Existential question today !?

[Maxime Bousquet]

Hi ! After all of your years of playing the guitar, what is the element that feeds your passion?

Remember the feeling you had when you first put your hands on a guitar ... yes !? me the first time I felt an unbelievably indescribable feeling! I knew I would live with this for the rest of my life! and over time my flame only grows and i don't know why i'm so hooked, i just know i have to, but ... maybe you found your reasons and i would be very happy to read you on the subject !

 

[Alnus Rubra]

**this space reserved to type something of meaning**

 

[jxe]

i like that you can do a little footwork dance (like the temptations) while playing electric guitar, so that was important initially. but people only care about vocals so i’m switching to that.

 

[veinbuster]

It’s a form of expression where people don’t feel compelled to bicker with you about your choice of words.

 

[CandidPicker]

It’s a form of expression where people don’t feel compelled to bicker with you about your choice of words.

Funny you should mention this.

I get told I suck at playing guitar all the time. You?

 

[Mike Duncan]

Buying stuff helps. Learning new songs helps too.

 

[veinbuster]

Funny you should mention this.

I get told I suck at playing guitar all the time. You?

Not in the last 50 years, but I only play for nice people.

 

[CandidPicker]

Not in the last 50 years, but I only play for nice people.

That's good to hear. It used to be on some of my former open-mic nights, some youngsters who would close out the evening with the loudest music of the night would invariably engage in some less than subtle criticism of older music and musicians.

The sad part was, we never got a chance to discuss what we liked or disliked about each other's music. It was just cut and dried mockery and bashing. And, it was discouraging. Made me think what the world was coming to. "This is the next generation of musicians?"

Anyway, one thing my former mentor taught me was to respect people, no matter what their background, race, ethnicity, etc, was. You could weigh 480 lb but still play like nobody's business, so it made good sense for me to pay attention to what my mentor taught me.

Regards the obnoxious kids, I realize that every time we voice complaints or demand justice, it just costs us more in time, resources, and effort. I hope someday there will be time when folks who have grown older and wiser from their younger days will have learned how much heartache they caused. Not only their parents, but others who could have taught them many valuable things that would have helped them on their journey through life, instead of trying to figure things out and struggling with each other in the process.

Your reply makes the point. "Not in the last 50 years." Where did we go wrong?

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

That's good to hear. It used to be on some of my former open-mic nights, some youngsters who would close out the evening with the loudest music of the night would invariably engage in some less than subtle criticism of older music and musicians.

The sad part was, we never got a chance to discuss what we liked or disliked about each other's music. It was just cut and dried mockery and bashing. And, it was discouraging. Made me think what the world was coming to. "This is the next generation of musicians?"

Anyway, one thing my former mentor taught me was to respect people, no matter what their background, race, ethnicity, etc, was. You could weigh 480 lb but still play like nobody's business, so it made good sense for me to pay attention to what my mentor taught me.

Regards the obnoxious kids, I realize that every time we voice complaints or demand justice, it just costs us more in time, resources, and effort. I hope someday there will be time when folks who have grown older and wiser from their younger days will have learned how much heartache they caused. Not only their parents, but others who could have taught them many valuable things that would have helped them on their journey through life, instead of trying to figure things out and struggling with each other in the process.

Your reply makes the point. "Not in the last 50 years." Where did we go wrong?

I totally agree with what you think. respect

 

[jak3af3r]

On existentialist questions:

I hold a Bachelor's of Music with guitar as my principal instrument. Music school, while extremely beneficial in dumping vast amounts of knowledge in your brain, has its drawbacks. Particularly the worst is the looming thought 'what happens next?' As a young adult, that's almost immobilizing with few prospects and honed skills/knowledge.

I was fortunate to tour regionally for 3 years which filled the degree with some purpose until there was an impasse over a substitute once and the situation escalated where I felt it best to leave. That was December 2019.

Walking away again with no prospects was terrifying but I am beyond grateful for having a wife with the same degree who crossed the same bridge a few years prior. Landing a job with a decent salary, schedule, and great co-workers at the end of February 2020 was providential and provided stability and made guitar fun again because there was no pressure to do well in an academic sense or worry about a moody band leader deciding to fire you on a whim.

On Motivations:

Now the best part is I have had the great opportunity to begin sharing my experiences with a fellow forum member in private lessons and can (hopefully) shed light on ways to improve general guitar skills through techniques, instrument maintenance (and construction), music theory, etc.

Helping people see new things is extremely satisfying and I think thats what really keeps me going.

 

[CandidPicker]

I totally agree with what you think. respect

Maxime,

My younger brother works as a carpenter subcontractor. He builds houses. He also is a volunteer fireman. It's easy to see that he protects what he builds.

