Playing guitar with no desire to perform.

[Dave Hicks]

Originally Posted by Gryf

...
The guitar is like that to me. It's a puzzle. I hear an arrangement by someone I like, or think of an old somg I know well-an old hymn or a christmas song maybe- and I know all the notes are there on my fretboard. It's a joy for me to figure it out, work out an arrangement. I seldom feel the need to perfect it so that it's "performance ready" but once I have it figured I've got it. At that point, it becomes fun to try to play the style in different tempos and styles.
...

I feel that way, too. But while I don't like playing in front of people, I like not playing even less. ("I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”)

D.H.

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by Gryf

I hear an arrangement by someone I like, or think of an old somg I know well-an old hymn or a christmas song maybe- and I know all the notes are there on my fretboard. It's a joy for me to figure it out, work out an arrangement. I seldom feel the need to perfect it so that it's "performance ready" but once I have it figured I've got it. At that point, it becomes fun to try to play the style in different tempos and styles.

Good stuff, I'm a similar old geezer with many decades behind me and I can't get myself to an acoustic open mic at the point of a gun. I spent 12 years in community theater fighting stage-fright and the dozen or so open mics I've done were more of a chore than a joy. Some folks have the personality for performing and I'm finally ok with not being one of them.

[jpd]

Originally Posted by Gryf

The guitar, for me, is just...therapy. I love the guitar, and play regularly. Daily. Fingerstyle mostly these days. At any rate, I know a lot of us play music and feel a real need or desire to play for people. But I bet there's quite a few of us who just play for ourselves and enjoy the guitar, specifically, and music, in general, for what we get out of it.

Count me in on that! Haven't performed for pay in decades. Play with and for friends but find I enjoy the therapy of playing for my own ears. Heading for Delaware to visit a performing friend...might sit in with him for a couple of numbers

[fitness1]

From '77 to '82 I played lots of shows with a full band, from '82 to about 2010 I probably did 1000 solo shows. Much of this was to make financial ends meet.

There are several reasons my desire has waned, but I've never liked to be the center of attention, and since being paid to play has kind of become a thing of the past (in my area you MIGHT get 100 bucks to play for 3 hours) I just don't have the desire any longer.

I certainly can't play until 10 or 11 at night (normally in bed by 9:30 these days!) and load out too.

Oddly enough my playing and singing has still gotten better over the last 10 years or so - because I'm playing what I want to, not what others want.

[robrick]

Sounds good. Do whatever makes you happy.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

However, I know more than a few guys who, unless there is a gig endpoint, see no reason to get together. They won't play just for the fun of playing. THAT I do not get.

I rehearse and gig with one band ONLY because I love playing with the drummer. So I guess I tolerate the other guys and the schlepping and the maybe-gas-money pay scale... "just for the fun of playing." But I do love playing with this one guy and I feel like the rest of it is worth it. Most of the time.

[Bluenose]

An interesting topic no doubt. Myself I have no desire to perform in front of an audience. I'm no fan of public speaking either although it was expected of me in my job and I used to do it but I never really liked doing it..

As far as guitar playing goes, I'll play the guitar for anyone that wants to hear me play. I like getting together with other players where we take turns playing tunes and jamming the 12 bar.

One time I got a new boss who figured he was a good guitar player. Long story short, I played him some Pat Donahue arrangements I learned that absolutely floored him and humbled him greatly. All the hours of practice finally paid off. .

[Steve DeRosa]

Made my lead stage debut at age 6 (MC of our first-grade play), played my first ensemble recital on guitar at 9 (at Carnegie Hall, back when it could be rented on a midweek off-day), done just about everything since, from solo coffeehouse to modern opera to rock bands to Renaissance lute songs to stand-up comedy to worship music (traditional and modern) - simply put, the stage is in my blood and has been for as long as I can remember. Bottom line is that I do it because I genuinely enjoy it, not out of a need for recognition or ego gratification - whether there's an audience of 2 or 20,000 doesn't matter to me in the least - and while I respect those who prefer to play solely for their own enjoyment or for a small circle of friends/family (I've had to do that for extended periods at several times in my own life, due to circumstances beyond my control), I'll keep playing out until it either ceases to bring me/others joy or I'm physically unable to do so...

