The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary

View Poll Results: What Kind of Player Are You?

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  • Full Time Pro - All Income From Music

    28 11.52%
  • Part Time - Weekend Warrior

    65 26.75%
  • Hobbyist - Never or Rarely Play Out

    151 62.14%
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Posts 76 to 97 of 97
  1. #76

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    How about 'retired from playing out.' I have not played out since the late 1990s. Now I record in home studio.

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  3. #77

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    Quote Originally Posted by jads57
    What really bothers me is the shift with not only the majority of the public, but some musicians as well. The acceptance of not only Lame Music but how it's preformed like Karaoke with or w/out computers. The public doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between live playing and machines. The worst part is they don't care, and the mostly younger performers don't care!

    This to me is statement on what we've become as a society overall, and I while I accept change is inevitable, I bemoan the lack of not only HUMAN SPIRIT , but improvement of the craft/art/gift that music brings everyone!
    We're 100% on the same page. My brother doesn't even call that stuff music - it's "entertainment product." I said this in a PM to a like-minded guy on another forum a few years ago:

    "How can you have joy with a robotic arts culture?"

    People who defend it always talk about "evolution." Might I remind them that evolution is not necessarily of benefit to the evolving organism. It could in fact result in extinction. Nuff said.
    Last edited by Mike Anderson; 12-23-2017 at 01:24 PM.

  4. #78

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    Evolution is change. There is no connotation of better or worse, it's just change.

  5. #79

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    Therapy for me. I’ve played the guitar for 40 years and whenever I need to chill out and relax, I just pull out the guitar. Whether it’s by myself, with a buddy or two or a one off gig every now and then, it’s been a good friend over the years and I always feel like there will be endless ways to approach it depending on the time and season.

  6. #80

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    Does not play well with others.

  7. #81

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    Evolution is change. There is no connotation of better or worse, it's just change.
    Indeedy. I've had some great discussions on the topic over the years, because as a guy who has always made an effort to hear all kinds of music, I have heard everything from jaw-droppingly beautiful new music to new music that would, to use my own phraseology, make a vulture retch - stuff that literally sounds like aliens or computers made it, or sadistic psychopaths. But of course it's all subjective. I think most people in North America stop exploring in their early 20s (at the latest) and are stuck there for the rest of their lives. Lots of other people use music as a sort of soundtrack to the movie they have running in their heads about how cool they are; the more disconnected from the real world the person is, the more their preferred soundtrack sounds like it was made by machines rather than human beings. Some guys' movies are about how tough they are, so they inflict it on passersby from their cars - not, obviously, because it sounds better at hearing-damage volume, but because they know it pisses people off. Weaponized music.

    Music can be a lot of things to different people. A lot of the things it is to a lot of people nowadays just makes me want to despair, because it kind of screams about what an alienated emotional wreck the listener must be - but then I just smile and remember that it ain't my job to improve the minds and souls of perfect strangers, that my hands are full enough taking care of myself and my family, and I go play or listen to something wonderful.

  8. #82

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    I call myself a semi-pro in that I have a day job that pays the bills and my student loans! But my chops are pro level, or at least that's what the full-timers I play with tell me

  9. #83

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    Every other weekend, and that's fine.
    I detest getting home at 2am. I have little kids.
    Thankfully, I don't require a ton of sleep and can cat nap. Always have.
    I teach occasionally, and that's fine, too. I do it to remind myself of the basics, theory.
    I don't need the cash. I do it because I still love playing and playing live.

  10. #84

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    Hobbyist.

  11. #85

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    I am a weekend warrior I guess.

    Work in a desk job 9 to 5 - but do 3 or so gigs per week. I play in a big band and several combos.... from trad jazz to bop. Usually at pubs and clubs or the casino. I am lucky to earn some money from the gigs but finding work is getting harder and harder.

  12. #86

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    Amateur as a jazz guitarist, just working on a stuff. I'll probably start getting together with other musicians soon, I'd like to hear my own compositions played at least.

    I used to play in public as a microtonal guitar player. Ambient looped soundscapes. I wrote a 30 min microtonal string quartet that was released, so I've been paid for that kind of stuff. I may get back to it someday.

  13. #87

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    Bad.

  14. #88

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    I admit to being a hopeless amateur as a player, after a 60 years' crush on archtops (with a 25 years' black hole called business career in between.) Not enough talent, trouble with the tadpoles between the lines, always something that goes ahead of practicing. Hence, the hobbyist category comes closest, but it doesn't do full justice to me or my fellow senior amateur musicians. We are finally living our high-school dream. No-one has a daily practicing routine, and at our age it's routine to forget what was agreed at the previous rehearsls. But we enjoy making music together, practicing weekly and appearing perhaps once a month at pensioners' meetings, old age homes, hospitals etc. A very egotistic form of charity. We play swing, even older stuff, where my plectrum banjo draws the smiles. The audience just loves us, as we bring them the music of their youth. But our audience will soon be younger than us, demanding Beatles & Rolling Stones. My bandmates have other bands of similar stature, and I play at jazz jams 1-3 times a month. This is also a way to test and promote my TOOB ultra-light speaker cabinets. So: a retiree amateur and a determinate gearhead who plays more on the stage than on the sofa. The audience beware!

  15. #89

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    I’m the guy that can play about 60% of maybe 4 or 5 standards before learning the into/verse of a different standard. In short, I’m a quitter.

