a good question

[blindboygrunt]

One of the (many) reasons I'll never be a professional musician is my inconsistency in playing. If I can make a Seinfeld analogy, there's an episode where Jerry's girlfriend is at times beautiful or at other times not so much, depending on the time of day or the particular lighting. That pretty much sums up my guitar playing. I'm estimating that about 50% of the time, I'm in an average range. 25% of the time, I play very well, sometimes over my head, and about 25% of the time, I stink. I've spent the longest time trying to analyze why this is so, factoring in such questions as fatigue, stress, time of day, positioning, specific guitar or style I'm playing, etc. I tend to play a lot of bluegrass, and I know that I need to be relaxed to pull off the flatpicking leads. To me, that requires alot of energy, and if I'm tired it very hard to execute this cleanly. I don't know whether there's any one factor that predominantly influences this, but I do know that when I stink, a common theme is that I just don't feel the music - for lack of a better term, I'm just not in the zone.

 

This brings up my question, which probably directed more at those of you who play professionally. How do you manage to be "on", on a consistent basis? How do you keep mentally and physically prepared to play at your best? How do you counter feelings of fatigue, or mental distractions which might interfere with your playing? How do you cope when the feeling just isn't there? Do you compensate by falling back on technique, or do you have any specific strategies for getting in the zone? How do you you come back from a bad beginning of a performance? How do you internalize musicality when you're just not feeling it?

 

 

 

Above is lifted from the agf. I can empathise with that guy. Any thoughts ?

[ParlourMan]

I don't think many are 'on it' all the time to be honest, they may seem so to us mere mortals, but to themselves they often wont be. Like any profession it will be a spread of good & bad days. I'd say one of the main differences between the likes of us and the professionals is we are not dependant on this for a livelihood. There's no greater motivator than needing to do something to be able to keep yourself ticking over.

 

If we were spending several hours a day in studio conditions, with expectations and deadlines on top, I think we'd all be playing at a far far higher calibre than we do now.

 

One of the things the question doesn't tackle is: imagine how professionals must feel on a "can't be bothered day" when you consider how much the average hobbyist blows hot & cold given that we choose to do that as a interest/passion etc... There's nowt kicks the romance out of something like having to churn it out on a daily basis.

[blindboygrunt]

I can go ages with no inspiration to lift the guitar. And then I kinda force myself , get frustrated when I'm not on the ball and hence make the experience less enjoyable and therefore less likely I'll pick it up quick again.

 

A slippery slope. Funny though , now I'm stuck at work , I have the urge to play

[Murph]

First, let me challenge your assumption that "pros" are actually that good. Bob Dylan wasn't such a hot player and he kinda sucked as a singer. Neil Young can stink up the house on demand. Alternative simply "isn't" and most punk / alternative bands actually suck and have crappy recording engineers.

 

I think we like certain music for what it is, and certain players for who they are and what they say and how they say it. I think Sara Watkins is one of the best singers and greatest musicians alive today and she's not even known by most people, yet there are total losers (musically speaking) making millions.

 

Oh, and I like your stuff.......

 

[ParlourMan]

I can go ages with no inspiration to lift the guitar. And then I kinda force myself , get frustrated when I'm not on the ball and hence make the experience less enjoyable and therefore less likely I'll pick it up quick again.

 

Exactly... I'm currently stuck between a desire to thin the heard out a bit (with a good solid reasoning), yet strangely enough still looking at other guitars... to avoid whim decisions I haven't touched a guitar since just before xmas day. The band is on a wee winter break, nothing is pressing, probably should be learning things I'm interested in rather than dodgy chart songs to cover but haven't gone near one.

 

A slippery slope. Funny though , now I'm stuck at work , I have the urge to play

 

Yeah, now that I'm back at the coalface today, I would much rather be at home playing too. Strange that isn't it? :D

[Murph]

[EuroAussie]

Interesting question, now quite sure how to answer it.

 

I guess it depends from which angle you look at it. Is it about general inspiration/ motivation, being on your game during a gig, focusing on developing rather that procrastinating etc ..

 

From a gig point of view, if Im having an offnite in the first set I normally go back to basic in second set. Focus more on a solid groove and rhythm rather than complexity that will just make me more tense. We might change a couple songs to do a few easier ones, or screw up proof to get the confidence back.

 

I had a chat with a couple gigging pros and their take is that you should be at 75% capability when gigging, so that you dont put too much pressure on yourself to always nail it. Save that for the studio or at home when rehearsing and not having the pressure of peroforming.