[Dave in Olympia]

I've been playing for 47-ish years. Never once have I had the urge to perform in front of people. Like the OP, it is "my time". I do it for my own enjoyment. I occasionally play at family holiday gatherings, and the like, but that's the extent of it.

[rllink]

Just came home from an outdoor gig at an apple festival. Performing for people, I can take it or leave it. If someone asks me to play with them, I'll do it. I don't like playing solo for people.

Playing with people, that's my thing. If it is performing, I'm in, but if it is some musicians just getting together to make music, that's even better. I would rather just do that.

Playing myself for my own entertainment. Not really, I'm not a solitary person. I get bored with myself pretty quickly. I need other musicians around me. During the pandemic I took one on one lessons online just to have someone to play with. A plus plus.

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by rllink

During the pandemic I took one on one lessons online just to have someone to play with.

Were you able to find any video conferencing tech that let you actually play along with the other person and hear each other at the same time?

I've done video lessons for various instruments (mandolin, piano, voice, guitar) over the years and never found a way to hear each other lag-free and play together.

[Murphy Slaw]

I've gigged since 1970 and have had some success with it in the day. Since going all acoustic and quitting drinking the bars aren't as much fun. I still love live gigs with crowds though, especially outdoor stuff.

[sublro]

i love performing and singalongs, but i also adore just putting on a shuffle playlist of tunes and trying to play along. it’s an endlessly entertaining challenge to see if i can figure it the chords and the groove by the end of the song, and it teaches me new things about the guitar while i do it!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Gryf

. . . I love puzzles. Crossword, sudoku, even jigsaw. I love seeing the template before me, knowing all the letters, numbers and pieces are there, and then piecing it together. Figuring it out.

The guitar is like that to me. It's a puzzle. . . .

Yeah, that's how I feel about songwriting and arranging generally. It feels just like working on a crossword or cryptogram or acrostic. Great fun, relaxing.

For me, it's not therapy. I hate therapy. It's the opposite: escape, entertainment.

Originally Posted by Gryf

At any rate, I know a lot of us play music and feel a real need or desire to play for people. But I bet there's quite a few of us who just play for ourselves and enjoy the guitar, specifically, and music, in general, for what we get out of it. . . .

Yup! And it's not an either/or. Songwriting and arranging are fun, and playing with other people, including performing, is fun — just a different flavor of fun.

It's not my puzzle muscles that I put to work when I jam or perform, it's my extroversion muscles. I'm an introvert who, like other American introverts, lives in an extrovert world. So back when I worked, work usually forced me to put myself out there.

Back then, exercising my extrovert muscles was tiring but often rewarding. I made friends, I had good experiences. Playing with friends and playing out is like that — but without the pressure of holding down a job.

The extrovert muscles aren't the puzzle muscles, but they feel good to exercise, in a different way. And gig money helps me afford instruments and other nasty habits.

But if playing alone (like bowling alone) satisfies you, you're there. Keep on pluckin'!

[Bob Womack]

In many ways, in pragmatic things, I am not a man of absolutes. I've always enjoyed playing and creating on guitar. That was the reason I got into guitar in the first place: there was music inside me that needed to come out. I spent years with my only performance outlet being live performances with bands. I was always a little bothered by the fact that it is impossible for a human like me to give a perfect performance. I was also bothered by the sturm-und-drang and come-and-go of band members. Still, here is an interesting statistic: the lineup of the Doobie Brothers changed at least once a year for their first ten years. Bands are naturally temporary things.

And then somewhere along the way, I was called on for a studio session and discovered that I loved the process. It was another performance experience entirely: creating music, developing parts, writing melodies and leads, without the heavy lifting and stress of keeping a band together. It was entirely about creativity, delivering my personal best, and refining. The studio work grew and I eventually worked my way into engineering and producing as well.

I still enjoy playing out on occasion and definitely still enjoy playing for myself.

Bob