We've discussed this before and I believe that the general consensus is that this practice is best avoided. However, it does happen (probably to all of us). What's the biggest problem this causes you and are there ways to overcome this without having to sober up? God forbid
Do you have any interesting stories about playing music the worse for wear? Either yourself or your friends.
My main problem , apart from making mistakes, is that "my ear" plays tricks on me; ie I can't tell if I'm properly in tune or not so I can get all fidgety and am constantly retuning all the time--it was probably all right to start with!! Electronic tuners can help in these situations but only if everyone else is in concert pitch. You have to a bit of "fine tuning" and "tweaking" at the best of times but this is much harder after several beers.
My husband does a lot of sound engineering and the first thing he was told by an experienced engineer was not to drink because it affects how you hear. He has always stayed sober at gigs and has commented that if only the musicians had as well!!
I also learned in psychology 101 a few years ago that you should play in the condition that you practice, so following that theory, as long as you practice when p*ssed, you'll play best when p*ssed. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll sound good either way.
Theres a piper I've seen many a time so pie eyed, that mid tune, he will wake up from his coma and jump on in! or ive seen him "let loose" of whatever was churning in his belly, without fluffing a note, and casually move his feet to avoid the splash - uuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh!
Urg. That was NOT the mental picture I wanted at 4:30 am, Stefan. Heh.
I play too fast and too badly when I get too drunk, Johnny J. The only solution I've found so far is to stop drinking, stop playing, and sober up. (Of course, when I get tired, I do the same thing. It's like I lose all ability to figure out exactly how fast I'm playing.)
Know an Irish button-box player whose drunken hand sometimes slips to the outer row thus playing a phrase a semitone sharp, then he suddenly realises and corrects it. Hilarious!
There is a flautist I know and I dont think I have ever seen him even remotely sober - even on the main stage at Celtic Connections. But he is an absolutely fantastic player. He may be falling around drunk in between and unable to focus but as soon as the flute touches his lips and a tune gets going he develops a fixed stare and doesn't miss a note!!
I'm sure Jason is right - if you practise drunk, you'll cope better with playing drunk - though the strain on you health and relationships might be a consideration, eh?
Also, if I start playing while fairly sober, I find it easier to keep going as I get drunker. Difficult to start well if I'm already legless.
Let's not forget, sessions are about camaraderie as much as the tunes, and what promotes and lubricates social interaction better than the drink?
Alcohol, or, as I've come to know it, "my deep, dark, solitary friend," has the same touch on my playing as it does on anything I do when relaxation is necessary. I'm extremely up-tight, and once the inhabitions are sufficiently drowned, I'm almost normal. As long as I play tunes I know, I can play faster, more fluently, and delve into variations galore. I've heard my playing go from crappy to competent within a three-hour session at the rate of about 2 pints per hour.
Trouble is, it's a crap-shoot: I become either the funniest guy you've ever met, or, let's say, less than charming...there's often been...some...unpleasantness...
It's the same with surgery and languages: with a good bit of The Friend within me, wine in particular, my French, Spanish, and Arabic seem to flow beyond my learning. In Italy, armed only with a week's worth of practice from the phrase book, I was able to converse fairly well with the owner of the pensione--apologizing profusely--for having awakened her, after stumbling across Assisi to find the front door locked after a long night looking for the Saint.
If the good Lord didn't intend for us to get p*ssed at sessions, then He wouldn't have put sessions in pubs...he would've put them in convents, or Billy Graham's house, or some other such sterile place.
I was seriously p-sssd off (angry to us Yanks) at work yesterday. Went home with the intent of getting just plain “p-sssd”. Instead, I practiced on the fiddle a little more aggressively than I usually do, and had one of the most productive practice sessions I’ve had in a long time.
I'm like Kris. If I start to play when I'm sober, it's possible to keep on going much longer (more drink) without so many problems. On the other hand, if I've had a few drinks and then decide to play I'm more prone to disater.
