Motivation

[JasonE]

There are a lot of lessons to be learned about being in a band. Putting them together is usually easier than keeping them together. I find that it is harder to form one today with as divided and political as people are these days. Personalities get out of control much faster now and there is a very low tolerance level for differing opinions. That really comes to light when talking about song selection. Everyone has their favorites that they want to play. The big question is whether anyone will hire the band to hear those songs. This is where playing in a cover band can get boring. You have to play the songs the audience wants to hear. That means that a lot of the cover bands in each area are playing a lot of the same songs or very similar songs. You spend a lot of time with your bandmates. You have to be able to get along with them.

 

[ruger9]

Everyone has their favorites that they want to play. The big question is whether anyone will hire the band to hear those songs. This is where playing in a cover band can get boring. You have to play the songs the audience wants to hear. That means that a lot of the cover bands in each area are playing a lot of the same songs or very similar songs.

Yes, we discovered this. And yes, it can get boring. We actually started by playing alot of the songs most cover bands DONT play (still hits, but not THE hits)... for example, we play Huey Lewis' "Workin for a Livin" instead of "I Want a New Drug" or "Heart of RNR". But as well as we do it, the crowd still wants to hear the same stuff. We are right in the middle of revamping the setlist now with this in mind.

ALTHO I will say: it's alot more fun to play a tired hit mediocrely and have the crowd love it, than it is to play a more obscure song excellently and have the crowd not really into it. I'll pick the former every time. Knowing this, it breathes new life into the same old boring songs.

If I never hear (or play) "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" one more time, that would be great (and I'm a HUGE Georgia Satellites/Dan Baird fan). However, when we play it live, people LOVE that silly song, and it makes for a better gig.

 

[FragileThunder]

How do you keep motivating yourself on your particular guitar journey?

I wake up every day. Seriously, I just want to play. I've long ago given up any thought of being a rock star. I put no pressure on myself other than to pick the damn thing up, and there's never a day I regret it. Some days I'm good, some days I'm not. But on balance, I'd rather have played than not.

 

[JasonE]

Yes, we discovered this. And yes, it can get boring. We actually started by playing alot of the songs most cover bands DONT play (still hits, but not THE hits)... for example, we play Huey Lewis' "Workin for a Livin" instead of "I Want a New Drug" or "Heart of RNR". But as well as we do it, the crowd still wants to hear the same stuff. We are right in the middle of revamping the setlist now with this in mind.

ALTHO I will say: it's alot more fun to play a tired hit mediocrely and have the crowd love it, than it is to play a more obscure song excellently and have the crowd not really into it. I'll pick the former every time. Knowing this, it breathes new life into the same old boring songs.

If I never hear (or play) "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" one more time, that would be great (and I'm a HUGE Georgia Satellites/Dan Baird fan). However, when we play it live, people LOVE that silly song, and it makes for a better gig.

You are on to the thing I have done with a few of my bands. I did what you did. I picked other hits by the same bands as the ones other bands were playing. It worked very well. Then other bands start stopping by and seeing you when they are off and they start playing the same songs you are playing. You have to stay up on this to keep things fresh and new for people that come see you often.

It is definitely more fun playing to an audience that is enjoying what you are playing. That is the whole reason I like to gig. That is actually a driving force that makes me want to play. Without that, I don't touch my guitars anywhere near as often.

I am with you on "Keep Your Hands To Yourself." I hate playing that song and people request it at time. I will play it but I tend to try to make something more interesting out of it. A friends band did something similar with "Kryptonite." They play it to a Reggae beat. It works. People seem to like it.

 

[Black-Viper75]

I went almost 20 years with zero motivation. Now it just comes naturally from everywhere around me and I'm so thankful for this. I'll find motivation in a new song idea, in a certain guitar tone I'll dial in, watching another guitarist play, getting something down that I've been practicing, be it technique or a song. I'll find motivation in the way my body reacts when I produce "electricity" playing an electric guitar through an amp or the way the notes of an acoustic guitar resonate in the air around my ears. I find a lot of motivation just reading through these very PRS Forums posts and threads.

 

[Mike J.]

Lately I've been very motivated from listening to the music from my youth. In particular, the songs from the 60's and the 70's.

Listening to these songs reminds me of why I wanted to learn to play in the first place. Driving in my car, windows down, feeling the summer heat and a song comes on that you long forgot about. Can't describe the feeling that comes over me but it's a feeling that takes me right back to that time and place. Brings back that feeling of wonderment of when it was all so new. It's a feeling I've been tring to recapture for a long time for many reasons. I'm now 70, both my parents are gone, the world and this country's a mess............I refuse to believe all hope is gone.

You know what can really bring some of those old feelings back? Believe it or not, Fender amps. In watching some video's of bands from the 60's, Fender amps were everywhere. When I first wanted to learn to play some of the kids in the neighborhood bands had Fender amps. I used to ride my bike up to the local music store just to look at those things. Twin Reverbs, Band Masters, Dual Showmans, Deluxe Reverbs......I didn't know anything about them technically, all I knew was they were helping to create the music I was listening to. They were mysterious and some of the most beautiful things my young eyes had every seen and I wanted to be a part of it. Silly? Maybe, but even that thought is motivating.

So with all that in mind I've been moving forward. Came to find out lately that the way I've been holding my pick has been impeading some progress. Spent about 3 hours last night playing various exercises along with my drum machine while getting use to holding the pick in a new way and it was like "hey! I can see how this will help me! Too cool!!"

So I found great motivation even with that because for me it means progress. I'll never set the world on fire and that's fine. I just like the way I've been feeling lately. Hope that "younger me" sticks aroujnd for a while.

 

[Matt Clarke]

Not super guitar related, but lately, I've found motivation by putting myself into situations with unpredictable outcomes, like new jam sessions or blind introductions to people. When I'm surprised, it breaks my idea of "the way things are" and helps me envision a more interesting or exciting direction that I could take my life or playing. It makes me think, "If I was wrong about that, maybe I was wrong in my assessment of what I could be".