 

From a motivational point of view, Im pretty conscious about learning new stuff, that isnt particularly related to gigging material. In other words, blues fingerpicking, new styles, ear training and transribing etc .. this keeps me fresh and motivated to get better, if it transfers to the gigging scene then great, but its not the main priority.

[Murph]

In other words, blues fingerpicking, new styles, ear training and transribing etc .. this keeps me fresh and motivated to get better,

 

Good point.

 

I remember seeing a video where Tommy Emanuel was practicing in his hotel room between shows.

 

<_<

[ParlourMan]

Good point.

 

I remember seeing a video where Tommy Emanuel was practicing in his hotel room between shows.

 

 

Yep, the best of them are never far away from a guitar and seldom leave one alone for more than a little while. Oh to have the time.......

[zombywoof]

The way I figure I am not near as good as I wanted to be but on my worst day not half as bad as I think I am.

 

For me, the times when I was not on were those when I was on what can best be described as autopilot. Essentially just playing what I knew. I may have played it fine but there was also little creativity being thrown into the mix. But there were other times when I was in that pocket when there was no real thinking going on that I could recall. It was kind of what somebody I know once called an unconscious competence. Those are the times my hands could do stuff that seemed beyond what I actually knew to do. Problem is I was never able to figure out how to get there. It just happened.

[zombywoof]

First, let me challenge your assumption that "pros" are actually that good. Bob Dylan wasn't such a hot player and he kinda sucked as a singer.

 

I think Dylan is a really good player. Just listen to "Don't Think Twice." For years I thought that was Bruce Langhorne playing.

[blindboygrunt]

I think Dylan is a really good player. Just listen to "Don't Think Twice." For years I thought that was Bruce Langhorne playing.

 

Yip. You need to be highly talented to seem that ramshackle.

Anyone who thinks he can't play should listen to 'good as I been to you' and 'world gone wrong' . lovely acoustic work on those .

[j45nick]

I think Dylan is a really good player. Just listen to "Don't Think Twice." For years I thought that was Bruce Langhorne playing.

 

Dylan's playing improved pretty dramatically between his first and second albums, as I recall. Apparently he absorbed a lot in a very short period in those early years in New York.

[ParlourMan]

Well if you want to be a pro, or more precisely a working/touring musician if you don't happen to be a great writer, then taking up the guitar would be about your worst choice... Even decent players are 10 a penny... far better to play something else that others have a need for and cant play.

[tpbiii]

I also have dramatic swings in how I feel I am playing. What I have learned is that although my observations are undoubtedly true at some level, by quizzing my wife and other band mates, the effect is not so dramatic for real -- I am neither as good as I think on a good day nor as bad as I feel on a bad day.

 

Let's pick,

 

-Tom

[zombywoof]

Well, I am about to find out as last weekend I finally agreed to come out of "guitar retirement" and throw in as part of a duo. We have gotten together a few times and it seems to have clicked. The guy I am joining up with is apparently a fairly well known street corner player. But I really like his voice and the way he approaches a tune with a guitar. Still need to try and summon up enough self-discipline to get it going. Hard to do when you have the attention span of a gnat.

[Hall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWEHeIdBkc4

 

Thanks, Murph. I'm in her camp.

[cunningham26]

Dylan's playing improved pretty dramatically between his first and second albums, as I recall. Apparently he absorbed a lot in a very short period in those early years in New York.

 

This coincides with what I was going to chime in with. One other major factor is simply gigging, and playing for long periods in front of people. It's a bit Outliers, 10000 hours that people have talked about before, but I've talked to a lot of bands who say that their abilities really developed while on tour, when you're forced to play and play rather well for 3+ hours a day every day. Dylan was playing everywhere he could including 2 week stretches at Gerde's, and having performance pressure as well as the desire to try out new things in that time sparks you to play better and learn new things rather quickly. If performing isn't your full time gig, or even if you're just not devoted to it almost beyond anything else, it becomes like any other hobby where some days you're locked into it and others you'd rather keep the guitar in its case and work on that ship in a bottle or watch a movie with your girlfriend.

[blindboygrunt]

Or watch a movie on a ship with a bottle and keep yoir girlfriend in a case.

[cunningham26]

Or watch a movie on a ship with a bottle and keep yoir girlfriend in a case.

 

folks, we have a winner! You win all the internets!

[ParlourMan]

Or watch a movie on a ship with a bottle and keep yoir girlfriend in a case.

 

Or make a movie of your girlfriend, put in it a case and sell it by the thousand then take a cruise on a ship, find a new bird... Repeat till fade....

