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From Sonnet 29:
"With what I most enjoy contented least"
The author of that sonnet, when "in these thoughts myself almost despising," fortunately had someone to fix his thoughts on, so that he could cheer up again.
I have felt this inability to take joy in making music before. Something has always boosted me out of it, but I am also someone who has always enjoyed making music alone, although it pales in comparison, for me, to making music with others.
I am also not much of a self-motivator, but it helps to make a task for myself and a timeframe to accomplish it. Maybe make yourself play along with those YouTube videos you're watching, instead of simply watching them. Then maybe make some backing tracks for yourself to play along to. And maybe I'll take some of my own advice, and get out of a rut.
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05-12-2024 02:33 PM
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I can relate to Skip's project based thing. I wasn't pro for as long as him but when I was, the only reason I played at home was so I could better enjoy playing with others.
I got a steady job when I was around 35 and found I didn't play much at all for a very long time. And I recognized it was because I'd been so project oriented. I did photography on the side, which was needed and paid for by my company.
I'm 70 and will retire soon. I've been working at getting better with the standards in hope of finding people to play with when I do retire. I don't have the energy to work my job and then go out for a jam on a Weds night. I do my time with the backing tracks. I just don't seem to be able to get much interested in becoming a better solo player, even though that's what I've been for the last 10+ years. For me it's about playing with humans like I did way back when.
I think the best advice as given by others: find some people to play with and/or for. I also like String's: "the music can wait". I let it wait for a couple of decades and I'm fine.
Anyways Skip, just wanted to say I for one know what you're talking about. I hope we can both get involved in some sort of project or another. How hard can it be to find a bluegrass player in Florida ? :-)
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I agree, if you don't have the former motivation (making a living at it), than you'll need to have the latter, especially playing jazz - whose "truth" requires a lot more than just 3 chords (“Country music ain't nothin' but three chords and the truth.”). That is, if the simple enjoyment of playing is not enough for you which, admittedly, can be dampened by the sheer difficulty of this music genre.
Originally Posted by ruger9
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At a point in our lives, we decide if we're done with learning, and whether it's time to reap the rewards of all the years of preparatory study. If you think you have 20 years of life left in you, is it time to just enjoy playing what you know?
Or are you the kind of person that gets enjoyment from the learning process? Put me in the second camp. When a style of music has lost it's mystery, I no longer enjoy either listening or playing it! I don't bother to ask why that is, it just is...
So I'm consigned to decoding the music that speaks to me, and continues to mystify. Of course that's Jazz, and improvised Jazz especially. I studied Fine Art Music Composition (is it still called that anywhere?) and managed to decode most of that. Of course, blues, rock, folk, pop etc were all of interest to me once, but it doesn't take very long to decode those. Even to master.
But high level Bop based Jazz improvisation (especially chasing changes etc) will keep me challenged til the day I die.
And not because I wanna show the world how good I am in my 90's (ha!), but because I need to know what it feels like to be that magical entity I have witnessed in the flesh and on recordings, to chase those changes at the very limit of my ability, like hanging on for dear life to the side of a rollercoaster and making it to the end without falling off.
Every step closer to that is it's own reward. I know there's other like me, and I also know there's every possibility there is something seriously wrong with us all. But I'm totally fine with it!
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It's challenging. There is so much great music and there are so many ways to play the guitar that it's hard to focus on one thing without being distracted.
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Maybe view your brains, your mind as your asset, not "yourself". Rule it with iron fist!
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Are implying Skip is one of those aliens with a 2nd brain, or accusing him of split personality? Originally Posted by emanresu
AND YOU SHALL HAVE FUN, DANGIT!Rule it with iron fist!
(doesn't really work, does it ...)
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Skip, two thoughts come to mind. I don’t know if either is helpful:
1. Putting the time into finding your joy might be useful. Don’t think about it in terms of music, or art, etc. You can leave any and all of those things behind if you wish. What activity would truly bring you joy in this phase of life?
2. If music is a part of that joy, but it must be goal directed in order to enjoy it, have you thought about putting that energy into recording instead of performance? Maybe there are things you could do by multitracking that would fill that void of not having other musicians to play with.
I am similar to you in that I like playing lots of different kinds of music. In addition to playing jazz, flamenco, blues, classical, and folk music (to various proficiencies) on guitar, I’m also trying to learn to play the piano. So, I can relate.
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No, we can always crawl back deeply into our cozy self that has very little to do with anything external. "External" would also be those random thoughs about squirrels. But that's cult-talk. Originally Posted by RJVB
Are implying Skip is one of those aliens with a 2nd brain, or accusing him of split personality?
AND YOU SHALL HAVE FUN, DANGIT!
(doesn't really work, does it ...)
If OP has trouble picking a main thing, then he should try and really pick one. One way to do it is asking the question, "how can I do it my own unique way?" - if that has a positive answer with something, then voila! problem solved.
The other hand, it may become an unhealthy obsession
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