I've been playing for about 35 years now. I've been in a number of groups with varying degrees of success. At the beginning of this year, I attempted to start a group from scratch - finding like-minded musicians to play gigs and have fun doing so. Six months into this project, it fell completely through. In the two months since then, I haven't so much as touched my instruments. I'll go downstairs and see them hanging up and I'll turn around and walk out. I just don't seem to feel even the slightest inclination to practice.
Part of my issue is I am very frustrated about the opportunities in my area. Besides being very close-knit and a population resistant to outsiders (of which I am one), all of the bands around here are content to play only the same mind numbing Classic Rock standards that have been done by bands for decades (Mustang, Brown-Eyed Girl, etc). While I don't dispute the audience for these tunes, I feel there are enough bands playing them to not just be another lemming.
I am working towards relocating to a larger city, mostly to improve our quality of life, but a big perk might be additional musical angles.
Anybody here go through this? I know I need to get my head straight, but I just don't feel like I give a damn. Maybe I just needed a break and I'll get the passion again.
If it's any consolation I'm in one of those mind numbing classic rock bands...Ha. Actually we play alittle less mainstream songs than Mustang Sally or Brown Eyed Girl which are both songs I personally can't stand but it seems most bar crowds love them.
Not that I can help since I live in Central CT but what music are you looking to play? Personally I'm trying to move the band towards more modern music or at least get us more into the 90's and beyond but other than a fwew most are 70's music. The problem is even songs I personally loved I don't really want to play them I'm so sick of hearing them for the past 30 years I can't stand them.
But even here unless you are young and doing originals it seems like most of the other bands still are doind alot of classic rock.
Good luck on the move and finding some new people to play with. If you end up in CT shoot me a PM.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
I'm into a very similar mind set: to explore songs from the 90s and 00s. Also, why -when a band says they play Pat Benatar, is it always "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"? One group I was in wanted that song and I suggested "You Better Run", and they all pleaded ignorance. They couldn't remember that one. It was the 2nd video ever played on MTV, but they couldn't remember it to save their lives. I just know there are songs beyond the 200 or so standards played in heavy rotation.
Maybe I'll just come out east :)
We have at least one of those and it's Sunshine of your love...that song was overplayed by the time I was 20 never mind 30 years later. I loathe that song now and seeing it in a hair color commercial just adds to the cheesiness of it.
I some sense I understand playing those songs because there are alot of people out there that want to hear them but....
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Something I've used in the past to alleviate the Classic Rock doldrums: If you have to play a moldy old hit song, add to your set list a less-known song by the same artist. If you must play "Brown Eyed Girl," learn "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven when You Smile)." The same guy who wrote "Mustang Sally" also co-wrote "Respect Yourself" by the Staple Singers. Cream did way lots more songs than "Sunshine" -- check out "Politician." Counterbalance "Hit Me with your Best Shot" in the first set with "Love is a Battlefield" in the second.
Try changing the feel of the tune. Rehearse "Mustang Sally" in reggae mode or "Brown Eyed Girl" a la Metallica. Play with the forms. Even if you don't take those versions onstage, it's great fun in the practice room & can get everybody in the band thinking in new ways.
For personal inspiration in the practice room, try a new tuning on the guitar. Turn an effects pedal to its most extreme setting and see what it can do. Play through your whole set list with a slide. Rearrange a major-key song in a minor key. Play along with the radio, whatever they program. Improvise a soundtrack for the evening news. Google up music you're unfamiliar with -- Balinese gamelan, Scandinavian Hardanger fiddle music, Stalin-era Soviet-worker songs written by Politburo committees....
This is what works for me. You've been playing for 35 years, so clearly it's important to you. If I don't play for months at a time, my mental health suffers. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
@ Crow:
Thanks for the ideas and a great chuckle. I think I may try Hawaiian Missionary Chants arranged for mandolin using the Aeolian Mode and run through my talk box.....using an E-Bow :))
Why do you have to be in a band? Doing a solo thing can be awful liberating, especially when you do songs people don't expect. It'll also hone your arranging chops and teach you to focus in on what's really essential to pull off a cover tune.
Playing guitar and never playing for others is like studying medicine and never working in a clinic.
I guess that why I started taking lessons.......no inspiration
