As a corollary to the critical thread, I thought I would approach it from a different direction. In another discussion about playing solo in front of a microphone, I mentioned that my best playing is always in sessions when I'm playing with people that inspire me. But also that occasionally my own playing is inspiring to me.
Are you ever inspired by your own playing? Or are you only inspired by other people?
I'm not asking this as an ego thing, wanting you to say "oh yeah, I'm fabulous", or anything. I'm asking it as a serious question. For me, learning to play this music is somewhat of a journey of self-exploration, and occasionally, I find a groove and really enjoy the music when I'm playing alone. (Not nearly as much as I'm inspired by other people, of course).
My own playing doesn't inspire me and I hope my playing hasn't inspired anyone else. On another discussion thread, I did mention the more experienced musicians who have influenced me.
Erm, I'm doing my best to stay out of the fray on the other threads, although have to say that I LOVE the stuff that Will and Ben have posted. Thanks a million, gents! My Trad chops on the guitar are simply not where I'd like them to be, but occasionally in my keyboard noodlings I get, um, excited. Although I always used to record gigs in my bar/wedding band Rock n' Roll days, and sometimes stuff that I thought sounded great at the time didn't always sound so good upon critical listening after the fact. Whatever that means. Live and Learn, I guess.
Well, that's part of it, crazy_fingers. But what I was talking about was more like when your playing hits a new level in a session because the groove is so good, and you're inspired to play better by the people you're playing with. Occasionally, I will find inspiration in my own playing that raises my playing to a new level. (Or maybe that's just the alcohol talking )
I you were to ask twenty-five people (both musicians and non-musicians) what they think of my playing, you would probably get twenty-five different opinions.
There is a mental state that I would describe as "inspiration". It feels like you are just an anteannea for God or something and the universe is playing through you and you are just the medium.
In jazz we call it "opening a channel".
I honestly have worked on getting to that state mentally. Some guys can get to that state by the end of the night, but I try to get there "on demand"
Its very much a mental exercise. What is happening is that my mind is clear or distractions and I'm on a sort of auto pilot. All the hours of practice put you in the position to stop thinking and start playing.
In this state I am more listening to what is happening OUTSIDE of me and my instrument and reacting to what I'm hearing, rather than making consious decisions and actively thinking about the execution.
Wow, Nate, that's an interesting description of what I'm talking about! Thanks.
I am not talking about listening to another artist and being inspired by the music. I am talking about inspiration while you're playing, and that is a good perspective on it.
My last sentence reads wrong... it *is* about listening and being inspired, but it is specifically when you're playing that I am referring to, not just listening at a concert and thinking how wonderful it is.
Sessions can reach different heights in how inspired the music seems to be when you're playing it. My best playing happens when that inspiration comes spontaneously from the situation I am in. Where the musicians are lifting each other up, and the music becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Every now and then, my playing can be used to lift myself higher.
I like the idea of practicing that as a mental exercise.
Mine inspires me to keep practising. Does that count?
Seriously, though, my fiddling, two years in, is certainly nothing to write home about, but I can hear myself improve at a rate that gives me confidence that, given enough time and practice, I'll be able to do this or that with the music. I've gotten to the point, techniquewise, that the disconnect between the way I want to play and the way that I can play, though still huge, has diminished to something that I find tolerable. And that chasm continues to shrink, and that's something that inspires me.
for me, sometimes i tend to "enjoy" playign more fromt ime to time. Esp. when im playign really solid and so forth. i tend to entertain my self i guess...this doesnt happen offten though. maybe once or twice a week
Sometimes. Then I listen to someone good or have a bad lesson (I wonder if my teacher ever wonders which one of me will show up- the good, the maudlin, the insecure or the truly aweful)
Depressing.
Then I see some 12 year old on YouTube being a virtuoso on something I have worked on forever, and still sounds like c##P!
In the good times though, you remember why you spend so much time on this-Then I take a deep breath. Reboot as it were. and move on.
There's such a great satisfaction from the feeling of being in the groove. It's a different feeling when with others, but even by yourself it's still there when you're in that groove.
