BluesKing777 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The difference between the pros and amateurs is often consistency. That can be the hard part in any field, I think. I bring it up because yesterday I was practicing nicely and today I sounded like a frog. Yesterday, I would have been confident to open for Mick & crew....today, we'll just pack the geetars into their cases..... It was the same often when I use to play around a bit, and it is hard to put the finger on a reason. Biorhythms? The pros that are booked out for the next 6 months just plod through the ups and downs, but the downs must be really difficult with a large crowd. What do you think? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Very true, and exactly what facilitates the use of drugs & alcohol for many younger (and older) performers despite performance usually being degraded by it. Oh the irony...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I hear ya BK. My off days are becoming worryingly more frequent. Some days the ego just says 'you suck' The pros though , thats what they do. I have more off days at my job where I really really dont want to be doing it , but I'm still good at it , and folk dont seem to be realising that on the inside I'm telling them to f... Off. Hard to find inspiration sometimes. If someone was giving you a few pounds it would sure help , and an audience makes a big difference too dont forget. If anyone has a cure apart from drugs then let us all know please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The pros though , thats what they do. exactly, they can autopilot through it far better than most. I have more off days at my job where I really really dont want to be doing it , but I'm still good at it , and folk dont seem to be realising that on the inside I'm telling them to f... Off. I sometimes do actually tell them to FO.... Hard to find inspiration sometimes. If someone was giving you a few pounds it would sure help , and an audience makes a big difference too dont forget. Thing is, whatever you are not doing is usually what has an allure, I'm sure a great many luthiers turn up everyday thinking "oh god no, not again", just like bank workers, clerks, builders, joiners, plumbers (probably a lot of plumbers actually), bin men etc etc... Most people would like to be doing something else with their lives, until they actually get a chance to do it... all part of the grass is always greener concept. Realistically, imagine having to play the same 15-17 songs every single night for 2 years after a day of answering "what is your favourite colour? Did you enjoy recording this album? Who were you thinking about? Who is the most famous person you've met?" then having to do acoustic versions of the same songs you'll play again later on.... what's surprising is more people doing it are not on drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 So I need some Dutch Courage, is that what the advice is? Boss gets home to find me giggly? I need to look into it. I like the journos here at the airport - the star has just got off the plane and they shove a mic in their face and ask a perplexed face: 'What do ya think of Ooorrrstraylya?' Anyhow, I brought up my inconsistency because I am an amateur doing the practice for fun and the joy of it, not for a living. Not separating big turds from little turds at the big pool, or luckily not making necks for Gibson acoustics! Not driving a bus full of joyous plodders going to work, but doing something I really enjoy. Weird, that's what it is. Nobody making me. And still, come across a real fizzer of a day. If I had a gig tonight, I probably wouldn't have gone......no, forget that - the gig must go on. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 So I need some Dutch Courage, is that what the advice is? BluesKing777. I'm sure some people swear by it, I'll have a beer at a rehearsal, or even during a gig, but I wont get drunk before either... As for the drugs, I gave them up when the working classes got involved. There was no style to it after that..... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm sure some people swear by it, I'll have a beer at a rehearsal, or even during a gig, but I wont get drunk before either... As for the drugs, I gave them up when the working classes got involved. There was no style to it after that..... :D When did the working class get involved then? How can they afford it? They can't afford smokes here anymore - $aus25 packet of Peter Stuys... Beers - a couple of beers get burned off pretty quickly when you lug the equivalent of a house's furniture in and out some dive, but I know what you mean...some people just can't handle their liquor :lol: BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well, I had to give up the various forms of chemical aids. It wasn't really the playing that got to me: it was the down time betwixt set up, sound check, and walking on stage--the boredom of sitting around is quite conducive to the devil's candy. But back to the notion of consistency. We all have off days. The guys who are really good know what they can or cannot do on any particular night. They can put on performance that appear inspired when they have wracking migraines, for example. I'll wager that most of us know multiple ways to play any song in our playlist. On days that we are in the zone, we stretch out solos, use tasteful embellishments and voicings. On the not so much days, we focus on the melody. At work, I have off days. (Lucky I ain't a brain surgeon.) But I put in my 10 hours, teach my classes, mark my students' essays, and hope the next day will be better. I've called in sick one day in the past 20 years. I've had more good days than bad ones. When I was gigging regularly, I had one night that I was playing awful. It was cold and damp, and the trip to the gig had taken ten hours so I was whipped when I got on stage. The first set, I broke a string five tunes in. I rarely break strings. I walked off stage and didn't want to come back, but my band mates just told me to chill out. I regained composure, returned, and within a few songs I was back up to par. So perhaps playing through it is the key to consistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSchooner Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The thing to remember is, in any crowd there's never more than a handful of folks (maybe only one or two) who know the difference, and those who do understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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