life and guitar

Hi, and welcome to Guitarnoise.

It sounds like it's time for a rethink of where you're heading. There's little value in being in a band if you're only going to play at rehearsals so I'd go marketing and see if I couldn't get myself some gigs.

Take your three best songs with whichever band is more likely to be ready first, beg borrow or steal some way of recording some material (Boss and Zoom make great kit which will fit in your pocket), record those three songs at rehearsal, tidy them up in something like Audacity (free software - a lot of us here use it) and knock it out onto a pack of CD-Rs to take round with you and hand over to club managers, pub landlords etc......

Get a friend with a decent camera to take half a dozen group photos and put copies of two or three in a Press Pack with the demo CD and a one-page band biog.

Work out how long your performance set runs, and go round to see people. If you have 30 minutes of material you're looking for opening support slots. If you have 60 minutes you'll still need to start in support slots unless you've got a local reputation as a band.

Be prepared to deal with rejection, and be prepared for gigs that barely pay enough to cover the cost of getting there.

How's the motivation now?

A :-)

I think I started in the EXACT opposite way you did. I never wanted to be a professional musician, I never wanted to play out, it just kind of happened when I picked up the guitar. I started playing for a way to relax myself, and to hopefully someday teach my son how to play an instrument. Then I was approached to play out after a someone saw some youtube videos, and the rest is history for me, I'm not professional, but I actively seek gigs, and enjoy playing and tinkering every chance I get. And I've got a CD available on iTunes and others.

It sounds like maybe being a pro musician isn't exactly for you unless you can find that passion again. If you are wanting to make this your life, then you better not just like it, you better LOVE it, otherwise your music will suffer. If you have any question at all on whether or not you love the guitar then take a step back, figure out where your priorities are with yourself, your family, your job. Ask why you don't want to pick up the guitar. Are you bored? Do you think you know everything you need to know? Maybe it's time to go in a COMPLETELY different direction musically to get some creative juices flowing.

When you rehearse, are you enjoying it, or are you going through the motions?

Those are questions that can only be answered by you.

Good luck in your search for answers!

Hang around here, it will get you excited about playing again. :mrgreen:

i can understand where you're coming from. Being in a band that practiced a lot and never gigged killed my drive to excel at guitar.

Alan's advice to find a band that gigs is very good. Playing live beats practicing in a basement any day (although you have to practice to gig!)

+1 to TR's advice. Listening to others stories and ideas definitely inspires me to play.

Also, check out Roy's Gear Acquisitions. They're good for inspiring you to purchase new stuff and perk new interest in guitar!

You really have to find what motivates you. somebody need to play out to keep motivated some don't. I seem to have the same either way. Like phOange I've been in a garage band for almost two years now and we have never played out because of the other guitar player and yea there were a few times I thought why am I doing this but I like to get together with the guys on Fridays to practice and hang out and to be honest I like the idea of actually working on songs until the sound right, then I lose my interest...not quite but I'm beginning to think I like the learning part more than when I get a song down...I know that sounds kinda weird.

I've played a few open mics and probably will start doing it a bit more since two of the guys I was playing with are doing them 3 nights a week at local bars. As far as open mics go they are OK I'm not really thrilled because it's alot of work lugging equipment around to only play a few songs a night.

I suppose another thing to think about is what stage is the rest of your life at.
And what else is going on in your life that might be getting more focus than your music right now?
I'm not saying that focusing on something else is a specifically a bad thing.

Even for people who are full-time professional musicians, music isn't the only important thing in their lives (at least the emotionally healthy ones).

Thanks for everyone's input, i really appreciate it =]

make your guitar your life long friend.I have been playing for a very long time. there were times when I did not touch a guitar for months and months. there were times I didn't even own one. where ever I did find a guitar I was able to play something.
that in of it's self is very gratifying. think of having a guitar as a journey. a long journey. the pressure to play it, get better, perform, whatever, goes away.
think of guitar playing as just another skill one acquires through life. I can cook and bake, fix a car, take apart and put together things, I can dance. I don't nor want to do all those things all the time. but when I do I can. that is gratifying.
there were and will be times when I cannot get enough of guitar playing. it has lead to cool opportunities. a lot more than my dancing has :roll: .
and remember there are growth stages in guitar. we all go through them; finding ourselves playing the same old same old for months. then one day you find yourself playing something you hadn't before or playing something much better than you ever had.
as with long friendships. sometimes they are very active and sometimes they just simmer down and wait patiently.
happy trails and drop in again.

Dog = Dance ?

Dog = Dance ?
yep. ballroom lessons years ago. it ain't pretty. woof.

So then do you literally have Two Left feet there Dog? :lol: :lol:

But cool, ballroom dancing...at least you can say you gave it a shot!

Dogbite's reply is spot on. I too have had long periods where I wouldn't touch a guitar, but then the moment I picked one up again it all came flooding back, and a lot of the time I was playing better than I had been doing when playing all the time! Take a breather for a little while and see how your perception changes. In an early band of mine I was convinced we would take over the world, but that was a creative dead-end, and the creation of music and the pleasure of creating those sounds should be the first and foremost thing. Take a bit of a break, and try not to beat yourself up over not progressing as much as you'd like. Johnny Ramone never seemed to have any trouble in that respect ;)