Has COVID improved your playing?

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
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Not being able to play live has greatly increased my knowledge of theory. It has impacted my playing as well. Not sure yet if my playing is improved or just different. Before COVID I played in a weekly bar jam. I played in several open mics as a single and with a trio. All my practice time was taken up with learning songs and playing along with songs or backing tracks. I was playing live, often only three or four songs, occasionally fifteen or twenty, at least seven or eight times a month. COVID put an end to all that. I’ve been writing songs. I’ve been doing online jams and challenges. I’m thinking a lot more about how the music is made than I used to. I plan out my solos. I study the music trying to figure out what will go with it. I notice my playing is getting more melodic. At the same time my playing doesn’t seem as spontaneous. I know listening to older stuff I’ve recorded that my playing has changed. I can’t wait to be able to play with other musicians again. My playing will be different. I’m hoping it will be better.
 
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Other than not flying for work anymore, I haven't really been able to put a whole lot more work into my playing, as hoped. I'm still busy with work, but home every night. My wife has been home on either furlough or medical leave, so she has been finding all sorts of stuff for me to do. She's finally going back to work tomorrow. It will be the first time since March that I come home to only the cats and my guitars after work, and have an empty house until she gets home about 1:00 am.

I am so looking forward to playing guitars and drinking some beer when I get home from work tomorrow. No wife to annoy with loud music, just the cats and neighbors.
 
I play 2 hours each day, so my playing has been improving since the day I started 6 years ago now. I don't play in a band, but my Instructor says I am well capable to play in one. No instruction this fall and winter due to covid. I do know some theory, but not anything like many have here. I told my Instructor I don't want to learn theory til the cows come home . I want to learn guitar theory mostly. My Instructor said to me back in February, he said Norm can you hear the guitar player I said yes, but it was difficult for me to decipher between the two guitar players in the song. So he told me to listen to some of the songs you want to play and listen closely try to focus in on one guitar player, so that's what I started doing. I started to train my ear on the different guitar parts. So in May I went on the internet and found a Company where you buy the music tracks. Its all legit above board. You can buy the tracks with just music or just one instrument with drums or have their band sing with all parts, you can even change the key to which you want to play. I know have on my Mp3 player about 12 songs. When I first started my Wife wondered where all the music was comin g from. She came into my mancave and said what's going on. It sounds like a whole band playing , it sounds great. Since I started this my timing has improved and I can play all the songs, I sent my Instructor the recordings and said my timing is spot on, He said to me you have trained your ear, good work. I really enjoy this playing along with the music. It has made me a better player, and much more enjoyable than just doing backing tracks. Its great to plug in the guitar and Mp3 player into my amp and rock out with my favorite songs, its a total blast!
 
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iblive said:
That’d be why I play thru my Boss GT1 with headphones plugged in. Don’t annoy anyone but my own ears.
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I do the same with a IRigUA in the evenings to not wake the kids lol

But has my playing improved? Eh, not really. Ive began to experiment with different styles and approaches and so in that sense? Yeah its improved a bit. But for what i normally play, if anything, i feel as i have taken an unfortunate step back
 
Session 5 said:
No you don't..
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Lots of us tend to be self deprecating. Self included. When I get honest with myself I do acknowledge that even as a very average at best guitar player.... I’m still making music. That puts me heads and tails over a vast majority of the population. Something Mr. Herndon pointed out to me on one of my self deprecating rants.
 
Hey Mike stay with it , I know you will like you have said you would. I know its hard to get practice time in with 2 small children, try to get in 15 minutes a day if you can. Music has such a wide spectrum, narrow it down to what music is most important to you. Rock, heavy metal, jazz. Blues. Then pick a song that you really like and concentrate on that one song until you can play it fully stay with it. I think were many go wrong is they are trying to do to many things at one time going all over the map. If guitar was easy everybody would be doing it. It takes desire and hard work, and most of all it has to be fun. When I stated at the age of 60 I was learning twinkle twinkle little star. Now I am playing Stones, Bryan Adams, A/C D/C, Beatles and so on. If I can do it anyone can do it, if you have discipline , desire, to do it.
 