I have my moments, but it's more of a feeling that my music is working the way I want it to. Being "in the zone", so to speak. It feels really good when it happens, and it doesn't happen all that often (it usually correlates to how much I have been playing lately). That feeling, not the sound that I'm producing, inspires me to play more.
Listening to recordings of myself isn't the same. While I'll confess that I occasionally listen to myself and think "Yeah! That's what I like to hear!", I'll also confess that it's more common for me to hear things I wish I did better...
Still, at the very best, listening to onesself renders only a shadow of something one has already done, so "inspiring" might not be the best word.
I tend to enjoy playing best when others are playing - whether I've started the tune or not - and there's a good groove going. This is often fairly late after some beer has gone down. At such times, I can feel my playing's inspired. What's really happening is that my judgment's less than acute and other noise is covering up deficiencies in my playing. To play a tune nobody else knows or wants to play, fairly early in the evening with no kindly background hubbub going on, can be a chastening shock. It might well be the tune I thought I was laying down like De Dannan under the more congenial circumstances I have described above.
One of the things I enjoy about playing fiddle is how good it *feels* to play, particularly when you're in the zone. It's like dancing with your hands, and everything feels alive and easy. Usually, when that happens the music sounds great, too, but not always.
I find it easier to lose myself and "live inside the tunes" within a session. Even at home alone I tend to be too self-conscious and attentive to the details of my playing, rather than just letting it unfold. Something about a session trips the switch, though. So for me, playing in a good session recharges my enthusiasm batteries.
I often feel a touch of inspiration when I've managed to get through a particulary tricky tune, and then I see some young upstart flying through the same tune on a similar instrument to mine. I think..'how the hell does he do that'? I then come to the conclusion that I've wasted my life trying to play my instrument and cry into my beer.......Feck it I'll give ya an auld bar of a song instead.......
Being "in the zone" is a good way to describe it, Georgi. I get there sometimes when I'm practicing, but much more often when I'm playing with other people (and the one time I was playing with both you and Will, I definitely felt it lifting me up - either that or the bottle of Balvenie)
Sheesh, if I didn't enjoy playing without anyone else around, if it was painful to hear myself, I think I would have given up years ago. Who needs a life of self-torture?
As far as being inspired by own skills -- the verb "to inspire" usually has a direct object that differs from the subject, as in
"Fred inspired John to jump off the cliff."
Rarely (meaning no more than one time) have I heard
"Fred inspired Fred to jump off the cliff."
I just don't think the verb "to inspire" is used in the way "X inspired X". Maybe it is, but a semanticist is needed here more than anything else.
Choose another verb and we can have another thread. Here are some examples:
"Does your own playing threaten you?"
"Does your own playing intimidate you?"
"Does your own playing sexually arouse you?"
Eliot, that reminds me of Martin Hayes saying that fiddlers have to have rich fantasy lives, because without one, you'd never survive the first 15 years of caterwauling.
"Does your own playing sexually arouse you?"
No, but it seems to have that effect on the dog....
But you missed the point. The point is not whether your playing is self-torturous. My question was whether your playing can be inspired and lifted by itself, or whether you only reach the heights of your ability when you're playing with other people...
And the answer to your first question is "whiskey", generally...
>My question was whether your playing can be inspired and lifted by itself, or whether you only reach the heights of your ability when you're playing with other people...
You haven't heard me play while watching Judge Judy -- she really inspires me! I will say that some of my best guitar playing seems like clockwork to happen when she gets angry at some idiot. Now, if only we could watch Judge Judy then next time we play together!!!
Sorry I can't take this seriously. It is a good question and a thoughtful one at that. It's just that I am programming this da** slot machine and I can't stand to look at the results churning away, so I am reaching for any diversion. That, and the haldol/tequila mix hasn't yet kicked in.
Aw, and here I was getting all inspired by the fact that I'm quite sure that it'll have been at most a scant *twelve* years before I sound tolerable...
gooseinthenettles, there are numerous discussions about "the groove" on this site. It's a rhythmic thing, where the swing, lift, and drive all come together - but it's rather nebulous, and you can't easily point at it and say "that's the groove", it's much easier to feel it when you're in it.
