“You can’t think and play. If you think about what you’re playing the playing becomes stilted. You have to just focus on the music I feel, concentrate on the music, focus on what you’re playing and let the playing come out. Once you start thinking about doing this or doing that, it’s not good. What you are doing is like a language.
You have a whole collection of musical ideas and thoughts that you’ve accumulated through your musical history plus all the musical history of the whole world and it’s all in your subconscious and you draw upon it when you play” ~ Joe Pass
I love this quote! It sums up perfectly about guitar and how if you or try to think about what your playing, it doesn't work. Music is something that is buried inside of you, its who you are and you cant just think about the guitar riff's your about to play, they have to come naturally. This quote kind of goes against what was asked of me to do. I was asked to really think about the guitar when I was playing it and everything that goes with it, and its hard to do this and this quote sums it up perfectly. Hope this makes sense?????
Well this week has been a productive week. I've known for awhile now my flat mate (Rory) plays guitar, lead guitar (solo's etc), so I thought I'd hit him up for a jam. So I took my guitar and hit him up and he was keen more than ever. I already had in mind what songs I wanted to play..."Tuesdays Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. He was more than keen and we started jamming away, Rory on lead guitars and I was playing rhythm and singing. By the end of four hours he had learned all the parts (I already knew them) and it was sounding very tight! While playing with him and creating music together which sounded pretty close to the original it was a feeling of happiness and accomplishment, knowing that I can perform, and sound good with other people and only in four hours! We finished up and decided we would go out the next day and play these songs at an open mic night. The next day came round and after having a boring day at tech I rushed home to have a final jam before we headed out. We geared up and went out to rock the heck out of open mic. It was Rory's first time so naturally he was a bit nervous, nothing a few beers couldn't fix. There was quite a few people there so we didn't get to play till about half 11. The set went well, it was a good feeling to play with some one else and not just by myself, the music jelling together to make one piece of music that just blew our minds. The more we played the better it got and "Wish You Were Here" was a real crowd pleasure, cos everyone loves that song. So now ive got a buddy to play with and also got someone else lined up for drums, its alllll coming together, maybe a new band is on the rise!
There is quite a few "need's for occupation" with my chosen activity which may be apparent in my little story here or not, ill list these below:
- Need for happiness: This is the major factor for which I play guitar. This is the thing that brings happiness into my life, I can pick up the guitar and all my worries go away! It can bring happiness but also sadness or anger. The guitar is literally a tool for expressing how I feel and that's what I like about it. No matter what mood I am in I can channel that into sounds to create something beautiful or sometimes very disturbing haha.
- Making a statement: Sometimes I use guitar to make a statement. First one is generally to do with beliefs or values of mine. So I have songs about people who have not been pleasant and I make a statement about how much I don't like them..... Second example, I could use my mad skills to show people "huh see not so crap now am I?" this is one to do with people telling you your crap then seeing them again later and melting their ears. Making statements has always been part of music, to give one's view on the world or people around them, that's basically what music is!
- Need for escape: "I've had a long day at tech or work, I cant be bothered with anything that requires to much effort" sound familiar? course it doe's. This is me all the time, sometimes I think I say that just so I have an excuse to pick up my guitar. My guitar(s) area means of escape sometimes, just like everyone else, I have a method.
- Need for fun: Do I need to describe this? I think you can figure this one out!
- Need for expression of self: So I went out and played some songs, showed people this is what I do and what I love to do. They were not my songs but I felt like they could of been. I do have some songs of my own that express how I have felt at certain times in my life and this is a method of expression of self.
- Need for socialization: The guitar has many needs for me but one that is becoming more regular is the need for socialization. Using a hobby and something I love to share with others and connect with them with this shared interest, to build relationships.
- Need for improving as a guitar player: As a guitar player I want to get better, be it with the actual skill of playing or being able to play in front of an audience or with other people. I have been playing in front of people for the last month but this week has been the start of playing with others, so in this last month and last week I have improved immensely as a musician =)
- Finally....need for physical/mental health: This hobby of mine keeps me happy and keeps meaning in my life, keeping me healthy mentally but also physically.
Ambience
I'll just quickly talk about ambience. So this is defined as a mood or feeling in regard to a particular place, person or activity. So for me the ambience of guitar is mostly positive. When I play and/or sing I feel hapiness overcoming me. Knowing that I can play such a beautiful sound makes me feel like ive acomplished something, it gives me a sense of belonging. However sometimes the ambience changes. Sometimes I might play and get frustrated or angry that I cant get the sound I want, sometimes I might be sad. The true ambience of guitar for me is emotion, th emotions can change but its still the essence of the activity, a tool for channeling these emotions.
Here are some links to listen to the songs we played if anyone's remotely interested.
Pink Floyd; Wish You Were Here
Lynyrd Skynyrd; Tuesday's Gone
BookRags Media Network. (2011). Brainy Quote. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/guitar.html
Matt! I love how you have written how you felt a sense of happiness and accomplishment from playing a piece of music. It sounds like guitar is very important to you.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought (the class was a bit unclear though) are'nt we only meant to have one main need for this activity. So what's the one particular need for playing you're guitar, more than anything else?? I woould like to give you an example but this proves to be too hard and I'd probably confuse you!
I love how playing guitar meets so many needs Matt! I wonder what need playing with someone else is serving and if this is the same as playing by yourself?
ReplyDeleteUp for a jam!!
HI Matt, I enjoy how passionate you are about playing your guitar it makes you're blog an easy read. Just a bit of a question about your language, im not actually sure what is expected, but do you think we need to be using professional language as it is an assignment?
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading :)