Why play?

[Tony Done]

I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
major self-revelation.

I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
though I still work at self-improvement.

Any of you the same?
--
Tony Done

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456

http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/

[JimLowther]

I think I play because I am so completely enthralled by the sound of
the strings I can overlook the frequent short comings in my playing.
I do not really like "performing." Every once in awhile I stumble
across something that is really fun to play, and that keeps me going
until the next such experience.

Where did you see Lumpy?

Best wishes,

Dr. Jim Lowther

[Tony Done]

> Dr. Jim Lowther- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Lumpy is a regular subscriber to alt.guitar.beginner.

I've got into the sound thing more since I started playing electric
guitar, there are so many options to choose from.

[Rich M]

I play mostly for my own enjoyment though I have been in several amateur bands, folk, traditional, Irish and Bluegrass over the last 30 years. I do enjoy performing occasionally, especially when my acquaintances are surprised by this usually diffident and quiet fellow who suddenly belts out a shanty, or a rock'n'roll song.

I take most pleasure, like you, from my solitary exploration of guitar and mandolin---usually every day. I've played music for 50+ years, and it still is a journey of discovery, as I am sure it is for you.

[Al Evans]

In article <kjfhk7$5ou$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,

Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote:

>
> Any of you the same?

I play because I actually do believe that making music is closer to real
life than most of the other stuff we spend our time doing.

--Al Evans--

[David L. Martel]

Al,

The stuff I do is "real life". Even the boring bits.

Dave M.
"Al Evans" <a...@tbtm.org> wrote in message
news:al-2C312E.06...@news.individual.net...

[David L. Martel]

Tony,

I play because I like music, mostly. I play alone, in groups, before
audiences, make recordings et c. Each of these things helps me in different
ways. When all is said and done I play because I like music. And because it
annoys the cat.
The thread in a.g.b started as a simple question about practice. A
beginner was hoping for hints on making practice "better", a pretty nebulous
question. The answers strayed all over the place.

Dave M.

[Alan D.]

I play to, like, totally impress other people and gain their well deserved
admiration and let them bask in the glory that is me. I bugger all hate to play
alone.

What's Lumpy doing in the beginner group, looking for clients or offering
advise? Tell him to drop in here once in a while and be acerbic here too.

Alan D.



"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment". - Francis Urquhart

[gtr]

On 2013-04-02 21:12:37 +0000, Tony Done said:

> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

ABSOLUTELY. I have been playing 50 years, since I was 12, almost every
day, and during some periods 6-8 hours a day. But there are periods
when I sprain a wrist or lose interest or get depressed for other
reasons and I don't play the guitar. Unlike you, apparently, I played
professionally for 15 years.

I've noted that during this periods of general inactivity, usually no
more than a couple of weeks, but on a few occasions in recent years 5-6
weeks, I start having very odd dreams. It's almost immediate: No
guitar for a week (or no more than 20 minutes a day) and I'll start
having strange and vivid dreams and sometimes mildly erratic behaviour.

I have a lot of hobbies and interests. Something else I do every few
years, is dust off a batch of old sleight-of-hand books, usually on
cards and practice sleights all day. Recently I wasn't playing guitar
but was doing sleight-of-hand. I noted that I had no odd dreams or
erratic behaviour and concluded that much of the low-level
need/satisfaction of playing the guitar is some "handistic" enterprise.

Kind of an interesting revelation. Since then, when I am out of town
for a few weeks on vacation or business, I make a point of always
packing a deck of cars and other "fidgety" stuff. It seems to satisfy a
need.

[gtr]

I play because I have to, low in the code. Long ago I started saying
that music isn't something I *do*, it's something I *am*. It's not a
"business" it's and "is-ness".

[JD]

"Is-ness"...I like it.

[dorgan]

To get chicks.

dorgan

[JD]

On 4/3/2013 10:55 AM, dorgan wrote:
> To get chicks.
>
> dorgan
>

Only thing now is that they're throwing granny
panties and lunch lady bras on the stage.

