Saying hi again

Desmo808

Desmo808

Experienced
Just checking in and saying hi after being away for quite a while. Gonna try to poke around the forum a little more to rekindle the spark.

Over the past year or so, I've lost the will to play guitar. Now & then I'll pluck a few notes on the classical guitar, but I really don't remember the last time I plugged in to the Axe and enjoyed making music. This has nothing to do with the Axe, it's still my #1 piece of gear. It's guitar in general that I no longer feel.

Not trying to be philosophical or anything. I just never thought there would be a time in my life, while I still have use of my hands and ears, that I wouldn't play. I know there's still a guitar gene in my bones somewhere. I've started reading through a few threads here (as well as at the one other guitar related forum I'm a member of), and it feels warm and familiar. This is one of the best forums I've been a member of. It is therapeutic. And as I've learned in the past being on other forums, being surrounded by a bunch of enablers is good inspiration.

So, hello again.
 
Desmo808 said:
Just checking in and saying hi after being away for quite a while. Gonna try to poke around the forum a little more to rekindle the spark.

Over the past year or so, I've lost the will to play guitar. Now & then I'll pluck a few notes on the classical guitar, but I really don't remember the last time I plugged in to the Axe and enjoyed making music. This has nothing to do with the Axe, it's still my #1 piece of gear. It's guitar in general that I no longer feel.

Not trying to be philosophical or anything. I just never thought there would be a time in my life, while I still have use of my hands and ears, that I wouldn't play. I know there's still a guitar gene in my bones somewhere. I've started reading through a few threads here (as well as at the one other guitar related forum I'm a member of), and it feels warm and familiar. This is one of the best forums I've been a member of. It is therapeutic. And as I've learned in the past being on other forums, being surrounded by a bunch of enablers is good inspiration.

So, hello again.
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What kind of music do you enjoy?

When I feel like that I try to find a new band or two and that usually sparks my inspiration.

Welcome back, too :)
 
It is always helpful to be around folks who are fluent in this form of communication in order to feel at home with it again. Welcome back.
 
I hit that wall for a 10 year period after playing in the same band for 10 years ..... we all kinda quit in fact. Marriages, job, kids and mortgages etc.

We decided to reform after 10 years ..... marriages, job, kids and mortgages etc.
 
Glad your back.

I think most of us go though periods like that at some point. When I get to that point, I realize it's (normally) a symptom of something else, but as UG said above, I'll listen to something new or go see some live performance to right the ship again. For me, the guitar has always been my most honest relationship....I can't lie to it, and it can't lie to me...plus the money saved from no therapy sessions goes to gear!

And your definitely in the right place for enablers:)
 
Even after you've been away for a long time, you can always come back to guitar playing.

I started playing as a kid, and knew that I wanted to do it professionally. I was obsessed with playing (performing and teaching) and was pretty successful at it, but eventually got burned out on the business. After I stopped playing for a living and got a regular job, I just played at home for my own entertainment. I'd get spurts of inspiration and play a lot for a few weeks, but then my interest would fade again. With every year that passed, I played less and less. Eventually I got into woodworking and that became my artistic outlet for about 8 years. During that time, every time I picked up a guitar I'd get frustrated and put the guitar away again. By the end of that period, I'd guess I was playing maybe 1 hour per year. But then things changed in my life. I moved back to my home town, left all the woodworking tools behind (temporarily), and before long one of my old band mates asked me to sit in with his trio for a song or two at a gig. I showed up at an acoustic gig with an electric guitar and a Line 6 POD XT Live. Even though I brushed up a little before the gig, I sucked out loud. Really badly. To make matters worse, the word had gotten out that I was going to be joining them at the show, so a lot of my old friends, fans, and students showed up, so they ended up witnessing the carnage. The embarrassment of that night motivated me to start woodshedding to try to get my chops back. My buddy's band kept asking me back to sit in, and eventually I started playing on all the songs, not just a few. Before long, they even started paying me an even cut of the proceeds. It seemed to take forever, but I got most of my chops back, and I'm having more fun playing 1 to 4 shows per month now than I did when I was doing it 6 nights a week (and teaching 5 days a week). And with the introduction of an Axe-Fx, I'm sounding better than I ever did back in the day. Now the acoustic band with an electric twist on the side is more of an electric band that also has an acoustic element, and we've got a great following.

tl;dr - The thrill was gone, but now it's back.
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement. ;)

In my case, there were key events that I can clearly identify as what triggered certain internal demons. Some of it made me question certain aspects of my life. But some of it also directly made me question why I was even playing guitar, and at the same time made me forget the reasons I started in the first place. Reconnecting here this week was sort of like opening an old photo album and remembering.

I poked around here and there last summer/fall, but mostly out of curiosity. This week felt more like a productive read-through.

Funny thing last night some time after I posted, I peeked into the man cave (where the Axe is) thinking I might plug in just to see how it feels. Then I walked away. It's not that I was trying to eschew the guitar. I realized how much of an old man I've become over the past year--all those cables and digital and electronic doo-dads looked so complicated. It's like my brain took a massive poop and I didn't even realize it until I looked in my pants. I think I'll just try the practice amp first.
 
Just start playing again...I know it sounds obvious but sometimes I struggle with the same thing. I think its like any other relationship. It goes through periods of stagnation. I find removing my mental negativity and expectations keeps me going. Sometimes I forget that this whole music thing is about having fun. I usually say a small meditation to let go of the long work day as a prep to play. Then I allow myself 15 minutes of warming up to get everything loose and get mind on track. Works for me anyway. The axe has been crucial to me during those times when my relationship with the guitar has been suffering. I just start tweaking and get some noise and crazy sounds going and my mood starts to improve. Nothing like cranking a guitar up to get you out of your head.
 
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