• Registered: 2011-09-05
  • Posts: 4

Topic: frustrated in ohio

ok, i know, i know, i know what i will hear.....time is the answer.  problem is this.  there are times when i think i am doing ok.  playing about 9 months or so now.  late 40's.  late to the guitar game.  anyway, i strum songs ok but then sometimes it just sounds like crap.  no better way to describe it.  my simple chord changes get muted or i suddenly struggle with them.  the easiest chords suddenly become foreign to my fretting hand...my strumming patterns all of a sudden sound like a retarded chimp trying to pound open a coconut.  just frustrated i guess.  i am in lessons.  just recently started the finger picking book after completing the rhythm style book.  doing ok in that but i went to play some songs off of chordie and wow!  what is this thing in my lap???  with the funny shape and wires??

ok...i feel better.  thanks for the advice of "keep playing".  got it.

  • arkady
  • arkady
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  • From: England
  • Registered: 2006-11-23
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Re: frustrated in ohio

bdfresh
Sounds quite normal to me.
Just don't get quite so down hearted when your crap tomorrow... lol
Practice and Practice and more Practice.... yeah I know!
ark

  • Zurf
  • Zurf
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Re: frustrated in ohio

You'll get there. 

Pick a song that's three or four chords and straight forward, and play it.  Sing too. 

I've been playing about seven or eight years now.  I don't remember exactly and it doesn't matter anyhow because the point is some days are good days and some days are not so good days.  I don't think that ever goes away. 

My guess is you've got other stuff on your mind.  Hard not to have in the 40's.  Kids.  Pay for school.  Pay your taxes.  Will I make rent this month?  The car needs a muffler.  Was I supposed to pick Donna up after practice or was she catching a ride with Janet?  All that stuff.  Try and find a time when you can relax your mind before you pick up your ax.  It'll help. 

And at nine months, your supposed to stink at it.  It starts to all come together at about a year so long as you keep in mind the difference between playing and practicing.  After two years, you get people asking you to bring your guitar to the campfire with you.  You get someone ask you, "Oh!  Do you play?" and instead of saying, "I try", you're gonna say, "Yeah.  I do."  That feels good.  It gets better.  You'll get better. 

In the meantime, grab a cup of herbal tea or if you are so inclined a refreshing adult beverage, chill out and smile a moment.  THEN pick up the guitar.  You'll hear the difference.

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: frustrated in ohio

Yep, we have good days and bad days, no matter what level we are at.  Some days my guitars sound bad to me and the next day they will sound good for some strange reason.  Some days I play better than others.  Some days I play a few songs I have been struggling with and say Wow, I sound better.  If you play a lot, meaning for long periods of time many times a day, try to hang it up for a day or two and then jump back in.  You will notice the difference.  There must be a term for this strange phenomenon.  Blew that word.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • dino48
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  • From: los banos,california
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: frustrated in ohio

Sounds pretty normal,most of us go through that all the time,

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • From: Northern Wisconsin, USA
  • Registered: 2012-02-01
  • Posts: 28

Re: frustrated in ohio

WOW.............if you only sound like crap once in a while, you're ahead of me!!!!  I'm 63 and been at this for 3 years and I think I sound like crap MOST of the time.

Keeping It Fun, Dean
'91 Epiphone PR350E
'11 Taylor GC3
'15 Taylor GS Mini/Mahogany
  • From: massachusetts
  • Registered: 2010-10-18
  • Posts: 1,674

Re: frustrated in ohio

Same here.I`ve been playing for 30 years.It all depends on your mood,how you feel (tired,sick).Some days my playing is flawless and some I sound awful.Even on songs I`ve played forever.It happens all the time.It will happen again,I`m sure

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.
  • Registered: 2012-05-18
  • Posts: 1

Re: frustrated in ohio

I like fusion that guitar made.I have been practiced it from last tow years.I am never bored or sick of it.

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  • From: Louisiana
  • Registered: 2008-11-06
  • Posts: 863

Re: frustrated in ohio

So glad to find out I'm not the only one.

When the Power of Love overcomes The Love of Power the world will be a better place.

deadstring's Website

  • Registered: 2009-05-06
  • Posts: 47

Re: frustrated in ohio

Yep, just like to add that you're not alone on this one.
A friend of mine described it as a mismatch between our ability to play and how much we understand.
At points you hands and brain are in sync and everything is fine, and then your brain starts racing ahead and understand stuff and lo and behold, you perceive that you are playing badly. When, in fact, it's your brain racing ahead of the game.

  • From: NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-26
  • Posts: 4,320

Re: frustrated in ohio

We feel your pain - or have felt it at some point.  I find when it seems to happen to me, there's some huge thing that is about to "click" and then I'll be better... for a while, till I stink again and then something else clicks.  Guitar is a wonderful thing, because we're always learning.  You'll never get bored unless you never continue to push yourself to improve.  Keep on practicing and playing and remember to enjoy it.  If you're not enjoying it, then put it down for a couple days.  Sometimes, that's the thing that makes it all click.  wink

Amy

Art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.

mekidsmom's Website

  • Registered: 2011-09-05
  • Posts: 4

Re: frustrated in ohio

i still enjoy the heck out of the guitar and it is my stress reliever.  hard to think about other stuff while trying to play well.  i felt a lot better recently when one of the performers i went to see screwed up.  99% of the audience didn't even notice.  i just heard a note that i knew was out of place.  i looked up and he was kinda laughing/smiling at the other performer.  like an oops moment.  i thought, heck he screws up on stage?!?!  laugh it off, move on, no one knows but you and maybe one or two listeners.  finger style is easy and difficult all at the same time.  slow patterns sound blah.  start speeding up....boing!!!  there's that retarded chimp showing up again.  someday.  someday soon(i hope).  it's all good.  thanks all.  keep playing

  • Zurf
  • Zurf
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Re: frustrated in ohio

When my daughter practices her piano she gets very upset with herself making a mistake.  I tell her that she's so impressive because she gets her practice songs down in just 40 or 50 times through.  I have to do a passage a few hundred times before I feel comfortable with it, and as far as a whole song maybe even 1,000 times to make it something that I feel like it's being done well.  Professionals probably do songs many thousands of times before it is concert ready. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
  • Astronomikal
  • Astronomikal
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Re: frustrated in ohio

Zurf wrote:

Professionals probably do songs many thousands of times before it is concert ready.

An even then, they somethimes blow it.

In 1984 I went to see the Kinks play in a medium-sized venue in Charleston, WV.  Ray Davies screwed up the intro to "Lola" (pretty badly), and had to stop and start over again.

He seemed genuinely embarassed and even apologized to the audience.  His brother Dave was actually speaking to him then, but you could tell that Dave was not at all happy.

Now, that song came out in 1970.  Think of how many times he must have played it in practice and in concert up to that point.  And still, he had an oopsie.

We will never be flawless guitar players, so we might as well get used to being satisfied having done our best at any given time.

"Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid." - Despair, Inc.