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I’m enthusiastic. Probably the best thing I can say about my playing and my building. But it counts, right?

[quote="Michael.N."] ... I'm reasonably musical but technically I'm pretty bad, lots of mistakes and stopping at them. Terrible habits. ...[/]

That describes my playing pretty well until I started my most recent lessons. Since then I’ve made strides in those areas and several others. (Though I still stink.) I blame it on noodling along on the couch for far too long with no discipline. I find I am terrible (honestly, much worse than the average amateur) at counting out a rythm and keeping time. So my teacher and I jam together on the songs I’m learning and that is the best thing I know to make me keep time and keep going. I feel a responsibility to not wander off into the weeds while he’s playing the melody or soloing. Just starting and ending together is a challenge. The second best thing to help with that is practicing with a metronome or a drum track.

Hmmm. Somehow messed up editing in Michael N’s quote, in case someone is trying to parse that.

By the way, my recent progress, thanks to a great teacher, follows my own 40 (er ... ok, make that 50) years of wandering in the musical wilderness. I’ll never be great but it’s good to know that it’s never too late to be at least somewhat better.

Everybody who hears me play asks me to give them the guitar and then they comment on how good I am at building guitars.... I suppose that says enough. .

I was given my first guitar by my father at age 6. That will be 50 years ago in October. The Silvertone was tuned to open E as evidenced in the photo of me playing with my thumb. I played fingerstyle guitar in local restaurants in my teens and early twenties and studied music in collage. I found collage music study to be a major uphill battle due to me being an ear player. My daughter showed up and I had to buy a house (23 years old) and get a proper job. I started building in 2010 having been a professional woodworker for 35 years and have built around 35 instruments to date. I'm a solid solo player but can definitely build a better guitar....

M

Gah. Probably player. But that level is pretty low too haha


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My 2 cents is that it is all about FOCUS. when I was a young pro I would practice at least 5 hrs a day.My goal was to eventually enter the classical guitar program at craigdaroach castle in Victoria BC. Then reality hit and I came to the realization that Gee I have to earn a living, and gradually the guitar playing dwindled and between all my responsibilities from work . home and looking after the myriad needs of children , the playing ceased and my focus was on earning $$ to support us. If and when I retire will try my hand at playing the guitar again.

My wife leaves the room when I pick one up ....

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

I played punk rock in high school and into my early 20's, the clash, ramones, that sort of thing. I always loved the immediacy of it. I didn't need to be an expert at anything to be creative with it. Then got burned out on playing in bands and discovered Hank Williams, "alt country", and fell in love with the acoustic guitar. Got a job at a music store, ended up managing it, and ultimately got let go. By this time I was married with a baby girl, the only thing I'd really ever done was play guitar, I figured I could probably teach people to have at least as much fun as I have had with it. 7 years or so later, I see 50 or so students a week, and its great but not something I see being able to sustain forever. This luthier thing seems like a good complement to what I've got going on, but of course that means I can play the guitar much better than I can build it, I've yet to tackle an acoustic guitar.

The funny thing I've noticed and I'm sure its true about anything we become passionate about is that the mile markers always move, and there is no finish line. The deeper I go as a musician, the further away mastery seems.

Conor that's for sure. Having been building as a serious amateur for a few years I have learned a lot, but have also become aware of the vast amount of stuff that I don't know.

Anyway the response to this question was very interesting. Reading through again it seems that a large proportion of our people are disappointed players who have turned to building, perhaps as recompense???

Perhaps not meant too seriously. Dave

Lot's of good stories here.

Michaeldc - I love that picture, it's so idyllic... The young boy pics up a guitar and the rest is history...

Yeah, the picture is absolutely a great one. What a great memory to have.

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

I can’t speak for others, but I do speak for myself. No disappointment in my own playing skills going on here. I know myself well enough to understand that, if I really wanted to be a better lead guitarist, I could. But it is just not high on my list of priorities. I perform for people a fair amount, but that is as a singer who plays guitar as accompaniment. I don’t lack for a performance outlet. I build, not because I envy performers, but because I want to create a physical thing of beauty and function that will outlive me, something that can help create music nobody has even dreamed of yet. Plus, my day job does not result in a physical thing at the end of my efforts; building guitars does. Creating a physical thing of beauty and function scratches an itch for me, but it is not the itch of a frustrated performer.

Was a better builder. During the 25+ years that I build mandolins, I couldn't learn flatpicking. Soon as I started building guitars for the 2nd time, I discovered I can't flatpick, I'm a fingerpicker. Can manage my way around some Blind Blake, Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, but realize that my days left are not going to make me Big Bill. Arthritis and Albuterol take their toll on me.
I realized after several years that you don't have to be a virtuoso on guitar or mandolin to build them. You have to play well enough to know that the instrument plays well.

I'm inconsistent at both. I don't do a lot of either these days. I guess my very best builds have been better than my very best playing sessions. On the other hand, I have fun doing either.

I'll add a third element to the mix. I play and build and write songs. Of those three, writing songs is by far the most mysterious. We know how the playing and building start. But who knows where melodies come from. Pure gift as far as I can tell.

I'd say I'm an intermediate player and solid hobby builder. And in my case, both of these interests help stimulate the song writing in ways that I don't fully understand. While all the hobbies compete for the same limited time, they also feed into each other in very complimentary ways.

I am a better builder than player.

Basically I am a one trick pony- ragtime /blues and " novelty songs", which are simply double entendre ragtime/ blues.....

I have played mostly the same songs for 30 plus years adding a few here and there over the years.

I play by ear. I don't read music. I learned all the songs by tablature or someone showing them to me in person or on youtube.
and that's the thing.... I don't know music theory.

However, I do know guitar building theory.... and that's what makes me a Luthier rather than a Musician..

I make better guitars than I play. I keep trying. I met Don Dokken last week. He plays pretty good.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Since when?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I'm a pretty good player and a fair builder of F5 mandolins. Working on my first guitar, actually just getting my new shop ready to build. I can't wait to start but the shop benches and things come first. I'm almost there. I'll be playing fiddle and banjo at a gig with a pianist tonight. Should be a ton of fun.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Builder , and not very good at either !

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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Builder. No question.

And I'm a terrible builder.