I really appreciate all of the advice. I think that this month has gotten to me and the way to express my frustration was with one of the few things I can control - my time and efforts with The Stick.

"if people who took up instruments got discouraged every time they saw somebody else play it better, we would never have any new musicians."

I know that, I just see how effortlessly they play and it inspires me, but then I start to wonder, will I ever get there?

I love playing- I work hard to make time to touch the instrument each day. I feel better when I do.

"try putting the books down for a while (greg, steve,.... dont hate) and just have fun exploring the stick."

That was one thing I was going to do this next week.

"Are you a family man..? If so you probably got an excuse to find time, but as the Merovingian said in Matrix Reloaded, how can we "find" time... we have to make time."


I am a family man- two little girls and two jobs.

I have set aside money for at least two lessons with Greg, just getting time and a room to myself is a little more of a challenge.

"Grab 10 minutes ONLY to play the page 5-4 and play it convincingly in performance style. That will get you ready for anything. You may have only played for 10 minutes that day, but guess what, you played Stick that day, and that's a good day."


I Love this idea - Thank you....


"Definitely do that, find out what can happen on the touch board when you let your fingers wander. Keep a video diary of your ideas."


I record and take notes each time I practice and If I find something I like I write it down and make note of it on the recording.

"However, I'm old and ugly enough to recognise that I will walk out of this wilderness into a new place of energy and discovery - it is only a season. I just wish it would end so I can get on with it!"

I am old and ugly too and know that this will pass. As mentioned at the top there are many things going on that are out of my control and I think that has affected me more than I am willing to admit right now.

Thanks for all of the advice and encouragement.

John,

please don't get discouraged! as all the other learned writers before me in this post have said, and it is true ( it's twwuue -Madeline Kahn Young Frankenstein!) the nirvanna's and epiphanies are just waiting for you.

you suffer not from discouragment, but from CRS- Can't Remember (what it was like before I played the) Stick. I found players pick up the Stick and go BLANK. like they have never played anything before. The Stick enhances your previous knowledge.

so. get your former instrument out, and play your all time favorite riff- Smoke on the Water, Another one Bites the Dust, Dancin Madly Backwards... and take the same notes and play it on the Stick- Smoke on the Water has just a G in your Bass side on quarter notes, OK and then chords of Gm-Bb-C, (same thing w/ variation) Gm-Bb-C#-C no fifths please. Gm-Bb-C-Bb-G- thanks to the fourths tuning these are ALL double stops or played with one finger across 2 strings. run your melody side through a Marshall (or an emulator) and you'll sound so much like Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover together the neighbors will be pounding the walls to make you stop playing and call the cops!

also on time ( love the Matrix reference) unlike the LA clubs in the 90's which were PAY TO PLAY, you have to have your Stick an amp any effects READY TO PLAY with one switch away. An idea can be lost by the time you find this cord and that plug. this way moments notice, you steal a moment away, flip the switch and you are ready to go. always have a tuner in line and check your tuning before you play. out of tune notes can subconsciously make for a bad playing experience., and you start blaming everything in sight when all you need to do is just tune up so the chords ring true.

see my latest post for some more ideas. don't let the title throw you, its all good.
http://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4553

we've all been there done that- remember you a family member of the Stick community and we don't leave any Stick player behind.

take care,
Dave Brosky

Great thread here, I can definately relate. I've had my Stick for over a year now and I still suck. People say if you want to get good at something all you gotta do is practice, practice, practice. But how do you practice for many hours a day when your entire repertoire takes only 15 minutes, and even that sounds like crap? I've also had trouble with neck and shoulder pain if I practice for more than 45 mins or so

But it is getting better! For me the key has been to find little tunes and exercises that sound cool and are FUN to play, yet still simple enough that I don't get discouraged. I'm a big fan of Bob C's free lessons on Youtube (thanks Bob)

http://sticklessons.com/videos.html

As I slowly learn these beginner exercises I find that I relax more and don't stare at my fingers as much and my shoulder pain isn't as bad so I can practice longer. And I'm having FUN! Yes indeed, getting better all the time

No place to go, nothing to achieve.... just play take your time and relish this beginning phase of your relationship with the Stick.... it is useful to take inspiration from others.... not so useful comparing ones self to others... We all develop at our own pace.... Best of luck on your journey!

