Have you ever given up playing?

[kwakatak]

Many times I've talked with folks who "used to" play guitar but ended up putting it away because they became too busy with other things. Maybe they were never truly "bitten by the bug" or just not serious enough to follow through with lessons or they just couldn't grasp the nuances to truly get lost in it, but in the end they still kept their old guitars in their closets while they built a life through other means. I can respect that since I tried the same thing once or twice upon a time, but I find it hard not to pick it up every so often and just play at the end of a busy day while other things should be getting my attention.

 

Still, there was once a time when I barely touched my guitar. Sure, I still played every couple of months but by and large the passion wasn't there for about 6-7 years for me. Probably the biggest indicator that I was no longer a guitar player for that time period was that it sat in its case in a closet behind a bunch of junk.

 

I have to say, that was probably some of the saddest days of my life. I tried immersing myself with another hobby and try to eke out a living with it, but it didn't pay off and I ended up doing some other unsatisfying line of work and giving up that hobby as well.

 

Then one day I got the urge to play again and pulled the old Tak out of the closet. Somehow I got the bug to try a new technique and found that guitar lacking, which led to my introduction to the concept of GAS. Still, money was tight so I decided to put the money I did have into that Tak. What happened next I could not foresee. I learned the value of a good setup and that initial small urge had once again grown to a passion that exceeded the feeling I used to get when I first started playing semi-seriously years before.

 

BTW - by "semi-seriously" I mean to say that I'd never try to make a living at it. I've been told that I could probably do well at it, but IMO that would require an investment of time and energy that would suck all the joy out of it for me. Without that joy, I'd probably give it up again - possibly for good.

 

So what about the rest of you? How important is playing guitar to you now? Have you ever stopped playing for a while only to come back to it with renewed passion? If so, how long was the break and what brought you back? Were there any regrets for quitting? Do you have an idea how much further you want to go with your playing?

 

Sorry for the long post. I guess I'm just sick of all the gear questions here and on other forums. That and I'd like to hear from this bunch in particular since this is a "musician's forum" - and not just a brand-specific one - after all.

[guitarist21]

 

So what about the rest of you? How important is playing guitar to you now? Have you ever stopped playing for a while only to come back to it with renewed passion? If so, how long was the break and what brought you back? Were there any regrets for quitting? Do you have an idea how much further you want to go with your playing?

 

 

I'm one of those who have never stopped playing guitar (except once I didn't bring anything for a week long trip to Indiana; came back and was having withdrawls, fingers were tingly, etc) and I can't possibly understand anyone wanting to stop. This is probably partly because I'm pursuing music as a career in one format or another and if I just kind of quit guitar I'd be pretty much screwed in terms of school. But it is also due to the fact that I personally can't go for several days without wanting to play. Like I said I almost have withdrawls. My fingers get tingly.

 

The worst is when you don't play for a couple days and then you put lotion on and you're not thinking about your callouses and then you play again like a day or two later and you're like "What the heck?"

 

I talked to my friend and he made a cool point. He said that when you are not happy with your playing (i.e. "uninspired") that is when your taste is better than your ability. And when you think you're playing well, that's when your taste and your ability are equal. I guess that was a confusing way of explaining what he said. But I just thought it was a cool way of thinking about it.

 

Ellen

[Stackabones]

I went through a period where I didn't play/practice between gigs, but I was gigging several times a week. And I went through about a two-year period where I didn't gig much, but I still did some pickin' two or three times a week.

 

Currently, I play all the time. Gigs, giving lessons, practicing, rehearsals, hanging out, watching TV, surfing the net, etc. I don't play much on Sundays, except for noodling around or going over to a friend's house to jam. I play guitar for a living, so it's a constant feature of my daily life.

[Hudman]

I played guitar daily between the age of 15 and 21. Most of that time was spent playing in bands. I played 3-4 days per week between age 21 and 25. I married my wife when I was 26. We bought a house and she didn't think a 4 - 12" speaker, half stack, tube amp went well in her living room. I still managed to play 3-4 days per week during our first year together. I started getting a bit mellow in my playing so I went out and bought an acoustic guitar (Seagull S6).

