Are you getting better?

[Feynman]

I'm a bit bummed as I have this amazing sounding new guitar but I seem to have lost the capability to do anything with it.

I know what to do, but moments like these are frustrating. I have lost a significant amount of ability over the past seven years, in several ways.

How about you? I hope most of you are progressing (unless that's not what you are looking for, and of course that's cool too).

I could use some inspiration.

[Bennyboy-UK]

Buying Rocksmith the computer game has probably improved my playing by 30%

[crunchee]

I'm a slob when it comes to woodshedding OR theory. Lately, I got out a bass after not playing for awhile, and for some reason I've improved noticeably with time off, though in ways I didn't expect. I stumbled across doing ascending Disco-style runs (35 years too late), it is (or WAS) fun but now I can't get it out of my head! No, I HAVEN'T been listening to Disco recently! It's a phase though a weird one, maybe it'll lead me to figure out some other weirdness.

[diablo175]

Feynman,

my vocabulary or bag o' tricks on guitar has definitely improved. I have more phrases, if you will, to use when the occasion calls for it but I find my physical ability to execute them has diminished just a wee bit. Just not as speedy these days. The trade off is perhaps I'm a tad more tasty.

But I doubt it.

[murkat]

worse.

It's not me,

Just my age, nerve, muscle tissue damage.

I got to quit huffin....

[veatch]

I can't play most of the stuff i used to be able to, but i think my playing is more "musical" now.

Or maybe i'm just rationalizing my waning skillz...

[hamerhead]

Mitch, you have to have the proper perspective.

Remember the jocks in high school who could run and throw and catch and jump like a m**herf**ker and were going pro and all that? Well, how many of them can do any of that anymore? They get maybe 10 years of potential peak performance. Meanwhile (if you haven't just flat out quit), your ability has steadily grown - whether it's physically or mentally - and you've improved in one way or another. It may not be much, maybe barely noticeable, but you still don't have to be the 'glory days' guy. You have a passion for something that can grow as you see fit. If you're physically diminished, maybe develop another technique. If you're mentally diminished, well, join the club.

Take a breath, look at it from another angle, relax and enjoy. That's what it's about.

[rj2858]

Your question brings to mind a phrase from some band from the sixties;

I have to admit I'M getting better, a little better all the time (I can't get no worse!)

[Feynman]

Thanks.

My decline is due to simple neglect. I've barely tread water these last few years as I've concentrated on buying and selling electric guitars instead of trying to be a better guitarist. Also, classical and electric really are two very different instruments, so working on one can actually hurt performance on the other.

I guess I'm just a little bummed that I have neglected the guitar I love most of all, and for what, to own 47 electrics in six years?! That's a whole different topic though, and it probably requires psychoanalysis.

In any case, this wasn't really supposed to be about me - I'm just hoping that some of you make steady musical progress, which was always my real goal until this unfortunate yet fun multi-year distraction.

[murkat]

well, I guess a little more insperation is required to get you motivated Mitch...

[specialk]

Your question brings to mind a phrase from some band from the sixties;

I have to admit I'M getting better, a little better all the time (I can't get no worse!)

One that hits a little closer to home for me:

"Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'"

[cynic]

Increasing arthritis and joint issues prevent much progress at this point. I'm still learning, and playing, but I have to devote some time every now and again to finding ways of compensating for skills I'm losing.

[Bobby Marshall]

I am not sure. I am always learning new songs for the cover band but becoming better? I am not sure. I used to practice several hours a day when I was a music major but that was different skills. I used to sight read both treble and bass clef. Work on scales, fingerpicking, intensity, understanding the composition, comping in a 20 piece jazz band. Now it is rocking out in a 4 piece band playing recent pop/rock stuff. I guess the answer is no right now. Thanks Mitch. I needed to feel worse about myself.

[hamerhead]

.... I'm just hoping that some of you make steady musical progress, which was always my real goal until this unfortunate yet fun multi-year distraction.

I feel like I'm playing better than ever many may not agree after 40 years I'm a slow learner. Even with the hand/wrist/arm pain, I've learned to work around certain things and actually surprise myself once in a while. It's the 'surprise myself' moments that still make it fun.

[django49]

I must confess to having spent too much attention to finding and experimenting with cool gear. I have recently been trying to find something more useful in playing WITH others (starting with a "jam class" at a local junior college). In my own mind, at least, I am as good as any, and better than most, that have been in either of the classes. But I have picked up a lot of great tips from the co-instructors that are simple, but would not have occurred to me playing an a vacuum at home. AND it has moved me somewhat beyond the same old cliches. And the more I play with them (talented musicians both) the more I realize how limited I have been all this time.

