Members LittleBrother Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 "Learn to play the guitar" - Jerry Garcia That certainly sums up the life of a humble player and I think players of all levels feel this same way. I dont care if you are 20 years old or 55 years old it is NEVER too late to begin playing. Within a matter of years you can be very happy with your skills and make some great friends to boot. Thanks Mike Crixell for telling me about that interview with J.G. and his humorous yet heavy words. I look at it in 5 year pops. I think of how good I will be in 5 years and start working toward it. I also don't compare myself to artists I can never be like. I just want to understand the instrument. Thoughts anyone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LouisP Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 This is a timely message, I am 45 and have just picked up the guitar this year. I have now been playing just shy of 10 months and although I have really enjoyed the process I frequently get down on myself at the rate I am progressing. If only I had picked up the guitar when I was 10! Anyway, I keep telling myself that in another 5 years with practicing an hour or two a day I will achieve a higher platue. It would be nice to be able to do the things that I hear alot of you folks on line talk about. Practice and patience go a long way... Happy Holidays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilHippy Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 I have, seriously, been playing guitar since December 18th 2002.So it's just 1 year and 5 days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madog99 Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 Amen L.B. !! Seems that you go in spurts , learn a bit ,slack off and be happy then get all fired up again (this coming from a hack )But I have always found the thing that drives me the most is playing with other people and hopefully they are better than you . " How did he do that ?" ..... " I suck , I'll never be able to play that " ..." Bar chord ?? " I got my first playable guitar when I was about about 32( 86?) and I knew a few chords , well now I know a few more chords but slooooowly every year you add something and if you live long enough , one day ................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sec12196 Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 I'm coming up on my 3rd year anniversary of picking up a guitar - I am now 38. I practice on average 6 hours a week and just the past month or so I've noticed that finally some things are becoming natural feeling and almost automatic. It is a long road but one that has way more ups than downs. I can say I'm to the point in this journey that I'm starting to fully grasp how immense it all is. It certainly can be daunting when we sit back and look and listen to the masters but you just need to take those small bites and savour them to their fullest. There is just no feeling in this complicated world like getting a string of notes right and feeling it down to your soul. I've had practice sessions where I'm literally laughing with utmost gratification that out of these ham-fisted hands I'm actually producing some music. I've had practice sessions where the music just seemingly comes of its own accord. It is those precious moments that make the work oh so worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madog99 Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 This is a great thread , I guess every one is in the same boat , striving to be better than you are now , irregardless of what level that is at this moment. I have a friend who is a very good player but he gave up years ago, because he wanted to be "the best" , and he said that he would run into some kid that was way better than him and realized he would never be "the best" So now his Martin sits in it's case and once a year he pulls it out .Having been a professional for years I guess he burned out ? So sad . "What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?" Elvis Costellops: did anyone see the movie that ended with 2 guys playing that Elvis tune on acoustics and slowly a big crowd forms all singing it ?It was a very strange movie but that might have been the hi-light of the film .Wish I could remember the name of it ? Was very cool . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackF Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 I am a new member although I have been reading the forum for awhile. This seems to be a good thread to begin with. I played in high school and college and then slacked off (that was 33 years ago). Every once in a while I would pick up again for awhile and then other priorities would arise. Now those priorities are grown and on their own (kinda) and I have a little more time to pick it up again. I have an old Aria Classical from the 60's, a 12 String Framus Texan ('69) which I just had setup again after alot of years, A Washburn D-28S Rosewood '93 (they stopped making that one in '94) and a DeArmond M65C electric (just for fun). Am thinking about a Larrivee LV-03E (almost have the wife convinced). I have always loved to play and am hoping that now I will have the chance to be a little more serious about it. I am already taking advantage of LB's generosity and working on the lessons he has on his site. I am also learning alot just from reading this forum. Went all the way back and worked my way up to now. I saw a quote from someone on the forum that sums it up perfectly: "I don't Want to play better than anyone else, just better than me" - kind of my motto in golf as well as guitar playing. Here's hoping that there are no more priority shifts and that I get to learn a few tunes that are not from the 60's. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Every once in a while I would pick up again for awhile and then other priorities would arise. That's about where I am, too. I first picked up the guitar as a kid sometime in the late 1970s but have been on-again, off-again, though not for more than a few months at a time. I'm a really slow learner but over the past 25 years I've become comfortable with my playing and performed enough to get over the initial stagefright impulse. Over the years I've also picked some things up and forgotten how to do others. Most of the songs in my repetoire are a bit dated, too. It makes me happy and helps me through the hard times and that's all that's ever really mattered to me. Lately I've been having this urge to evolve, though. I'm trying to build up the courage to actually write my own material. Priorities are still against me, too, but I feel like I shouldn't cave in this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilHippy Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Finally talked your wife into the hot rod, eh?