 

A couple months later we discovered that she was pregnant. Once the baby was born I found I didn't have time to play as much. A few months later I began a new job where I started a 4 year apprenticeship that required me to take 2 - 3 college classes per semester (year round). I was working 10-12 hours per day, going to school 2 -3 times per week at night and working every weekend. I managed to play my Seagull 1 or 2 times per month if I was lucky. We bought our second house at the end of my apprenticeship. I spent most of my free time during the first year remodeling it.

 

All said, even though I never stopped, I lost almost 6 years of consistant guitar playing during that span. I will never let that happen again.

[12Gauge]

I have been playing guitar since I was 10 years old and I am totally self taught. I've been at it for 41 years. It was my passion all through high school and beyond but I played 95% electric. Every kid wants to be a rock star, right?

 

The last week-end band I was in lasted for 13 years. We were busy and made good money but then it started to be a drag. Hauling gear, late nights, long drives home and most of all missing out on Sundays with the kids. I started to really dislike the music we were playing and had a hard time forcing myself to learn it. So I quit with kind of a bad taste in my mouth. That was 1999. My guitar (made in the USA Stratocaster) went behind the couch and never got played. In the meantime my fly fishing passion took over and I just forgot about my guitar. It was over for me. I didn't think I would ever play again and I didn't care. I was concentrating on my fly fishing.

 

Then one day my son dragged my father-in-laws (rest his soul) old Harmony acoustic home. It was laying around the house and I found myself picking it up now and then and enjoying it.

 

So now I have approached it with a different attitude. I bought myself a Larrivee L-03 and am going to learn fingerstyle for my own entertainment purposes. I bought some instructional DVD's and the passion is starting all over again and I'm going to have fun doing it. No more week-end gigs. I save those (week-ends) for my other passion, fly fishing.

[Stackabones]

No more week-end gigs. I save those (week-ends) for my other passion, fly fishing.

 

But yer gonna need a travel git for those fly fishing trips, right?

[guitarist21]

I save those (week-ends) for my other passion, fly fishing.

 

OT: Have you read The River Why by David James Duncan? Great story about fly fishing. I highly recommend it if you're looking for something to read.

 

Ellen

[Cripes]

I picked the guitar up at 18 y/o. Practiced 3-4 hours daily learning fingerstyle. Got pretty good at it. Left for the military and put the guitar down at 21. Picked it up again 28 years later. Too many life things happening in between and I preferred to travel light. But, I knew I could play. That seemd to be enough. Now, sometimes I think I should take another sabatical and get on with other things in life. It's sort of like an accomplishment that I wanted to do, did it to a satisfying end, and now there's other interests to accomplish within the balance of time remaining.

[ihateyouguys]

Yes. For several years.

 

Big mistake (one of many made at that time)

[12Gauge]

But yer gonna need a travel git for those fly fishing trips, right?

 

Maybe so.

[12Gauge]

 

OT: Have you read The River Why by David James Duncan? Great story about fly fishing. I highly recommend it if you're looking for something to read. Ellen

 

 

No I haven't but I will check it out. Thanks.

[babablowfish]

I played (badly) when I was in high school and college. Then I put the guitar down for about 10 years. I guess I felt I wasn't any good and I got caught up in other things. Then about 15 years ago I picked it up again and went through a long process of learning how to relax and just play. I started playing at parties a few years ago and added open-mike nights a couple of years ago and now I am writing songs. I am grateful for what the guitar has given me. The biggest obstacle I had was my own lack of confidence and self-criticalness. Where I used to focus on what I couldn't do, now I am able to appreciate what I can.

[kwakatak]

 

I picked the guitar up at 18 y/o. Practiced 3-4 hours daily learning fingerstyle. Got pretty good at it. Left for the military and put the guitar down at 21. Picked it up again 28 years later. Too many life things happening in between and I preferred to travel light. But, I knew I could play. That seemd to be enough. Now, sometimes I think I should take another sabatical and get on with other things in life. It's sort of like an accomplishment that I wanted to do, did it to a satisfying end, and now there's other interests to accomplish within the balance of time remaining.