Welp, since I lack any sort of medical training...that and the mental quality to pursue such training...I'm forced to make ends meet by frolicking in the medicinal arts. You may not believe this, but cutting human flesh and laying the organs bare is a serious matter. It's not to be taken lightly, and a tense, nervous hand can bring all sorts of complications. So when I need to max and relax and prep for surgery in the garage, I scrub in and sit back with a little Colt 45...
I'm diversifying as well; I've been known to preside over a briss or two as well.
I just heard another study mentioned on the radio today that says modest alcohol intake (one drink per day) improves cognition in the elderly. My experience is that the level of drinking that keeps me legal behind the wheel (one drink per hour) is a good level for my playing--I don't get as nervous, and I can still play well. Beyond that, the accordion, with its 23 identical buttons, suffers the first. My whistle playing goes next, and last my guitar strumming (probably because I have been playing the guitar the longest). The problem with alcohol is that, while one is good, two is NOT twice as good. In a society that thinks bigger is better, that is a tough concept. And I have seen too many fine musicians ruined by too much alcohol, so if you can't set limits, cutting yourself off completely may be the best thing you ever did for yourself.
AL Brown
This isn't worth starting a new thread over, so I'll just stretch for relevance. It's frickin' freezing in my studio, which is the only place in the apartment distant enough from my room-mates rooms to not be irritating while I practice, write, record, and whatever. And I'm p*ssed about it. My fingers are all stiff and my axes don't perform well at this temperature. Anybody know any Zen meditations to create extra body heat? Or special fiddle excercises for frostbitten fingers? Anybody wanna mail me a spare space heater? I swear, this damn country...
Look Kerri,
I'm sitting here ticking off the days to a skiing break in Italy.
But there's bugger all snow yet.
Stop complaining and hitch a lift to Mont Tremblant. You don't know how lucky you are!!!
For playing outside in cold weather (or cold rooms!), I have a little charcoal hand warner to warm my fingers up - that I got from a fishing tackle shop while my husband was buying a new rod.
Also a pair of fingerless gloves.
If you play in pubs, late evenings, chances are everybody else there will be more or less in the same state. The music's great, the women look glamorous, the men horny, the conversation's great, the pub's beautiful.... You know....
Playing while P-ssed
Playing while P-ssed
We've discussed this before and I believe that the general consensus is that this practice is best avoided. However, it does happen (probably to all of us). What's the biggest problem this causes you and are there ways to overcome this without having to sober up? God forbid
Do you have any interesting stories about playing music the worse for wear? Either yourself or your friends.
My main problem , apart from making mistakes, is that "my ear" plays tricks on me; ie I can't tell if I'm properly in tune or not so I can get all fidgety and am constantly retuning all the time--it was probably all right to start with!! Electronic tuners can help in these situations but only if everyone else is in concert pitch. You have to a bit of "fine tuning" and "tweaking" at the best of times but this is much harder after several beers.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: Playing while P-ssed
My husband does a lot of sound engineering and the first thing he was told by an experienced engineer was not to drink because it affects how you hear. He has always stayed sober at gigs and has commented that if only the musicians had as well!!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Tarrantella
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I also learned in psychology 101 a few years ago that you should play in the condition that you practice, so following that theory, as long as you practice when p*ssed, you'll play best when p*ssed. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll sound good either way.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Jason G
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Theres a piper I've seen many a time so pie eyed, that mid tune, he will wake up from his coma and jump on in! or ive seen him "let loose" of whatever was churning in his belly, without fluffing a note, and casually move his feet to avoid the splash - uuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Urg. That was NOT the mental picture I wanted at 4:30 am, Stefan. Heh.
(Of course, when I get tired, I do the same thing. It's like I lose all ability to figure out exactly how fast I'm playing.)
I play too fast and too badly when I get too drunk, Johnny J. The only solution I've found so far is to stop drinking, stop playing, and sober up.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Stefan - I think that you should have started a separate thread: "Jubbing up while playing"
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Aagh. I think I'm going back to work, now I'm feeling nauseous! ;)
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I feel the mental image that has been printed in my memory needed to be shared. It was tough dealing with it on my own....
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I'm afraid that after years of hard work and practice I'll be damned if I'll p*ss it all away by getting p*ssed.