I'm not sure I've been inspired by my own playing, but I know I'm much better than I used to be. On occasions, I've felt really good about a tune I played. On one occasion, I was more inspired by my wife's comment that she thought I was playing one of my CDs and didn't know it was me. I'm always overly critical.
nofrets, my wife wasn't quite so complimentary. A few years ago, my nerve problems were really acting up, and I mentioned that I might give up playing fiddle. She looked me straight in the eye and told me that after putting up with all that screetching for so many years, now that I'd finally gotten tolerable to listen to, no way was she going to let me stop....
When you tried to cut off your finger rather than play a tune with me, the subliminal resistance to your true desires broke through. Freud has a lot to say here about why you are still playing. Are you going to have to cut off something even more important to really understand your motives for playing? I'd say based on your transference of your sexuality to your dog, that you have a lot of psychoanalysis in your future.
I was upstairs one day when the child came home, and he starts playing some fancy piece on the guitar, Anji or something. Next thing I hear is the wife saying, "Oh Child, I didn't know you were home". Child replies "Why, is there someone else in this house who can play like that?".
Judging from his reaction to The Bucks, I'd say it's my dog who needs the psychoanalysis.
Actually, I find the institutional yellow paint here quite calming. And group therapy is available 24/7. But they must put something in the orange juice here--it tastes funny every morning and the voices stop shortly after I drain my glass.
Just remember, as Freud said, there are no accidentals.....
My own playing doesn't inspire me at all. I'm usually convinced it's gotten worse than it was two years ago.
Then again, there are sessions like last night which turn out to be really good and I stop playing like a deer in headlights and then maybe see there is hope yet.
"Its very much a mental exercise. What is happening is that my mind is clear or distractions and I'm on a sort of auto pilot. All the hours of practice put you in the position to stop thinking and start playing.
In this state I am more listening to what is happening OUTSIDE of me and my instrument and reacting to what I'm hearing, rather than making consious decisions and actively thinking about the execution."
Nate, that's makes a lot of sense to me. I think I had something like that experience when I used to be able to sing really well. In a nice acoustic space I would suddenly feel as though I was listening to this beautiful sound that somehow had nothing whatever to do with me.
That's happened now a couple of times playing wind instruments, including ITM airs on whistle. As I have only been playing for a few years I am looking forward to the day when it happens more often.
I think I'd probably say that's one of the things I am aiming for, one of the things that keeps me going through discouraging times.
Also, I'd like it to be able to happen in the context of a really full-on session, not just with slow airs and songs.
But as you say, one of the crucial things is that you have to have put in so much playing time that the technical stuff just happens... and then you are soaring!
" As I have only been playing for a few years I am looking forward to the day when it happens more often"
ESullivan,
I've been playing in clubs for money since 1979. I've played in alot of contexts, and alot of styles on several instruments as a working musician.
I was in your shoes once. It seemed like there were certain times when I played 10 times better than I normally play, and I started to really examine what went into it.
I think that if you play alot of gigs, you will have bad nights. Anybody can play like Lord God Almighty on a good night, but what I want in a band member is a guy who can pull it together and play good when he's having a bad night.
To do that, you have to really get to know yourself and what triggers the bad responses and the good.
I really think that alot of performance comes down to mental state. That's one of the things I was always jealous of artists and painters and those that do a work and then its "finished"
I'm only as good as the next time I play. It s like building a castle in sand really.
I've been talking with my friend, who is a fine whistle player and is learning flute, about that absurdly long word that means being aware of your body position while you do something. We've both been trying to be more aware of that, and I realized it's something I've been doing for a while now while playing, thinking of the position my body is in while it's making music.
That, and being in the groove, are not being inspired, I guess, these are more mental states. I'm only truly inspired by others, or I'm inspired to practice harder, or to make sure I can play 'something that well every time' like someone mentioned above.
OK, and this thread is way old by now anyway. Maybe I should change my user name to "Delayed Reaction"?
My playing inspires me only as it inspires others.
Most recently, it was a brilliant reincarnation of Petula Clark, in white lipstick, white vinyl miniskirts, high white vinyl boots, ponying to my playing with her friend, an impressive clone of Clara Bow, the 'It' girl, the royal mounted policeman of sex who always gets her man.