Also, I fell in with a local guitarist, mostly jazz anymore, but with decades of pro experience in all genres. I may have learned more from him in less than an hour than in the prior six MONTHS.

I THINK I am playing better (and more tastefully) than ever before (in 40 years or more of flailing). Hopefully not as good as I will be tomorrow. I AM intent on getting better.

Fingers and other joints are clearly not quite as limber and painfree as when I was 17 (or 22 or 27 or....) But it is too important to simply stop.

But what the heck, those distractions can be great fun too.....Yeah, I know I should sell a bunch of stuff and focus on one (or a few) instruments. At least I HAVE picked out one that SEEMS to work well for me as I try to play well with others.....

[zorrow]

Lately, I've been exploring other musical genres than metal, which hopefully is making me a better overall musician. I play now with a sax player and with a conga player, whose tastes and default musical reflexes are very different than what I was used to.

For example, the sax player (being the sax a melodic instrument) is by nature a soloist, so now I must focus more on chords and rhythm in general. I try to provide a safe canvas for him to paint over -though I still do get some solo spots, but way fewer than before. This implies I need to play more chord inversions and also develop more stamina in order to keep a steady-but-not-so-boring rhythm for very very long periods of time.

On the other hand, with the congas I now trade some percussive riffs. This moves away from the typical lead guitar/singer melodic "call-response" clichés. I've been listening to Afro-cuban and Brazilian drumming patterns to get prepared for this, thrashing my way through them and putting them in practice with our conga player. He goes TAM-TAM and I go CHUG-CHUG, and many cool things happen there. It's a true blast!

So, while I still practice some licks and metal runs when I have time, I'm also trying to do some different stuff to keep my right brain active. It does pay off, even in the very short term.

PS: I must mention Brooks was one of the factors that motivated me to get into this eclectic band. I thank him for the inspiration. And I'll never regret the move because yes, I'm getting better, definitively.

[Toadroller]

I've spent quite a few hours practicing this spring. Usually just an hour a day, but sometimes two. I have to admit, it's opened my mind to improvement possibilities as well as helped me focus on certain areas where I was negligent. Playing has really exposed those.

All this practice has paid off. I'm hitting the ball both longer and more consistently than ever before, and in my last three rounds I've shot 88, 87, 85- that last round with 6 lip-outs. It's time to focus on my putting and chipping if I want to achieve my goal to break 80.

Seriously, though, the same principles apply to anything you practice. Focus and attention come and go, and you have to remember to invest, then capitalize on the return and enjoy it.

[gorch]

Although I have the impression I have played less guitar last year than the years before, I feel like I have improved. Playing the blues project with my friend had given me more confidence. Spring, I attended a bossanova work shop for the first time. Although I sucked in recalling simple chords, I took my lessons home. Another guitar has been designed and will be built. So, what can I say?

Oh yes, I even had Zorrows Mayday V in the house.

[MCChris]

No. Fuck no.

[kizanski]

No. Fuck no.

[bcsride]

No. Fuck no.

[sixesandsevens]

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

- Ira Glass

[Thundernotes]

I have not played so little guitar in the last 20 years as I have since I started at Fractal. The job is just crazy busy, and by the time I get home, I'm fried and don't feel like playing. I've recently brought a couple of guitars to keep in my office with the goal of taking a break now and then to work on something.

[svl]

To quote Alanis, "isn't it ironic"? Working at the greatest guitar audio company in the world, and having all those wonderful toys at your disposal and you get rock-blocked by it!

BTW, 10.9 once again killed. I hope you're enjoying the new gig.

On the subject, I can't say I'm necessarily better, but different. Absorbing different genres, merging and regurgitating them in unexpected ways, just has always seemed to be the natural progression of things. It feels like I'm better, but could just be the wonderful feelin' of constantly new "strange".

[The Shark]

I checked "no" for the poll. I've been playing the same stuff for the past 30 years. I guess I've improved along the way, but only in the execution of the same stuff I've been playing for 30 years, if that makes sense. No new scales. No new thinking about what to play.

Me and the guys are learning new stuff, but it's not any more challenging. The list grows, but I don't really think I've made strides in technique or creativity. I'm not sure it bothers me. I can still turn heads in the local music store noodling around. But it's because they haven't heard me play the same shit I always play.

Good poll question.