elburromjf Posted October 13, 2004 Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 Greetings Earthlings, I gotta tell you a little story. Yesterday was one of those days the started off crappy and just got worse as the day progressed. By the time I got home from work, I was beside myself, I had a headache, and my blood glucose was approaching 200 (I am diabetic and stress effects that). I ate dinner, and retired to my bedroom where I watched a little TV and then decided that I was going to practice. This is where things really started falling apart. I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't get my tone dialed in the way I like it, and it just sucked. I tried three different guitars to no avail. I finally gave up because if I adjusted the pickup height on my epi les paul custom one more time I woulda went crazy. When I started thinking the strings were dead and that I should replace them, I just went to bed. How does frustration beyond measure effect your playing? EB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted October 13, 2004 Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 Well I'm crap anyway, but it ceratinly doesn't help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elburromjf Posted October 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 Well I'm crap anyway, but it ceratinly doesn't help No one is crap. You ever consider uniqueness? EB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted October 13, 2004 Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 No, I am actually crap That's not unique - loads of people are crap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivin Posted October 13, 2004 Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 oh yeah, the wrong mood definitely effects my playing, my confidance... everything. like you say, when in the wrong mood (doesnt necesarily mean a bad mood ) nothign ever sounds right and i just get frustrated. however, the flip side is when im on a roll and im in the right mood everything just falls into place and its awesome just a fact of life for me, and most people i would imagine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 I find if I am a little mad at something, and a little tired, my fingers move faster then my brain thinks and it sounds really good, but then i wake up a bit and it goes away, grrrrrrrr But yes, mood effects everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 I'm more of a writer than a player. But when I'm angry, I can't write or play. So I go out to the shop. If I just start filing and sanding on a woodworking project, I get into the wood... paying very close attention to how the wood behaves. Before long, I've forgotten about my anger, and a tune pops into my head. I keep woking on the wood until words start forming with the music. Then I can go back in the house and write a song. Sometimes you just have to put down what you want to do, and do something different. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 But when I'm angry, I can't write or play. i am the same way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoht Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 i write better stuff when i'm a little pissed off. i'm not a guitar player though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 Anger or Joy are no bad comanions for writing playing for me. What really makes a good playing session impossible is if I am tired and have no energy left. Then I begin to hate the sound, the ideas, everything.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikke_998 Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 My mood definatly affects my plaing! when I'm in an angry mood I mostly play the most heavy stuff I know!! and after that i just feel better!! when I'm in a good mood I play more soft stuff and my solo's semm to sound better... you get the point! Oh yeah and if its rainy I seem to suck more then when its sunny !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 (edited) I try not to self-analyse when it comes to guitar playing. I don't see it as a "mood" thing, however, if my mind is preoccupied then things definitely don't get done. Sometimes a little extra incentive is required to help me focus. I have many many projects that I have abandoned in the past to be picked up at a later date. Those are just periods of stagnation where I might take a song as far as I can go then move on to something different. But I will always manage to pick up where I left off and continue my progress. Edited October 16, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_here Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 (edited) Interesting topic. I've got some stuff to add about "myself" and what I've read that the Pros have to say on "Burn Out" and/or a waning-of-creativity. I've been playing guitar since about 1974 (am 48). At first it was just to Try To Learn How (you know, chords at 1st-3rd frets, building up yer callouses, "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young, & so on). After I got all-that down...I started subscribing to Guitar Player (mag) and bought some Guitar Chord & Theory Books. Also, I started getting "albums" (big black giant cd's) by guitarists of all styles...the best of The Best em. Soon, I learned that "I'll never be able tyo play (this or) that!" and kinda gave-up. Right then and there. Not long after that I made-up My Own Rule: If It Ain't Fun, Stop. I've come to learn that---how can I put this?