If only whistles could play a credible boom chicka bow wow.
Nate Ryan, I can understand and relate to some of your comments such as examining why you sometimes play ten times better than you normally do.
Also, "if you play a lot of gigs, you will have bad nights.....what I want in a band member is a guy who can pull it together and play good when he's having a bad night. To do that, you have to really get to know yourself and what triggers the bad responses and the good."
Yes, the way you perform does depend on your state of mind sometimes.
I especially like your last comment about being only as good as the next time you play because you are building a"castle in the sand".
I have played for money many times when I was playing piano with a band but I have spent more time just sitting in at various jam sessions as either a keyboard player or a bass player. I haven't been playing gigs for money as long as you have but I have been playing the piano for approximately forty years now and bass for about half that long.
For me, playing for an appreciative audience is more enjoyable than just playing for my own amusement. Sometimes, when I practice at home, my wife jokingly accuses me of trying to torture her.
"My playing is better than sex, if my memory serves me right".
How long has it been since you got laid, Bodhran Bliss? Or is that information classified bottom secret?
From 1990-1999, I played piano more or less regularly at a local Blues Jam. One evening, before I went to the Blues Jam, I took two Maximum Strength decongestant/antihistamine pills because I had a bad cold and my nose was congested. Then, while I was waiting for my turn to play the piano, I drank two or three beers. So, by the time I got to play, I was really HIGH. I could tell that it was my hands playing the piano and it was my body sitting there on the chair in front of the electronic keyboard but, at the same time, I felt as if I was detached from my body and floating in the air above the stage. I remember wondering if this is what people mean by an "out-of'body" experience? Since they didn't make me leave the stage, apparently, I must have been playing correctly. I should have read the warnings and the instructions before taking the medicine and then drinking the beer.
I am not generally inspired by another's actual playing skill or style, but I am sometimes inspired to emulate another's approach to playing that I feel I can incorporate in my own playing.
I am inspired by myself when I feel like I have nailed a tune.
One of my favorite local bands is called the Watercarver's Guild--because that's what music is--carving in water.
I like what Nate says about figuring out how to pull it together on a bad night to still play well. What helps me the most, among a host of other little things, is reminding myself to play effortlessly, instead of worrying about not making mistakes or trying to impress anyone. The more years I've played, the more I'm learning what "effortless" feels like, and so can enter that feeling even when nerve synapses aren't firing on all cylinders.
But it's still a struggle sometimes--trying to not-try. (With thanks to wolfbird.)
My playing totally frustrated me all of my life UNTIL I found a couple of really good fiddles (just two years ago). Now, I can live with and enjoy my own contriutions.
Does your own playing inspire you?
Does your own playing inspire you?
As a corollary to the critical thread, I thought I would approach it from a different direction. In another discussion about playing solo in front of a microphone, I mentioned that my best playing is always in sessions when I'm playing with people that inspire me. But also that occasionally my own playing is inspiring to me.
Are you ever inspired by your own playing? Or are you only inspired by other people?
I'm not asking this as an ego thing, wanting you to say "oh yeah, I'm fabulous", or anything. I'm asking it as a serious question. For me, learning to play this music is somewhat of a journey of self-exploration, and occasionally, I find a groove and really enjoy the music when I'm playing alone. (Not nearly as much as I'm inspired by other people, of course).
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Yes. I often stop in the middle of sets to listen to myself.
To be honest, yes it does, albeit on a humble bodhran.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Sometimes I will be play something and then sort of stop and say to myself, "huh, I liked that". Or maybe, "that was interesting, how did I do that?"
Is that what you mean?
