What do you get from playing guitar?

[Plank_Spanker]

Why do you play? What does playing do for you?

I play because it soothes my soul. It relaxes me and takes me completely away from life's little issues. I like the challenge that the guitar will always present to me - there's always more to learn. I enjoy the focus it takes to tackle those challenges. I really enjoy the sense of accomplishment I feel when I master those challenges.

Playing keeps me young in spirit. When I'm on a stage, I'm not 47 years old - I'm 16 with a fire in my belly and, yeah, it's fun to show off and strut a bit.

I couldn't imagine life without playing guitar. It's as much a part of my life as breathing.

Forgive my soapbox philosophy. I guess I'm feeling a little introspective this morning....:D

Next!

[LowEndWonder]

Satisfaction, calm, excitement, better dexterity, callouses, and sometimes an inflated ego. :D

[sunvalleylaw]

Like you said Plank, takes me into the present and out of the day's problems or worrries. The tones also just touch things inside me. I have always loved music, and making my own just tops it.

[warren0728]

mostly to piss off the neighbors! :rotflmao:

actually i too love music and since i work at home....it's nice to get up from the computer and play with something other than my mouse! :eek:

i really haven't devoted enough time to really learning how to play but this year that is gonna change...might even take some lessons...

ww

[R_of_G]

I get a fix for my tone addiction.

[Childbride]

it helps me to relax... it challenges me daily, and i know i will never 'master' it, but the thrill of progress is a wonderful thing... i love music, and how trying things different ways or on different guitars brings out subtle nuances in the songs... and most importantly, i sincerely enjoy sharing my love of this instrument with my husband on a daily basis! :)

[tot_Ou_tard]

...it's nice to get up from the computer and play with something other than my mouse! :eek:
I'll say! But why do you call it your mouse :D:rotflmao::D.

There is soooo much to learning to play guitar for me.

1) As Sun sez: making noise. The tones just slay me sometimes.

2) Becoming a music maker & not just a music listener.

3) The infinite challenge, combined with slow & steady progress.

4) Using my left hand for something (other than playing with your mouse? sez Warren) does something good to my brain.

5) Soul; the whole process stirs my soul.

6) Discovering than I can do something that I have always wanted to do & that everyone claims is difficult & needs to be started when you are young.

7) Trying to find the right gear for my needs at a good price is fun. Of course, it'd be a *whole* lot more fun if I had more money to devote to it.

8) Great comeraderie here at the Fret.

9) The whole thing is just fun, even though it is difficult.

[Ro3b]

The babes, of course. Also the money and prestige.

[Spudman]

Calluses. That's what I get...oh, and of course like Ro3b says babes, money and fame.:cool:

I really don't know what I get from it though. It's more like I'm just addicted to it. I just want to do it. I don't really care what I get or why I do it. I just have to do it.

[warren0728]

I'll say! But why do you call it your mouse :D:rotflmao::D.

:cry: :bootyshake: :pancake:

[hubberjub]

In this country, you gotta play guitar first. Then when you play the guitar, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.

[aeolian]

Playing guitar is a bit like therapy for me. It calms me down and centers my focus. In very few areas of life can I create something from nothing like I sometimes do when I play. And occasionally when I'm at my jam and we are in the groove it is a high that's hard to describe. And I feel a sense of accomplishment when I figure out how to play something new.

[Justaguyin_nc]

I never found anything as relaxing as just strumming a guitar..
frustrating learning.. but a total relief of any problem... "any"
A place to get lost, forget.. or remember..

[LowEndWonder]

I really don't know what I get from it though. It's more like I'm just addicted to it. I just want to do it. I don't really care what I get or why I do it. I just have to do it.
BINGO! +1:thwap:

[Plank_Spanker]

Almost forgot........................

Chicks dig guitar players.

At least that's why I started 35 years ago..................:D

[just strum]

For the
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/baby_chicks.jpg

oopps, I mean

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/jessica_alba.jpg


Actually it's because it's something I always loved since I first saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan (3 weeks in a row). Unfortunately I never really pursued it until now.

