What has the guitar taught YOU?

[DrumBob]

Two things:
The power of practice
and the importance of the 'pucker factor'

Practice
When I try something new, a chord fingering, a lick, a song, whatever --- It often feels like I will never be able to get a handle on it. And often times a few months down the road it's part of my playing and I wonder how I ever got along without it.

The Pucker Factor
Friday night I went to see a friend sit in on keyboards with a Pa. band who opened the show for Shemekia Copeland. They had a good band with a guitarist/vocalist, bass, drummer, and my friend on keyboards, who happens to be a world class player. The guitarist was good, smooth, fast when he wanted to be, etc., etc.
But there was something missing --- the Pucker factor.
You know, when he squeezes out that one note and you just pucker up your face 'cause it hits you so deep? Zip, nada, no way, no where, just no excitement. There just wasn't any soul! Give me a player who's heart comes out through his/her strings, who sings like you just ran over his dog, somebody with real feelin' anyday.
That's what hooks you up with your audience. And that's what makes it all worthwhile for me when I play, it's from the heart and soul

Shemekia and her band on the other hand was the real sh*t. Plenty of pucker when they hit the stage. That girl made the hair on my arms stand up when she hit those crazy notes. And the musicians were all in the zone too. Years back I used to jam with the keyboardist and guitarist from her band. I was so happy to see such good players land such a great gig. They were awesome, a show not to be missed if they come through your area ~

Was Arthur Neilsen playing guitar with Shemekia, and is that the guy you jammed with? He's an old friend of mine. We used to play together briefly in a band called the A Train Blues Band, circa 1976. Llater, when Arthur played with Blue Angel with Cindy Lauper, he endorsed Guild guitars and I worked with him around 1980 on that deal. Arthur is a great player all around, a nice guy. I knew him when his name was Artie Schmidt.

[DrumBob]

Getting back to the question, since I've been playing guitar in bands over the last three years, I learned that I got better the more I played, and that lots of notes are never as good as a few well-placed ones that come straight from your soul. I also learned that technically gifted players are often the ones I learn the least from.

I'd rather listen to a guy who only knows three chords and plays them with feeling, than someone who knows three hundred chords and doesn't know what to do.

[otaypanky***]

Yup, you're right Bob. I used to run in to Arthur at Scotland Yard in Hoboken. Great player. Man he was good Friday night Just smokin'
You may have run across Jeremy Baum on keys, Orange County N.Y. area. he used to play with the late Bill Perry and with Murali Coryell when I knew him back then.

[Eric***]

Eric.. I can certainly try..

I try to NOT think about my playing while I'm playing it... if I start focusing on root notes and scales and what might sound good... I start producing solos that while are technically correct, sound like ***... and programmed.

If I'm not focusing on notes and scales and all that, and (here's where it'll get a little weird for the non-zen types) just "be" with the music, my solos come out in a much more natural way and sound better.

So I'm going to try to stick with Solo Zen, thanks. :-)

I get you. That's what I thought you were saying, but I got hung up on 'mindfulness', not viewing it in the Buddhist context. After looking it up, I see that it has more to do with being aware of your consciousness, but I thought 'mindful = aware, therefore you pay more attention to what you're doing'. So it seemed like the opposite of what you were saying.

BUT...as I said, I understand your point now. And I definitely agree.

[sumitomo]

That I can hear emotions also,and not to give up.Sumi

[Robert****]

That playing guitar is way cooler than playing the triangle.

[mainestratman]

@Eric.. glad to clear up the confusion.. :-)

@Robert.. guitarists also get more "bumper" than bass (and triangle) players.. LOL

[deeaa*]

I thought it might be interesting for us to look inward a little and see what we've learned from playing guitar, be it in a bedroom or band.
It could be what we've learned about ourselves, about others, about life, or you-name-it...
Deep philosophy to humor and beyond.

I wouldn't say playing guitar per se, but all that it entails, bands and whatnot.

I've learned so much about life and people playing with various people, gigs, experiences...and, also, I suppose guitar playing gave me something to do when I was a teenager and at a loss with what I wanted in life.

It's never failed to be something I can always fall back to, something that I can trust to be able to do well enough to satisfy my needs, provide a hobby and good entertainment. And also a background for doing something with like-minded friends.

Which brings me to probably the biggest lesson I've learnt about people in general when in bands and such...there is no such thing as completely one-way beneficial relationship.

I've understood that whatever people do, they ultimately do it for themselves, however altruistic or selfless the actions may seem. I guess it's a bit cynical way of looking at things, but I do think people will never do something that doesn't somehow benefit them in the end. It's always give and take.

You don't have for example friends you don't benefit from. The benefit may simply be that you enjoy their company - nothing more - but still there is a benefit for you in being their friend. Conversely, there is no benefit or pleasure in simply amassing fortunes, but it becomes a true asset only when you use it to the benefit of others, the people you love.