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by crazy_fingerz
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My own playing doesn't inspire me and I hope my playing hasn't inspired anyone else. On another discussion thread, I did mention the more experienced musicians who have influenced me.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Erm, I'm doing my best to stay out of the fray on the other threads, although have to say that I LOVE the stuff that Will and Ben have posted. Thanks a million, gents! My Trad chops on the guitar are simply not where I'd like them to be, but occasionally in my keyboard noodlings I get, um, excited. Although I always used to record gigs in my bar/wedding band Rock n' Roll days, and sometimes stuff that I thought sounded great at the time didn't always sound so good upon critical listening after the fact. Whatever that means. Live and Learn, I guess.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by tomw
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Well, that's part of it, crazy_fingers. But what I was talking about was more like when your playing hits a new level in a session because the groove is so good, and you're inspired to play better by the people you're playing with. Occasionally, I will find inspiration in my own playing that raises my playing to a new level. (Or maybe that's just the alcohol talking
)
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I you were to ask twenty-five people (both musicians and non-musicians) what they think of my playing, you would probably get twenty-five different opinions.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
There is a mental state that I would describe as "inspiration". It feels like you are just an anteannea for God or something and the universe is playing through you and you are just the medium.
In jazz we call it "opening a channel".
I honestly have worked on getting to that state mentally. Some guys can get to that state by the end of the night, but I try to get there "on demand"
Its very much a mental exercise. What is happening is that my mind is clear or distractions and I'm on a sort of auto pilot. All the hours of practice put you in the position to stop thinking and start playing.
In this state I am more listening to what is happening OUTSIDE of me and my instrument and reacting to what I'm hearing, rather than making consious decisions and actively thinking about the execution.
I try and think of it like "method acting".
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Wow, Nate, that's an interesting description of what I'm talking about! Thanks.
I am not talking about listening to another artist and being inspired by the music. I am talking about inspiration while you're playing, and that is a good perspective on it.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My last sentence reads wrong... it *is* about listening and being inspired, but it is specifically when you're playing that I am referring to, not just listening at a concert and thinking how wonderful it is.
Sessions can reach different heights in how inspired the music seems to be when you're playing it. My best playing happens when that inspiration comes spontaneously from the situation I am in. Where the musicians are lifting each other up, and the music becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Every now and then, my playing can be used to lift myself higher.
I like the idea of practicing that as a mental exercise.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Mine inspires me to keep practising. Does that count?
Seriously, though, my fiddling, two years in, is certainly nothing to write home about, but I can hear myself improve at a rate that gives me confidence that, given enough time and practice, I'll be able to do this or that with the music. I've gotten to the point, techniquewise, that the disconnect between the way I want to play and the way that I can play, though still huge, has diminished to something that I find tolerable. And that chasm continues to shrink, and that's something that inspires me.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
for me, sometimes i tend to "enjoy" playign more fromt ime to time. Esp. when im playign really solid and so forth. i tend to entertain my self i guess...this doesnt happen offten though. maybe once or twice a week
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by tinwhistler10
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Sometimes. Then I listen to someone good or have a bad lesson (I wonder if my teacher ever wonders which one of me will show up- the good, the maudlin, the insecure or the truly aweful)
Depressing.
Then I see some 12 year old on YouTube being a virtuoso on something I have worked on forever, and still sounds like c##P!
In the good times though, you remember why you spend so much time on this-Then I take a deep breath. Reboot as it were. and move on.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by zippydw
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
There's such a great satisfaction from the feeling of being in the groove. It's a different feeling when with others, but even by yourself it's still there when you're in that groove.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I have my moments, but it's more of a feeling that my music is working the way I want it to. Being "in the zone", so to speak. It feels really good when it happens, and it doesn't happen all that often (it usually correlates to how much I have been playing lately). That feeling, not the sound that I'm producing, inspires me to play more.
Listening to recordings of myself isn't the same. While I'll confess that I occasionally listen to myself and think "Yeah! That's what I like to hear!", I'll also confess that it's more common for me to hear things I wish I did better...
Still, at the very best, listening to onesself renders only a shadow of something one has already done, so "inspiring" might not be the best word.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Georgi
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Sometimes you just nail a tune so perfectly that it inspires you to practice enough that you'll be able to play it like that every time.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Whiddler
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I tend to enjoy playing best when others are playing - whether I've started the tune or not - and there's a good groove going. This is often fairly late after some beer has gone down. At such times, I can feel my playing's inspired. What's really happening is that my judgment's less than acute and other noise is covering up deficiencies in my playing. To play a tune nobody else knows or wants to play, fairly early in the evening with no kindly background hubbub going on, can be a chastening shock. It might well be the tune I thought I was laying down like De Dannan under the more congenial circumstances I have described above.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
What Georgi says.