Session 5 said:
I play 2 hours each day, so my playing has been improving since the day I started 6 years ago now. I don't play in a band, but my Instructor says I am well capable to play in one. No instruction this fall and winter due to covid. I do know some theory, but not anything like many have here. I told my Instructor I don't want to learn theory til the cows come home . I want to learn guitar theory mostly. My Instructor said to me back in February, he said Norm can you hear the guitar player I said yes, but it was difficult for me to decipher between the two guitar players in the song. So he told me to listen to some of the songs you want to play and listen closely try to focus in on one guitar player, so that's what I started doing. I started to train my ear on the different guitar parts. So in May I went on the internet and found a Company where you buy the music tracks. Its all legit above board. You can buy the tracks with just music or just one instrument with drums or have their band sing with all parts, you can even change the key to which you want to play. I know have on my Mp3 player about 12 songs. When I first started my Wife wondered where all the music was comin g from. She came into my mancave and said what's going on. It sounds like a whole band playing , it sounds great. Since I started this my timing has improved and I can play all the songs, I sent my Instructor the recordings and said my timing is spot on, He said to me you have trained your ear, good work. I really enjoy this playing along with the music. It has made me a better player, and much more enjoyable than just doing backing tracks. Its great to plug in the guitar and Mp3 player into my amp and rock out with my favorite songs, its a total blast!
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Nothing improves timing like playing with other people, or other tracks. I've only played with other people twice since March, and I truly miss it. It's funny how your abilities improve a few notches when you're put on the spot.
 
In life we all face challenges, its difficult, right now I am talking about guitar. There will always be somebody better at playing guitar than us, no matter how good one is. It all comes down to where we are happy with our playing. Some say I wish I could play like that guy. Forget about that. Play for yourself that's all that matters. You guys know I fly R/C and its my passion. I was asked to compete, I said no. I was asked why. My answer was I compete against myself, I worked at it to become a better Pilot, Its the same approach that I have playing guitar I compete against myself. Encouragement goes a long way and it does. But a lot of it comes from within ourselves. Many times we could do much better, if we had some faith in our abilities . We just have to find out what they are, sometimes we just have to dive into something and get our feet wet.
 
SG John said:
Nothing improves timing like playing with other people, or other tracks. I've only played with other people twice since March, and I truly miss it. It's funny how your abilities improve a few notches when you're put on the spot.
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That is why I play in bar jams. You are constantly put on the spot. The adrenaline when someone in the jam wants to play a song you’ve never heard of is a good rush. I’ve learned to tell them I don’t know the song and ask for the key and the chords. Turn down until you get the feel, usually by the second verse. I also watch the bass player for the root on the one. If the other guys are good they’ll help you by letting you know when the bridge is coming. With a good crew the audience will have no idea that half the band had never played the song before.
 
Clockworkmike said:
I do the same with a IRigUA in the evenings to not wake the kids lol

But has my playing improved? Eh, not really. Ive began to experiment with different styles and approaches and so in that sense? Yeah its improved a bit. But for what i normally play, if anything, i feel as i have taken an unfortunate step back
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Sometimes you have to plateau or even take a step back before you can move forward. When that happens to me I take a break from whatever I’m doing and do something else. If I’m trying to learn a song I’ll move on to playing songs I know or playing to backing tracks for a couple of days. Change things up. Sometimes I’ll even take a break and not play for a day or two.
 
No, not even a little bit.

This time last year I was playing WAY more often.

At this point, my attitude stinks. I've been getting more serious about a couple other hobbies in the meantime, like duck and goose hunting. Been trying to work out a way to turn my float tube/belly boat into a floating one man duck blind. I think I have a good idea figured out, we'll have to see if the ducks and geese agree, or if they'll just spot me right away lol....not that it matters much when the ponds are all iced over

The guitar will come back when the time is right, as it's always done. For now I'm just not in the mood. Hell, I haven't even BBQd anything lately, and that's another favorite activity of mine.
 
I've been playing less to be honest, though the lockdowns haven't really made much difference to me because I have limited mobility and don't go out much anyway. It has meant that I don't get so much time alone though, since 'er indoors can't go anywhere either.

I packed in gigging in 2005, apart from one special show about three years ago and haven't been to any pub jams since 2012 when I stopped driving.
 
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