More Is Less

[László]

Most of you can probably juggle lots of things at one time. I'm a 'one thing at a time' person. Give me more than one or two tasks, and the wheels come off the bus.

For the past few years, I've written orchestral music every day. I practice piano. Guitar has kinda taken a seat in the waiting room. Well, it's a lot to do. Maybe too many things to do and keep everything humming at a high level.

"Well," I said to myself, "It's time to get my guitar playing skills back together." It was indeed high time. I used to be able to come back quickly. What I hadn't counted on was that I would pick up one of my cherry-picked, perfectly-set-up guitars, and discover that the fingers will no longer obey the brain!

Can you blame them? No! I blame myself! It's not possible for me to be all things at once. More, in my case, is Less.

I know, it's the old gag line, Les is More. But that's not true.

 

[veinbuster]

I get it.
I’m not entirely sure I can be as good as I want to be at one thing anymore.
I really should play my beautiful piano more, but might have only sat down at it a couple of times this year.
Pretty happy with my classical this morning though - first song was spot on. But it was a simple one in first position.
I’ll go and get humiliated at Pickleball this afternoon - punishment for daring to try something new as a senior.
I’m getting pretty good at that lying down pose at the end of yoga though.

 

[dmatthews]

I'm getting lazy about practicing at home for rehearsal. Need to fix that.

 

[FragileThunder]

My friend/mentor, who is a very accomplished musician who has made a living slinging guitar for over 50 years now, once told me that the best thing you can do is pick up your guitar everyday, "even if it is only long enough to tune it" (he surely knew that this is impossible). It STILL took me 15 years to actually adopt this philosophy but unquestionably even the 5 minutes I'll squeeze in on the busiest of day helps keep the rust build up to a minimum.

Absence may make the hear grow fonder, but it's hell on the brain>fingers connection.

 

[László]

My friend/mentor, who is a very accomplished musician who has made a living slinging guitar for over 50 years now, once told me that the best thing you can do is pick up your guitar everyday, "even if it is only long enough to tune it" (he surely knew that this is impossible). It STILL took me 15 years to actually adopt this philosophy but unquestionably even the 5 minutes I'll squeeze in on the busiest of day helps keep the rust build up to a minimum.

Absence may make the hear grow fonder, but it's hell on the brain>fingers connection.

Clearly this is true, and I’ve been remiss. No one to blame but myself, and no one can get me back to where I left off but myself!

Not that I’m bummed about it, I just don’t know what the heck I was thinking with the layoff!

 

[Moondog Wily]

Perhaps a new guitar will fix all of this for you László! Just not a strat ;~))

 

[László]

Perhaps a new guitar will fix all of this for you László! Just not a strat ;~))

It will, but only if I play it!!

Anyway it’s Notastrat - I picked a DGT. I feel much more comfortable going in the direction.

 

[Lola]

I have a beautiful Yamaha keyboard just sitting collecting dust. I used to play that and was quite motivated to learn new stuff. I took piano lessons in my teenage years. And now I just look the other way. I could never do that with my guitars though. They are my reason for being. I might miss a day or two if I have a bad migraine but that’s it. I think the longest I have gone without playing was maybe 5 days when I had the flu. If I am not playing I am definitely thinking and running songs through my head. My husband actually suggested taking one of my guitars to work with me so I could practice on my lunch hour. I could but I don’t trust anyone to have the same respect as I do for them. I was actually looking into purchasing a Jam Stick. I could practice wherever I wanted to because of the portability of it.

 

[Max Headroom]

I work away from home most weeks and I was seriously contemplating getting one of those little cheap travel headless guitars for those hotel nights.
Along with a cheap headphone amp to try and keep the rust at bay.

Or is this just another excuse to go and buy another guitar

 

[László]

I work away from home most weeks and I was seriously contemplating getting one of those little cheap travel headless guitars for those hotel nights.
Along with a cheap headphone amp to try and keep the rust at bay.

Or is this just another excuse to go and buy another guitar

There are no excuses, all reasons are good reasons.

 

[Troubador222]

Oh yeah, I'm looking at exactly this. Once I started truck driving, I just did not have the chance to play. I went from playing every day to playing once a month and then kind of got to "why bother". I was also reluctant to take a guitar with me in the truck, because it can be hard on them. What changed with that is I now have a truck with an APU, which is the same thing as a generator for a motor home. So I can keep the AC or heat running if I have to be away from the truck. But even though I am taking one with me, my days dont allow me much time to play. We do true coast to coast runs, from Florida to California in the winter and now for the summer, from Florida to Washington state. So I drive all day, then get a 10 hour break mandated by law, and I have to eat, get a shower, then choose between sleeping and doing anything else. What I do get is a 34 hour break at the other end and I do get some time to play then. I can do home time, anywhere for 2 to 7 days in between runs, but this time I am doing 2 days because we are just busy as hell. When I am home, I have to take care of all those things most people can do any time.

We run supplies for Royal Caribbean cruise ships leaving the west coast. Their main warehouses are near Miami and we take the supplies from there across country. We have done well with the contract and it looks like it may be a recession proof gig, so we want to keep on it. So no slacking on my part. That's just the way life is for me right now.

One of the reasons why I started making more Electronica is that it's easy when I am home, to do it. I can sit and relax at my desk and still have the outlet for my creativity.

 

[László]

Oh yeah, I'm looking at exactly this. Once I started truck driving, I just did not have the chance to play. I went from playing every day to playing once a month and then kind of got to "why bother". I was also reluctant to take a guitar with me in the truck, because it can be hard on them. What changed with that is I now have a truck with an APU, which is the same thing as a generator for a motor home. So I can keep the AC or heat running if I have to be away from the truck. But even though I am taking one with me, my days dont allow me much time to play. We do true coast to coast runs, from Florida to California in the winter and now for the summer, from Florida to Washington state. So I drive all day, then get a 10 hour break mandated by law, and I have to eat, get a shower, then choose between sleeping and doing anything else. What I do get is a 34 hour break at the other end and I do get some time to play then. I can do home time, anywhere for 2 to 7 days in between runs, but this time I am doing 2 days because we are just busy as hell. When I am home, I have to take care of all those things most people can do any time.

We run supplies for Royal Caribbean cruise ships leaving the west coast. Their main warehouses are near Miami and we take the supplies from there across country. We have done well with the contract and it looks like it may be a recession proof gig, so we want to keep on it. So no slacking on my part. That's just the way life is for me right now.

One of the reasons why I started making more Electronica is that it's easy when I am home, to do it. I can sit and relax at my desk and still have the outlet for my creativity.

It's good to have a great gig. But yeah, there are sacrifices. What can a person do? You have to grin and bear it.