What a long strange trip it has been

[Muffinhead]

A little over two years ago I decided to get more serious about playing guitar. I used to post progress milestones in this section of the forum, but I have not posted anything here in a long time. So today I thought I would catch up. I do this not only to pat myself on the back, but also to encourage those of you out there who may feel like you can't do this. I say you can. If a 60+ year old can, anybody can.

I have gone from finding it impossible to fingerpick a chord and then change to another, to being able to mix several different fingerpicking patterns in one song. A couple of examples would be "If You Could Read My Mind" or "Vincent" where both of these songs use different patterns at different times in the song.

There are chords that I found to be incredibly difficult to play, that I can now play reasonably well. The Bm chord comes to mind. It may not always be clean sounding, but I can now play a Bm chord and I don't have to avoid songs that have a Bm in them. There is one chord that I just considered impossible that I can now play. That would be the Bb chord. It is definitely not clean, but it definitely sounds like a Bb chord.

Once I learned how to change chords and then sing, fingerpick and change chords I was really proud. But if a song that I liked did not fit in the chord patterns that I knew, I wouldn't play it. Now I find that I can make up my own patterns to fit the rhythm of the song that I like

And finally, at the age of 63, I am diagnosed with ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder, more commonly known as Asperger's syndrome. I think that explains why I like fingerpicking so much. It is all about the patterns and the mathematical simplicity of this style of music.

So, how have I been able to progress the way I have? I play my guitar. I no longer practice, because practicing is no fun. I do play songs that I like so I can learn ow to play them well. True, I will play over and over a certain part so that I can learn to play it smoothly, but I do not practice. Practice is boring, playing is fun. It works for me.

I still may not be a great player or even a good player, but I am improving every day, and every day I learn something new. Most importantly, I am having a lot of fun.

[Mkel12]

Bravo! Keep up the passion Muffin!

I am not implying a comparison, but I am reminded of the work I am doing with veterans with traumatic brain injuries. I am a coordinator of a Guitars For Vets chapter and teach veterans how to play guitar. Most are dealing with significant brain injuries, and I am inspired and blown away by my students' passion and dedication to learning how to play guitar. The effort they demonstrate and the joy they feel from being able to string together G, C and D chords makes me well up with pride. Keep up the good work... there is nothing more rewarding!

Mike
Chapter Coordinator
Guitars for Vets
Martinez, California
http://www.guitars4vets.org

[Willy D]

Fun + Effort = Progress

[SFCRetired]

Actually what you are doing is practicing. Keep up the good work.

[Muffinhead]

Originally Posted by SFCRetired

Actually what you are doing is practicing. Keep up the good work.

Yes, that is true, but with a different mindset. If you think of practice as drudgery, then it is not fun and you won't do it. If you just play with passion, then it is fun and fulfilling and improvement is sure to follow.

[ElCamino]

Holy smokes! Thank you for the inspirational bump. Looking forward to reading more about your progress!!

[jetcode]

A couple of comments on practicing. Eventually you might discover that what you are practicing is in fact some small snippet of music. If make the things you practice musical you will get much more mileage out of practice. Most people assume that an exercise cannot be musical since it must be practiced. When you hit a snag in a tune isolate the difficulty and practice making it musical.

With things like chords I rarely if ever play a full 6 voice chord. I do use arpeggios and partial chords all the time. Not only is it easier on the hands it is more musical in the ear. You can walk a chord progression with just a small hand full of notes. The songwriters strum is really to provide the densest accompaniment possible but in fact the ear will fill in the missing bits if you can convince the audience that the few notes you are playing are in fact well rooted in the tune. You only need to hint at the tune rather than play it as an absolute.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

I play my guitar. I no longer practice, because practicing is no fun. I do play songs that I like so I can learn how to play them well. True, I will play over and over a certain part so that I can learn to play it smoothly, but I do not practice. Practice is boring, playing is fun.

Great to hear your update.
I seldom "practice" either but I play songs all day including those with very hard for me chord changes or fills and runs.
I have always believed this to be a great way to practice but some will disagree.

[Chin music]

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

Yes, that is true, but with a different mindset. If you think of practice as drudgery, then it is not fun and you won't do it. If you just play with passion, then it is fun and fulfilling and improvement is sure to follow.

I guess I take a bit of a different approach as I see some exercises as simply 'taking my medicine', understanding that not all of my practice will be fun per se.

Just like lifting weights are some other mundane exercise, it's all part of trying to get where I want to be, however long that may take.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Chin music

I guess I take a bit of a different approach as I see some exercises as simply 'taking my medicine', understanding that not all of my practice will be fun per se.

Just like lifting weights are some other mundane exercise, it's all part of trying to get where I want to be, however long that may take.

Well, if that's what you want, that's fine.
I.e., if the thought of where you're going to get to keeps you going, it has a purpose at least.

But it might be worth remembering that there is NO destination on this journey. You don't "get" anywhere in that sense. Where you want to be now may be sometime in the future. But when you get there, you will have some other future goal.
So if your focus is always on the future - what happens to the present? As John Lennon said "life is what happens while you're busy making plans".

Music is nothing but sound, so only exists in the present; while you're hearing it or playing it. So if you're not focussed on the present moment while you're playing - if you're treating that moment as some kind of rehearsal for a hypothetical future moment - you're really missing out.

Of course, I understand that you're saying some of what you practice IS fun! But ALL of it should be. The practice that's most fun is (in my experience anyway) the practice you learn most from.
If you have fun doing scale drills and exercises (some do) then that's good. But don't do it if you don't like it. There are plenty of fun ways to get the same exercise, that's the point. (E.g., don't practise scale patterns up and down, or always in 8th notes; break them up, play melodic patterns. Be creative. Your fingers are still getting their exercise, but your brain, your musical consciousness, is involved too.)

The more fun it is, the more you'll want to do it, so the faster you'll progress - so you'll get to whatever your destination is quicker after all! Any practice exercise that you experience as a chore slows you down (in the long run).

[creamburmese]

Thanks for update Muffin! I am heartened by your progress and your pleasure in that progress!

I use the term practicing, but I only do it when it's fun I get simple pleasure out of "cracking" some small challenge (often as little as a single measure where the exact sequence of fingers eluded me). To me that's fun - and there lies the beauty of choosing to learn guitar as a hobby - it's a choice to do something that gives us pleasure/satisfaction/fulfilment...call it what you may.