---there are other issues surrounding Guitar Playing.... How Yer Doin, overall (ummm, yeah, that). So. For as long as I have been playing I "should be kinda great." However, tryin to be great ain't no fun unless it's a goal that doesn't intimidate you. Or, otherwise make guitar-playing Un-Enjoyable. Taking it (oh so) "seriously" is another thing I sort of did away with. I'll never "be" Jeff Beck....nor should I wanna be ("should" got taken off my "list" of: Playing-A-Guitar too).... The Pros: Go thru these kinds of things too (they're Ppl also, btw). Jimmy Page didn't even touch a (single) guitar for Nine Months after John Bonham died. Steve Vai talked about how his "Sex & Religion" cd didn't work-out so well (thoh I still liked it ok enuf). It all depends on what yer doing & seeking to do. I've found that when I'm "uninspired" I go, "I'm uninspired" and may not play much till I "feel that" again. And when I do, I somehow suddenly Get stuff I didn't think I could...and discover new ways to play. Since I quit being Oh-So-Serious about playing a guitar I got "good enuf" to do part-time gigs in a Classic-Rock Unplugged Band. Now that was fun (even thoh I was primarily just a Rhythym Player)! Who knew??? Finally, I'm coming out of my longest "uninspired period"....of about the last 4 years of just not playing very much. And just "jammed" with a new Larry Carlton cd a pal gave me: ("Sapphire Blue"). Did I actually just play that jazz-chord??? Yep & Oh-Boy (oh boy)!!! rick ><> Edited October 16, 2004 by rick_here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StratDudeDan Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 i've kinda run into the same thing with my bass playing, rick. i know i can be better. i've been playing professionally for "only" three and a half year now (i use the quotes 'cause i know lots of people that that's amazing to, especially with the music scene in my city...), and i've learned a lot. my technique is pretty damn good, and i've sat in with some of the best rhythm sections in the area. however, there is always this inkling in the back of my head, or i'll hear something i don't know, sit down and try it then realize that it's actually above me, and it drives me crazy. i remember the first time it happened. "Come Original" by 311. P-Nut's style and grooves through that whole song drove me insane. i could not get it for the life of me. i still can't... i've been pushed other ways, though. my dad does it for me. he'll offer me up for a very well paying gig that is over my head. forces me to catch up quick and i kinda like it. can only take so many of those jobs, though... as for guitar, i'm in a very odd situation. i've been playing longer than almost everyone i know (i know one player that started before me, one that started at the same time, and tons that started after me), so i'm constantly looked up to for my "playing abilities," which i really see as a lackthereof... that creates an interesting drive. i know how much i suck. heck, i can't even read music (in the jazz world, that pretty much means you can't play...) with six strings in front of me. but when a couple punk kids two or three years younger than me come over and just ask me to play along with the stereo so they can watch my fingers and "observe the essence of dan," it feels just kinda strange. i gotta get better for them, even though i really don't care about getting that much better. i can play what i want to, and that's it. now, there's a couple "kids" that are far superior players than i am, and i know it, but they still look up to me, 'cause i've been their mentor for so long. i know the stuff, i just can't do it. it's just odd... as for moods, though...i gotta stick with the "if it ain't fun, don't do it" mantra. when i was pissed off, i'd usually grab my acoustic 'cause the sound i get from that makes me happy anytime. if i was excited or energetic, strat cranked through a quarterstack or something in a small room in my basement. but i couldn't go the other way and channel my energy toward acoustic, or use my pissed-offedness towards achieving a higher standard of guitar. it's just weird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Years ago I had to kick the locked door into my own house to find my fiance with her ex-boyfriend. After I threw them both out I sat down to play and the pissed off, stressed out energy helped my vibrato. I've had it every since. Kinda trippy. Gotta love happy endings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 Years ago I had to kick the locked door into my own house to find my fiance with her ex-boyfriend. After I threw them both out I sat down to play and the pissed off, stressed out energy helped my vibrato. I've had it every since. Kinda trippy. Gotta love happy endings. sorry to hear that Van Kirk, but hey, vibratos are nice, I like doing chordal vibratos just for fun, and mostly because it annoys the hell outta my brother, same with playing the one part in fade to black, LOL he HATES that Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_here Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 (edited) VanKirk & everyone- I'll have to add "I second that" (to what CurtisP just said to you, as in Sorry To Hear That)... Yet I think I may know what VanKirk meant by how he was using the term "vibrato." Basically, if yer nerves are "on edge." Who needs a Whammy-Bar? when you (which includes: your hands) are Super-Charged With Adrenalin??? I experienced something similar to this (on a lesser scale of intensity, I'm sure) when I first "soloed" in a band. My hands were all jumpy-like. And I could get plenty of "extra movement" beyond any doubt! Each & every screw-up I made was immediately covered by...seemingly, flashes-of-lightning (Zap!) going thru my body. I have to salute VanKirk, give tribute. If I had been in that situation....(knowing me)....it would have been That Olde Peter Townsend thing (you know, destroying the guitar). A thing I only did once long ago on a cheap (pawn shop) model. Since then I've managed to gain more control over my emotions and a drinking problem that was really-bad back then. anywayz Edited October 21, 2004 by rick_here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_here Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 StratDudeDan- I hear ya. I mean, "know what you mean." How good you are, how good you'd like to get and who thinks you are already "great." I guess it depends on who's listening and what the context is. One "audience" we guitar-pickers always have are ourselves as far as that may go (???). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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