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Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I got the music in me.
Sometimes what comes out doesn't match up very well with what's in my head but I still enjoy it and have fun with it. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4026
Location: Utah | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Perceptions can change when a group plays as an avocation rather than a vocation. There may very well be financial remuneration, but the primary motivation and reward for one's lifelong passion in a particular interest (ours just happens to be guitars) is intrinsic, not profit. Should there be any realization of profit, then all the better, but this is secondary. I would go so far as to say that profit kills the joy. It would be nice to make a few $ in tips, or to get a free meal. But if I were to pursue music to the point of making more money than I spend, it would become work. |
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August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | Back when I first started playing, it was just something to do. It was fun to play in Church and it was fun to be in a band, playing dances in high school. I didn't really have the itch back then to discover if there was something more. If I knew then what I know now, I would definitely have taken it much more seriously and hopefully would not have stopped playing for so long.
I'm at the stage now where I want to learn SO much, but there is just no time to take it seriously. I just hope that when I do have the time - when the kids are older and more independent - that I still have the same potential to learn. |
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May 2008
Posts: 1553
Location: Indiana | Originally posted by FlySig:
It would be nice to make a few $ in tips, or to get a free meal. But if I were to pursue music to the point of making more money than I spend, it would become work. Years ago a buddy of mine got a 6 night a week bar job in North Dakota. $250 a week, room and board included... all he had to pay for was drinks.
At the end of the month, he owed them 400 bucks. :) |
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November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | I started in college in say....1978? Keep at it for about 6-7 years and gradually tapered off as life caught up with other obligations. Picked it up now and then, just a little. I have gone back to it again all out. I am having a ball with it. Of course, I have the time now. The new "O" helped fire me up. I can honestly say that despite my lack of ability I am playing better than ever. I try to get my lessons in every week although sometimes I cannot make that happen. Do I regret starting, no...I cannot figure out why you would regret starting. Do I regret stopping for a while? Not really, I did not have a choice. I play for my enjoyment and I suppose if it ever stops being fun, I will taper off. |
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October 2008
Posts: 489
| Originally posted by TAFKAR:
If you couldn't play guitar how would your life be better now OR if you'd spent the time on something else, what would that have been? Don't know, but hopefully something more productive and useful than I have been able to achieve with a guitar.
I didn't get into it for the money, although I've made some. I didn't get into it for the girls, although I have attracted a few with it. I got into it because I was curious.
How does music work? How can I get this thing to sound good? How can I get my voice to sound good? This lead to another area of interest: The theater. Can I do musicals? Can I act? Can I do believable love scenes? (Think it's easy?) Can I direct? Can I get the actors to see my vision? Can I grab the audience?
I found I can do all that. I also found all that empty the day after I did it. No matter how heady an experience I had on any stage - and I've been on some serious stages - it never matched the feeling of accomplishment I got from working in my real profession. I've always, always been glad I didn't attempt to make music my profession, because it's never been my passion. |
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March 2005
Posts: 5563
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | The guitar has been such a permanent part of my life; I can't envision one without it...
However, since we only get on shot at this no matter how much we fantasize, I am so glad that over 45 years ago, I borrowed a friends old acoustic w/rusty black diamond strings and for the next several months, practiced my chords and never quit even when it hurt...what a long strange trip its been...wouldn't change it even if I could... |
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March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | Being an old guy, I feel I should respond to this, but being an old guy, I can't remember the question.... |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | OK, I've got to chime in here, even though I never quit. (Unless you count the year off for a hand injury, but then I started playing harp instead.)