[Steve Freides]

I've learned to stay away from that place - too many passionate opinions
based on very little knowledge or experience, IMHO. Funny because I
teach a lot of beginning guitar players.

-S-

[Tony Done]

Aw, you shouldn't take it so hard, it sharpens the debating skills, and
should sometimes make you think about your opinions. I would rather have
Usenet's anarchy than the limp-wristed politeness I've seen in some fora.

[Tony Done]

When I was young I played from peer pressure and to pull the chicks, as
noted by Dorgan. But after a long dormant period I returned to serious
guitar playing at about the same time that I gave up smoking. Part of it
was a battle against the resulting depression, but it could also have
had to do with occupying my hands. I used to roll my own, and even now I
compulsively roll bits of paper into tight little tubes. Greek worry
beads would be the go.

[gtr]

Feel privileged that you can identify them at all.

[kol_isha]

I played as a kid because it was a cool thing to do around the campfire at summer camp, and they taught us cool songs. I played as a teenager because it was through music that we expressed our political views (protesting the war in Viet Nam, etc.) and it was what drew us all together and made me feel like I was part of a larger activist community. I played in the stairwells in college because I was stoned and liked to hear my voice echoing around me. I played in coffeehouses in grad school because I found cool people to play with and I loved the harmonies and the multi-instruments and what it felt like to be singing with others. I played as a young woman because it was a great way to pick up guys, they always found it sexy. I played as a young mother because it was easy to sing my kids to sleep. I played as I got older because the songs tied me to my past and made me forget that I was getting older. I played as an empty nester because I finally had more time, and I found a music community of like-minded individuals. I played always because I loved the sweet sound of a guitar, and I loved to sing, and I found it so much easier to accompany myself on guitar than it had ever been on piano despite many years of piano lessons, and I could take the guitar anywhere. I played for some unknown reason because it seemed, always, to be something in my blood... something I just had to do. "Resolute, like a boulder in a creek I stand, absorbed in the contemplation of music. If music is truly a vehicle for the soul, then my soul has found a place to rest."

Arlene

[ple...@nospam.us]

You know some different grannies.

Al

[kol_isha]

Careful there.... I'm a granny...

[JD]

On 4/3/2013 9:41 PM, kol_isha wrote:
> Careful there.... I'm a granny...
>

Yeah but you don't look like one.

[hank alrich]

Onesuch do I know, indeed
by the twinkle in her eye

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://hankandshaidrimusic.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic

[Mike Brown]

In article <kjfhk7$5ou$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,
Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

Give Lumpy my regards, he was a great help to me when I first dropped in
here.
I think that there is a certain degree of truth in what you say, though
the sound of a really good acoustic guitar has become something of an
obsession with me.
I've done woodcarving, model making, painting, I've built a couple of
electrics, and still (within the limitations of what my aging body
permits) fiddle with cars and motorbikes.
I suspect that what is more of a driving force with me is the compulsion
to learn something all the time (I'm a great reader too), and music is
something in which the learning and (I hope) improvement has no
imaginable end.
When I was younger I tried a lot of non ball sports (well activities as
far as I was concerned, I'm not competitive) but almost always lost
interest in them as soon as I attained some degree of competence. The
only exception to that was cycling to which I was addicted for all of my
teenage years, and returned to for a for years in my fifties.
I do enjoy public performance now too, mainly among friends of like
mind, but regularly each month in a local cafe where the general public
are part of the audience.
I think that this also helps me to retain some of my ability to remember
things, I'm always finding new pieces that I "have to" learn and each
one is a little more difficult than the last, so I don't always sound
that much better.
So much music so little time.
Good subject.
MJRB

[Tony Done]

On 3/04/2013 7:12 AM, Tony Done wrote:
> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

I was a bit surprised at the good response, thanks to all. I bet you can
all see some aspects of your motivations in all the other replies, I
certainly can. And we all like a bit of blogging eh?

