Meant to be

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    Mashing up the worst possible of all worlds, because why not?

    I'm confused because I listened to this late tonight. It's like a ying and a yang pulling you hear and there. I hope I get good enough like you to do things like this... because why not? We don't have to be serious all the time.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Like 3

    One thing I’d like to add BayouTexan thinking about your words some more.


    If I have any skills at this at all which I really don’t think I do, it’s only because I don’t take it or myself too seriously from the start. I would recommend it as a general approach.


    Every evening I go through the same process. I sit down and have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do. I start out with a few lazy riffs, I get frustrated, then I remember the three most important words… it doesn’t matter.


    It doesn’t matter what I start with, it doesn’t matter where it ends up. It only matters that I make some effort, record something. There are no rules beyond that. That’s the point of liberation, and where creativity can be allowed to flow. I don’t have to not record the same thing I did last night. I don’t have to record guitar. “I don’t have to” is a general mantra. It could lead to why don’t I just record pencil sounds and try to turn that into a tune? It also throws out the internal competition thing that says it’s somehow about integrity. The only thing that matters is recording something and putting it online. So why not loop stuff? Why not record faster or slower for a difficult bit? Or if I want why not spend all evening practicing a piece to record it in a single take, suffering the whole way? Because again there’s no rules.


    Having to upload and post it is also important because it’s ego stripping. You make something you think sucks, but still you gotta put it out there. It’s a little like gigging. You put your face to it.


    The more you do, the less you say “it has to be a long piece” or “I need it to have this structure” or “it needs a solo” and realize those are arbitrary rules you’re placing on yourself mostly in an attempt to avoid doing more, and the less attached you are - then the faster you will progress and learn because you’ll make the mistakes and rather than spending time trying to rectify them you’ll just learn and next time get it a little more right.

    So start by not taking it seriously. Don’t work your way towards that point. Don’t be serious right now. Don’t worry about things not working out. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is the journey. The results are a byproduct.

    Very well spoken advice Per. I think my problem is that I feel the need to perform at a level I am just not at yet. I know I will get there if I continue with my level of obsession with learning guitar. So, my journey is intense right now, but that's okay because it's driving me to become a good musician. I am just so pissed I did not learn guitar as a teenager because I would be living a whirlwind right now. Really sticks in my gut. I just about dwell on that everyday.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Like 2

    There you go, you said it in the second sentence. Don't do that. Perform at the level you are at now. Music is about making a sound you like with what you have and that includes your current capabilities. No-one listening to your stuff has to know what went into it. You don't get brownie points.


    A "good musician" is simply someone who uses what they've got to make something other people enjoy. People put the wrong kind of pressure on themselves the pressure of fear, perfectionism, that actively stops you from progressing or learning, it's the voice that says "I'm not good enough to join a band yet" yet a band is the single best way to rapidly learn. This is why artists keep sketchbooks, not to get good at sketching, but to keep their feet on the ground and stop them getting precious. That's why I'm doing noodles, not to get good at noodling, but to stave off perfectionism.

    The journey you take will happen regardless. May as well let go and enjoy the ride.