Some of these posts sound so sad. Miles, I don't even know what to say. I wish there was some way I could help you find people to play with who would get you inspired. And Losov, I have to ask what your regular job is. When I was a kid, my Dad always drilled into me the notion that you have to leave the world a better place than it was when you came into it. I always looked at my music as a selfish thing. Not a BAD thing, but it didn't really help people, or make the world a better place. People would tell me that my music "brought joy" or that the songs I wrote made them think, but I know better. It wasn't until I started teaching that I felt I was making a real contribution. Not just teaching kids to play, but actually changing their lives. I have one student whose parents did meth when he was conceived. He is dislexic, adhd, and really messed up. His grandmother is raising him because his mom is in prison and his father is dead. When I teach him, I have learned to have him close his eyes and listen, and then he can play it right back to me. His doctor told his grandmother, "Whatever you're doing, keep it up. The change in him is almost miraculous." And there's another kid with LOADS of talent, who was always getting in trouble in school. None of the other kids liked him, and his Mom told me he had talked of suicide. Now he has an outlet, he has calmed down and hasn't been in a fight at school in months. Some of the kids in his grade have told me he has changed and is actually a nice kid after all. He has friends now, and they play guitar together. What could be better than that?
I realize most people never find out what their purpose in life is, and how lucky I am to have found it. I wish the same for all of you. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Beautiful ....thanks for sharing that. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | Ditto,
no paycheck could equal the return you get from those students who's lives you've changed. You are a hero, Canterbury |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Thought provoking question and posts. My music comes from my Mother's side and I hope to pass that on through our daughters. Mom was always singing and playing the piano. Dad can't carry a tune in a bucket and was all business. Mom played for fun and Dad made us practice until the allotted time was up.
The guitar was something I always did for fun. I picked it up in college after giving up band instruments. I was in the college choir, purely as an elective, never with the thought of making a career of it. I did envy those rock stars, though, even the ones playing in the sleazy beer joints.
I thought that raising a family got in the way of guitar playing, but I recall playing for our first child when she was really small. The truth is probably that we didn't have a TV then, so playing guitar was entertainment. If I had practiced guitar instead of watching TV, I don't think it would have been wasted time. I can't think of a single TV show that was worth an hour of my life, but I don't think I've ever wasted an hour with the guitar. Looking at them on ebay, yes, there's a bunch of hours wasted, but playing them, no.
Playing at our wedding or others or my folks anniversaries or Mom's 80th birthday has all been worth it. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | I've never stopped playing almost 40 years later (only sounds like I stopped for about 39 years). The guitar has given me so much in my life. Some of my best friends are people I met thru playing guitar (some of them are on this board). I've played for my kids, family. I seranaded my wife (and a number of other females before her). The guitar brought me back to church. There's not a single day that goes by that I don't have a guitar in my hands if for nothing else, just to sit a strum chords, quietly, for myself, just to feel the instrument vibrate against me (shut up Witko and Clifford)..... |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Please...I didn't tell you that to make myself look like a hero. As I said, I consider myself lucky to have found my life's work. The hero in this case is MUSIC. They are discovering more every day about the healing powers of music for both physical and emotional ailments.
As sick as we all are, imagine how much sicker we'd be without our guitars! :D |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Canterbury, no need to apologize. We understood the intent of the message and it was a beautiful one. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Ditto. I can only think of one member who pretended to be offended when things got a bit sappy, but he hasn't been around much lately. Personally, I can use some heart warming. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Canterbury, no need to apologize. We understood the intent of the message and it was a beautiful one. |
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March 2005
Posts: 5563
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Thanks for sharing Allison...you are making a difference and enjoying doing it...not many can say that...
I also pick up a guitar every day...many times to watch my kids dance and jump around but often just to feel the thrill of being able to play a fine instrument and create something from my thoughts, feelings and moods...I did Music Therapy for several years for a substance abuse threatment center...Music has such a threaputic effect on the sick and troubled...being able to share what makes me feel good and watch it bring the same effect on others is a bonus of any personal enjoyment...Taking the guitar into worship and church environments allows still others to appreciate the beauty of the instruments and share in the music...there are so many opportunities other than just earning a living and playing gigs...I am glad to have been able to support myself for many years doing just that but am so happy to explore and share the joy for free... |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Alison - great therapy! (and I say that as a therapist) Even better therapy because the kid doesn't think he's going to therapy. In fact, he's not, he's just doing something normal and realising that he can meet his needs without being obnoxious. Well done. |
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November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
Please...I didn't tell you that to make myself look like a hero. Still makes you a hero in my book. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Man....a double post 5 minutes apart. How freaky is that!!! |
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For the Old Guys: Would You Do It Again?
