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Sorry for the essay!
I've hit a rut, the same kind of rut I hit frequently so apologies for the broken record! I don't much like the guitar player I've become, because my practising is not progressing me as much as I'd like in the directions I'd like to go in. There are a number of reasons for this, I think, including possibly:
1) I set myself the target of gigging, either in a band or solo, but I feel this target was too high so I've got disheartened at not reaching it
2) GAS and generally having too many things to mess with while searching for "tone" instead of trying to learn the playing techniques first (and also having to battle with horrendous noise issues at home that either make playing very fatiguing on the ears due to the humming, or very expensive due to the number of batteries I'm getting through with the wireless unit I use as the only effective weapon against the noise). These noise issues also mean I can't use headphones for practising
3) Not really having any friends to play with (ooh er) and lacking the guile and personality to make friends that want to make the same kinds of music
4) While I'm quite good at classical piano but don't really have the inclination any more, unfortunately I think my guitar (and singing) ability is directly improportionate to my enthusiasm for it, so the opposite.
So I'm thinking of trying to give up the thought of gigging proper, then only do it if the opportunity presents itself for small scale stuff (got a couple of busking type things). In resolving to try and do this in the first place I did a huge move around of accumulated gear in order to fund gig worthy equipment. People have previously persuaded me not to move this on to get a more "home based" set up before, on the off chance that a gig opportunity presents itself and also because the Amp I have (hot rod deluxe) is relatively suited to home use. The nagging problem is that a fair amount of money in my "gear fund" is tied up in that amp, and I know I could buy and sell the amp at the price I got it at any day of the week if I needed one again, but for the same money I could get some killer home/studio type gear.
But then as per point 2 above, these home/studio options would likely be something like Axe FX or Eleven Rack, which would inevitably lead to incessant tweaking and not enough practising still. The alternative is to get a cheap decent sounding amp (had experience of Blackstar's ID amps recently, or even just the Zoom I already have into my Hifi) and pocket the change in the Gear Fund reserves in case I do ever suddenly need it, and try to enjoy simply playing for fun?
What do you guys do in these kind of situations? Is there any shame in turning my back on my wish to play in public or should I just be excited about playing for myself and recording stuff? I want to remain positive.
Also I need you guys to police me in the classifieds if I try to buy anything ha ha
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Comments
It can be with diminishing returns though and you just learn to be good at what ever it is you need to get through that level of performance and other apects of your playing don't improve or even suffer. Sting used to say something like always aim to be the worst musician in the room so you keep learning. Seems good advice although being a massive pop star probably helps.
Still, you could break down the gigging goal into smaller more achievable steps. At a guess you might need to refocus on what you want to play as well - invariably guitarists are poor team players as they tend to only develop a niche style and there are far too many guitarists out there so that unless you happen to find someone looking for that niche you are stuffed.
If its gigging for the experience then be as open minded as possible and ignore what the music actually is. If 6 months down the line you would rather die than play Mustang Sally again then quit, but cool people don't get gigs. Honestly, playing Mustang Sally ( or insert terrible cliche song of your choice) is much more fun than listening to it.
If you want it only to be your music or a specific style of music then you have to put the effort in - book rooms, do ads, phone venues,etc,etc - and you will get a response as many musicians just want to play and don't want those hassles. They may never have thought of playing your particular brand of Peruvian psychedelic folk but if all they have to do is turn up and play and you have the hassle then the bloody mountain will come to you.
At the moment if I get to pick up the guitar for ten minutes and lose myself in some tuneless clanging that's ten minutes less shit in my life TBH. I think you do have to answer your own question and follow your passions. Its not your livelihood, find a way to enjoy it.
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but one of the main things I like a being a musician is playing in a group and performing. (almost!) regardless of the material so I'm happy playing most things if the dancefloor is full and then if I like the songs that's a bonus
Playing with other musicians is always (imho) the quickest way to improve and give some motivation - there's nothing like an approaching gig to encourage me to actually learn my parts.
Ahh my noise issues. A constant bane of my life. There's something wrong with my house whereby i get a horrid hum/fizz noise all of the time when playing guitar, the only cure for this is having a wireless system between guitar and amp/pedals or to use a piezo pickup Variax. It has long puzzled many people including my sound engineer cousin. Baffling and intensely frustrating
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I can cope with White Stripes and Strokes. I'm also a secret drummer. If you fancy a jam sometime for an hour or two, give me a shout and a few songs to learn and you're welcome to pop along to my band's lockup.
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you also speak truth monquixote, though i cant learn bass haha i assume its harder than it looks. Definitely not up for the usual cover band gig haha even if it means only expecting 15 mins here or there! True though that performing is a different skill to playing, especially true on piano.
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Definitely not taking up bass, more likely to try keys than take up yet another instrument. I do take the point though, that you either need to do something extra or offer something else.
ha on a related note (pardon the pun) i tried singing tonight...and my throat has gone again...damn it
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I'd have thought there was plenty of mileage in an indie covers band. Just might mean having to play the indie equivalent of Mustang Sally as part of that.
Thanks guys for the viewpoints and perspectives. Am still undecided but for now have some food for thought and time to try and get some songs together for either purpose (or porpoise)
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