"What play guitar if you cannot play a whole song?&quot

I play because I enjoy it.
It is fun and relaxing.
It really doesn't matter if you can play a whole song, heck, if you like to smack the open strings and chant, as long as you get enjoyment out of it that is reason enough.

i wonder if drummers think about this?...

I played drums in a band with my friends in high school, I played because I played in music class... so I could either stop playing and fail or keep playing and get good marks 8) I was told I was great on drums but I never really knew any songs, usaully when the band wanted to play a song that I didn't know I'd just listen to the cd a couple times to get the basic beat and a couple of fills. Playing the drums is definitely fun but I think i'm a better guitar player, and everytime i got onto the kit people would yell "PLAY LOUDER" then 5 seconds later say "PLAY QUIETER!!"... with guitar you just turn the amp down :lol:

Anyways, back on topic :lol: I play because I love music and performing, and it's really as simple as that. Why I PRACTICE playing music is a whole other story though, I guess I practice so one day I can be on the same platform as all those players that got me into playing.

I played as a teenager, and then I played for my kids at school where I teach. I put the guitar away for about 10 years. I recently put a new set of strings on my old accoustic Epiphone and it was like a whole new world. I went out and bought an old 12 string and it was a whole new galaxy. I am not playing the old songs that much, but explorintg the instrument and the sounds. My technique is improving because of this. I am composing songs. I am loving it....so much I have purchased yet another guitar.

You play it because YOU like it. Even if it's just one song, or just a HALF a song.

Guitar is such a GREAT instrument....it's an "all in one" instrument. Not like a flute, or a clarinet. The piano or keyboard comes close, but you can't get the feel and emotion on a piano that you get from a guitar.

Dennis

If it makes you happy, then it doesn't matter what you're playing (complete song or not).

However, when you start to play with other people, then it really becomes interesting.

My timing sucks, but when I play with other guitarists, I learn something new everytime. And I get a little closer to completing songs.

Just enjoy it... but everyone's right, you're probably selling yourself a little short.

Whenever somebody asks me, "What do you want to do in 5 years?" I tell them what direction my schooling has taken me in, but shrug and say, "But if that falls out, I could always be a rock star."

Being able to travel, put on shows for audiences (I feel that theatrics is just as important as the music itself, because you are entertainers first and musicians second), and constantly create for a living is one of my ideal careers (as long as I get a few months to take a break!)

I love it because music is the most pure form of creation I can think of - more expressive than words, more exact than math, and more powerful than colors. I want to learn to really play guitar to my fullest extent and explore my musical frontiers, rather than just learn to strum "Wonderwall" and call it a day.

To complete a song is VERY essential.I have been playing since 5 months and though i can shift easily btw open and barre chords yet i can't perform.I know a 1000 songs and yet i only play 5.Its maddening.(i wonder when i will learn them full.... :? )

Test yourself, play open D, A, Em and G chords using say a DDUDU strumming pattern for 2 minutes and 36 seconds. If you can do that you played a song all the way through and now you just have to figure out what song it was.

OK, I tested myself. Pretty much got it, but I still can't place the tune. It sound framilar, but cannot figur it out (I know it will be a DOH! when I find out...but....)

Dude,

Don't worry about it do what ever you want. That person is just jealous that you are doing something they can't and it's their way of bringing you down.

I would bet that even if you played a song all the way he would still have a comment about something not being quite right.

Just do your own thing and don't worry about anyone else.

WHAT HE SAID 8) :D

Test yourself, play open D, A, Em and G chords using say a DDUDU strumming pattern for 2 minutes and 36 seconds. If you can do that you played a song all the way through and now you just have to figure out what song it was.

OK, I tested myself. Pretty much got it, but I still can't place the tune. It sound framilar, but cannot figur it out (I know it will be a DOH! when I find out...but....)
Played slow it is most of Hey Jude. If you repeat the following pattern you can pretty much play the song. Just need to play the first down, slight pause then be a little snappy with the DUDU

D A Em G D A G D A D

I play guitar because it is something I love to do. It is fun. I have way too many pedals and I fiddle with every one of them. I love seeing what kind of stereo fun I can do with my amps. I mess with my blend knob on my Strat religiously. Yet, you know what, to me, one of the most fun things in the entire world is to do? Pull out my acoustic and play a song which is the most blistering number on an electric and make it much more intimate on the acoustic. It's great.

Playing guitar, almost more than any other instrument because of the tools we have available to us, is like creating our own little world. To steal a line (from David), a guitar is like a choir of six voices, but when used properly, it makes those six voices into an entire symphony. I love that. There is a certain beauty in an instrument that can weep like a violin, wail like a saxophone, and thump like a tuba.

Be it learning entire songs, learning the basis of the songs and improvising the rest, or just plain experimenting and never learning a song, you're still creating, and creating out of nothing more than for a love of creating is the most beautiful thing in the world...

That's why I play, at least... oh, that and the part of sharing the music with others. The best feeling in the world is when you make someone else smile and enjoy themselves.

-Bryce