I don't feel like a guitar player.....

UberGawkman

UberGawkman

New member
This is kinda general.... not even sure if it belongs in this forum and maybe not in the cave, but it is about playing guitar.... sorta...


I've been playing guitar for about three years. I'm not bad by any means, people compliment me on how well I play for how long I have been playing, the riffs I write, etc. But I still don't feel like a guitar player. I feel like a guy who ended up playing guitar in a band. Not to say that I don't enjoy it; I like playing guitar. It's a cool instrument. But I don't have that guitar-playing passion. I don't have that "go and oogle over Les Pauls" drive, or "go to Guitar Center to play on a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier" just to say I did once. Not that I wouldn't mind having a nice guitar, or an awesome rig like a Marshall JCM 2000 or Mesa Boogie, but it's like, as long as I have something that works well, I'm fine. I play my guitar for the band..... I rarely play guitar for the sake of playing guitar.

I am much more passionate about mixing and songwriting and recording everything, not just guitar...

Am I a guitar player? :confused:
 
Hmmmmmmm....... makes sense.....

I played trumpet in high school.... learned to play percussion... took piano... 2 years music theory..... played bass guitar..... sang in a band..... now i play guitar.


or perhaps just generic "musician"? Or does "producer" = "musician who loves recording/arranging/composing music"?
 
You don't need passion to play guitar. I play it as a hobby. Started off in a band, moved on, let my skills slip. I still like to sit down and just play. Not in front of a crowd, or friends or anyone. Just sit there and be content, throw together a few chords and improvise a solo. The most fun I have is just finding a chord progression and singing lyrics off the top of my head, knowing they sound like crap but it's just me and the guitar.

I got my Les Paul because it was something I had always wanted. A trophy of sorts. I love the way it sounds but it doesn't make me anymore of a guitar player than when I was playing my Squire. I like playing both guitars. If you can sit down and with a $20 guitar and enjoy playing, then you are definitely a guitar player.

Take it easy

Dick
 
A true story...

Hey Ubergawkman,

You are more than just a guitar player so don't worry. Take it from someone who was a professional guitar player and felt exactly like you. This story does have a sort of happy ending but might scare you in the middle.

The first instrument I ever played was piano, after that drums and I didn't pick up a guitar up until I was 17.

I was in bands from the age of 15, played keyboards in the first, drums in the second, then I saw this local band that looked like they were going somewhere. They needed a second guitarist, "I'm your man!", I said. I knew I wasn't as I could barely play but the band liked my attitude. If they gave me some songs on a tape by the next rehearsal I had learnt them all.

Fast forward five years ahead to this March. The band asked me to leave the band as they felt they needed a guitar player who could bring more 'guitar' to the band. Over the five years I had become the a solo writer and an engineer / producer of the band and less and less the guitarist.

I knew what they were saying was true, my passion is in recording and working with music on the engineer's side of the desk.

In the 5 years I was in the band I toured the UK numerous times, America just the once (NY, SF and LA), saw a couple of big studios and we were on the Radio quite a lot last summer but in the last couple of months since leaving the band and working as a full time engineer at a studio in my home town, I don't think I've been as happy as I am now. I'm living the dream so to speak.

So don't question yourself as a guitarist or guitar player, do what comes naturally and see where it takes you. In the end, only you can tell yourself what 'you are' and what makes you happy.

Cheers,
Long Winded Remincising Rich
 
If you want to produce tracks do it. Use your knowledge of playing to get others who can't produce onto disc. The world needs more producers.
 
I've played guitar for over 45 years, most of that professionally, and I don't feel like a guitar player either. But other people do, so I'll continue the ruse.
 
Ahh... I'm feeling all better n stuff..... never intended to get such a serious response....


And yes, I do like just sitting down and playing the guitar just because it's there.
 
I was the same way... I was a drummer since age 5 but played guitar in a lot of bands, but only because there were a million drummers and no guitar players at my hs. Eventually I got sort of good during the shred years, but wasn't ever die hard. Then I got into solo acoustic fingerstyle, and that's where I found myself as a guitar player. I still play in bands occassionally, but it isn't the same. With my acoustic, I can be a whole orchestra. In the band, I'm just that... part of the band.
 
UberGawkman said:
This is kinda general.... not even sure if it belongs in this forum and maybe not in the cave, but it is about playing guitar.... sorta...


I've been playing guitar for about three years. I'm not bad by any means, people compliment me on how well I play for how long I have been playing, the riffs I write, etc. But I still don't feel like a guitar player. I feel like a guy who ended up playing guitar in a band. Not to say that I don't enjoy it; I like playing guitar. It's a cool instrument. But I don't have that guitar-playing passion. I don't have that "go and oogle over Les Pauls" drive, or "go to Guitar Center to play on a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier" just to say I did once. Not that I wouldn't mind having a nice guitar, or an awesome rig like a Marshall JCM 2000 or Mesa Boogie, but it's like, as long as I have something that works well, I'm fine. I play my guitar for the band..... I rarely play guitar for the sake of playing guitar.

I am much more passionate about mixing and songwriting and recording everything, not just guitar...

Am I a guitar player? :confused:
Click to expand...

Do you like long walks on warm sandy beaches with a young man named Steve? The problem here is that you are gay. Dang.


:p

Buck up little fella!

Fangar
 
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