Envy

[MichaelRobinson]

The truth is that I envy those how can play better then me. I think to my self that I should hang up the guitars on the wall couse I can't play.

Envy and envy

[VikingBlues]

Envy! Something I suspect that a lot of us have to fight against. I know I do.

Though for me the alternative of not playing is much worse - don't know what I'd do to fill all those hours and I'd find it difficult to justify all those hundreds of hours I've already spent so far going down this long, long road of learning to play.

There is also a positive way to look at the work of other better guitar players for me - it gives me something to work at achieving. I will try and listen and pick up ideas (but not copy playing style) from their playing and find inspiration from what can be done. A major part of my improvement over the last few years has come from listening to the playing of, and reading the advice and suggestions of, players on 12bar like HalfBlindLefty, Blindboy, TytlBlues, and many others. It's been sort of like getting free lessons!

I think it has helped me to aim at trying to find my own voice on the guitar. The sort of magazine articles I used to find so frustrating - the "Play Like Paul Kossoff in a Week" sort of ones - no longer have much interest for me at all other than in maybe giving me a few hints of things that I might incorporate into my own playing. These articles used to leave me really disappointed with my lack of ability to play those notes in the way suggested - why I should have wanted to play in a way alien to my own nature I no longer understand!

Yes - I have still huge amounts to learn and there are so many ways I can try and work at being better - but the advantage of being on the lower rungs of the ladder is that there IS a long way still to go and that will mean my hobby can have a long term life while I slowly improve.

Last night my playing was flat and lifeless, but I still maged to work at some double note stuff I hadn't tried before, and which has some very nice bluesy resoanance to its sound. I know that the next time that I am "on song" that work I did last night will add a little bit of extra colour here and there that wasn't there before. I have recordings of mine going back over the last 12 years - I can always listen to one of the earlier ones in the knowledge that even a flat and lifeless evening now is better to listen to than the peak performance back then. Not so much from the technique point of view so much as noticing the real lack of any sort of personal voice to my playing back then. And at least with the guitar I can create something that is purely mine - as someone that works in a very uncreative profession I treasure the opportunity that playing the guitar has given me for self-expression.

The idea of competitiveness which is aimed at us all from a very early age is not helpful when it comes to an art form and self expression, such as playing guitar. That ingrained notion of everything being a competition can be seen on numerous YouTube video responses where what should be an appreciation of somenones art turns into a full scale war of words about A being better than B, and that C can blow A and B off the stage etc. You even see these sort of comments when two great guitarists get together and enjoy performing together like SRV and Albert King "In Session". Very sad to see, but it is very much part of the human condition.

[MichaelRobinson]

The idea of competitiveness which is aimed at us all from a very early age is not helpful when it comes to an art form and self expression, such as playing guitar. That ingrained notion of everything being a competition can be seen on numerous YouTube video responses where what should be an appreciation of somenones art turns into a full scale war of words about A being better than B, and that C can blow A and B off the stage etc. You even see these sort of comments when two great guitarists get together and enjoy performing together like SRV and Albert King "In Session". Very sad to see, but it is very much part of the human condition.

Yes VB. This is very thru and a disaster for creativity and the art of playing. At least I compere my self with others and try to be better player. This has become a competition for me and leads to desaster instead of progress. I gues it has with my melancolic personality to do. I allways feel bad when I try to pick up a song. The strange thing is that I can "hear" the song in my head and when I pick up a guitar the song disipear and my mind is blank. It's very annoying to loos the song. I can listen to tytles way of playing and remember the song untill I pick up a guitar. Tytle is a very good example regarding blusey songs and I realy try to get the bluesy mood. It's difficult when the song disipears from my mind. Extremly frustrating

All off us in this forum has spent time and effort to learn playing so you is right, to stop playing now is a vaste of many hours of work but there is a phase when everithing get difficult before the knot loosen up again.

I'm striving to get more bluesy rythm to my playing. To me it's not much of bluesy rythm in my songs and then I want to lay down my guitar playing.

Hope my spelling is not so bad so this is unreadable.

[12bar]

If so, I have to quit first. You're a much "better" (I hate this word in musical context) player than me, you only lack a bit self confidence. Don't quit, better days will come!

[MichaelRobinson]

If so, I have to quit first. You're a much "better" (I hate this word in musical context) player than me, you only lack a bit self confidence. Don't quit, better days will come!