~EH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenzio Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 And no matter how good you get - there's always more to learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dean Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Awesome thread. Been playing for almost 3 years. Am 29 now. I also wish I started when I was 10. I pick things up really quick but I find myself in a rut right now. I think people underestimate something simple like good strumming - I may think I strum well but I see room for lots of improvement. One dilemma I faced was actually buying a Martin (my first guitar was a Norman) One cost 300 bucks. One cost 1800 bucks. Am I nuts. I'm not that good. 15 year vets play my HD28 and wow! I wish I could play like that. I don't regret it because the sound is so beautiful - even with my elementary chord progressions. Like LB said, the friends you meet and the Saturday nights you spend with a couple of buddies in a basement (instead of getting drunk at a bar) are awesome - plus you learn the best riffs!! Merry Christmas!Dino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveP Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Cool thread. I think EVERYONE wishes they would have started eariler. I did start when i was 10, and I wish I started earlier. Or at least had an attention span then. Im 24 now and play pretty well. I have pretty much played everyday for the last 5 years. I just started taking lessons again and theory is making my head hurt something fierce! 1,3,5,6,7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members esantiago Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Yes I agree that you are never to old to start enjoying the guitar. I have loved the guitar most all my life. Never cared really to play an electric, just the acoustic. Played an old 1948 Silvertone archtop for most of my life. Frustrated from not even being able to play a single tune I put it down and picked it up at different times in my life. About 8 years ago bought a Washburn D11 and was amazed how easy it was to play. But still never got past a few first position chords and never a tune. Put it down for a few years, frustrated again. Got the urge again 3 years ago after seeing Alice in Chains UnPlugged. Wow that really changed me. That was the kind of music I was wanting to play on the acoustic. And of course many other styles too. This spurred a trip to the music store where I came home with a Takamine Santa Fe. Wow even easier to play. Going nowhere I took lessons from Mike MacAdoo for about 4 months. That made a huge difference. I am still barely a hack but I can play a few tunes now. Just want to get better than myself more and more. If you really want to play the guitar I recommend you take some lessons from a teacher. It will really suprise you what a difference it will make. When I need a step up in my playing I take a few lessons and it is amazing. I am 44 years old and this is the first time in my life that I can actually have fun playing the guitar. Here is a link to a hacked up tune that I have been working on. Its crude and amature but it brings me enjoyment. http://home.sw.rr.com/edsmix/tears2_1.mp3 Oh and LittleBrother is a breath of fresh air to me also. He has a great web sight. Love those videos and reviews and mp3's and such.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LittleBrother Posted December 24, 2003 Author Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Thanks Ed, Man you have some KILLER tone man. Thats not just in the guitar. Thats in the fingers too. Man I love that song too. Man we are alot alike. Both in our 40s and trying to do the best we can. Thanks for visiting my site. I hope you have alot of fun and many long years. You are already able to record and put it on the internet. That is too cool. You have alot of potential man. I can hear that you have a good ear and timing. The rest is just hard work and alot of little sweat drops coming from the forehead but in a few short years you will be rockin robin ! I can't even begin to play that song but I love it. This thread really hits at the heart of my goals and dreams. To see middle class and middle aged america come alive with acoustics and this includes the younger generation because I think it brings us together from all ages. There is alot of magic in this stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members esantiago Posted December 24, 2003 Members Share Posted December 24, 2003 Thanks for the encouragement LittleBrother. As far as playing goes you are light years ahead of me. Remember I listened to almost everything on your site. You got a lot of magic going. I still can't figure out that tune you play on the Larrivee L05ME-Shure-SM58-mic-noEQ. I would love to get the tab for that. Or a video of it. I would gladly pay for it. That would take some time for me to learn I am sure. Here is one that I just started working on about 2months ago. It's primitive but I have wanted to play this since I was 12 or 14 years old. And now I am actually doing it. I'm a little slow! http://home.sw.rr.com/edsmix/muse.mp3still working on the timing on this one I am serious about that tune of yours.Ed P.S. Recording my playing has been one of the best tools for improvement. Listen to what you played and go ARGH!!!! that sucks!!!! I need to work on this part or that. Helps alot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted December 25, 2003 Members Share Posted December 25, 2003 Finally talked your wife into the hot rod, eh? Nah, we picked it up along with the Strat in '99 because I was in this SRV phase and wanted a nice tube amp. I just thought it should go in the sig. I gotta use it more in all honesty, but it is sweet! esantiago brings up a good point. I need to find a way to record my playing, if only to remember some things that I make up when I'm ready to nod off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LittleBrother Posted December 25, 2003 Author Members Share Posted December 25, 2003 Originally posted by esantiago I still can't figure out that tune you play on the Larrivee L05ME-Shure-SM58-mic-noEQ. I would love to get the tab for that. Or a video of it. I would gladly pay for it. I am serious about that tune of yours. Oh shucks man I would make you a video in a heartbeat on that. Its so simple you will slap your mama. If you can remember, send me an email reminder from the email link on my webpage and remind me. I will knock out a video real quick and show you. I think I am just noodling in D, G and E chord. I thrilled to see other people playing and having fun. If you can do something with that little tune I welcome you to take it and run with it. Your really gonna be surprised how simple that one is.... Oh man I ate too much again tonight ! I think that piece of cheesecake was a little too much... ugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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