The Steel Guitar Forum

<SMALL>I would be interested in natural ways of contacting my muse.</SMALL>

The "muse" is always right there.

The trick is to mentally disassociate from everything else that may be on your mind so that you have no distractions - then you can groove.

Ritalin, Vicodin etc etc may put you in the groove temporarily - but nothing is free and without consequence. The price of ecstacy is agony.

A person only has so much juice. Speed will ultimately leave you drained. Pain killers will ultimately cause worse pain if they are used improperly. Pot makes you lazy and booze makes you crazy. Any of these things can cause you to make unwise decisions that adversely affect your whole life.

It's already a dangerous world, why be your own worst enemy?

RA

<SMALL>I had some idiot doctor give me HALDOL one time.</SMALL>

I've never run across anyone else that was given Haldol--in my case, for a rare disorder (torticollis) that affects the neck.
The 'cure' was worse than the disease. (I became paranoid that my parakeet was watching me.) It's probably what convinced me that medication isn't the way.
Pot offered more in the way of symptomatic relief. I was one of those 'blow one on break' guys.

Eventually, you have to quit.
Many interesting pharmacological ideas here.

Eventually, we all quit, one way or the other!!

"I find that most people practice their instrument in a fashion that makes them become good practicers. A change in practice habits can make it much easier to learn."
Mark F.
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Interesting! What kind of habit changes do you see making it easier to learn? I've heard that you should spend a lot of your practice time away from the instrument but somehow I don't think I concentrate as well just listening to something I want to learn. After a while it just becomes background sound. Something about physically trying to play what I'm figuring out makes me concentrate more. Or it seems that way. I'd be happy to know about any more productive way to learn though.

As far as the perfomance enhancing or enabling (in the case of people who quake with stage fright) drugs used by symphonic players etc, I've heard Kava is a fairly good natural substance, available over the counter. Tried it once and didn't really notice much difference but then I don't get stage fright that bad. Kinda like taking pills for fear of flying panic attacks, unless you're on a plane how would you know if they work?

Usually just swaying my body imperceptably along with the beat is enough to get my mind in the music and off whatever wierdness is at the base of stage fright.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Anthony Kolarik on 14 March 2006 at 09:31 AM.]</p></FONT>

It's simple, I take a multi-vitamin about 2 hours before I leave for the gig. When I get there, I drink a cup of coffee. It seems to do ok for me. A recent 30 yr study now shows that 2 or 3 cups of coffee a day is very good for you.

Regarding drug/alcohol abuse among musicians, it seems to be a "Family Tradition".

Once I realized that I didn't really have to follow in my Dad's footsteps, the quality of my life improved immeasurably. I advise everyone to do what's best for their own well-being. Some traditions are better broken.

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b2005.gif" width="78 height="78">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)   My Blog </font>

Well said, Bobby Lee.

Lots of good info and thought.

Drew I'd put you up and invite you but I don't think I'll ever retire. Actually should I ever be "able" to smoke pot again, I doubt I would. If I could take a pill and be "able" to drink again after 26 yrs of not, I know I wouldn't.

I might check out a "Concerta" if I get a chance, and see if it helps me organize my thoughts on learning tele stuff. So shoot me..

Actually Rick, I've got an upcoming synopsis of my "muse" interaction, and I think some good thoughts on it.

"The Juice"? I know that all the adrenals run out sooner or later. We live, flower, and pass on. When I do, I will know for sure that I have lived.

I find myself totally drained after a good gig played after a 12 hour day hauling rock, mud, and equipment, then I get a day of sleeping in, and totally wringing myself out on the gig the next night. Sunday is the day when I enjoy a pleasant exhaustion, I watch The Sopranos, go to bed early and start it all again with two hours of telecastering a night at high volume in my war room.

I'm thankful for the constitution that has let me do it nonstop for so many years, though now it's just weekends and some thursdays. My heart goes out to those less blessed than I have been.

A friend of mine, Harley James,and I made a personal pact to keep playing long after our primes until we are pathetic wretches. It has come up that it might be sooner for at least one of us than we expected...

Like I say, I sometimes run out of adrenaline, but I've still got plenty of gall....



EJL

Eric,

Sorry for the hijack, but do we need a separate thread on the Sopranos?

I've been checking the spoiler sites for clues...

Drew

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<font size=1>Drew Howard - website - Fessenden guitars, 70's Fender Twin, etc.</font>

Not wanting to be a spoil sport here folks, the self-confession is "good for the soul" sometimes as is the sharing of similar circumstances. But, this is the NET, and as many articles recently have stated, what you say on the net can stay with you publicly for the rest of eternity. Teenagers are being cautioned to not go slinging zingers (to be polite) lest their prose haunt them later in life.
If you are the least bit nervous about the "permanency" of yer post, you may wish to edit it to blank before it goes to the archives. Just a thought.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 15 March 2006 at 08:55 AM.]</p></FONT>

You guys may laugh at me but what works for me is prayer. I'm a rookie just learning the steel but awhile back (while learning acoustic) I would take a shot or two of Crown Royal and maybe smoke a bowl with a buddy of mine. I THOUGHT I was really sounding good. Then one day as I sat (Sober as a judge)playing my guitar, my wife and son walked in and remarked at how much better my picking sounded than it had before. Then they asked why? I just grinned and kept on picking. On steel, at least for me, it requires so much concentration that I dare not abuse anything if I intend to play it like I want to. The other thing I noticed about playing sober is that the soul just seems to come out in my playing a bit easier. One of my brothers told me once that my dad told him that the only way to take giant steps learning music was to practice completely sober. The coolest thing I've found is that the steel REALLY speaks to my heart wihout any combustable refreshment or liquor at all. That's my take for what its worth.