I drink coffee when I play, and not overmuch of that either.
KFG
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by KFG
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Know an Irish button-box player whose drunken hand sometimes slips to the outer row thus playing a phrase a semitone sharp, then he suddenly realises and corrects it. Hilarious!
Jim
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Worldfiddler
Re: Playing while P-ssed
There is a flautist I know and I dont think I have ever seen him even remotely sober - even on the main stage at Celtic Connections. But he is an absolutely fantastic player. He may be falling around drunk in between and unable to focus but as soon as the flute touches his lips and a tune gets going he develops a fixed stare and doesn't miss a note!!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Playing while P-ssed
There. That makes more sense now - sorry Jeremy!!!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I'm sure Jason is right - if you practise drunk, you'll cope better with playing drunk - though the strain on you health and relationships might be a consideration, eh?
Also, if I start playing while fairly sober, I find it easier to keep going as I get drunker. Difficult to start well if I'm already legless.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by kris
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Let's not forget, sessions are about camaraderie as much as the tunes, and what promotes and lubricates social interaction better than the drink?
Alcohol, or, as I've come to know it, "my deep, dark, solitary friend," has the same touch on my playing as it does on anything I do when relaxation is necessary. I'm extremely up-tight, and once the inhabitions are sufficiently drowned, I'm almost normal. As long as I play tunes I know, I can play faster, more fluently, and delve into variations galore. I've heard my playing go from crappy to competent within a three-hour session at the rate of about 2 pints per hour.
Trouble is, it's a crap-shoot: I become either the funniest guy you've ever met, or, let's say, less than charming...there's often been...some...unpleasantness...
It's the same with surgery and languages: with a good bit of The Friend within me, wine in particular, my French, Spanish, and Arabic seem to flow beyond my learning. In Italy, armed only with a week's worth of practice from the phrase book, I was able to converse fairly well with the owner of the pensione--apologizing profusely--for having awakened her, after stumbling across Assisi to find the front door locked after a long night looking for the Saint.
If the good Lord didn't intend for us to get p*ssed at sessions, then He wouldn't have put sessions in pubs...he would've put them in convents, or Billy Graham's house, or some other such sterile place.
Hup!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by grymater
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I was seriously p-sssd off (angry to us Yanks) at work yesterday. Went home with the intent of getting just plain “p-sssd”. Instead, I practiced on the fiddle a little more aggressively than I usually do, and had one of the most productive practice sessions I’ve had in a long time.
Deb.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Agnes Nutter
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I'm like Kris. If I start to play when I'm sober, it's possible to keep on going much longer (more drink) without so many problems. On the other hand, if I've had a few drinks and then decide to play I'm more prone to disater.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Grymater - tell us a little more about alcohol and surgery please.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I'm so glad you asked!
Welp, since I lack any sort of medical training...that and the mental quality to pursue such training...I'm forced to make ends meet by frolicking in the medicinal arts. You may not believe this, but cutting human flesh and laying the organs bare is a serious matter. It's not to be taken lightly, and a tense, nervous hand can bring all sorts of complications. So when I need to max and relax and prep for surgery in the garage, I scrub in and sit back with a little Colt 45...
I'm diversifying as well; I've been known to preside over a briss or two as well.
Try my snake oil!
Please contact me to discuss your specific needs.
Quack!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by grymater
Re: Playing while P-ssed
What is this 'Playing while you're sober'?
Isn't that something that recovering alchololics do?
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Ottery
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Musicians will be unable to play tunes at 100mph in Ireland when they're p-ssed. Will they be able to convert to kilometres after they've had a few?
(if you haven't heard, they've gone metric today)
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Is that today? I knew they were moving all the speed signs over...will you still be able to get lost in two languages, though?
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
john j - dont remind me!!!
I had to travel ina taxi this morning - youd swear this conversion is the end of normal civilisation at the moment!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Playing while P-ssed
What would happen if you change to driving on the right? As they did in Sweden in 1967.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: Playing while P-ssed
But there are better things to come.
From June 17th all cars in Ireland will have to drive on the right hand side of the road.
If after a month this is found to be satisfactory, then all the lorries and buses will change over too.
