Hey everyone,
About how long would you say is a decent amount of time before playing with others? I know that it helps your own playing, but the only playing I've done with anyone else is with my teacher and it's a lot of fun, but I look at myself and think...man, i'm not ready to play with someone who is not my teacher yet...and who knows, I think my level might just be open mike nights...which is fine with me as well...but I do want to grow musically
been playing for only a little over a year, am I putting too much pressure on myself?
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Give it a go. You will find your playing improves rapidly. And in the meantime, you'll discover that you have a contribution to make. Do it for the fun of it and for what you can learn. It's great fun.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
geetar66,
First of all your way to old to learn this stuff stop now!!!
Just kidding I read your post on the NYT story. As for playing with others, there is no best time to start.
If you can find anyone to play with do it. I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. I was taking lessons and really couldn't play more than maybe a song or two at best. I met a guy who's daughter took lessons and I went over his house to jam.
After he asked how many songs I could play and I said like 1, I ended up just doing some simple chord progressions and he started soloing over them and we had the amps cranked up it was a blast.
I still jam with him but we didn't get together to much during the summer because I was travelling alot. We are now going to try and get something more regular going.
I have jammed with other people and some have worked out and some haven't. In some case we kind of floundered around since we all didn't know the same songs and none of us were that advanced to just learn a new song on the spot.
I still think it's kind of a good idea to have some common songs to start with then once you get going it'll work itself out.
Chris
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
There should be nothing to stop you from playing with others. I remember doing this within months -- if not weeks -- of first picking up a guitar. I do not recall ever playing with someone more advanced who couldn't help me learn a part appropriate for my level and then play along with me. It takes very little to make good, satisfying music with others IF you can get past your own fears and insecurities. No one expects you to do anything but try. But you've got to give it a go first.
Should you happen to meet up with the occasional jerk who is not willing to play with you because (s)he thinks you unworthy, remember that this is the exception. Most players are surprisingly supportive, and will try to make it an enjoyable experience for a new player.
-=tension & release=-
Thanks everyone, yeah, I feel I'll make a go of it, and as you said Gnease, almost everyone of my experiences with other, more advanced players, is positive and supportive.
Thanks again!
Julius
P.S. loved the too old joke!
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
I'd like to toss in a few comments here, partly to say thank you to whoever sent David Hodge the email referred to in GN Newsletters #110 and #111. Their phrase "any music we make is music that wasn't there before" is good enough that I'd like to add it to some "business" cards I made up on my computer. (Maybe we can sort out the copyright stuff over lunch sometime? :lol: )
The cards say "Three Chords and the Truth," a phrase I picked up from the instructor at the class I just started. I printed them to give to those who I discover are guitarists (other musicians aren't excluded, either) who might be persuaded to get together and jam sometime. I think Pat's line ("Three chords and the truth, that's all ya need") lets people know where I'm at, musically: I know something, but I don't expect to ever know "everything." (It's also a song by Sara Evans and a CD by the Ducky Boys, according to Google. And yes, I do know more than three chords. 8) )
Besides a pic of a Yamaha 12-string (not the same model as mine, but close enough), the cards also have this quote from James Taylor:
"I would advise you to . . . play every day; and take it in front of other people. They need to hear it, and you need them to hear it."
The class I just started (two weeks delayed due to nasty weather) has a pretty good cross-section of age and experience. I may or may not be the oldest guy in there, but I think the youngest student is nine. If I remember correctly, the kid wants to learn some Led Zeppelin stuff. Well, "rock and roll can never die" as long as there's a new generation to pick up the torch like that. I'm giving him his own copy of Paul Hackett's "Easy Guitar Riffs" (article #206) next week. 8)
Oh, and re the "too old" jokes: see http://classicrock.about.com/library/lists/bltooold_001.htm and http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/thewho41.shtml for a couple of different views. :lol:
Play on!
--
Doug
I joined a group as a singer, got my first guitar two weeks later, practiced on my own for a week. Then I practiced with the group for a couple of weeks and we had our first gig. It's time for you to get out there and share that music!
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
FYI: "Three chords and the truth" is an inserted lyric from U2's live version of "Watchtower" on the "Rattle and Hum" album. It is also a song and album title by Sarah Evans.
There may be an older reference...
-Laz
Even if you feel you can't keep up with other players as far as playing goes (and you can even if it means just one strum per measure) you have something to offer in many other ways. I remember being barely able to change chords but introducing more experienced players to the 12 bar blues. Everybody has something to offer.
Rob
Well I got this guitar and I'm tryin' to learn how to make it talk.
Even if you feel you can't keep up with other players as far as playing goes (and you can even if it means just one strum per measure) you have something to offer in many other ways. I remember being barely able to change chords but introducing more experienced players to the 12 bar blues.
And once somebody's got a grasp of 12-bar blues, they've got something good going. The instructor in that class I've just started is introducing us to blues already. With the GN Easy Songs for Beginners lessons on "Structure and Shuffle," I'm getting a whole new appreciation for how blues and rock are linked together. 8)
Everybody has something to offer.
Yep, and the more fun everyone has, the more likely they are to work on their technique. And the more they work on it, the better they become, and the more fun they have, and . . .
Early on, Pat drew a circle on the board to illustrate that concept, and I think he's created some believers. (I know I agree with it.)
A few of us hung around after class last night. Pat had written out the chords for "Hey Joe" on the board, and one young lady picked up her guitar and started playing. She was pretty well focused on the board (he had used some odd-colored marker), and didn't notice until afterward that Pat had been doing the Hendrix lead stuff while she was playing the rhythm part. We were all pretty impressed. 8)
