When a statement stops you in your tracks (here's one I heard yesterday)

PorkPieGuy · #1 04-26-2018, 06:49 AM

I heard this yesterday:

"Playing music was a lot more fun before I got good at it."

Of course, the person I was talking to backpedaled quickly, stating something like "Well, I'm not that good, but still..." Man, has this stuck with me.

It's still a lot of fun; don't get me wrong - but was it more fun then? I just don't know.

RedJoker · #2 04-26-2018, 07:00 AM

I first interpreted that as, it was fun until I made a job out of it.

But then I got to think about it more. I used to be a professional juggler and when we first started out in college, we would juggle for hours on end coming up with new ideas, learning new tricks, etc. It got to the point where each new step forward was even harder to master than the steps that came before. It became really hard to learn something new. Now, I rarely juggle for fun. We'll have fun if we get an odd show here or there but we rarely practice and don't do much new stuff. Granted, it's now just a part time thing to bring in a few hundred bucks a year but maybe your friend has a point.... Maybe it WAS more fun before we got good at it.

MikeBmusic · #3 04-26-2018, 07:25 AM

Playing (or juggling) the 'same old same old' can definitely make you lose the fun spark. But learning new songs can bring the fun back - there's nothing like the good feeling when you get a song sounding good.

Bob Womack · #4 04-26-2018, 07:30 AM

I've gone through phases when it wasn't as much fun because I was so serious about improving that I lost that loving feeling. It is possible to just decide you don't want to be that way, though knowest.

Bob

imwjl · #5 04-26-2018, 07:33 AM

A new love is always a big thrill so that's no surprise.

It's a lot more serious than that to stop me in my tracks these days. I've been close to people with cancer and terminal illness in recent years. My wife teaches a group of kids where a sizable percentage of them are in or close to just trying to survive - homeless, around violence, kids who don't have care and understanding for mental illness or being preyed on. I lead in a group that has kids in education programs. Some people where I work have developmental problems or mental illness. Some of the stuff statements I get in that realm truly stop me in their tracks.

Not too long ago I thought I was leaving work late and finally getting some relief and one of the guys who manages grocery carts said his associate wanted to commit suicide. The guy who told me looks like a polished military officer. It took years for me to know one of our country's conflicts left him brain damaged and mentally ill. The guy who wanted to commit suicide is developmentally disabled and was being evicted. Someone advised that he go to church. He was upset that neither the pastor nor g_d called him back and now he was about to be on the street in freezing weather. That stopped me in my tracks.

The way some associates are facing terminal illness has stopped me in my tracks. They're going on and handle everything with such grace that most of us should be ashamed with attitudes we have and express quite often.

srick · #6 04-26-2018, 07:33 AM

I get that quote 100%. Like it is in so many fields, "you don't know what you don't know." As your musical ear and brain develops, you begin to realize all of the subtleties that are needed to create really 'good music'. And as you get better, there are even higher peaks to climb.

I love listening to interviews with some of the great players: Tony Rice adored Clarence White, Chet Atkins wanted to play like Merle Travis. Merle adored Django Rheinhardt, etc, etc. They all knew they were pretty good, but they also knew that it took lots of practice and hard work to get to that point. Very few players would say they were as good, or better than their mentors\idols.

best,

Rick

00Buck · #7 04-26-2018, 12:05 PM

I played golf once with some young guy (and I was in my mid twenties at the time). He knocked the ball a half mile, straight as an arrow. I was thinking, "Wow! I wish I could do that." . . . Then threw his club in a hissy fit because it hadn't gone far enough.

I think about that often when not meeting my low expectations drives the joy out of playing.

PorkPieGuy · #8 04-26-2018, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedJoker

I first interpreted that as, it was fun until I made a job out of it.

Yup, I agree. This is what I take it as.

It's funny that the more involved you get in playing music, the less it IS about playing music. I know for me, playing music these days is sometimes more about schedules and logistics, hauling equipment (I'm the drummer AND the PA guy in our band), editing photography, designing cover art, website building, audio editing, etc. It's easy to get bogged down in the mucky muck.