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Playing while P-ssed
what next?
banning smoking in pubs?
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Playing while P-ssed
No, never that...!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by brianc
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Was it them that made you take up golf?
How cruel!
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by Ottery
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I just heard another study mentioned on the radio today that says modest alcohol intake (one drink per day) improves cognition in the elderly. My experience is that the level of drinking that keeps me legal behind the wheel (one drink per hour) is a good level for my playing--I don't get as nervous, and I can still play well. Beyond that, the accordion, with its 23 identical buttons, suffers the first. My whistle playing goes next, and last my guitar strumming (probably because I have been playing the guitar the longest). The problem with alcohol is that, while one is good, two is NOT twice as good. In a society that thinks bigger is better, that is a tough concept. And I have seen too many fine musicians ruined by too much alcohol, so if you can't set limits, cutting yourself off completely may be the best thing you ever did for yourself.
AL Brown
# Posted on January 20th 2005 by AlBrown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Anoher study...Oh dear! About alcohol? Oh deary me!!!
See http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/2127/
....just to put things into perspective about the validity of *studies*.
Jim
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Worldfiddler
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I didn't realize the roads in Ireland even *had* two sides.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
They're both the same side, Ker.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Well I guess there's the shrubbery to the right of the oncoming tractor and the shrubbery to the left. You can take your pick of which to crash into.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Hint: pick the one that doesn't have a wall behind it.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
This isn't worth starting a new thread over, so I'll just stretch for relevance. It's frickin' freezing in my studio, which is the only place in the apartment distant enough from my room-mates rooms to not be irritating while I practice, write, record, and whatever. And I'm p*ssed about it. My fingers are all stiff and my axes don't perform well at this temperature. Anybody know any Zen meditations to create extra body heat? Or special fiddle excercises for frostbitten fingers? Anybody wanna mail me a spare space heater? I swear, this damn country...
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
You could always move. Again. ;)
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh. Please, no.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Heh.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I've just bundled up and I'm givin'er anyway. Little bit of frost on the bow never hurt anybody.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
I don't understand why you're freezing Kerri. Doesn't your AC have a temperature control?
Being smug here in Perth (W.A.) :-]
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Bren
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Laugh it up, fuzz-ball. Suffering inspires creativity.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
...she repeats to herself, trying to keep her tongue from freezing to the roof of her mouth...
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Look Kerri,
I'm sitting here ticking off the days to a skiing break in Italy.
But there's bugger all snow yet.
Stop complaining and hitch a lift to Mont Tremblant. You don't know how lucky you are!!!
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Ottery
Re: Playing while P-ssed
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4128
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
"Anybody know any Zen meditations to create extra body heat?"
Yes, but I don't see how my doing them is going to help *you* any.
"I've just bundled up. . . "
Ah, well, I see you've just discovered the oldest Zen trick in the book. Works every time.
KFG
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by KFG
Re: Playing while P-ssed
God it's awful hot here in my office (like Bren also in Perth - hopefully we are going to catch up tonight).
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Donough
Re: Playing while P-ssed
For playing outside in cold weather (or cold rooms!), I have a little charcoal hand warner to warm my fingers up - that I got from a fishing tackle shop while my husband was buying a new rod.
Also a pair of fingerless gloves.
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Tarrantella
Re: Playing while P-ssed
If you play in pubs, late evenings, chances are everybody else there will be more or less in the same state. The music's great, the women look glamorous, the men horny, the conversation's great, the pub's beautiful.... You know....
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Cath
...and the music just sounds better and better
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Sorry Cath - I don't think I can do horny any more.
I think that "mostly harmless" is about my limit these days, will that do?
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Playing while P-ssed
It's the "mostly" that rather worries me...!
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Showaddydadito, anything we'll do, given the right amount of drinks
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Cath
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Quoi?
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Just a person
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Sacrebleu ! (try and say that when you're p!ssed)
# Posted on January 21st 2005 by Cath
Re: Playing while P-ssed
Drink. Play. Bow keeps falling off fiddle. End of sceal.
# Posted on January 22nd 2005 by thehorrors