One of the things I enjoy about playing fiddle is how good it *feels* to play, particularly when you're in the zone. It's like dancing with your hands, and everything feels alive and easy. Usually, when that happens the music sounds great, too, but not always.
I find it easier to lose myself and "live inside the tunes" within a session. Even at home alone I tend to be too self-conscious and attentive to the details of my playing, rather than just letting it unfold. Something about a session trips the switch, though. So for me, playing in a good session recharges my enthusiasm batteries.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I'm not sure I understand the question ...
... but ... just in case I do ... the answer's NO! Other people's playing, yes. Being 'in the groove' in a session, yes. On my own, no.
I used to get inspired at gigs, but that hardly ever happens these days either.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I often feel a touch of inspiration when I've managed to get through a particulary tricky tune, and then I see some young upstart flying through the same tune on a similar instrument to mine. I think..'how the hell does he do that'? I then come to the conclusion that I've wasted my life trying to play my instrument and cry into my beer.......Feck it I'll give ya an auld bar of a song instead.......
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Being "in the zone" is a good way to describe it, Georgi. I get there sometimes when I'm practicing, but much more often when I'm playing with other people (and the one time I was playing with both you and Will, I definitely felt it lifting me up - either that or the bottle of Balvenie)
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
What drugs are you guys on here?
Sheesh, if I didn't enjoy playing without anyone else around, if it was painful to hear myself, I think I would have given up years ago. Who needs a life of self-torture?
As far as being inspired by own skills -- the verb "to inspire" usually has a direct object that differs from the subject, as in
"Fred inspired John to jump off the cliff."
Rarely (meaning no more than one time) have I heard
"Fred inspired Fred to jump off the cliff."
I just don't think the verb "to inspire" is used in the way "X inspired X". Maybe it is, but a semanticist is needed here more than anything else.
Choose another verb and we can have another thread. Here are some examples:
"Does your own playing threaten you?"
"Does your own playing intimidate you?"
"Does your own playing sexually arouse you?"
Do I ever write a serious post?
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Eliot
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Eliot, that reminds me of Martin Hayes saying that fiddlers have to have rich fantasy lives, because without one, you'd never survive the first 15 years of caterwauling.
"Does your own playing sexually arouse you?"
No, but it seems to have that effect on the dog....
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Eliot, the answer to your last question is "no"
But you missed the point. The point is not whether your playing is self-torturous. My question was whether your playing can be inspired and lifted by itself, or whether you only reach the heights of your ability when you're playing with other people...
And the answer to your first question is "whiskey", generally...
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
>My question was whether your playing can be inspired and lifted by itself, or whether you only reach the heights of your ability when you're playing with other people...
You haven't heard me play while watching Judge Judy -- she really inspires me! I will say that some of my best guitar playing seems like clockwork to happen when she gets angry at some idiot. Now, if only we could watch Judge Judy then next time we play together!!!
Sorry I can't take this seriously. It is a good question and a thoughtful one at that. It's just that I am programming this da** slot machine and I can't stand to look at the results churning away, so I am reaching for any diversion. That, and the haldol/tequila mix hasn't yet kicked in.
Cheers,
Eliot
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Eliot
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Damn, Will, I coulda sworn you'd quoted that line of Hayes' before, but with a figure of one year, not 15.
Ah well. 13 years to go...
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Maybe I exaggerated this time. Seemed appropriate for this thread.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Whats the meaning of "in the groove"?
I never heard any Irish musician use that phrase.
Has it something to do with listening to old 78s records?
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by gooseinthenettles
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Aw, and here I was getting all inspired by the fact that I'm quite sure that it'll have been at most a scant *twelve* years before I sound tolerable...
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
(... or 25 years, in someone I know's case)
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
gooseinthenettles, there are numerous discussions about "the groove" on this site. It's a rhythmic thing, where the swing, lift, and drive all come together - but it's rather nebulous, and you can't easily point at it and say "that's the groove", it's much easier to feel it when you're in it.