  16. #90

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    Music has always been a great avocation for me. I learned really early in life that I didn't have the talent, drive, and the courage to do music as my life's vocation. To those players who have, I am in awe and have enormous respect for their commitment. One of my earliest teachers was a role model for me, emphasizing that it was tough to make it as a full time musician and that I should pursue an alternative career while continuing to do music as an avocation. I followed his advice and never regretted the decision. Having said that, I can still vividly remember being torn over whether to major in music or to pursue another field.

    Like many of us, I suspect, I got away from music when my life was distracted with career decisions, work pressures, mortgages, kids, etc. I came back to it only because I felt a compelling need to learn as much as I could. I had no illusions about gigging on a regular basis. I just wanted to grow as a musician and work as hard as I could at it in the years that I have left. I approach the guitar from the perspective of a student and hope that I always will. At age 59, I found a great jazz teacher and for the past 12 years he has helped me enormously as jazz guitarist.

    Ironically, I had a couple of unusual experiences, some might say supernatural, that led me back to music. They were not experiences that I anticipated; they just happened and as it turned out, led me down the musical path. What I learned from all of this is that for some reason, I was meant to do this and for a long time in my life, I truly didn't understand that. I jokingly refer to myself as a "Recovering Musician." I was in denial for many years that I needed to do music in order to be a complete human being.

    When I retired a few years ago, I gigged a fair amount. After about 4 years of it, I really burned out. I got tired of all the BS. So I made a decision to only do gigs that I wanted to do. Right now, I am connected with a couple of churches. Sometimes I do solo stuff; other times, I perform with an ensemble of like minded colleagues. Its fun and its always interesting because I am always learning new stuff and getting challenged. I continue to jam with other musicians when I am able and I rehearse with a vocalist who while trained as an opera performer, loves jazz. For several years, I did solo work in a Continuing Care Community, playing mainly for dementia patients as well as Hospice patients. I learned about life and death issues that helped to prepare me for what I eventually would go through with my elderly (and now late) mother. I continue to do "hired gun" work from time to time, but frankly I don't enjoy it as much as I used to.

    While I am not sure the word "hobby" describes my musical experience, with out a doubt my musical experiences have been trans-formative in my life. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to develop and share the musical gift that has been a part of me for a very long time.

  17. #91

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    I’m an amateur. There was a time years ago when I might have been able to claim near-weekend warrior status. I was in an acoustic guitar/vocal duo and my partner (who is a pro) and I played gigs regularly for a couple of years. I was honored that he considered me worthy of the collaboration. We played a mix of covers and originals - his and mine. We worked hard on arrangements and harmonies, and got some nice feedback from the audiences for whom we performed. I did it for the love of music, and I learned so much about listening and playing in an ensemble during the time I played with Josh. I got busy with work and family, and Josh moved to another town, and that was the end of my weekend warrior days.

    Now I practice at home, at work during lunch, and jam with friends and with my son when he visits from L.A. where he’s a full-time professional musician. I am not cut from that cloth. And he’s a better musician, singer, guitarist, mandolinist, arranger, and songwriter than me. He likes the lifestyle he’s created for himself. I like the steady paycheck and benefits of being an engineer. I am in awe of you pros. From where I sit it looks like a tough way to make a living, but we need beautiful music in this world to make it bearable. I am so grateful to those who create that joyful noise.

    I like recording myself. I often don’t like to listen to what I recorded. I’m really impressed by the quality of the videos that forum members here have posted. Once I suck a little less at jazz, I will post something. I’ll spare you all for now, unless you want a video of a bald guy playing a fiddle tune on a mandolin or guitar.

  18. #92

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    I'm a hobbyist, but it's more like I'm just making money outside of music... I studied at a good school and with some of the best teachers in NYC, and I've played with good people.... but I can't imagine paying New York rent on guitarist income... I'd like to move to weekend warrior, but I work as a bartender.... soooooo

  19. #93

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    I would classify myself as a hobby player, but quite active one. I don't play any gigs and I make money from something totally different. Nevertheless I have SoundCloud channel with my original music, which has no more than about 1k plays per year. However I am happy to do at least that with musicWhat Kind of Player Are You - Full Time Pro vs Half Time vs Hobbyist

    Wys?ane z mojego ANE-LX1 przy u?yciu Tapatalka

  20. #94

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    I actually play (unpaid) every weekend at a local coffee shop. Count me an enthusiastic hobbyist, but in no danger of going pro.

  21. #95

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    Quote Originally Posted by L50EF15
    I actually play (unpaid) every weekend at a local coffee shop. Count me an enthusiastic hobbyist, but in no danger of going pro.

  22. #96

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    Just a hobbyist. I'm about to turn 55 and have been fooling around on guitar for decades. Can't play a lick of jazz but have been listening to the greats hoping it will rub off on me. Why can I play Zeppelin but Montgomery has me baffled lol. Need to learn Jazz scales I read that Montgomery learned by imitating Charlie Christian solos.

  23. #97

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    I played part time in the 90s in rock bands. I had a long layoff from playing in bands (with the exception of playing in the employee Xmas Band [complete with multiple rehearsals] for the company Xmas party for several years - the band was discontinued as of last year), but in recent times, I've been playing 12-string guitar weekly in a church band.

    Ellen