michael sam wild Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Do you ever get fed up with your progress, particularly when you've listened to someone really good in whatever style/ Or do you get stale? What are the ways people use to bounce back? Or am I just jaded and waiting to get to Whitby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Do you ever get fed up with your progress, particularly when you've listened to someone really good in whatever style/ Or do you get stale? I get fed up quite regularly...and find listening to lots of good players a bit disheartening.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Do you ever get fed up with your progress... Only if I haven't been practicing. ...particularly when you've listened to someone really good in whatever style... No. That inspires me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 What are the ways people use to bounce back? Or am I just jaded and waiting to get to Whitby. You could watch the videos of me playing badly...that might make you feel better....and if you could return the favour it would be appreciated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyRussell Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) Music is my escape from competition, don't understand the need to be better or worse than somebody else. A lot of my musical experience is in trying to be supportive (i.e. playing backup). So far it's been a good and low stress life I can understand trying to be better than you've been, but make that fun, if it becomes tedious, stop for a while. Tony. Whitby - not far from me, might see you there Mike. Edited August 3, 2009 by TonyRussell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I do not think you ever get happy with your playing,there is always room for improvement. A player only playing the instrument for a week is going to be better than someone who picks up the instrument for the first time. There is very gradual improvement if you keep practising and trying new things. If you only played Three Blind Mice every day for two years you would be fantastic at playing Three Blind Mice, but nothing else. You suddenly realise that you have reached another plateau and you never noticed it. The main thing is not to get depressed just play on, enjoy yourself and it all suddenly makes sense,you have then reached the next plateau. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbones Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I must be psychotic psychic! I answered this in this previous life post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB-R Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Swap the concertina end for end, and try playing it like that as a mark of how far you've come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjcjones Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I play several instruments, so when I reach a plateau on one I can switch to another and usually find I can make fresh progress on that. Sometimes ideas I have been exploring on one instrument can trigger new ideas for another. Alan is right, you are never satisfied with your playing no matter how good you get, and should always be striving to improve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 There is nothing to be gained by practicing or playing when you are not in the the right frame of mind and not thoroughly enjoying it. Enjoyment is what it is all about. Progress should flow provided your head is full of the tunes you wish to play. Your fingers will eventually get the message.....hopefully ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I do not think you ever get happy with your playing,there is always room for improvement. For me that's only half true... the second half. There's always room for improvement, and I am always trying to improve. But in the meantime I can be quite happy with what I've already accomplished, while looking forward to what more I will accomplish. A player only playing the instrument for a week is going to be better than someone who picks up the instrument for the first time. While this is almost certainly true on average, it is often not true on an individual basis. Some folks will be quicker in the early stages than others, but this doesn't always correlate with eventual accomplishment. And in rare cases a rank beginner may just "get it" without thinking and be immediately better than someone who has been working at it for a few years. But if you run into such a person, that's no reason for you to feel inadequate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I play several instruments, so when I reach a plateau on one I can switch to another and usually find I can make fresh progress on that. Sometimes ideas I have been exploring on one instrument can trigger new ideas for another. My experience precisely - I've still not worked out why I can sometimes play something better on the concertina once I've perfected it on the flute. It's not even a matter of working the actual shape or individual notes or phrasing of the tune out, because I've got pretty reasonable sight-reading and ear-learning skills - but getting the actual fingers working on the tune on the flute or whistle seems to solve some of the issues around playing it on the completely different muscular and spatial movements involved in playing it on EC ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catty Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) I play several instruments, so when I reach a plateau on one I can switch to another and usually find I can make fresh progress on that. Sometimes ideas I have been exploring on one instrument can trigger new ideas for another. My experience precisely - I've still not worked out why I can sometimes play something better on the concertina once I've perfected it on the flute. It's not even a matter of working the actual shape or individual notes or phrasing of the tune out, because I've got pretty reasonable sight-reading and ear-learning skills - but getting the actual fingers working on the tune on the flute or whistle seems to solve some of the issues around playing it on the completely different muscular and spatial movements involved in playing it on EC ... This is an interesting phenomenon that I've long been fascinated with. I attribute it to the complex wiring of the brain, but exactly how this works I can't explain. I'm proficient on a half-dozen instruments and dabble on a half-dozen others. I find that I become, not quite bored, but rather stale when I spend several weeks without diversifying my playing. Then when I pick up the next instrument, my playing in all respects is usually better upon that instrument than when I last left off. I think there are several factors involved, among them is a simple excitment of the senses to experience something fresh: not only the tactile stimulation, but hearing something new or different usually inspires and stimulates an acutely sensitive approach to execution. I'll take exception to the above statement that there is nothing to be gained by practicing or playing when you are not in the the right frame of mind and not thoroughly enjoying it. While enjoyment is certainly a part of it, one may improve their playing by persevering through uninspired periods. That's a big piece of performing; I often don't feel like performing, but must cultivate inspiration in order to meet the scheduling demands. Practicing perseverance can help to develop one's mental discipline to find inspiration in "dry" periods and increase facility of execution during such. If nothing else, it helps to learn the art of "faking it" which, in my experience, is roughly 50% of the performance milieu. Finally, earlier in my life I quit playing guitar for many years when I first heard Tony Rice -- whose playing immediately convinced me that my efforts were valueless. I was lucky to have since found many various performance opportunities, and through performance -- or, facilitating enjoyment of others through music -- I easily find inspiration for even the most meager of musical expressions. I would encourage anyone, who may feel encumbered by a lack of confidence in their musical abilities, to seek to share their music with others. Often, there is someone who will enjoy it -- no matter how "bad" you are.. You'd be suprised by how folks are entertained by some simple Stephen Foster on the anglo. Edited August 3, 2009 by catty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Pofessional players do not, of course, have the luxury of never having to play when they are 'not necessarily in the right frame of mind' to do so. Long ago I have experienced those occasions, when the music has come dangerously close to becoming just another job of work, and doubtless suffered as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 Pofessional players do not, of course, have the luxury of never having to play when they are 'not necessarily in the right frame of mind' to do so. Long ago I have experienced those occasions, when the music has come dangerously close to becoming just another job of work, and doubtless suffered as a result. Good point, like dragging yourself out of bed to go to a rotten job. I do find that if I get stuck in I do get over the hump but I've decided to get my fiddle out for a change. I could always go back to melodeon but that would defeat the object of taking up Anglo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catty Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I could always go back to melodeon but that would defeat the object of taking up Anglo! Not necessarily; as was mentioned by some, facility one one instrument tends to facilitate another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUTT Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Often, there is someone who will enjoy it -- no matter how "bad" you are.. But Mom doesn't live that nearby, anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 If you only played Three Blind Mice every day for two years you would be fantastic at playing Three Blind Mice, but nothing else. On my list to learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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