Dow explained it pretty well here: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/15559/comments#comment322429
Actually, that whole thread is interesting...
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My playing is better than sex, if my memory serves me right.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Yes, but nothing beats playing *and* sex at the same time....
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I'm not sure I've been inspired by my own playing, but I know I'm much better than I used to be. On occasions, I've felt really good about a tune I played. On one occasion, I was more inspired by my wife's comment that she thought I was playing one of my CDs and didn't know it was me. I'm always overly critical.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by nofrets
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
nofrets, my wife wasn't quite so complimentary. A few years ago, my nerve problems were really acting up, and I mentioned that I might give up playing fiddle. She looked me straight in the eye and told me that after putting up with all that screetching for so many years, now that I'd finally gotten tolerable to listen to, no way was she going to let me stop....
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Will --
When you tried to cut off your finger rather than play a tune with me, the subliminal resistance to your true desires broke through. Freud has a lot to say here about why you are still playing. Are you going to have to cut off something even more important to really understand your motives for playing? I'd say based on your transference of your sexuality to your dog, that you have a lot of psychoanalysis in your future.
--Eliot
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Eliot
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Don't know about wives but;
I was upstairs one day when the child came home, and he starts playing some fancy piece on the guitar, Anji or something. Next thing I hear is the wife saying, "Oh Child, I didn't know you were home". Child replies "Why, is there someone else in this house who can play like that?".
Moral. Do not have children.
And I suppose the child's playing inspires him.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Now bliss, where would your son learn such humility?
Nice link Rev, it was 'groovy'.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
That's exactly what I said.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
HA!
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Eliot -
Judging from his reaction to The Bucks, I'd say it's my dog who needs the psychoanalysis.
Actually, I find the institutional yellow paint here quite calming. And group therapy is available 24/7. But they must put something in the orange juice here--it tastes funny every morning and the voices stop shortly after I drain my glass.
Just remember, as Freud said, there are no accidentals.....
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
"An accidental a day keeps the laced orange juice away..."
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Eliot
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Thank you for that, Nurse Ratched.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My own playing doesn't inspire me at all. I'm usually convinced it's gotten worse than it was two years ago.
Then again, there are sessions like last night which turn out to be really good and I stop playing like a deer in headlights and then maybe see there is hope yet.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
"Its very much a mental exercise. What is happening is that my mind is clear or distractions and I'm on a sort of auto pilot. All the hours of practice put you in the position to stop thinking and start playing.
In this state I am more listening to what is happening OUTSIDE of me and my instrument and reacting to what I'm hearing, rather than making consious decisions and actively thinking about the execution."
Nate, that's makes a lot of sense to me. I think I had something like that experience when I used to be able to sing really well. In a nice acoustic space I would suddenly feel as though I was listening to this beautiful sound that somehow had nothing whatever to do with me.
That's happened now a couple of times playing wind instruments, including ITM airs on whistle. As I have only been playing for a few years I am looking forward to the day when it happens more often.
I think I'd probably say that's one of the things I am aiming for, one of the things that keeps me going through discouraging times.
Also, I'd like it to be able to happen in the context of a really full-on session, not just with slow airs and songs.
But as you say, one of the crucial things is that you have to have put in so much playing time that the technical stuff just happens... and then you are soaring!
Thanks for the topic.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by E'Sullivan
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Hey Rev, I'll be honest, I don't even enjoy 'listening' to my own playing, much less be inspired by it.
However I am inspired, constantly, by lots of other players.
I suspect, that if I ever find myself being inspired by my own playing ........ I'll be so far up my own backside that I'll be lost forever!
Cheers
Dick
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Ptarmigan
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
" As I have only been playing for a few years I am looking forward to the day when it happens more often"
ESullivan,
I've been playing in clubs for money since 1979. I've played in alot of contexts, and alot of styles on several instruments as a working musician.
I was in your shoes once. It seemed like there were certain times when I played 10 times better than I normally play, and I started to really examine what went into it.
I think that if you play alot of gigs, you will have bad nights. Anybody can play like Lord God Almighty on a good night, but what I want in a band member is a guy who can pull it together and play good when he's having a bad night.
