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Why are so many guitarists ADD / ADHD?


photon9

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Really! :eek:

 

I'm not overestimating when I say that 90% of all the guitarists I've ever played with have some form of it.

 

In the sense of when you're jamming together they'll play a song they like, 30 seconds later you start figuring it out and making it work, and bam they're on to the next song like, 'hey check this one out!'. And then 30 seconds later, they switch again, ad nauseum.

 

It's so frustrating! :mad:

 

Jamming is cool, but I'm OCD not ADD, I want to get that shit down, and get it as tight and perfect as possible, not know 1/2 of 100 songs that I can only half-assed play.

 

But I see it so often I can only be apathetic about it.

 

I've just sort of learned to just accept it and stare at them blankly, my face saying 'do you actually want me to play with you and figure it out or are you just goofing off / showing off right now?'... And wait until they get focused on something again.

 

Why why why are so many good, even great guitarists afflicted with this kind of ADD?!?!

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Guitar is an instrument that you can pick up quickly and can play without knowing anything at all about music. So it's a perfect instrument for ADD people.

 

And then, as you say, there are the show-offs. I'd say that the majority of guitar players picked up the instrument only as a way to get on stage and shake their asses. They don't want to do any real work, they just want attention.

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Really!
:eek:

I'm not overestimating when I say that 90% of all the guitarists I've ever played with have some form of it.


In the sense of when you're jamming together they'll play a song they like, 30 seconds later you start figuring it out and making it work, and bam they're on to the next song like, 'hey check this one out!'. And then 30 seconds later, they switch again, ad nauseum.


It's so frustrating!
:mad:

Jamming is cool, but I'm OCD not ADD, I want to get that shit down, and get it as tight and perfect as possible, not know 1/2 of 100 songs that I can only half-assed play.


But I see it so often I can only be apathetic about it.


I've just sort of learned to just accept it and stare at them blankly, my face saying 'do you actually want me to play with you and figure it out or are you just goofing off / showing off right now?'... And wait until they get focused on something again.


Why why why are so many good, even great guitarists afflicted with this kind of ADD?!?!

 

I don't see it as ADD or whatever, it's just a boredness factor kind of thing. You may be goal oriented but a lot of people unconsciously only want to do things that are 'fun'. And if you play guitar all the time for years, practicing a song may not be fun compared to shredding or fooling around or playing a bunch of small song segments.

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The truth is that a high percentage of people who claim they play guitar only know random riffs and bits and pieces of songs. It has nothing to do with any sort of psycho/social disorder. I got more gigs than I could handle in college because I had a repertoire of 100+ songs. Some of the guys I would jam with couldn't play a single song from start to finish if their lives depended on it.

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I prefer to "jam" with Audacity and an MP3. AND I'm at the point where I want to learn "full" songs rather than just riffs. Crazy, I know.
:rolleyes:

 

Yeah, I've been playing with MP3s lately too. It's actually a lot more productive. I'll figure out 3 or 4 songs in a couple hours, but at some point ya gotta play it with other people.

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I know what you're talking about, but I don't really look at it as ADD, but more of a dominance ritual that many guitar players use to establish superiority. Had a friend that used to call it the alpha guitar player syndrome. It seems like it's hard to find guitar players that are willing to share the limelight with another guitar player.

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I know what you're talking about, but I don't really look at it as ADD, but more of a dominance ritual that many guitar players use to establish superiority. Had a friend that used to call it the alpha guitar player syndrome. It seems like it's hard to find guitar players that are willing to share the limelight with another guitar player.

 

 

I've played with some where it definitely seemed to be an alpha male thing. But I've played with others that do the same thing and it doesn't really seem to be, at least not based on their personalities without a guitar in their hands. Maybe it's subconscious or something. It's weird for sure, especially how prevalent it is. I wonder if I do it and just don't realize it?

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or maybe
because everyone is diagnosed with ADD these days
? just sit down and pay attention dammit. you don't need a pill
:facepalm:

 

these days, it is fashionable to find a medical condition to explain what is in many cases simply a form of social behaviour.

In this case, lack of application and concentration.

 

That is part of the 140 character internet and tv generation where instant thrill is required or the channels gets switched.

 

Tell me in in ten years if all this obsession with social media was a good thing or not.

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