I agree with you. "better" is missfit word and consept in term of music. I don't like the competitions like Idol, Eurovisioncontest and so on, but it's hard to not compere one self with others.

Thank's for the word's you written.

[vancouverois]

Yes VB. This is very thru and a disaster for creativity and the art of playing. At least I compere my self with others and try to be better player. This has become a competition for me and leads to desaster instead of progress. I gues it has with my melancolic personality to do. I allways feel bad when I try to pick up a song. The strange thing is that I can "hear" the song in my head and when I pick up a guitar the song disipear and my mind is blank. It's very annoying to loos the song. I can listen to tytles way of playing and remember the song untill I pick up a guitar. Tytle is a very good example regarding blusey songs and I realy try to get the bluesy mood. It's difficult when the song disipears from my mind. Extremly frustrating

You're right on, you described it very well.
Having the song in mind but being unable to play it the way you hear it. I suppose it's the same for a lot of guitarists like us.
It seems to be closely related with the earing, knowing that earing is a very complex thing, the good thing is that you can work on that to improve the musical thing.

I think the best to improve this is to listen and reproduce what you hear. It will train you earing to analyze a sound/note and play it back.
It seems to be a skill many professionals have, there are countless of videos where you can see two legends phrasing the same thing one after the other or having something like a conversation.
My opinion about this is that there is no (apparent) need to know a lot of musical theory. I don't consider it is like stealing, all the greats have copied another great while adding their own playing touch. It's certainly a way to progress.

[Blindboy]

I know the feeling. There have been times when I heard some 16 year old kid get up and sound just like Stevie Ray Vaughn, that I have wanted to simply hang it up.
That isn't the way, though. You've got to make it inspire you rather than frustrate you. (easier said than done, I know)
This kind of thing is one reason why I try so hard not to sound like the normal run of blues guitarists. If I can't be good, I can at least be different.

I think the best to improve this is to listen and reproduce what you hear. It will train you earing to analyze a sound/note and play it back.

This helps. It gives you a vocabulary, so to speak, that you can use to express your own self.

It seems to be a skill many professionals have, there are countless of videos where you can see two legends phrasing the same thing one after the other or having something like a conversation.

This is a lot of fun. I love swapping licks with another guitar player. (or harmonica player, for that matter)

My opinion about this is that there is no (apparent) need to know a lot of musical theory. I don't consider it is like stealing, all the greats have copied another great while adding their own playing touch. It's certainly a way to progress.

Truth... although some theory helps.
Good luck Michael, and don't give up. I'd say it is worth it in the long run.

[tytlblues]

MR, I wish I could add something, but everyone has pretty much covered it all! It should be heart warming though to know everyone of us on this board has the same feeling. We all get unmotivated, and lack inspiration from time to time! We are all at different stages here in our playing, but everyone that has been on this board for while has shown great improvement, I think..


I do what VB said....when I hit a learning plateau, or feel bad about my playing.....I pull out some of my early attempts from the archive.........it always puts a smile on my face...( ok, I actually start to laugh sometimes).....and embarrasses me to think I played those for family and friends thinking they were so good!


Hang tough, you are our musical friend, and you might not see it in the mirror, but your playing IS getting much more confident and better in all aspects, over the recent months.

[ElMano]

Many times in my life i thought that i better stop playing because every one i heard plays a different kind of style than i do. Most of the people i know play licks and riffs that you can find in books ore Internet. I like to play like them, because the sound like Eric, Steve, Gary, Muddy, ore what ever.
I started to play again after a guitar "holiday" of 28 years. My wife bought me a Gregg Bennet Les Paul, and i give myself a present! I allow my self to sounds like i do. Its oke to sound like You. I am not a big fan of Bo Diddley but nobody can say the man could not play. I find the Diddley lick a kind of irritating But the man was famous because it.
Recent i quit playing in public again after all the comment and the band was fall apart. But a while ago i play a BT Still got the blues in a collab whit Lolblues an i posted it. Last month i play the bass line on a studio project "Stones in my pass way" whit Woody and the Bluepackers ( www.woodyandthebluepackers.nl/Samples )
Afther that i get some confidence back that i was able to play. Every body had his doubts but, that is not only the amateurs The greatest are using Cocain ore booze to go on stage.
Dear MR i think you are to hard for yourself Let it go and try not to sound like you want You better wanna sound like you do Keep enjoy use and yourself an keep playing posting