Do you play from your heart or just because you know how? (Page 1 of 2)

i play from the heart but its stupid becouse everyone thinks im a funny type and they think i should be a comedian but all i wanna do is play guitar

This may be stretching it a bit BUT...I beleive if you do play from the heart you can play almost anything. The need to know certain "strumming patterns" is trumped by someone who can play from the heart with a little improvision. It's more a matter of how the song "feels" than actual set patterns.

daDa

I also play from the heart - music is a means to express emotion, passion, humor, and joy.  The technical stuff is only useful if it helps a player become more expressive.  I would much rather hear people playing & singing music with great gusto (and maybe a few flubs) than hear someone rattle off a technically perfect but expressionless notes.

I have heard players that are technically amazing, but musically boring.  They seem only interested in dazzling other musicians with their technical prowess.  A friend refers to this kind of playing as "talent attacks".  James

i think that everyone should play from the heart.  i know a kid who's really amazing at guitar, but his fingers do the work, not his heart.  compared to him i suck, but most people say i'm really good.  all that really matters IS that u play from your heart.

Your ability to play any music is directly related to your ability to manipulate the fretboard in a predictable manner.  That sounds calculated and cold, but that's the framework in which creativity flows.

wow, that is some damn good use of words!! lol, but seriously you have stated something that is so true and you sum it up just perfectly. i think for a guitarist to be truely good at what they are doing that the feeling and the heart has to be present otherwise it is as you said, simply a "talent attack".

  millie

When you start playing guitar, you play to learn and learn to play. If you know even only 3-4 chords, learning chords is in my opinion more learning HOW??? than from the heart. First the techniques followed by your guitar play. BUT once I am playing, even a cover: right from the heart. Sometimes you can hear a "very sterile song", just compare a song like "without you.
Harry Nilsson's performance, better tormented performance is a good example, and what almost nobody knows this song is written and performed by BADFINGER, but the Nilsson cover was on the market a couple of months later and you can hear very clear that this song is deep from the heart. The last famous version was performed by Withney Houston (I am not sure for 100%) and to my ears it is NOT AT ALL a good performance, if you compare it with Nilsson. It is not from the heart, more a little or big excersise for the vocal chords. If you love to play guitar, you will automatic play straight from the heart. I am just asking myself: rolling stones, are they still playing from the heart? or the REUNION tours, like the police, heart or wallet? anyway there is something I don't like

I play from the heart but to me, it only sounds good when I'm playing in Drop-D on the top 3 strings (D-A-d).

When I start trying scales and jumping around on the fretboard it all sounds like crap to me and I start to repeat myself a lot.

Once I figure out how to channel my heart into individual notes I will sound much better. To me anyway...

=]
Dm

I started learning guitar around 2 years ago now.
I owned a guitar for 6 months previous to that which I brought because I thought owning a guitar would make me look "cool."
However, once I decided to learn, I fell in love with playing and that love has never left me.
I've always been alright at music, have always taught myself and progressed quickly.
I believe I am like this as I have a real love of music.
The way I see it is, it doesn't matter how well you play, it's the effort you put into the playing that counts.
This doesn't mean you have to try with every song, but if you really do love playing, you will improve at a fast rate.
I know some people that, although absolutely BRILLIANT guitarists, they are very poor musicians.
If you do not love music, no matter how well you play it will always be noticeable to those of us who do.

Ben

Wow, a spiritual topic - I love it. Ok here's my piece of the pie......
I started playing guitar because I heard this musician play in Sydney when I was a wee little lad, his name was David Jones from Brixton.I think we are all influenced by someone who made us want to do something different.Then my daughter was born, and now she is the biggest influence in my life.It just gets better and better-you just have to keep going and tap into positive influences in order to get through what is really a hard task to undertake.Yeah defianantly from the heart..........

i too play from the heart i love music almost as much as my family.
BUT as anyone will tell you you can play from your heart but too lay good
you have to play because you know how.

so why we play= heat
how we play= cause we can

I agree with last rebel...I think you need to develop your guitar playing skills before you can let yourself go enough to play with emotions from the heart...Learn the song well enough and your hands can play on their own...Pretty cool feeling when that happens...There have been more than a few times when I have played a song that I hadnt played in a long time and I just got into it and my hands remembered the chords when my mind didnt...go figure..