Has your playing gone as planned?

[JonPR]

"Planned"? Wait, we're supposed to plan this?

Sheesh, all that time (54 years) having fun, and I was supposed to be planning it?? Why did no one tell me?

Tell me doc, is it too late to start now?



I suppose I had "dreams" when I started. You know, the usual, getting rich and famous, lots of chicks, etc etc. Somehow I never quite worked out how to plan that. Just got distracted by how much fun I was having.

Of course, at my age, I somewhat regret not being rich or famous, and only having scored a tiny handful of chicks via music (the others were all put off). If only I'd enrolled at that college course back then for How To Get Rich And Famous And Score Chicks.

[SprintBob]

As a relative newcomer 7.5 years into it and being 61, I put a bit more priority on figuring out the type of playing I enjoyed the most especially after I worked through the majority of two beginner courses over two years (one from JamPlay and Justin Guitar). I kind of always knew I wanted to play fingerstyle so I made a good decision to start with Mark Hanson’s material so it ended up being a great plan to work through both of his fingerstyle books both of which has really given me an excellent foundation. My personal taste has narrowed a bit more as I am really intrigued and enjoying learning some Celtic fingerstyle these days.

Good to have some vision going forward but you don’t have to lock yourself in for sure.

[FrankHudson]

Lots of grins from me as many in the thread remark Plan? What, plan? But even if we are sort of meandering along, or dealing mostly with other things in life, we have (or reveal) some intent.

I started with an inexpensive, department store nylon string acoustic guitar, because I had little money and that was all I could afford. I admired classical guitar players, American acoustic blues players of the 78 rpm era, the Takoma-associated steel-string guitar players, and the British players in the Davy Graham/Bert Jansch school.

I also loved lead electric guitar players, but an amp was out the budget range. Since this was the way I started, I'll condense the rest of this to just to my "plan" with acoustic guitar.

I believed that as far as acoustic guitar players, fingerpicking style was what the real players did, and the rest were hacks or singers who made do with limited chops. Of course that was ignorant, but that's what I believed then.

I could never develop the right hand nails or calluses to do pure finger-style, so I began to use thumb and finger picks (yes, even on nylon string). After a couple of years I got a cheap 12-string, which I sometimes strung as 6 string so that it could serve double-duty. After a couple years or so more I got my first 6 string steel-string acoustic, a real stretch for my budget.

I never learned to even fake classical nylon string badly. I could get something of the flavor of the Takoma "American Primitive" thing and a bit less of the UK folk style. My blues playing was sloppy. I eventually got tired of what I felt was mechanical and non-interesting in my finger-style work, plus I found the picks increasingly awkward.

Around 30 years ago I moved to using a flat pick for everything (well, nearly everything) using a cross-picking style, which ironically got me closer to the sound of my steel-string influences.

Now in the last decade or so, I have less flexible joints and more finger-joint pains. I'm basically trying to modify what chops I have to adopt to that--more open tunings, simpler chord forms. I've also become even more composing oriented, writing pieces based on what I can hope to play vs. trying to play some one else's music or approach their techique. I've also collected a range of largely inexpensive instruments over the years to help express different sounds.

In summary: my goals/influences haven't changed, but over a few decades my methods for approaching them changed. In military war college style terms: my strategic plan remains largely the same, my tactical plans have evolved, and my logistical supply of instruments has increased.

[JonPR]

As John Lennon who said "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans".

[Lockback]

Plan?
I hadn't played guitar in over 40 years. Then, three years ago, closing in on retirement, I got the bug again and ordered something I'd always wanted: an electric. Then another one. Then an acoustic. Then another acoustic.
I'm untrained. Can't read a note. Never had a lesson. But have a good ear and can look up chords on the internet and watch YouTube lessons. I started out knowing a few "cowboy chords" and have branched out from there.
I don't play to impress anyone. My wife likes music but hands out compliments like man hole covers. I play for myself and occasionally my brother-in-law who is an excellent guitar player.
I wanted to play some rock, hence my choice to buy an electric first. And I still enjoy cranking up my amp (through headphones) and banging out "Won't Get Fooled Again" or whatever now and then.
My father-in-law, a man of modest means, heard me playing my Strat one time - I played on original instrumental, as I recall - and said he wanted to buy me another guitar because he appreciated my ability to pick up an instrument and play it, something he can't do. And that's when I bought my first acoustic in over 40 years. As opposed to the last one I'd had, this one actually sounded and played great, further proof you don't have to spend a fortune to have a quality guitar.
After a lifetime of having to be somewhere every day (school or work), the last thing I need or want in my life is more things I feel obligated to do. So I probably set my guitar goals lower than I should. I just enjoy playing and learning new songs. I have days of inspiration when I bury myself in playing and learning and others when I do other things. But I try to play every day. Overall, I'm reasonably pleased with my "progress" but I also know that the more I learn, the further I have to go to be really good. Maybe I'll get there, maybe I won't. But I'm enjoying the journey.

[sloar]

I didn’t mean “plan” literally. I just imagined my learning going in a different direction and different genres. When I first started learning I would’ve never thought I’d be wanting to learn the songs I’m playing now. But, I’m very happy how things are going and I’m looking forward to where it’s going to take me next.