My view of life and its meaning is basically based on that - I think the meaning of life is to enjoy life and just get whatever you can out of it. But not on the expense of others, quite contrary - I find that the best things in life are shared and experienced with others. You can't be happy if your friend is in need, or your child lacks something. The whole meaning of it all is to try and make things as good as you can for people you care about, and yourself, and enjoy those things as well as you can. And try to make sure also the next generation can continue enjoying their lives maybe even a little better than yourself.

And yes, I think it all comes from guitar playing :-)

[FrankenFretter***]

I have learned that it's better to have a passion that there isn't always time for than to have more time and no passion.

[Tig***]

Yep, if you saw the movie, "The Last Samurai", there was a moment when the American was trying to learn sword fighting using a Bokken, but kept getting owned. The young Japanese man told the American he was using "too many minds".

"Mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind the enemy, too many mind... [pause] No mind."

When we think about what the audience is thinking or try to please/impress while disconnecting from the source of our best music, our soul, our feelings, the magic then dies.

When the mind is quiet, all is perfect.

Look at those short moments in other activities that make them so attractive... When surfing on a wave, the outer world is silenced, as is the noisy mind; drawing the bow, aiming, releasing, and watching the arrow fly. We become addicted to these short yet wonderful moments.

When we are in the moment while playing guitar, we do the same, but the output is the music of our souls while the mind is quietly relaxed. Of course, we need the underlying technical talent for that sound to reflect the soul best!


EDIT: Now, take these moments and combine them with other musicians and you've collaborated to create an amplified "moment" or groove, which is something that we've all either experienced or at least watched in person. Call it "chemistry" or "synergy".

Here's an example of one of the finest moments in jazz history. They start to fall into the groove at around 1:45 into the song. From there, the chemistry keeps building peak after peak as the audience gives back the energy, which fires up the musicians, and the cycle continues:

[Tig***]

My view of life and its meaning is basically based on that - I think the meaning of life is to enjoy life and just get whatever you can out of it. But not on the expense of others, quite contrary - I find that the best things in life are shared and experienced with others. You can't be happy if your friend is in need, or your child lacks something. The whole meaning of it all is to try and make things as good as you can for people you care about, and yourself, and enjoy those things as well as you can. And try to make sure also the next generation can continue enjoying their lives maybe even a little better than yourself.

And yes, I think it all comes from guitar playing :-)

deeaa, you get it! You have mastered the all to rare, yet fundamentally important roll in life of a person who makes to world better by what they do and feel.
Think of how much better the world would be if more people did the same, instead of getting all bogged down in fruitless pursuits, selfishness, and ego trips...

The guitar and music are one of many conduits of which we can discover or spread positive stuff.

[Monkus]

three notes played well, is better than a hundred that you can't hear,

creative differences are a good thing,

guitar zen can be achieved by yourself, but its way better when experienced with others,

A guitarist can make any guitar sound good,

Silence from your audience can be better than polite applause,

There is always something else to learn.

[MAXIFUNK]

That even a little improvement can go a long way.

That what you thing you like and loves changes as your skills improve or mind opens up to new things.

That there is no right or wrong way to do or try to learn something try them all until you knows what works best for you. (THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS FOR ME DAILY!!)

[Eric***]

That there is no right or wrong way to do or try to learn something try them all until you knows what works best for you.

Very true. I'm finding the same thing.

[street music]

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY, even if is just chords and a few notes. It's more soul and heart than a non-player ever could feel when you make the strings ring on your own.

[aeolian]

Guitar playing taught me that the guitar player always gets the girl.

Except it never worked for me!

Sometimes you launch into a song with the band, and when the last chord faded away, you look at each other and everyone thought : "Wow!" That is what guitar actually taught me.

[duhvoodooman***]

Humility!

+100

[jpfeifer]

This is a great thread. I posed something like this a long time ago, about the lessons you have learned from music about life in general. I think that it is a great question to ask yourself from time to time.

What has guitar taught me?

- That there are no shortcuts in life. Hard work and dedication are the keys to mastering anything, whether that's guitar, computer programming, or whatever.

- That you need to remember to enjoy the journey, not just the destination. Too many times people get hung up on this idea "making it", and forget to have fun making music. I didn't realize this until I got too old to make it, that I gave up on that idea and focused on having fun playing and learning new things. This is when I really started to appreciate it for what it was in my life and learned alot more, and became a better player.

- It taught me too never stop learning. Guitar playing taught me that I'm much more happy when I have something new to learn, or work on. When I stop growing I get bored.

- It taught me that it's often more important to be a good listener than a good talker. Good listening is one of the most important things to do when playing with other musicians, and often one of the most important things to do when dealing with people.

- It taught me that music is as much of a language as anything else. I never really understood that until recently. The more that I look at improvisation and musical styles the more I can see that it's all just a form of communication.

--Jim

[captaincommander]

The more I learn, the less I know.

The less I know, the more I understand