Rick

I've not heard any remarks about "the zone",,,that magic, can do no wrong, flow-freely state of mind that seems to visit us periodically, not just in music but in all endeavors (I've even experienced it during stock trading,,or doing construction work!!),,,,atheletes are very familiar with it,,,and seek it continually. We've all experienced those magic nights when everything that had been difficult suddenly flowed freely, comfortably,,as if coasting (then the next night it's back to struggleing again!!),,,and certainly not drug induced. Research seems to think it is due to a state of mind brought on by a certain chemical balance in your body,,,much too precise to be induced by drugs etc. It's that perfect balance on the high wire where you couldn't possibly fall,,,when at other times you can't even stay on the wire,,,,<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Sonny Jenkins on 15 March 2006 at 04:45 PM.]</p></FONT>

Sonny I think you pretty much nailed the description of what we seek. Good job!

I notice that at times. When I set down the steel it's almost like it's an old friend and I know immediately that I'm at total ease with the guitar and it flows. Wish I could make that balance happen on demand.

Rick

Well, for me, all I can say is that I wasted a lot of time, and caused a lot of heartache with alcohol. Cost me two marriages and almost cost me my life. Not to mention the pain and suffering inflicted on my precious children. (thank GOD they have forgiving me) I do not ever want to drink again. And as far as smoking pot goes, that did not do anything for me intellectually. It always made me feel nervous and paranoid. I don't know why I continued to smoke it.(I lived in northern California in the mid eighties - Auburn and Foresthill area) Guess I thought that it was the thing to do to be cool. At the very end of my pot days, it got to be where all I would do is sit around stoned with no motivation.
Yep. Been sober for two years now. Love it. See a lot more clearly. Mended a lot of fences. Life for me is better NOT under the influence.

Guess I've done purdy much all there is that doesn't require a needle.... but although I drink routinely after my day job, I generally abstain from all drugs and alcohol when I have a chance to play my steel on stage.... one reason is the CHP, but I really like to feel I gave it my best for each performance....true enough I'm always around smoking bowls..... it's just so easy to say thanks for the offer, but decline. I put it this way...

Why spend hours rehearsing parts for your songs, and then get so tanked up(or fill in blank)on stage you can't remember them?

However, if at a jam with friends, there's nothing I like better than partying... that is different than a performance... at least to me.

If I need a "little help" on stage, I use Brad's Black Box


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Dave Wren
'95Carter S12-E9/B6,7X7; Twin Session 500s; Hilton Pedal; Black Box
www.ameechapman.com

OK boys, this one is gonna throw ya'll for a loop.

I am about to turn 50. Still in relativley good shape, but I noticed a couple of years ago that I tended to get tired in the afternoons and was somewhat listless. I was not excercising like I had been for the last 30 years. I went to see my Doc. He drew blood and came up with an amazing finding. He said your testosterone level is low. He then told me how this is normal for a guy my age, and that most men's testosterone levels start declining after the age of 30. Come to find out, my Doc has been doing lots of studies on male hormone therapy. And he has turned out to be quite the expert in this field. My level came out as 350. He said an 18 year old male is around 1500 or so. Anyway, he started me on Androgel. It is a testosterone gel that I rub on my arm every morning. It has my levels back up to around 1000. I am now back in the weight room and on the treadmill. I now do not come home and pass out on the couch. I feel MUCH better...mentally and physically. If there is a fountain of youth...at least for men...this may be it. I have now been doing this for 2 years and I feel great. I suggest every one of you over the age of 40 go check this out.

Here is the BAD news. Most Doctors are not hip to the male hormone therapy thing yet. It's not their fault, they just aren't up on the latest like my Doc. My Doctor curently has over 300 men on testosterone and has seen marked improvement with each patient. Some of his patients are in their 60s and 70s. These guys really love it and they see the most change.

Anyway, check it out for yourself. You've got the internet.

Well Ray M. Some people can wreck their careers by things they write here. Some are worried about what "their betters" think of them.

Some time ago, I quit worrying about either. I work as much as and with whom I want to. Always have.

Ever think that some people might actually get themselves ahead the same way?

Will I ever get called to play in Ricky Scaggs' band? I doubt it. Will I ever be on a Shania show? probably as doubtful.