Now the addiction is so strong that I think about it often at work, wake up mornings and think it would be nice to stay home a play. I really suck at playing, but there is such a strong drive that I am sure a lot of you can understand (some people around me don't understand the attraction).

If I could figure out a way that I could somehow incorporate music/guitar so that I could support my family, I would do it in a heartbeat, but look who I'm telling - I'm sure most of you would do the same.

So until that happens, it's an escape and one of the most pleasurable escapes I have experienced.

[duhvoodooman]

Damn, that picture of my wife keeps popping up on the internet! :thwap: Ah, well....

To get back to the question at hand, I derive several things from playing:

Relaxation.
Immersion.
Mental cleansing.
Satisfaction (when something actually sounds good).
Exhilaration (when something actually sounds REALLY good, or when I master something I find difficult).
And when the tone is right, I just love the way these things sound!! :rockon:

[oldguy]

Peace and Love.
Yeah, I'm an old hippie, I just don't look the part. I'm an old west cowboy, a big tough construction worker, a concerned environmentalist, son, husband, father, grandpa, teacher, student, and all around pain in the a$$.
And I'm just as happy with what I know now as I was when I first learned what a Cmaj7th and Fmaj7th were, in relation to Cmaj and Fmaj, and learned to strum "On The Way Home" by Neil Young, about 35 yrs ago.
I chose guitar, but kalimba would sound just as sweet....if only it were possible.:whatever:

[Spudman]

Dang! I had to google kalimba. http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:XKOoVbNv1v-QZM:www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textk/images/Kalimba.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textk/images/Kalimba.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textk/Kalimba.html&h=350&w=350&sz=81&tbnid=XKOoVbNv1v-QZM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkalimba%26um%3D1&start=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1) So that's what they are called. I wouldn't be as happy with one of those...unless...how many watts are they?:rockon:

[stingx]

Without music, life would be a mistake.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Without music, life would be a mistake.
The converse is not necessarily true.

[kiteman]

I like to pretend I'm a rock star. :D

Actually, I'd just love guitars. It's so satisfying.

[luvmyshiner]

After dealing with ***holes all day who want to yell at me for the mistakes they've made in their lives, coming home and grabbing the guitar centers me. It helps me find the place I want to be at the end of the day. And CB likes it cause I don't yell as much as I used to.:D

By the way, I certainly don't mean to suggest that everyone who has ever made a mistake in their life is an ***hole. Just the ones who seem to hire me.:messedup:

[mrmudcat]

It used to be sex drugs money and rock&roll:beavisnbutthead:

Now its just the joy of playing with my boys,and my angelic wife telling me to put up the tele, come to bed, and play her that way:master: :crazyguy:

[tot_Ou_tard]

The real answer is self.

Music is a deep part of my life & when I play, it just seems right, like I've come home.

I'm hoping that 20 years from know I'll be able to fly somewhere.

..now back to convincing my fingers that they're home & happy ;).

[M29]

Gas

M29

[just strum]

It used to be sex drugs money and rock&roll:beavisnbutthead:

Now its just the joy of playing with my boys,and my angelic wife telling me to put up the tele, come to bed, and play her that way:master: :crazyguy:

So you got to live the American dream - Twice. You are a lucky man Mudcat.

[pie_man_25]

I suppose I play for the same reasons, I started playing really to pass the time, but now I'm addicted, I play guitar like If I don't I'm going to die, it's like an addiction, the way you can get it to sound so mellow, or when you want it to it could just scream! you could go slow, or fast, good rythm, or melody, It's not just guitar anymore, it's bass, and drums, though I don't own a kit, and trombone, and harnonica, and Jew's harp, I just love music.

[just strum]

I suppose I play for the same reasons, I started playing really to pass the time, but now I'm addicted, I play guitar like If I don't I'm going to die, it's like an addiction,
+1,000