Too often, we tear down what we've built up during the day, thinking that we can rebuild again the next day. While we often play music and tell humorous stories to lighten the burdens we've carried each day, let's not forget that there are many more aggressive people who don't handle their feelings well, and sometimes act out their feelings in violence or other destructive ways.

The problem is that few learn not to repeat their actions, because they don't care about the consequences, or how it affects people who see these things on a daily basis. There are too many destructive forces occurring in this world, but no matter how terrible things are, there will always be carpenters and firemen. People who build and protect what keeps us safe against the outside elements; and while we may fear the terrible things that occur, it also helps us build a healthy respect for those who can protect us.

 

[jxe]

Maxime,

My younger brother works as a carpenter subcontractor. He builds houses. He also is a volunteer fireman. It's easy to see that he protects what he builds.

Too often, we tear down what we've built up during the day, thinking that we can rebuild again the next day. While we often play music and tell humorous stories to lighten the burdens we've carried each day, let's not forget that there are many more aggressive people who don't handle their feelings well, and sometimes act out their feelings in violence or other destructive ways.

The problem is that few learn not to repeat their actions, because they don't care about the consequences, or how it affects people who see these things on a daily basis. There are too many destructive forces occurring in this world, but no matter how terrible things are, there will always be carpenters and firemen. People who build and protect what keeps us safe against the outside elements; and while we may fear the terrible things that occur, it also helps us build a healthy respect for those who can protect us.

you can sit at my lunch table anytime cp; instant cool.

 

[CandidPicker]

you can sit at my lunch table anytime cp; instant cool.

Thanks, jxe, that made my evening.

 

[dmatthews]

The element that feeds my passion is playing with others.
The other element is playing live with others and creating a musical environment that gets people up, dancing, and forgetting about life for a while.
And/or enjoying life.
If I can do this... success. Lately that's been a bit tough.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

Maxime,

My younger brother works as a carpenter subcontractor. He builds houses. He also is a volunteer fireman. It's easy to see that he protects what he builds.

Too often, we tear down what we've built up during the day, thinking that we can rebuild again the next day. While we often play music and tell humorous stories to lighten the burdens we've carried each day, let's not forget that there are many more aggressive people who don't handle their feelings well, and sometimes act out their feelings in violence or other destructive ways.

The problem is that few learn not to repeat their actions, because they don't care about the consequences, or how it affects people who see these things on a daily basis. There are too many destructive forces occurring in this world, but no matter how terrible things are, there will always be carpenters and firemen. People who build and protect what keeps us safe against the outside elements; and while we may fear the terrible things that occur, it also helps us build a healthy respect for those who can protect us.

I am an electrician and one day I had to go to work in a center for the elderly and when I arrived in a room, an old man was seated, I felt that he had something to tell me that's when that he told me about the war he had waged and about his friends he had lost so I put down my tool and I just listened to him, after a few minutes I realized that, all my team was there and I can still hear his words which went straight to our hearts ...., that day the old man taught me something very important, he made me realize the importance of listening to the elders , what they have to say is precious, I saw it as a book full of wisdom and to come back to the guitar it's the same thing the old ones we do a lot for the music and the young people are better technically because the path has already been paved by the older ones.
so when I have the chance to talk about music with experienced people it makes me feel good, and thank you for your sharing CanditPicker I appreciate it a lot! for others, I promise to redirect my comments to PRS content ok !! as I explained privately to some person, I am here to talk about PRS but I hope you will understand that I have this need to know people too otherwise I would feel like wasting time unnecessarily here!
being passionate about PRS I'm one but it's only the tip of the iceberg ** here **

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Thanks, jxe, that made my evening.

Oh good! If anyone is really telling you that your playing sucks, then what REALLY sucks, is them!

Music isn’t a sport. You don’t “win” by being better. And anyone who insults another player is a classless ass. You can quote me on that.

 

[jxe]

forgetting about life for a while.

piano man?

 

[dmatthews]

piano man?

Sounds good... Billy Joel notwithstanding.

 

[alantig]

Oh good! If anyone is really telling you that your playing sucks, then what REALLY sucks, is them!

Music isn’t a sport. You don’t “win” by being better. And anyone who insults another player is a classless ass. You can quote me on that.

Somebody who plays like you would say that!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

**this space reserved to type something of meaning**

I was about 8-9 years old and was listening to this song:

about 3 minutes in the solo really starts to get going. It was like nothing I had heard before. My parents didn’t have a vast LP collection.

Years later I learnt the guitarist is Louie Shelton. He was a session musician for so many great records.

I just knew that I wanted to make these sounds.

I picked up my Dad’s old semi-hollow 335 copy and couldn’t work out at that time why it didn’t sound the same!

I was hooked on guitar.