....all by myself....

[J Patrick]

....current threads about playing out combined with my relatively recent withdrawal from the music scene has led to ponder my solitary musical pursuits...after all....even when I played and rehearsed several times a week..which was my typical involvement for 40 years....I still played most of the time by myself....nobody listening....

...I LOVE that!!!.....these days I can learn any song I want...play it exactly how I want to play it...tweak an arrangement any time I feel like it....my level of musical enjoyment is as good or better than it ever has been....

....it’s hard for me believe how obsessed I was with performing for so long...starting out as a class clown in grade school....I have a BFA degree in theatre for Pete’s sake...(the only degree more worthless than marine biology)....I used to love to perform...

...nowadays it’s all by myself...and it’s all good...how about you other hideaways??.

[Lee Callicutt]

Yeah, it's ridiculous how bad I am considering how long I've been at it, but I trudge on nevertheless. Currently working on hybrid picking at a lower volume.

I can't stop myself, but it's just a hobby, so . . .

I've given up performing. I don't even perform at the open mic at Fur Peace Ranch anymore. Too stressful for zero return. Plus I don't feel like lugging a trunk load of gear across town for $100. Someone else can do it now. I just play at home and record occasionally. I do play in front of others at FPR informally and get nice feedback so that's enough exposure for me.

[offkey]

I have always been happy with a lot of solitude. I ride bike alone, walk woods trails alone, and enjoy playing guitar all by my lonesome. For me, making music for it's own sake is a happy creative experience. I feel lucky to have guitar love at this point in my life. And lucky I have no need for an audience.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

I don't feel like lugging a trunk load of gear across town for $100. Someone else can do it now.

Slam dunk right there...

I do a few solo gigs still but I'm not out looking for them, they fall in my lap most of the time.

But I still play every day, guitar (since I was 8) and piano (for about 20 years now).

[CASD57]

I enjoy doing songs my way....
What I mean by that is when playing with others and especially Pro's they expect you to do the cover songs as true as possible which can really take the fun out of playing out.

I enjoy doing my way but not to the point you don't know what song it is...But still my way...
I prefer not lugging gear 2-4 times a week
Don't miss the Drama

Sure I'd like to Busk or something like that at my leisure... But I'm not in a hurry

[rokdog49]

I crave approval from others. It's how I roll.

[Kerbie]

I agree with the OP. I enjoy playing by myself or with a small group of friends. I performed at different activities for almost two decades. I loved it and wouldn't trade it, but I don't want to do it again. Now I enjoy the peace.

[RP]

Come on. Given the title of this thread, somebody was bound to put up Eric Carmen's hit song ...

Originally Posted by offkey

I have always been happy with a lot of solitude. I ride bike alone, walk woods trails alone, and enjoy playing guitar all by my lonesome...

However, getting back to the question posed, I suppose I'm also just another off key kind of guy....

[fazool]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

....current threads about playing out combined with my relatively recent withdrawal from the music scene has led to ponder my solitary musical pursuits...after all....even when I played and rehearsed several times a week..which was my typical involvement for 40 years....I still played most of the time by myself....nobody listening....

...I LOVE that!!!.....these days I can learn any song I want...play it exactly how I want to play it...tweak an arrangement any time I feel like it....my level of musical enjoyment is as good or better than it ever has been....

....it’s hard for me believe how obsessed I was with performing for so long...starting out as a class clown in grade school....I have a BFA degree in theatre for Pete’s sake...(the only degree more worthless than marine biology)....I used to love to perform...

...nowadays it’s all by myself...and it’s all good...how about you other hideaways??.

1) I almost got a degree in Marine Biology (seriously). I was a super dedicated Great Lakes diver and there is a Great Lakes research center at my undergrad college, etc etc. Glad I didn't but that was certainly a passion of mine. My daughter is living in St. Kitts now so I am planning on diving again.


2) I am the exact opposite of you. I totally 100% agree with what you said about playing for yourself. I never ever ever wanted to perform and I only played music because I obsessively love it.

I've played out a couple times this summer with a really popular band in town (so I got spoiled with a stage full of people that made me sound good and gigantic crowds). Now I've got the bug to play out more.