To do that, you have to really get to know yourself and what triggers the bad responses and the good.
I really think that alot of performance comes down to mental state. That's one of the things I was always jealous of artists and painters and those that do a work and then its "finished"
I'm only as good as the next time I play. It s like building a castle in sand really.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I've been talking with my friend, who is a fine whistle player and is learning flute, about that absurdly long word that means being aware of your body position while you do something. We've both been trying to be more aware of that, and I realized it's something I've been doing for a while now while playing, thinking of the position my body is in while it's making music.
That, and being in the groove, are not being inspired, I guess, these are more mental states. I'm only truly inspired by others, or I'm inspired to practice harder, or to make sure I can play 'something that well every time' like someone mentioned above.
OK, and this thread is way old by now anyway. Maybe I should change my user name to "Delayed Reaction"?
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My playing inspires me only as it inspires others.
Most recently, it was a brilliant reincarnation of Petula Clark, in white lipstick, white vinyl miniskirts, high white vinyl boots, ponying to my playing with her friend, an impressive clone of Clara Bow, the 'It' girl, the royal mounted policeman of sex who always gets her man.
If only whistles could play a credible boom chicka bow wow.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Pet's skirt was singular, as was my playing.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
And yes, boom chicka wow wow. Haste doth often screw up s--t.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Nate Ryan, I can understand and relate to some of your comments such as examining why you sometimes play ten times better than you normally do.
Also, "if you play a lot of gigs, you will have bad nights.....what I want in a band member is a guy who can pull it together and play good when he's having a bad night. To do that, you have to really get to know yourself and what triggers the bad responses and the good."
Yes, the way you perform does depend on your state of mind sometimes.
I especially like your last comment about being only as good as the next time you play because you are building a"castle in the sand".
I have played for money many times when I was playing piano with a band but I have spent more time just sitting in at various jam sessions as either a keyboard player or a bass player. I haven't been playing gigs for money as long as you have but I have been playing the piano for approximately forty years now and bass for about half that long.
For me, playing for an appreciative audience is more enjoyable than just playing for my own amusement. Sometimes, when I practice at home, my wife jokingly accuses me of trying to torture her.
"My playing is better than sex, if my memory serves me right".
How long has it been since you got laid, Bodhran Bliss? Or is that information classified bottom secret?
From 1990-1999, I played piano more or less regularly at a local Blues Jam. One evening, before I went to the Blues Jam, I took two Maximum Strength decongestant/antihistamine pills because I had a bad cold and my nose was congested. Then, while I was waiting for my turn to play the piano, I drank two or three beers. So, by the time I got to play, I was really HIGH. I could tell that it was my hands playing the piano and it was my body sitting there on the chair in front of the electronic keyboard but, at the same time, I felt as if I was detached from my body and floating in the air above the stage. I remember wondering if this is what people mean by an "out-of'body" experience? Since they didn't make me leave the stage, apparently, I must have been playing correctly. I should have read the warnings and the instructions before taking the medicine and then drinking the beer.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
I am not generally inspired by another's actual playing skill or style, but I am sometimes inspired to emulate another's approach to playing that I feel I can incorporate in my own playing.
I am inspired by myself when I feel like I have nailed a tune.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Ailin
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
Thanks for the follow up comment, Nate.
I love the analogy of building castles in sand.
# Posted on June 20th 2008 by E'Sullivan
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
One of my favorite local bands is called the Watercarver's Guild--because that's what music is--carving in water.
I like what Nate says about figuring out how to pull it together on a bad night to still play well. What helps me the most, among a host of other little things, is reminding myself to play effortlessly, instead of worrying about not making mistakes or trying to impress anyone. The more years I've played, the more I'm learning what "effortless" feels like, and so can enter that feeling even when nerve synapses aren't firing on all cylinders.
But it's still a struggle sometimes--trying to not-try. (With thanks to wolfbird.)
# Posted on June 20th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Does your own playing inspire you?
My playing totally frustrated me all of my life UNTIL I found a couple of really good fiddles (just two years ago). Now, I can live with and enjoy my own contriutions.
# Posted on June 24th 2008 by hauke