Pardon my Rant

[msr13]

Some days my fingers miss everything, my rhythms are completely off, I can't seem to count, and I lack musicality. Intonation is horrible, and I forget even the most basic theory.

I warm up with scales. I practice phrasing. I work through songs I know I theoretically play well. And, then I learn one or two lines of a new piece. Time is not an issue. I give myself at least two hours every night.

I always know when the practicing isn't going well... I turn the reverb higher to mask the mistakes. :rolleyes: I love playing. I love playing with friends. I put in the work, along with the play time. I try to be disciplined, but some days are just horrific.

And, then, some days, it all works. I am focused and trancelike. Able to go through the routine effortlessly. Time flies and I can practice until all hours of the night.

Other views on the frustrations and zen-like aspects of practicing.

[AvR]

Smile tomorrow will be worse. :D

[splatt]

practise is practise.
playing is playing.

being great at playing --- being absorbed in playing --- is important;
working at practising is only to be expected.

dt / spltrcl

[DS88]

Thankfully, I hardly have any "off" days on the guitar.. Sometimes I have trouble keeping my phrasing interesting though (usually because I'm entertaining myself too much).

[ohmslaw]

Thankfully, I hardly have any "off" days on the guitar.. Sometimes I have trouble keeping my phrasing interesting though (usually because I'm entertaining myself too much).

Everyone has "off" days, don't care if it's motorcycle riding, basket weaving, or guitar playing. The brain gets overloaded, can't function, needs a break. This can happen even if your body feels alert and awake. If you suck on a given day, maybe time to take a day or two off, even a week. The only thing you will really risk losing is your calluses because the brain remembers how to do things.

I like regaining my calluses after a couple of weeks of layoff, hurts so good.

[msr13]

Smile tomorrow will be worse. :D

Gee, thanks.:agree

Thankfully, I hardly have any "off" days on the guitar.. Sometimes I have trouble keeping my phrasing interesting though (usually because I'm entertaining myself too much).

Yeah, I totally get that. I've been playing for years, but always as a hobby, not a profession. And, because it has not been my focus, I feel like the wall of overall competence has been hit. Not a complaint, rather acknowledgement. I do sometimes lose focus, get distracted playing something cool, etc. Or, my daughter needs something after she goes to bed, work calls, etc. There is certainly a mixture of innate talent and lots of effort that yields great results. Given my lack of talent, I have to increase the effort part. But the exasperation on the bad days, does make the good days all the better.

I had some time this morning to practice. Much better than last night. :crazyguy: So, now I am happy!

[Kingpin]

I find that the times when my guitar playing "isn't happening" is when I'm mentally or physically exhausted. Nothing wrong with taking a night off... although I don't see how people can take weeks off, I'd go nuts!

[russ6100]

Happens to us all - everyone. Sometimes I know it's just better to put down the guitar and go do something else. Of course this is not a very viable option on a gig... :D

[buddastrat]

Ah, so your a human.

[blhm84]

I remember in the first five years of learning I would have days when I literally couldn't do anything. Luckily, I've found that personally the severity of bad days lessens with experience and time. I still have bad days all the time, but its not like it used to be when I would literally screw everything up.

[AnthonyStauffer]

Although my 'practice' involved mostly just playing songs, there were/are plenty of days where I wonder if my hands were switched in my sleep :)

Had some really, really rough days when practicing with the band where I was simply bad, really, really bad. Just had to smile about it and get a good night's sleep.

[Jon]

I find that if my playing and practicing sound bad on a particular day, it really helps to focus on playing something incredibly simple and slow, and focus on the mechanics of playing e.g. play up and down 3 notes of a scale very slowly, and pay minute attention to what your fingers are doing - focus on trying to play those notes with perfection. If I do this for long enough, for me this can be almost like meditation, and I find that after a certain period of time, I am focused and relaxed, and the subsequent playing is better.

[Stevocaster]

When this happens to me I have a unique take on it; that is, my playing is absolutely the same and my perception of the sound and playing motions is different. In reality, of course, my playing is never absolutely the same. However, this way I am always reminding myself that attitude and mental and emotional temperment are inherently tangled up in the progress (or regress :D ) of my skills. In essence, I question my self awareness all of the time.

Am I playing bad today? Did I play just as bad yesterday without realizing it?

Or more optimistically: Man, I'm rocking today! Maybe I was just as good yesterday and didn't even realize it.

[mike walker]

Bio-rhythms.

Don't mask the mistakes. Ever. Turn the Reverb down or off. Play slowly.

[AnthonyStauffer]

When this happens to me I have a unique take on it; that is, my playing is absolutely the same and my perception of the sound and playing motions is different.

I know you're kind of joking, but I think there's some truth to that as well. Even Hendrix said that sometime he'd play what he thought was a great show, and nobody would say anything, and then he'd have a show where he felt he did awful, and people would say the nicest things to him afterward.

Having listened to myself recorded after some of my self-perceived 'on' days, I know that my perception of how I'm playing is sometimes miles away from how it actually sounded.

[msr13]

Bio-rhythms.

Don't mask the mistakes. Ever. Turn the Reverb down or off. Play slowly.

You are so right. I don't like it. :YinYang But you are so right.

[splatt]

Bio-rhythms.

Don't mask the mistakes. Ever. Turn the Reverb down or off. Play slowly.
agree with mr. m.w. .....
..... excepting, of course,
for the bit about the reverb.

reverb can never hide sh•te playing / music;
it's a color, a possible timbre.
that it might mask your "mistakes"?
not from me!
or, at very least..... not me, from myself.

so:
along those lines, one might also say:
"stop playing with fantastic musicians."
"never play in a reflective room, much less one with
actual reverb characteristics."
"don't use a tube amp."
"don't use any amp with a tube rectifier; avoid Class A amps at all costs."
"stop using your neck pickup; it masks your lousy tuning by dampening some upper harmonics."
"real men don't wear tweed & brogans."
& etc, ad nauseum e infinitum.

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

dt / spltrcl