What have we learned? Discoveries, rediscoveries, and the like.

[Spook410]

But when I do play guitar now, I feel somehow more connected with the instrument and the music....
I apply the practice of the flute to the guitar, and return the guitar practice back to the flute.

Saxophone is my first instrument and I took it up again recently. It's ironic that, while I'm actually a better guitar player, people really want to hear saxophone. Sigh.

And yea.. growing up with a woodwind greatly influences guitar. There is a melodic linear thinking that goes with it.

[feet]

1022401[/URL]]I have picked up my bass again. I have played a lot of gigs on bass, and recorded a couple of albums worth on it, but it sat idle for years. A mid-60's Epiphone Rivoli with 2 EMG passive p/ups - very versatile tone wise.

Photos, please! Maybe even some sounds?

1022422[/URL]]I made my first truss rod adjustments. Something that I've been afraid to do myself and never fully realized how much it really affects the guitars playability. Definitely being cautious. It's a thrill to make several guitars that I've had for a long time play considerably better with several small adjustments!

Good to hear, feet, on renewed LP enthusiasm. Had a Yamaha sl500 that was an excellent jazz rig and wish I still had now, of course....

I started wrenching on the bb bass because it was set up way too low for my hamfistedness. Not touching the truss rod, though. Terrified. I'll wait for a tech once this blows over.

I just tried Les Pauls underrated for non rock stuff. One of my longest tenured guitars and I keep finding uses for it.

1022521[/URL]]
But when I do play guitar now, I feel somehow more connected with the instrument and the music....
I apply the practice of the flute to the guitar, and return the guitar practice back to the flute.

So all that hesitation about playing both was unfounded it turned out and its making me a much more musically aware player and person.

That's a big discovery!

I also play bass, drums, and do some vocals, in addition to the acoustic and electric guitars. I find they all kinda bleed together. You hear my drumming in my guitar playing and I might play off a vocal or guitar bit as a drummer, or sing more like an instrument. I'm just a musician, I guess. It's not correct, or typical, but it's me.

My situation is quite annoying. For me, it WAS time I was lacking. But .... this "lockdown" has both me and my wife home, 24-7. Her corporate job requires her to be on the phone pretty much all day, 8am-6pm sometimes. So NO AMPLIFIERS for me. And I am primarily an electric guitarist. I'm not a fan of playing unamplified, to me, the amp is part of the instrument, that's just how I look at it. (keep in mind... I'm not a "jazzer" like most of you probably are, owning a nice acoustic archtop and being perfectly happy playing without an amp)... I'm a tele guy. Dry string isn't much fun, lol. I have acoustics, but I don't play them often. That's more for my "singer/songwriter" side... and oh yeah: I can't really sing either, because.... her phone calls/meetings. All day.

I resisted it for a while, then tried it and didn't super love it, but I'm currently enjoying plugging into my computer and playing through headphones so much more than I thought I would.

There are all kinds of modelers and knick knacks out there these days. Plug into your amp, your computer, your portal board, your tablet, your phone... Might be worth looking into.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm getting back into composing, with a cool R&B bit in the pipeline right now. It's different for me and something I'll be delving into more. Also working more on scales.

[mr. beaumont]

Thing I've learned...

The more Grant Green and Charlie Christian I listen to, the happier I am.

[lawson-stone]

After many years of playing in public often (about 4 nights a week over the last 16 years or so), I now realize that playing alone for oneself lacks a certain energy. And that energy is necessary for the musical magic to occur. No doubt, woodshedding has it's place, but it is an exercise to get one ready for the shared experience.

I look forward to playing out again whenever that happens.

Regarding guitars, as I have said many times, a guitarist only needs two guitars, a suitable acoustic guitar and a suitable electric guitar. The rest is just an art collection.

The magic I exercise when playing in public is the magical emptying of entire rooms! I'm better than a fire alarm.

[lawson-stone]

I am making a point of playing all the songs I can think of that I've learned or studied seriously. I also am making a point of playing as many different guitars as I can. I have way more than is decent, and I'm rediscovering how much I love each and every one. Even that bad boy Telecaster that just turned up the other day.

I hadn't played my El-Cheapo Epiphone Broadway for ages. It needed a little truss rod and bridge saddle tweak, but I have had a hard time putting it down. Imagine how the L5 feels when I keep reaching for the cheerleader instead of the society lady.

[mr. beaumont]

Stringswinger, its gotta be three for me...electric, steel string acoustic, nylon string.