Others may indeed wish to guard what they say so they don't piss the wrong people off. I think over the course of my limited tenure here, I'm more glad that I have had the chance to piss the right people off.

What I said here I m pretty sure got me fired from a band, and one of my own guys ratted me out to a person I mentioned in a less than flattering light. Hey, whaddaya gonna do?

I think b0b would kindly delete any self incriminating posts. I dunno. I've never asked him.

Paranoia strikes deep...

Drew. It's way outside that Uncle Joon would try to clip Tony in a feint of insanity. I think Paulie is gonna step up, Chris is going to clip Phil, somebody will get to Johnny Sack and stab him non fatally. Tony recovers and Paulie goes into hiding. Nobody knows Chris clipped Phil. Tony patches it up with Johnny, Tony has another panic attack.. Lets see..



EJL

After a 5:00 AM bout with kidney stones and a dose or two of Vicadin before screwing up on the St Louis Talent Search a few years ago I realized it was not the Vicadin causing all my problems ,it was the steel guitar manufacturers.

For my first tune I told the band to play Undecided in D . I was playing on the 10th fret on the C6 neck and Rosetta and Caldwell told me I was in the wrong key. I still do not understand why manufactures would not put D on the same fret on each neck. It would stop mistakes like this from happening.

Well, I'm 56 years old and never having used any mind alter substances of any kind for recreational purposes I may not be as qualified as some to post here due to my lack of experiece.
Having said that I will state first that I am certainly less than a mediocre steel player but i can truthfully say that I couldn't enjoy it anymore if I could play like the Big E. A person does not have to be a really great steel player to enjoy playing. We all strive to be a better player but we all have out limitations too but that does't stop us from trying.
I said all that to say this. I get all the high I need when I sit down to play my steel. It's just me and my guitar closed off from the rest of the world and that's all the high I need.

Mark, really good post. I'm going to check it out.

..I know you're serious about the testosterone treatments, Mark, but I just get this mental image of going down to Texas and seeing a bunch of 65-year-old guys getting into a barroom brawl over some granny..

..still, it's GOT to be better than drugs and alcohol...been there, done that...JUST SAY NO...I mean it.

<SMALL>Our law enforcement personnel are now prosecuting and jailing some of those same individuals for using the same substances that the government condoned and issued during war-time eras</SMALL>

Ah yes, there was a time not so long ago when guns were good, drugs were legal and gambling was the devil's tool. Now I understand that guns are bad, drugs are illegal and we now pay our schoolteachers with state-run gambling proceeds. What a world.

Fine thread you got going here, Eric, it's honesty time and with a lifetime of self-medication behind me I guess it's time to spill the beans....

When I was a very young kid the docs said I was "hyperactive" and put me on dexedrine to "calm me down" - I liked myself far better the way I was without their "help" and refused to take the stuff. That was before tags such as "ADD (Authentically Destined for Divinity) and other acronyms inferring that the "deficit" and the "disorder" was somehow attached to the subject individuals to cover the flaws in the societal paradigm - parents and teachers whose lives were so "disodered" that they could not give their children the proper "attention" - so we give the kids bad television and worse drugs to make them behave "appropriately."

After that experience I have never been attracted to speed of any kind and what I watched happen to many good friends kept me away from barbs and cocaine when they were considered popular recreational therapies. Sloppy drunk has never been sexy to me so I tend to keep that to a minimum as well.

As for "finding my muse" if I smoke a bowl before I play I have no problem getting in touch with my muse and being fabulously entertained by what I PLAY, but the recorder does not lie, inevitably what the rest of the world actually HEARS me play really sucks. I will often have a glass of wine or beer at a gig and it seems to settle my nerves and stop my hands from shaking (that would be the shakiness that comes from smoking a bowl to get in touch with the muse...).

Playing clean and sober I find myself executing very cleanly but all night I'm sitting there and wondering when the great ideas will start coming. When I go back and listen to the recording I usually find that they were there all night, I just didn't notice them as they went by.

As for the prescription stuff, after tobacco, alcohol and "workplace hazards and toxins" one of the biggest causes of pre-natural death in the USA is what is politely known as "medical misadventures" or basically, "the doc screwed up and the patient died." The docs kill many times more folks than guns or cars do...and let's not forget that the FBI has determined that over 90% of school shootings involve kids who were put on Prozac or similar substances by the family doc and have gone tragically haywire when they stopped taking it.

I do a lot of work with pro athletes as well as musicians and when all is said and done, the whole world has been trying to figure out the same performance puzzle for years - you can eat the same, sleep the same, practice the same, meditate, pray, whatever you do, the same every day, but from day to day and moment to moment it seems we can NEVER play the same - one moment we're fabulously brilliant and the next we're face down on the floor. I imagine that if one were to question the legendary players they would concur that none of us ever gets it 100% no matter what our habits or intentions.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 17 March 2006 at 11:26 AM.]</p></FONT>

Hey Mark, thanks for the info. I've booked a Doc's appointment to ask about it.

Has anyone tried Maca? Seems to be a natural remedy for low testosterone.

Ian