Mr. Jelly · #9 04-26-2018, 01:09 PM

I get it. At some point the mystery and mystic are gone. How do you get that back? When you get it or get it enough and have had a number of ah ha moments. Wondrously new experiences are mostly a one time thing. So savior them.

valleyguy · #10 04-26-2018, 03:08 PM

For me playing guitar is a fun diversion/hobby that I enjoy. Sometimes I enjoy more that at other times. When I don't enjoy it as much, I take a break, sometimes a month or more. I always return energized.

That said, I've been playing 50 years and I plateaued some time ago, so I know my ability and I enjoy where I'm at. I mostly play to accompany my singing and enjoy playing leads. I do slowly improve over the years, but I avoid PRACTICE. That work conjures up work, not fun, though learning new songs I find fun, not practice.

If it's not fun and you aren't being paid to do it, I'd suggest stopping.

Steve DeRosa · #11 04-26-2018, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

"Playing music was a lot more fun before I got good at it."

Several years ago I had a chance to put together a group with a couple of exceptional (I don't use the term lightly) guitar players I met on the CCM/praise-&-worship circuit (I was playing bass almost exclusively at the time)...

One guy had previously worked with a Grammy-winning Contemporary Christian outfit...

The other had toured with one of the best-known rock bands of the last half-century...

Both had extensive studio experience, on both sides of the board, and the latter owned a successful commercial A/V recording business...

At our first meeting we ripped off note-perfect renditions of several classic-rock staples - we could easily have picked up a studio drummer, taken things on the road on the spot, and made a bunch of bucks doing it...

If you've ever been a full-time member of a successful group - not just a hired gun or session player - you understand the importance of being able to relate on a personal level, one that transcends the mechanical act of playing a succession of notes with precision every time...

We lasted about three weeks before we all realized that this wasn't going to work for us - a lifetime of experience told us that the necessary dynamic just wasn't there...

Last year my wife and I met up with some folks at the local community center uke group - a couple guys who played the NYC-area club circuit from the late-60's through the 80's, and a lady with a wonderful American Songbook-style voice who not only hadn't taken the stage since the early-70's but had never sung rock professionally...

We've played a half-dozen local gigs since last September - on our terms/schedule...

Not quite as tight as those studio/road veterans yet (we're working on it at our 3X/week rehearsals) but we laugh, we joke, we share life stories, we have one heluva time doing it - and we convey that vitality, energy, and love of music to our audiences...

Wouldn't trade it for the world...

ahorsewithnonam · #12 04-26-2018, 06:23 PM

Must have been 15 years ago. At a little league game. I went to the concession stand and there was a guy on his cell. I heard him say to his girlfriend, “Baby, you’ve got multiple personalities...and I don’t like any of them!” To this day I still crack up thinking about that.

Pitar · #13 04-26-2018, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

I heard this yesterday:

"Playing music was a lot more fun before I got good at it."

Of course, the person I was talking to backpedaled quickly, stating something like "Well, I'm not that good, but still..." Man, has this stuck with me.

It's still a lot of fun; don't get me wrong - but was it more fun then? I just don't know.

Or, the further I go the behinder I get. It's just an age-related expression of wisdom versus wishful thinking. Been around since man resolved himself to imperfection.

Casey86 · #14 05-01-2018, 02:31 PM

Recently a long time playing 'buddy' was bragging about his organzing a jazz festival and how he just got $10,000 towards it from the muncipality (he needs a total of $50,000) He has hired the many bands already and has full say on who plays. I freelance in many bands on bass but I am not included nor are the usual bands I play with. He has chosen a number of bands he runs.

The guy, who is a saxophonist, will play about 200 gigs this year, with him as leader. We play about 7 gigs a year together.

So after his bragging about his festival, his 4 nights a week steady jobs etc I'm feeling rather left out. The narcissistic chap turns to me and says:
'hey why don't you hussle some gigs and hire ME on sax instead of _ _ _ _'.

His statement left me speachless and stopped me in my tracks.