[Stringswinger]

Stringswinger, its gotta be three for me...electric, steel string acoustic, nylon string.

Truth be told....me too

[rpjazzguitar]

With the extra time:

1. More writing.

2. Arranging by writing full parts on Musescore. So, for example, for the first time, I've written piano comping for a full song. Easy enough to write the first two bars, but then it's more challenging to write another 62 bars which vary the rhythm and hold interest and groove.

3. Making video of guitar and voice. Figured out a few things about making them work better. I posted one in the Showcase section of this forum.

[pauln]

If gigs were still a thing (or for when they come back) I would offer the most profound thing I discovered long ago. Push your amp into the drum kit under the hi-hat and then place yourself as far away as possible. Ask the drummer permission first (all have said yes and said they liked it).

The purpose is to make the sound source for both the kit and the guitar come from the same place, so the same distance to the ear (of everyone), so the same time lag, delay. This natural synchronization clears and supports all kinds of rhythmic aspects of live playing for both the guitarist and the drummer.

I see people are mentioning what they are doing in the mean time. I have been playing through an analog to midi converter (single notes only, it is not polyphonic) and passing the midi signals to a 25 year old Roland M-OC1 rack mount synthesizer sound module... all orchestral instruments... flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, etc., great fun because it basically removes the "guitarisic" character and promotes a whole different melodic perspective. I have discovered amazing lines that I might never have found sounding like a guitar.

[christianm77]

Telecasters unplugged are cool. Especially when your family is sleeping all around you and you need to play.

amen

[christianm77]

I’ve learned there’s absolutely no point in my recording more than one take. Either it works or it doesn’t and every consecutive take is worse lol

[P.J.]

The Red Panda Particle v.1 is still really fun to play. I am glad I did not sell it!
(How could you even think about selling a pedal with such awesome graphics?!!)

[John A.]

I’ve learned there’s absolutely no point in my recording more than one take. Either it works or it doesn’t and every consecutive take is worse lol

Mostly true, unless your first take completely falls apart and/or is a seafood special. I might amend this to "first complete take."

John

[lawson-stone]

Truth be told....me too

I dunno... some days I feel like a sunburst, other days I feel like a blonde... then some days I want one coil, other days two...

[JSanta]

I've learned that I skipped over too many important fundamentals. I started taking weekly Skype lessons with a very well known and respected Gypsy jazz guitarist, and it's probably been as painful for him as it has been for me! That being said, I'm working from home, and need the breaks. I keep my Eastman 339 style guitar next to me to practice relatively quietly, and then pull out the Gypsy guitar when volume isn't an issue.

[christianm77]

Mostly true, unless your first take completely falls apart and/or is a seafood special. I might amend this to "first complete take."

John

If it does, then probably not going to happen that day,...

[Stringswinger]

I dunno... some days I feel like a sunburst, other days I feel like a blonde... then some days I want one coil, other days two...

Which brings us back to the philosophical crux of the matter....need vs. want. Here in the First World, want often prevails (and why not?)

[jads57]

I think playing out live no matter as a Solo or with a band, is truly the key. Playing music requires someone else to interact with. After all if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it?

[Stringswinger]

I think playing out live no matter as a Solo or with a band, is truly the key. Playing music requires someone else to interact with. After all if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it?

Agreed. And it is possible that going forward, that will have to done in a "virtual " way, particularly for us older players.

Not good from my perspective.

[ruger9]

. And it is possible that going forward, that will have to done in a "virtual " way, particularly for us older players.

Not good from my perspective.

Agreed with THAT.

It's ironic... in some ways, this whole "quarantine thing" has cause people to talk to friends MORE- because there's nothing else to do LOL- however they are doing it remotely- over the phone or internet. Human contact seems to have increased in some ways, yet DECREASED (REAL contact) in others. It's a "6 of one, half-dozen of the other" proposition.

[Cunamara]

Regarding guitars, as I have said many times, a guitarist only needs two guitars, a suitable acoustic guitar and a suitable electric guitar. The rest is just an art collection.

Or one that does both...

[Cunamara]

Ruger9, time to have a chat with the missus before it all boils over.

[Ukena]

Thought the reason I didn't practice more was a lack of time. Nope. That wasn't it.

This is practically poetry. Sort of an alternate haiku.

Similarly, I thought that when I'd get a little more time on my hands, I'd get more familiar with various software that I've wanted to learn; that hasn't happened, either.