Are you as good as you are gonna get?

koneguitarist

Been thinking about this, although we often still keep learning do we all reach a point where that's it !

For me I think I reached that point in last two years, my slide guitar playing is improving, and I think I will get better with time, but i believe there is a trade off between age/dexterity and knowledge of your craft.

Thoughts please ?

guitarfishbay

No, I'm worse than I used to be, at least technically.  But I just don't have the same amount of time to practice right now compared to when I basically did nothing else as a teenager.  Musically I'm definitely always improving though, I hope!

Rockhopper

Worse than I used to be too. You get older, work and life get in the way!

mike_l

I was better when I had more time to practise (IE 2 hours a night, 5 night a week)...

Teetonetal

koneguitarist said:

Been thinking about this, although we often still keep learning do we all reach a point where that's it !

For me I think I reached that point in last two years, my slide guitar playing is improving, and I think I will get better with time, but i believe there is a trade off between age/dexterity and knowledge of your craft.

Thoughts please ?

I don't think I have got any better since my mid 20s in fact I am not as fluid as I was and for sure I am more limited in my solo ideas, mainly becuase life now gets in the way, practice time is snatched, I used to record a lot and I now I don't so much because I can't lock myself away from my family! I teach a couple of lessons a week to ensure I keep my hand in and offer myself a challenge, but dedicated practice and improvement cycles are a thing of the past.

However I am sure that if I was to really go back to old habits the improvement would come. Whats most imprortant to me though is that music is still fun and I still can squeeze in once a week band practice..

digitalscream

Depends...in terms of speed, yes - I can't see myself being able to play any faster than I can right now. In terms of accuracy...yeah, more practice would definitely improve things there, because I've been sliding backwards for a while now.

In terms of ideas/imagination? I need more time on the instrument to find out, I think. Sadly, time is what I'm most poor in at the moment.

mellowsun

Technically, I'm not going to get any better (my speed picking probably peaked in my early 20s), so I'm focusing on working on composition and general musicality. 

monquixote

Technically slower than when I was at university and practiced more, but musically better than I used to be.

I imagine I won't be getting much better for a while as I'm focussing on learning to sing at the moment.

ROOG

Oh god I hope not! Im not very good now, surely there has to be room for some improvement.

stickyfiddle

Like Monq I'm way slower than I was 10 years ago but I'm a miles better musician and band member. 

And my fingerstyle playing is significantly better. Hoping to improve that further though.

Catthan

I'm better than past, I'm getting more and more playtime, jazz too which always felt intimidating, my technique is building too.

Speed as well but I try to focus on melody and what I play when I play fast.

Learning the fretboard well and transcribing all my jazz chops and repertoire is the next big challenge.

No plans for family in the next 3 years so I hope I'll have the time to improve further.

I'll stick to it until I can maintain a satisfactory level just by playing out instead of practicing every evening

frankus

I'm reminded of the 80 y/o retired concert pianist who was asked why he kept playing:

"ya know, I think I'm actually starting to get good at it".

Danny1969

I think I'm the best I've ever been but I constantly practice despite gigging 8 to 12 times a month ... you want fame ? well fame cost and right here is where you start paying in sweat etc

To be honest I enjoy the practice and the feeling you get when finally you can do something difficult that you couldn't before. 

viz

Would dearly like to get better, especially more varied, but I'm probably not.

not_the_dj

I plateaued ages ago, but I'm at a level where I can learn covers pretty quickly and I seem to be able to impress middle aged guys and drunks in pubs, so that's fine with me for now. I gig on average every fortnight and we generally always get repeat bookings so we're doing something right....and I think that subconsciously makes me think I don't actually "need" to get any better, even though I'm sure I could improve a lot if I tried.

I don't have much time to practice technique, so I've not really learnt anything new for years, but I suppose what I do play is more confident and fluid.

mike_l

viz said:

Would dearly like to get better, especially more varied, but I'm probably not.

You sure, you're already a monster player....

fretmeister

My musical knowledge is far better than it used to be.

I now play in a school orchestra with my daughter and although my sight reading is shite I now having a working starting point where I no longer need to write it all out again in tab!

But technically - no where near as good as I was.

In the past I've played all the shred bass stuff I could get my hands on. Shy Boy / Colorado Bulldog etc etc were easy for a while.

Now I can feel the onset of carpel-tunnel just thinking about it!!

koneguitarist

I think after a period of years we all get relatively comfortable with what we can do, and not worry so much about what we cannot do. Speed wise we will all slow down as we get older but hopefully that will be tempered with taste and knowledge!

axisus

I think I hit the ceiling many years ago, and it's not that high either. Never learned theory, never learned songs. The one thing that is still improving is phrasing.

viz

mike_l said:

viz said:

Would dearly like to get better, especially more varied, but I'm probably not.

You sure, you're already a monster player....

u are a kind man to say so but I guess one always sees one's flaws, stagnation and laziness. As well as being exposed to thousands of others who play better/faster/with more feel/less derivative style than oneself - I do anyway! But I spose that's a good thing, albeit annoying.

Lixarto

viz said:

u are a kind man to say so but I guess one always sees one's flaws, stagnation and laziness.

The audience only hears what you can play - not what you can't