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Posted: 24 Dec 2020 1:19 pm
by Clyde Mattocks
After things came to a screeching halt in March, I only played a couple of outdoor parties in the summer. For a while I lost interest and wouldn't practice. Lately, I've started sitting down to it if it's only twenty minutes. I think of more things I want to learn like great fiddle solos on the steel and I find it has opened some doors to new voicings. Don't know if I'll ever get to put this stuff in practice, but it has helped keep my interest up.
Posted: 24 Dec 2020 5:47 pm
by Larry Dering
I'm happy to have a hobby and a place to use it. Music is my escape and the pedal steel keeps me working at it. At 71 I don't want to quit while I'm still able to play.
Posted: 24 Dec 2020 6:32 pm
by Ron Shalita
I get up at 3 AM every morning and play my PSG and guitar .. thanks to YouTube it keeps my interest .. but must admit lately I end up watching docs .. but I do get a couple of hours in just jamming .. I never sit down to learn songs .. no interest in that anymore ..this pandemic has been good and bad for me... but must admit I am looking forward to ending !
Posted: 24 Dec 2020 9:58 pm
by Mitch Ellis
Al Evans wrote: 
I've always been taught that if you don't enjoy woodshedding, you're not doing it right.
Now that's something to think about.
Maybe that's why I don't practice as much as I should. Thank's for the tip.
Mitch
Posted: 25 Dec 2020 6:00 pm
by Steve Spitz
It’s still a great joy to play, but It’s easy to lose some of the passion as the immediate future looks difficult for my local scene .
I do know that while player “A†sits unmotivated and depressed, and player “B†spends his time keeping sharp, getting better, well.....there’s that.
It won’t kill me to get better even if, by choice, I don’t pursue gigging when things return to the new normal. The gigs will have to be musically rewarding, but I was thinking that way pre-COVID. I like to play good gigs, not desperate to play.
Still , at times it’s a challenge to stay motivated to woodshed as much as I think I should.
I recently gave some lessons. I enjoyed giving the gift of music, and that alone was its own reward. Keeps the flame burning.
Good luck, stay motivated if you can .
Posted: 25 Dec 2020 7:59 pm
by Ron Shalita
Steve it’s tough on all of us I’m sure that I’m not the only one that feels like maybe this time music is just not coming back.. seemed like a lot has happened over the years to kill it, but hey we all have each other to share with .. I know it’s kinda a down thought but that is what I was faced with this morning..
Posted: 26 Dec 2020 8:16 am
by Chris Schlotzhauer
Bill Terry wrote:Seems like I'm not alone. I've been playing on average 75 to 100 gigs a year for nearly 20 years, and all of a sudden, other than a few online sessions, not a gig since March. A large part of my musical activity was prepping for gigs, learning songs, putting charts together, etc. That's gone, and like some above have mentioned, I'm sort of played out when it comes to just playing for my own enjoyment.
I'm actually wondering when/if the gigs do come back, will I be all that excited about it? I have to say I don't miss all the miles, getting home at 3AM, etc. I'm not 25 anymore, heck I'm not even 50 anymore..
I'm hoping if I go out and play a couple I'll get re-energized. There's nothing quite as much fun as a tight band on a good night, maybe I've just forgotten how good that is. I hope.
I hear you....if this pandemic has taught me anything is, I hate playing by myself, for myself.
I have did a couple of gigs at NFR but they were duets (female singer and myself on steel)but I didn't have to practice. It was fun and felt good to get out, but that's not what satisfies me. I guess my (our) days of working with an artist as their steel guy, rehearsing, jumping in a van and doing several shows a week are over.
If I am going to continue playing music, it will have to be just me sitting on a stool with a guitar singing to patrons of a restaurant or bar. Although my body fights me playing guitar due to shoulders/arthritis/neuropathy, etc.
I have been learning other people's original songs for decades, and that's what has kept me very busy. Now I'm not interested in learning anymore new songs. I've learned a million cover songs that I still know. I will be concentrating on the past from here on out musically
Posted: 26 Dec 2020 7:49 pm
by Ron Shalita
Steve it’s tough on all of us I’m sure that I’m not the only one that feels like maybe this time music is just not coming back.. seemed like a lot has happened over the years to kill it, but hey we all have each other to share with .. I know it’s kinda a down thought but that is what I was faced with this morning..
Posted: 27 Dec 2020 6:58 am
by Bill Terry
Chris wrote:...my body fights me playing guitar due to shoulders/arthritis/neuropathy, etc.
Yeah, the health part is becoming more of an issue for me all the time as well. My left hand (on guitar) is just not able to do stuff I used to be able to do effortlessly. I'm trying to work on it more, thinking maybe I'm just 'out of playing shape', and that's helped some, but I can see that some of that dexterity just isn't going to come back. Getting old sucks doesn't it?
Hey Chris, if you see this, we're planning a Bruce Music Co. employee/friends/customer Zoom call/reunion sometime after the first of the year, you interested?
Posted: 27 Dec 2020 9:19 am
by Bo Borland
I've been taking advantage of the lock down and lack of gigs an practicing, studying and playing non stop.
While most gigs have been cancelled since mid March, I have done 4 or 5 outdoor gigs with full bands and a new duo project had done 5 or 6. All while practicing stay safe protocols.