[Mike Brown]

In article <kjfhk7$5ou$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,
Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

Give Lumpy my regards, he was a great help to me when I first dropped in
here.
I think that there is a certain degree of truth in what you say, though
the sound of a really good acoustic guitar has become something of an
obsession with me.
I've done woodcarving, model making, painting, I've built a couple of
electrics, and still (within the limitations of what my aging body
permits) fiddle with cars and motorbikes.
I suspect that what is more of a driving force with me is the compulsion
to learn something all the time (I'm a great reader too), and music is
something in which the learning and (I hope) improvement has no
imaginable end.
When I was younger I tried a lot of non ball sports (well activities as
far as I was concerned, I'm not competitive) but almost always lost
interest in them as soon as I attained some degree of competence. The
only exception to that was cycling to which I was addicted for all of my
teenage years, and returned to for a for years in my fifties.
I do enjoy public performance now too, mainly among friends of like
mind, but regularly each month in a local cafe where the general public
are part of the audience.

I think that this also helps me to retain some of my remaining memory,

I'm always finding new pieces that I "have to" learn and each one is

usually a little more difficult than the last, so I don't always sound

[Steven Bornfeld]

On 4/3/2013 1:55 PM, dorgan wrote:
> To get chicks.
>
> dorgan
>

Yes, if I'm honest. No, it didn't work. Somehow kept going anyway.

Steve

[gtr]

On 2013-04-06 04:20:43 +0000, Steven Bornfeld said:

> On 4/3/2013 1:55 PM, dorgan wrote:
>> To get chicks.
>

> Yes, if I'm honest. No, it didn't work. Somehow kept going anyway.

I first started because it was fun and it let me dream. I was 13.
Within a couple of years I realized it was an angle on chicks. For me
it worked and it worked real good for at a solid 20 years.

But I loved it for what it was anyhow, since many of the chicks could
have been gotten any of many kids of ways. I assume.

[John Sorell]

Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote in news:kjkohj$tci$1
@speranza.aioe.org:

> On 3/04/2013 7:12 AM, Tony Done wrote:
>> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
>> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
>> major self-revelation.
>>
>> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that.
This
>> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
>> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand.
I
>> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
>> though I still work at self-improvement.
>>
>> Any of you the same?
>
> I was a bit surprised at the good response, thanks to all. I bet you
can
> all see some aspects of your motivations in all the other replies, I
> certainly can. And we all like a bit of blogging eh?
>

Tony,

I'm addicted to melody and diatonic harmony. In particular, the minor
second interval. I have to keep trying to produce music that pleases me.
It's taking a long freakin' time.

John

[hank alrich]

John Sorell <johnDO...@gmail.com> wrote:

> In particular, the minor second interval.

Okay, now I understand your aversion to banjos. You have my support.

[Tony Done]

Ah, it's the ambiguous 3rd that does it for me, spiced up with the
occasional flat 5th. Long time? It's the journey that counts, Grasshopper.

[Tony Done]

On Apr 6, 8:03 am, Mike Brown <rocko...@chariot.net.au> wrote:
> In article <kjfhk7$5o...@speranza.aioe.org>,

I've done a few things that involved using my hands over the years,
tapestry and leatherwork being two. I was never the sporty type,
though I became a truly obsessive fitness/health fanatic when I was
battling depression, but that enthusiasm soon passed when the
depression lifted.

A part of my motivation for self-improvement is the belief that use it
or lose it as you get older.

[Tom from Texas]

> or lose it as you get older.- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

In some of our cases, running and agility is not sport or exercise but
a matter of survival.

Tom (Is that yer husband at the door?) from Texas

[Mike Brown]

In article <KP2dne9mTvnlCfzM...@giganews.com>,

If I understood what you are talking about I think that I'd agree with
you.
When I'm working on something new, I find little changes that just
delight my ear and my mind, and I will sit and just play those two or
three chords over and over again.
I'm sure that the really good players do it too, you can see that smile
of pleasure flit across their face as they play.
MJRB

[Tony Done]

I've just nailed a version of "The first time ever I saw your face" that
I like. <g> It's all about diatonic harmony, and nothing to do with
chords I found on the Internet.

