| Are you getting better or worse ? |
| I'm getting better on everything. |
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26% |
[ 16 ] |
| I'm better on some things but worse on others. |
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31% |
[ 19 ] |
| I'm staying about the same. |
|
9% |
[ 6 ] |
| I'm okay, but I'm starting to forget things. |
|
4% |
[ 3 ] |
| I can't play the way I used to. |
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16% |
[ 10 ] |
| Sorry, sonny, what was the question, again ? |
|
11% |
[ 7 ] |
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| Total Votes : 61 |
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| Author |
Topic: Are You Getting Worse ? |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 8 Oct 2010 11:27 am |
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For years I assumed that as I aged I would learn new skills and my playing would get better and better. 
At what stage does it start deteriorating ?  
Or did it already ?  |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 8 Oct 2010 3:08 pm
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It does get worse,but only if you work at it.  |
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Jack Dougherty
From:
Spring Hill, Florida, USA
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 5:26 am
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Depends on who you talk to 
I like the first half of the second choice. |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 5:51 am
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I hardly play pedal steel anymore, except for a few recording gigs. So I am playing the same old licks I knew 30 years ago.
On the other hand, I play my lap steel (non-pedal) nearly every day and perform 2-3 times a week. I have greatly improved, and can almost "sing" through the instrument. By this I mean all I have to do is think of the note or chord and I instantly can play it.
This is partly due to sticking to one tuning (A6th) for many years, so it becomes second nature.
Dom
_________________
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
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Roual Ranes
From:
Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 6:06 am
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Yup!
For about six years now I have been able to blame it on a persistant Ganglion Cyst but at last resort I am having an operation to have the Cyst removed.
Fear not, now I will have the excuse: "They messed up the operation"! |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 6:31 am
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| You can always say it grew back ..... |
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Marc Friedland
From:
Fort Collins, CO
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 8:58 am
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Interesting poll Alan---
Generally speaking - I need to practice a couple of hours a day just to stay where I am and not get worse, and to actually improve & add more to the arsenal, additional time on top of that is needed.
I still believe that’s sort-of-true but definitely needs clarification.
Even if I am maintaining a rigorous practice regimen, (which I’m not right now) I’ll still forget some songs, licks, chord-change transitions, solos, etc, that I was much more fluid on 5 – 10 years ago.
I don’t think that necessarily means I’m getting worse – it just means I’ve decided to focus on other aspects that have been more fun or rewarding and as a result some of the things I was previously up to speed on – have taken a back seat and have for lack of a better word – deteriorated. And providing I am in practice, it would only take a relatively short amount of time until recovering some of the things I lost.
For valid reasons not necessary to explain now, the past 6 to 8 months has been a period of time when I’ve had the fewest amount of psg gigs and least amount of practice time, that I can remember ever having. But that doesn’t translate to going back to day 1! It’s not like it would take me years of devoted practice time to get back to where I was a year or so ago. I would estimate that within a month or two of many gigs & significant practice time, I could be at an acceptable level, close to the top of my game.
I guess then I’d be back to my initial statement of needing to practice a couple of hours a day to not get worse – what an interesting cycle.
Obviously – the top of their game is different for each individual.
Well – I got to go now, if I knew I was going to take this much time thinking and writing about all this, I could have been practicing the pedal steel instead!!!!!!
Marc
www.PedalSteelGuitarMusic.com |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 9:10 am
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I can't see which option suits my position best...
I think I'm better now - logically, I should be - than I was thirty years ago, but I'm deeply frsutrated by my lack of real progress.
My expectations have increased, but my touch and tone haven't kept pace with them!
_________________
Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles, Martins, and a Gibson Super 400!
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 10:09 am
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One of my concerns is not hitting the notes as I used to. It sounds okay while I'm playing, but when I play back the recordings I can hear sharp and flat notes. I need to concentrate more.
Also, I've been playing with a bar for so long now that when I have to pick up a regular guitar, especially a 12-string guitar, I can hear rattling. You need to keep up the strength of your left-hand muscles.  I don't have the same problem on the lute, where the gut strings are tuned to a much lower tension.
The other thing comes from laziness. I play the Dobro a lot, sitting in an armchair watching the TV. I don't have to bother with an amplifier and trailing wires over the room. I'm usually in G tuning. When I switch to C6 tuning I have to remember that the intervals are the same but there's an extra string in there.
Also, it's a lot easier to play non-pedal in a comfortable armchair, so my pedal use gets out of practice.
On the other hand, I'm a lot better on Dobro now that I was forty years ago.  |
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Don Drummer
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 9 Oct 2010 6:11 pm
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| For me it is like the tortise and the hare. I'm getting better all the time. It just takes a long time. Wish I was this good 30 years ago. But on the other hand my progress helps me keep an open mind about the future. I'm not quite sixty. But it looks like I will enjoy the next decade as the PSG is concerned. Sometime I think that "time" really is an illusion. Don D |
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