 

 

Aren't you writing your own stuff, though? That seems more than just a means to an end to me. Mastering the technical aspects are certainly an admirable thing but that's only part of the equation (I'd even dare say a small part of it) for me.

 

For example, I know of a few songwriters who use it as an outlet for some of those other interests and "life things". I've tried to learn their stuff and found much of it to be technically "easy" but what really grabs me about their music was the passion they put in their music and the "life stuff" that they put into it. Look at Neil Young, for example.

[Muddslide]

My own story is something like a mix of Hudman's and Babablowfish's. Just re-read theirs...

[gthom]

My story is almost identical to Babalowfish, except I went back about 3 years ago and haven't gotten good yet.

 

My playing in high school and college was all garage band, electric stuff. I thought of myself as a blues based guitarist, but really I just played sloppy pentatonic scales.

 

During the 10 years or so I didn't play I still had my lam-top Yamaha, but almost never played it. When I decided to get my electric fixed, buy and amp and start playing again about 3 years ago it turned out that what I really liked was the acoustic. I started learning fingerstyle, taking an occasional class at the old town school here in Chicago, and now I play daily again. But this time it's relaxed and I even spend some time focusing on my technique. There's no more rock-star aspirations, just hoping to keep learning and improving and if other people (like my wife) get some enjoyment out of it too, so much the better.

[JerseyGuy]

I played in college and for a bunch of years after, 12 string, espcially after I bought a Taylor 12 in the early 80s. Then kids, soccer games, etc. and I put my (then) two gits away for many years. So last year, we went to see Tom Rush in a small setting and he was selling his Homespun DVD. I wore out two LPs of his The Circle Game in college and while I figured out the basic open position chords, I never figured out the way he does it. I bought the DVD and broke out the guitars and it took me just a few days to learn each song -- the secret (to me, anyway) is open tunings. I then went through an extended GAS attack, lots of help from this site, now cured. I play every day and am very pleased with my progress. Although I wish I hadn't put things away for so long (my poor Taylor is getting a $$$ neck reset as I write), I don't think I would have been as gung-ho if I hadn't been able to use the Tom Rush DVD (and now several more Homespuns).

[daklander]

I pretty much packed it in for a dozen or so years, starting about 1980. I just left the guitar in it's case in a closet during that time. Some of it was a move away from the friends I'd had who also played and some was a lack of time to put into it and a certain apathy.

Since I got back to playing and performing in about 1992 or so I've gone through some short spells with little or no playing or performing. I'm actually in kind of a hiatus now, playing only a couple of times a month and I'm between gigs and not really looking hard. I will be playing at an upcoming get together of friends and fellow musicians this coming weekend and possibly next weekend, then have a tentative gig the third week end in October though I haven't committed to that yet.

Too many day job hours right now...

[dhoenisch]

Well, I suppose since I haven't been playing for too long, my story may not count, but...

 

I started playing guitar about 7 or 8 years ago, starting on a Harmony (made overseas) electric strat copy. That guitar was a piece of crap, and so was the amp I had. I would mess with it, but never really learned how to play, so I put it away for a couple of years. Than, I picked it up again, with a better amp this time, but still just messed with it. I had a desire to learn, but I had a bad guitar. That started my amateur luthier hobby though as I changed out all of the electronics, tuners, and learned about sheilding the cavity. That guitar still sucked, but not as much. Anyhow, I purchased a Squier SG, and it was playable out of the "box". I started learning how to play from a video and book, but was getting tired of rock and roll at the time, so I sold the Harmony, and put the SG in the closet. I also had an acoustic, but I put that away as well. Than my banjo obsession started, and purchased a beginner banjo. I wanted so bad to learn how to play, so I paid for lessons. That was about 2 1/2 years ago. I didn't play guitar during the first year of lessons. I picked the guitar back up about a year and a half ago, and was accompanying singing at church along with another guitar player. I purchased a 12-string since I thought that made us sound better together, which it does. Than three months ago, when my banjo instructor felt that it wasn't worth it for me to continue my banjo lessons (since he was just teaching me different songs, not really learning anything new), he asked if I wanted to take guitar lessons. Why not? I want to do something other than strumming chords anyhow.

