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#1
03-01-2021, 10:34 AM
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Flow guitar
I mentioned in another thread that playing guitar is a "flow activity" for me, and thought some might not have encountered the concept of "flow" as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 1990 publication "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience". I'll try to do a quick summary.
"Flow" is a concept similar to "really getting into something" or getting "in the zone". C.M. identifies some characteristics of a "flow state": - Intense and focused concentration on the present moment - Merging of action and awareness - A loss of reflective self-consciousness - A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity - A distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered - Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience Flow is derived, specifically, from engagement in an activity; it comes from doing something that is characterized by certain criteria having to do with the relationship between "challenge/difficulty" and skill. If difficulty is too high relative to skill, we encounter frustration; if difficulty is too low relative to skill, we encounter boredom. Thus, the sweet spot, so to speak, is an activity that is challenging but "doable", and further more, difficulty and skill are in flux, not static. In other words, when one challenge level is accomplished, there are new challenges available. You could say the flow zone is the Goldilocks zone between difficulty and skill. The guitar is, to me, an ideal flow activity. The idea of flow is that you have to be challenged, but also that, with effort, that challenge is achievable. Anyway, this is why I play guitar, and why I derive a great deal of satisfaction from it, even if I'm not that "good". What I'm good at is deriving flow from playing guitar, and that's why I enjoy it so much. 
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#6
03-01-2021, 01:10 PM
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Yup
"The guitar is, to me, an ideal flow activity. The idea of flow is that you have to be challenged, but also that, with effort, that challenge is achievable.
Anyway, this is why I play guitar, and why I derive a great deal of satisfaction from it, even if I'm not that "good". What I'm good at is deriving flow from playing guitar, and that's why I enjoy it so much." raysd Perfectly said- I'm a proponent of that flow 
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#7
03-01-2021, 01:41 PM
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Quote:
 That said, I completely agree with your post about flow. I know that zone; I get into it with guitar, with woodworking, with coding. It's the space where everything feels effortless yet rewarding, where ideas and techniques seem to come without any urging. And yeah, now that you say so, it is one of the reasons I continue to play. I'm glad you brought it up. It's so true.
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#8
03-01-2021, 04:40 PM
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I've always had activities in my life that got me out of my head, put me squarely in the moment, and only worked at all well when I was firing on all cylinders. Lot's of sports through the years - cycling, tennis, basketball, I was a ski bum for a couple years and skiing certainly played that role. I've been very heavily into street photography at times as well and that can put me in a similar state, both the days out in the city shooting and the long processing sessions, first in darkrooms and then later on a computer with digital images. At a couple of points in my life, including now, playing guitar has been my primary activity for this type of thing. I've never thought of it as "flow", but I recognized your description pretty much immediately as what I experience.
When I'm just sitting and playing and, often, singing, I experience this "flow" state and that's gotta be a big part of what I love so much about guitar playing. I occasionally record myself, and even build multi-track recordings with 2-3 guitar tracks and 1-2 vocal tracks. That's also a real "flow" activity. I can spend a lot of time doing this and it feels like it takes no time at all. When I'm playing and singing, I pass over the rough spots and put them in the rearview so quickly it's almost like they never happened and they don't detract from my enjoyment in the least. BUT, when I listen back to my recordings, that's the very opposite of "flow". When I listen to my recordings, I hear all of the flaws. I hear the good parts too, but I'm not that good, so neither are my recordings, and the flaws really jump out at me. So I've gotten to the point where I record for the process rather than the finished product. I'll usually listen once or twice, but with very rare exceptions, I just put them aside after that and just move on to the next thing I want to play or record. Once in a great while, I'll share something, but not often. -Ray
__________________
"It's just honest human stuff that hadn't been near a dang metronome in its life" - Benmont Tench
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#9
03-01-2021, 10:23 PM
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Same here. My art professor used the Latin expression “tat vam asi” (sp?) meaning “thou art that.” The moment when the artist is at one with the art during its production. Sculpting (clay, plaster, metal) gave me this, drawing a final piece gives me this, painting gives me this, and guitar playing.
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2021 Iris CH sunburst with ivoriod binding 2018 Guild M 20 1996 MIJ 50th Ann. Tele Deluxe
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#11
03-02-2021, 04:10 PM
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Oh yeah, it is for this Flow, when The Muse visits, that gives my guitar playing its reason to "be".
I do visual art and instructing for a living, and long ago made myself an agreement that the guitar would not be for monetary gain; it is my solace, my place of refuge, the medium for meditation. It is usually by myself, in my studio, and comes from some melody I've been chewing on; one long exploration of sounds and space, and time has no hold. There have been times where that flow-state comes amongst others (close friends and family), and it is usually on a weekend morning (particularly Sundays--hanging out at the lake cabin after Saturday festivities). When I finish the extended instrumental and look up, the listeners have these peaceful grins and smiles and acknowledge something "cool" has just happened--and that brings it to the heart...why I play.
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-It's a dangerous business, going out your front door; You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, There is no telling where you might be swept off to.
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#13
03-06-2021, 02:30 PM
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Agreed totally. I can’t play guitar and think about something else. It’s also an activity which doesn’t involve language as I am not usually singing. My guitar playing is entirely instrumental. The cycle of making sound, hearing it and modifying it is mesmerizing for me. Hearing, feeling, responding is a V perfect mode of escape from everything else in my head. Sometimes the simpler I make it the more engaged I can get. I always play too fast and try things I’m not doing perfectly. So making it slow and breaking it into small bits helps me master it and that is a flow experience too. Great take on what we do. Thx got the thread
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1971 Papazian (swiss spruce/braz RW) 1987 Lowden L32p (sitka/ind RW) 1992 Froggy Bottom F (19th cent. german spruce/koa) 2000 Froggy Bottom H12c (adir/ind RW) 2016 Froggy Bottom K mod (adir/madrose; my son's) 2010 Voyage-Air VAOM-2C http://www.soundclick.com/hanstunes (recorded on Froggy H12c)
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