When I first played many years back, I had good days and bad days like everyone else. It never really bothered me even while gigging, because most band members were pretty close to each other in proficiency. At any given time, someone was having a "bad day". So you racked the disasters up and told some good war stories while in an altered state.
Fast forward a few decades. I'm playing again after a long period of inactivity. Times have changed. I see the bar is set much higher because the skill levels are far better than back in the "good ol' days" (the '60s and '70s). The guitarists playing the simplistic lines of yore have been replaced by a current generation of shred talent that is impressive in technique and speed. Instrument manufacturers that didn't exist before are now all over the place and everything is unfamiliar. I feel like Rip Van Winkle.
I find a guitar instructor who is an accomplished (understatement) axeslinger and discover I just can't play in front of this guy. The truth of the matter is, he intimidates the hell out of me with his playing ability and stature among shredders. My playing sucked way back when and it sucks now. So the self-conscious side takes hold and my definition of a bad day becomes any day I have a lesson. To his great credit (just in case he's reading this), he understands the problem and openly discusses it, which really does help to ease my self-inflicted pain. A few more lessons, a bit of playing improvement on my part that he acknowledges and I now find myself comfortable enough to play in his presence without crashing.
My guess is that this sort of thing happens to a lot of people and is my example of a bad guitar day. I believe, at least for myself, that comparing your skills with those of other musicians is a self-defeating practice. It takes some effort to kick the habit because impatience with our progess, or apparent lack of, eventually leads to frustration and often the loss of desire to practice and improve. That is exactly why I quit in my earlier days and what nearly happened again just recently. But I expect to have far fewer bad days.
I could go on, but the beer has run out and I'm in danger of going emo.
Have a good night, all.
gee_string
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