This is a great thread. A huge thank you to the originator and all of the replies.

I feel the same way...fairly often. I know the key is making time...even 10 minutes a day. At this point in my life, even 10 minutes is tough. I try, and I know it'll get better, and I'll get better.

So, this weekend I picked up my stick and watched a couple of the lessons Bob has posted. It was nice to feel like I had learned and accomplished something again. There was some review (which is never bad) and at then I felt like I was "playing" not just playing with The Stick.

I also picked up my Harmonica for the first time in ages (25 years worth of live and studio play behind me) and I built up my confidence by remebering that I can actaully play something. I also helped my daughter with some piano.This all helped me get out of the funk I was in.

Thanks to all of you for the support- It was also nice to know that I was not alone.

Great. That's how I felt after my "frustration" thread. I was really thankful for the support.

This is a great community.

Brett

From my experience, almost all the accomplished Stick players had something musical to offer from the beginning months and first year, and brought whatever it was on stage in performance - an overriding compulsion to create magic and mystique, to be an artist.

Then, its simply on to the next thing, the next musical project, always with faith that the sum total will be on an upward trajectory. If after that first year, you still "suck" (God, I hate that word in our culture!), maybe it's time for an "agonizing reappraisal" of your goals.

Two major factors come into play in foreseeing your own musical future. One is yourself and the other is your instrument. Examine yourself first. Have you ever created anything with a real discipline and polish to it? Maybe in school or on the job or as a hobby? IMO, that's what it takes to be an artist. In what fields have you strove for excellence? What are your, gifts, talents, abilities, and have you cultivated them to some definite achievement? If it's just music appreciation, that's wonderful but not enough in itself to make you an artist or performer.

One qualifier here: There are those rare gifted souls who play with drunken excess and don't give a damn about much of anything.

The second factor is your instrument, and here I'm more sure of myself. I know from three and a half decades of experience with students, customers and friends that when The Stick is set up well, and has the structural capability of receiving such precise setup, the inspiration and the technique, thus the music, will grow. So, if I hear that you're in a slump and interest is waning, the first question I ask myself is, "Is your Stick gradually bowing and getting harder to play?" You may not even know it, like driving your old car and getting used to all its idiosyncrasies, then letting someone else try to drive it (as in when you try to sell it).

If so, the difficulty of the playing method increases exponentially (with distance of the strings from the fret tips), and the magic is lost. Then you wonder how the others can so easily execute their musical ideas with speed, expression, fluency and abandon.

Another qualifier: There is a type of performing artist who can overcome any defect and make any instrument sound good. (The world is a big place.)

Yourself, your hands, your instrument. Best, Emmett.

I find that with any instrument you go thru phases when you feel you're making rapid progress, then plateau for a while, then you hear some amazing performance from someone half your age, and you get discouraged..

But you shouldn't be, Its about the journey, not the destination. You're a musician, with your own voice. Sometimes you have a lot to say, sometimes you listen more than you speak. But you do have a voice, and you will progress, at your own pace.

Enjoy the scenery. Sing out loud.. Revel in the glory of being one of the few thousand players of a revolutionary instrument, and each step forward is a new step, for a musical pioneer..

Patience, patience and more patience. I've been teaching for 40 years and I see this as key to any students success. If I had a new student now, I would tell them the self evaluation goal is springtime, not next week. It's like losing weight, it takes time and effort, plain and simple. And during that musical ride you'll have a mixture of joy and frustration (even after 42 years of playing). Real life is just like that but music seems to be a choice thus easier to give up on.
All these motivating posts plus an endorsement from Emmett should be inspiring enough to be optimiStick.

Freida Mind