[Jerry K]

I discovered very early in my guitar playing that comparing my own playing to that of other people wasn't much use. Yes, they might be better or worse than me but noticing this relationship doesn't make my playing any better or affect it at all, really. The only useful comparison for me is how does my current playing compare to my past playing. If I see improvement there, then that is all I can ever hope for. I am not going to suddenly play like someone else but if I work at it I do notice big improvements vis-a-vis what I was doing before.

 

When I look at my own playing I notice that what leads to improvement is to not play things exactly the same each time. If I play it the same every time I reach a certain level of proficiency at those moves, but nothing much changes. If I strive to try new things every time, the way I play something changes quite a bit over time and my playing - the technique but also the music itself - improves. Part of playing it differently every time for me is listening to voices in my head, internal melodies, and striving to play them. This is a whole new world from comping chords. It means that every day you become a little more adept at translating the notes in your head to notes on the fretboard. NB: you must learn and practice some major scale shapes if this is going to work. Otherwise the fingering problem is a one-off issue for every tune and nothing carries over from tune to tune. Once you have some muscle memory worked out for standard scale shapes the problem of where the right notes lie becomes manageable.

[blindboygrunt]

I discovered very early in my guitar playing that comparing my own playing to that of other people wasn't much use. Yes, they might be better or worse than me but noticing this relationship doesn't make my playing any better or affect it at all, really. The only useful comparison for me is how does my current playing compare to my past playing. If I see improvement there, then that is all I can ever hope for. I am not going to suddenly play like someone else but if I work at it I do notice big improvements vis-a-vis what I was doing before.

 

When I look at my own playing I notice that what leads to improvement is to not play things exactly the same each time. If I play it the same every time I reach a certain level of proficiency at those moves, but nothing much changes. If I strive to try new things every time, the way I play something changes quite a bit over time and my playing - the technique but also the music itself - improves. Part of playing it differently every time for me is listening to voices in my head, internal melodies, and striving to play them. This is a whole new world from comping chords. It means that every day you become a little more adept at translating the notes in your head to notes on the fretboard. NB: you must learn and practice some major scale shapes if this is going to work. Otherwise the fingering problem is a one-off issue for every tune and nothing carries over from tune to tune. Once you have some muscle memory worked out for standard scale shapes the problem of where the right notes lie becomes manageable.

 

 

Thats a good synopsis. But don't listen to the voices in your head

[j45nick]

 

When I look at my own playing I notice that what leads to improvement is to not play things exactly the same each time. If I play it the same every time I reach a certain level of proficiency at those moves, but nothing much changes. If I strive to try new things every time, the way I play something changes quite a bit over time and my playing - the technique but also the music itself - improves. Part of playing it differently every time for me is listening to voices in my head, internal melodies, and striving to play them. This is a whole new world from comping chords. It means that every day you become a little more adept at translating the notes in your head to notes on the fretboard. NB: you must learn and practice some major scale shapes if this is going to work. Otherwise the fingering problem is a one-off issue for every tune and nothing carries over from tune to tune. Once you have some muscle memory worked out for standard scale shapes the problem of where the right notes lie becomes manageable.

 

That's a pretty good summary, but you sort of first need to achieve a basic level of proficiency with a tune before expanding on it. After that, let'er rip, and never play it twice exactly the same way.

[Hogeye]

The way I figure I am not near as good as I wanted to be but on my worst day not half as bad as I think I am.

 

For me, the times when I was not on were those when I was on what can best be described as autopilot. Essentially just playing what I knew. I may have played it fine but there was also little creativity being thrown into the mix. But there were other times when I was in that pocket when there was no real thinking going on that I could recall. It was kind of what somebody I know once called an unconscious competence. Those are the times my hands could do stuff that seemed beyond what I actually knew to do. Problem is I was never able to figure out how to get there. It just happened.

 

 

What you are describing has been defined. There is a wonderful book that has been on the market for many years. "Drawing ON The Right Side Of The Brain". This book was written to help artists get to the proper place in their brain to draw better. It is exactly the same process for musicians. Some people know how to get there intuitively. This is defined as talent. The rest of us can play well enough but are mechanical rather than fluid. Regardless, it's a fascinating read and will give you a lot of insight into what's going on in your mind.

 

When you know what to look for it will amaze you to watch A Professional musician move from the left side to the right side of their brain. You can see this clearly when they are being interviewed and they are using the left side of their brain only to switch over when asked to play a song. The book teaches you how to do this and it will make you a better player. So... Get the book it will teach you how to get in the "zone".

 

 

I would be very interested in other opinions and other experiences in this process. It's far more complex that I have described but it is the best thing I have seen to improve your music playing. This is a game changer for sure.