[hb]

Just a rambling thought..........we all realize that when not being extremely accomplished in playing the guitar, days come along that the only thing useful you can do with your guitar is take out some frustrations on it and bang it against the wall. I sometimes wonder what players like Kirk and others of that playing ability ever have those days, or does one get so accomplished in playing that those days just seem to pass away. I would appreciate any thoughts on this!
thanks,
hb

[allthumbs]

I have had friends who have been in train wrecks on stage. Others that only they can tell if they are phoning in their performance.

[AEngland77]

I have those days.. I feel like my fingers are just slopped all over my acoustic.. and i dont really want to ruin my ancient piece of wood.. to I take out my electric and give it a good spankin'- then the next day I will be fine.

I have friends that have the same problem, one is a death metal player- yes, that is right, even blazing shredders have bad days too. And i am sure that classical players have them as well. They all say that pretty much the best remedy is to take a break and the day goes by faster.

Hope this helps
Aubrey

[tomg123]

The way i see how some of the greats play, i wish that on my very best day, i could play close to their very worse day...or something like that

Anyway, if i got enough sleep and exercised much more then i do, i would play much better i know

[JessThrasher]

When my hands hurt, when I"m watching Yngwie Malmsteen's DVD and sitting on the couch going frantically screaming "I WISH I COULD SHRED" over and over so loud that I stop the DVD and go upstairs and chase my dog around screaming "I WANNA SHRED NOW!".

Untill I finally grab a piece of paper from the recycle bin and rip it up.

[karcey]

My music teacher tells me that when a bad day happens he concentrates on his tuning, tempo and rhythm. In other words he goes back to basics. At least then the music sounds OK. I tell him that even if my tuning is spot on , my tempo is temping and my rhythm is rhythmic there's still something missing. He tells me to keep working at it.
I would love to be able to play as well as he does at his worst. Maybe, one day ...

[Berto]

I'm no good player, but when things aren't going right and every chord sounds wrong I get very, very frustrated.

It very rarely lasts for the whole day though, because I can't relax, I try to do something else and my mind is just going "Why am I suddenly a clown on the guitar?" and before I know it it's back in my hands, I'm messing with the tuning and what not and more often than not I get back in some kind of "groove", so at least I can sleep easy that day

[gee_string]

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

[tomg123]

Have a good nite gee, i would prefer to listen to a cat stevens, or donovan then any of the lightning fast players. Not too diminish what they do just my choice

[rhikdavis]

Originally Posted by gee_string

I feel like Rip Van Winkle.

I feel that way everyday.

Originally Posted by gee_string

I just can't play in front of this guy.

Don't ya hate that. I get the same way. I'll be in the Guitar Center 'guitar room'...molesting their high end instruments...plucking away at the three or four chords that I know.....there might be a couple other guys in there who sound like roadies for Clapton...I"m always afraid someone is going to ask me something technical, so I try not to look at anyone and my playing gets more and more quiet until finally I'm just sitting there listening to everyone else.

The only people I can play in front of are my kids....6 and 4...and I make them clap when I'm done.

[Pyrenus]

Haha, that made me laugh.

[raybaro]

I have them a lot, specially when I don't practice for a day. I feel like my fingers don't want to contribute which leads to the feeling of me sucking which does not help lol