[hank alrich]

Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

I don't need to define a reason I play. I've been trying to learn for
about 54 years. I don't feel right if I don't play.

That said, consider my present usual performcance setting, and that when
Shaidri sings I have the best seat in the world. If I want to hold that
spot I'd better keep the chops up. <g>

[don hindenach]

On Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:22:07 -0700
walk...@nv.net (hank alrich) wrote:

> Tony Done <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote:
>
> > I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> > about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> > major self-revelation.
> >
> > I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> > also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> > used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> > have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> > though I still work at self-improvement.
> >
> > Any of you the same?
>
> I don't need to define a reason I play. I've been trying to learn for
> about 54 years. I don't feel right if I don't play.
>
> That said, consider my present usual performcance setting, and that when
> Shaidri sings I have the best seat in the world. If I want to hold that
> spot I'd better keep the chops up. <g>
>

Feel the same way with my own daughter. *damn* she sings purdy

--
-donh-
donh at audiosys dot com

[John Sorell]

Mike Brown <rock...@chariot.net.au> wrote in
news:rockon02-B2B887...@news.chariot.net.au:

Looks like you understood perfectly, Mike! I've always liked the phrase
"it tugs at your heart strings". That is a pretty accurate description of
the sensation I get when I hear a beautiful/artful resolution (there's
that minor second). It renders a soulful melancholy in me that keeps
asking for more.

John

[Chris Dunkle]

In article <2013040623165418596-xxx@yyyzzz>, x...@yyy.zzz says...

OK, I guess I should chime in here...
Started playing about 1959 when my dad bought me a half-size guitar.
Didn't know what to do with it.
A few years later my big sister showed me a few chords and a song or
two. I wanted to please my musical family.
In the early 70's I suffered from depression, and the guitar was my only
solace. Started playing a lot, some people started listening for a
change. Got side-tracked playing bass with a couple of bands for a
while.
Late 70's my playing actually attracted a girl to me. I ended up
marrying her. She enjoyed my music until she lost her hearing.
Started playing with some friends in the early 90's. Still playing with
one (darned good upright bass player). It's gotten harder to find time
to play lately, long hours at work, things I gotta do when I get home.
Still, life gets difficult at times, I still miss the wife (it's been
three years now) and the guitar is still my main solace. I play to ease
my mind, to entertain people now and then, and sometimes just because
"that's what I do". Pretty much always have, always will.
Chris

[Mike Brown]

In article <a4qdndUqo7MJ8_XM...@giganews.com>,

I must say that in these latter years of my life I become more and more
grateful that I discovered that magic box with it's wires stretched
across it when I was younger. It is certainly a never ending source of
new challenges and surprises and helps to fend off the less attractive
aspects of the advancing years.
MJRB

[Tom from Texas]

On Apr 2, 4:12 pm, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> I was having a typically acerbic dialog with Lumpy in the users group
> about why I play and how good I consider myself to be, when I had I
> major self-revelation.
>
> I play to occupy my hands, there is not much more to it than that. This
> also accounts for why I am a compulsive tinkerer; when I was young I
> used to whittle, and can still see some of the scars on my left hand. I
> have no interest in audiences, recording, playing with my mates etc,
> though I still work at self-improvement.
>
> Any of you the same?

> --
> Tony Done
>
> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/

This past week I was down in a little Texas town called Junction. I
was there to do some work but got there way early. I drove down to
their park on the river and got out the Voyage Air that Harvey made
for me. I started out playin' some songs I was working on but then
just started putting chord progressions together and found some new
interesting changes that I need to build a song or two around. I
spent a good amount of time playing, watching the waterflow, and
thinkin'.... it was good, life is good, my friends on rmmga are
great.... thanks, guys and gals for keepin' me on track.

Tom (sittin' and a pickin' ) from Texas

[Mike Brown]

In article
<b0ad42d8-cb95-4508...@j20g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,

That sounds like Woody
"Jest sittin'�there thinkin' an' a drinkin' drinkin; an' a thinkin',
wrote 26 songs in 30 days".
MJRB