilt." That being said, I probably wouldn't be getting any satisfaction now if I hadn't done slavish work prior to this.

[JGinNJ]

I always felt jazz guitar could draw you down a rabbit hole of learning ever more advanced material. That is, if you emphasized studying technique over just being musical, learning tunes. I had a couple of good teachers when I was young, but didn't keep studying after college.

I went through a period of being disaffected by jazz, and dabbled in acoustic and folkie/country music. Travis picking, videos from Stefan Grossman, etc. It certainly added a dimension to my playing. And I played classic rock tunes in a dad-band session, too.

Eventually I got bored and came back to my jazz roots, and then found a teacher to guide me through the gaps in my past learning. Now a few years on, I'm in kind of a rut but I also developed problems with my left hand. So it's time to do something different, I'm just not sure what it is. I know it's not spending hours playing through Ted Greene books!

[benhatchins]

everyone has his own way. Guitar can feel like a wall you can’t climb, but usually it’s just a temporary dip. In the middle of reorganizing my desk, I noticed a sticky note with the Cricut customer service number and laughed because it reminded me how many hobbies people juggle. Music is one of the few that consistently gives something back. Don’t quit — slow steps still move you forward.

[Kirk Garrett]

In any field including visual art and musicianship, technique can become its own end; it can take over.

I think what’s really useful about “quitting” is it after a while you discover which technique you yourself really need to work on the most. As opposed to trying to tackle too much at once.

[sgcim]

Great thread.

1959 had my first guitar lesson. I was 11. The teacher was a local guitar guy, Ernie Bracco. He told me that I should always have a couple songs ready to play in case somebody asked me to "play something".

Good advice. Which, at age 77, still has meaning. So, I say to all: play something.

Happy Landings!

Tony D.

Did he play a D'Aquisto on club dates? I remember meeting a guy on a gig who was playing in a different room named Ernie Bracco.. His band mates were listening in to our conversation, and one of them said he should have been a cop with a name like Ernie Bracco.I still remember walking into the room and hearing him playing "Meditation" with his D'AQ. I think he said he was a public school music teacher.

[benhatchins]

It’s life — everything comes to an end sooner or later, and that also means that something new is waiting for you, right? After my divorce three years ago, I honestly felt like my life had lost all sense and direction. It was a tough period, filled with doubt and uncertainty, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever feel truly happy again. But you know what? Things do turn around. I discovered Taimi, and it completely changed my perspective. Meeting new people, forming genuine connections, and being able to express myself freely has brought so much joy back into my life.