So I spent my life obsessing over playing just for me. Now, being almost empty nesters, I am planning a future with a little performing in it.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by fazool

1) I almost got a degree in Marine Biology (seriously). I was a super dedicated Great Lakes diver and there is a Great Lakes research center at my undergrad college, etc etc. Glad I didn't but that was certainly a passion of mine. My daughter is living in St. Kitts now so I am planning on diving again.


2) I am the exact opposite of you. I totally 100% agree with what you said about playing for yourself. I never ever ever wanted to perform and I only played music because I obsessively love it.

I've played out a couple times this summer with a really popular band in town (so I got spoiled with a stage full of people that made me sound good and gigantic crowds). Now I've got the bug to play out more.

So I spent my life obsessing over playing just for me. Now, being almost empty nesters, I am planning a future with a little performing in it.

...the marine biology remark was a joke....I wish I had got a marine biology degree instead of a theatre degree!!...

...by all means embrace live performance...it can be intoxicating...and it can lead to musical relationships that can in turn lead to new musical directions...there is so much to be gained from playing out....

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, intersting thread which made me do some thinking.
Looking back on my probably fifty years of playing guitar in one way ofr another, the only times I made any progress was when I was playing with others and/or performing in however a minimal way.

I saw Tom Rush at a festival which really made me think about playing guitar but I was still an active, gigging drummer.

I vaguely remember drunkenly playing the blues in E for hours on end with some friends most of whom have sadly "gone before".

My progress was very slow until I found myself in a dope smoking trio which turned out to be quite successful in the West London folk scene. It was my skills that held us back, but I learnt a lot.

I struggled with west coast (US) '60s folk styles - Tims Hardin, Buckley etc.

Then a fellow AGF member introduced me to west coast country and bluegrass.

I moved with my job progression and found myself in two working bluegrass bands who liked my rhythm guitar styles but wanted mandolin and dobro so I got both and taught my self to play (up to a point).

Another location change and I found myself in another more challenging bluegrass band -which was good.

Then from '83-'93 a rare illness attacked my joints and I was usable to play for ten years (but kept my instruments ...in the attic).
In about '93 I resolved to get them down and start to learn again, by myself, and I wanted to be a singer-songwriter which I achieved, much encouraged by my wife - my advisor/carer and harsh but helpful judge.
I attended the folk club scene looking for gigs but met so much antipathy with my American style singer-songwriter material - "well it's not really folk - its country and western isn't it?" (to many Brits if it was American and not blues it was C&W!)

I was also out of work for a long time - an alien experience for me, so I worked to create a pub circuit which was partially successful but I soon tired of playing to drunks and large screen TVs, and it felt like "work" not fun.

I got involved in running a club and did that for a few years but I was asked to start up another folk club in a nearby town, and decided to make it an "Acoustic Music" club instead inviting every possible genre.

So for me, it was always about the "performance". I realised that when I was surprisingly recruited to do some acting in 2000, and found that I loved it as much as music.

Soon I had my own trio, bluegrass bands came and went, another trio one of which continues.

I still run the club which gives my trio two 15-20 minutes sports each night, plus the fun of rehearsing the day before.

I'd love to be playing more, and my audience is now on YouTube to a large extent.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

I don't feel like lugging a trunk load of gear across town for $100.

You know the old joke, right?

Definition of a musician:

Somebody who takes $5000 worth of gear in a $500 car, drives 50 miles to make $50

[jklotz]

I've been playing in bands for years now. I'm currently in 3. I do enjoy it, the performance, comradare, performance and recording. I enjoy working as a team and those magic nights where everything is firing on all 8 cylinders, even the crowd.

I have been, however, working up a few sets of solo fingerstyle tunes as of recent to do some solo supplemental gigs. I'm really surprised at how much I am enjoying it. Just me and a guitar, nothing else needed. No truckloads of gear, no 10 calls to get everybody organized, no waiting on the straglers. It's refreshing.

I see your point. I guess I'm lucky because I still like all of it.

[hairpuller]

Whew! Thought we were gonna have to talk you down there for a minute!

I too, am happy playing by myself...well, the kids and wifey seem to enjoy it too. Love the freedom and carefree nature of it all.

Keep picking,
scott