 

Banjo is still my real passion, but I still love playing guitar.

 

Dan

[EvilTwin]

The only time I pretty much "gave up" was when my guitar teacher said he couldn't give me lessons anymore because of his schedule. I thought of him as a great friend, and it bummed me out so much that I didn't want to play anything.

 

That only lasted about two weeks. He then invited me to join his band.

[JasmineTea]

I've only stopped a few times briefly. The longest being a few weeks due to a change in employment. Other than that I've been at it since I was 8-9. 43 now.

 

Kwak, it's not an "I'm either gonna do it or I'm not" kind of a thing. Play when you've got time or inclination to. If you're busy with other stuff, so be it. There's no rule saying you've got to practice every day, and there's nothing wrong with picking it up every couple of weeks or so and just tinkering. Heck, that might be just the thing.

[Glenn F]

I've had a long period of time where I've done no more than just noodle around for 5 minutes at a time, once every few days, and periods where I wouldn't touch a guitar for weeks on end. I think I plateau'd out at ability by the age of 30, now anything I do is merely refinement on that. I used to be quite good, and am only now starting to play regularly again (I bought 4 guitars this summer, in order to bring back the joy of it).

 

My problem has been one of recurring major depression. It has robbed me of a lot of joy in my life, music being just one part of it.

[Stackabones]

The only time I pretty much "gave up" was when my guitar teacher said he couldn't give me lessons anymore because of his schedule. I thought of him as a great friend, and it bummed me out so much that I didn't want to play anything. That only lasted about two weeks. He then invited me to join his band.

 

That's awesome!

[rjoxyz]

I consider giving it up every time I play, which is daily. More truth to that than I care to admit.

 

I started playing in college in the late 70's. Owned the same guitar for over 20 years, pulling it out occasionally. Probably had stretches of a year or more with no playing. Started back up about 4 years ago now and have not stopped for more than a couple days. GAS took over my life, so I have to play to justify the acquisitions.

 

In truth, playing guitar after stressful work days has replaced hanging out at the bar with friends to let off steam. Much heathier pursuit (except for the wallet). Despite my extreme and frustrating limitations, I am much better than I was before and enjoy the sound of a good guitar (even with me at the controls). It is my Prosac.

[milosch]

I stopped for about 7-8 years after playing for 18 years and picked it up again this year. Yes, I kept my old amp and 2 guitars. Now the amp is fixed, and two more guitars have joined the team. I hope I never walk away again.

[Cripes]

 

Aren't you writing your own stuff, though? That seems more than just a means to an end to me. Mastering the technical aspects are certainly an admirable thing but that's only part of the equation (I'd even dare say a small part of it) for me. For example, I know of a few songwriters who use it as an outlet for some of those other interests and "life things". I've tried to learn their stuff and found much of it to be technically "easy" but what really grabs me about their music was the passion they put in their music and the "life stuff" that they put into it. Look at Neil Young, for example.

 

 

The technical part of it will be forever challenging. That much I acknowledge as a rule. I do write my own stuff. That's primarily what makes playing interesting for me. I do like to listen to the way others wrangle from alternate tunings cover songs into their own wonderful instrumental interpretations. Great stuff, to say the least. But that's not what I want to hear coming from my own guitar. Nor can I tell anyone what I want to write or describe what I've already written. There's a certain limbo I'm either searching for or am already part of. I just don't know which it is. Independent probably describes it best. Most of my life stuff is material that has no place in song. That's why I put the guitar down in the first place. It could be disguised instrumentally and probably has influenced certain pieces. I will say that it is an outlet for me - pacifier.