I had a good conversation with my guitar teacher a few days back. Basically he told me that hes a little worried about my direction.

I invest a lot of time (practice) and money(gear) into getting better at guitar, but in his opinion i dont get very much return.

sure i get better, but he says that this will only motivate you for so long. he says i really need to be recording or playing wtih a group to get the return i deserve from my investment.

Im not saying he is wrong, id love to be in a band, but the arse has fallen out of the band game in this country at the mo due to recession so its easier said than done.

I have the equiptment to record (USB interface and effects in the form of a POD X3 Live, a guitar or two and a mac with garrage band), but i hate spending time writing drum tracks in midi as im crap at it and i always just end up playing and not recording.

I have my eye on a nice twin humbucker guitar to round off my collection, but my teachers comments are echoing in my head when i think about spending more money on gear that i dont make huge amounts of use out of.

what do you guys think of my teachers opinion, and what return do you need from your time/money investment to keep you interested in guitar?

Thanks for teh response.

I dont think he meant it in a negative way. I really dont want to come across as arrogant, as i am not awesome in any way, shape or form, but I can hold my own on the guitar.

What i took from it is that I have gear, a bit of tallent and enthusiasm, but in his experience, playing in your bedroom for your ears only will only keep you challenged or entertained for so long, after which if you dont record/up your game by starting/joining a band you will lose that enthusiasm and be left with lots of gear and no will to play anymore.

I really hear you regarding the itch that will never be fully scratched. Buying new gear is only a temporary fix to a bigger issue. also 600 quid is a lot of cash for another guitar, considering i have an Am Dlx strat, squier classic vibe tele and a tanglewood acoustic already. still, its taunting me in the shop window!

It's a pretty simple equation...

If time/money investment = happiness in what you are doing, then you're in balance.

I have way more money in my guitars and amps than I need to. But they function to me as much more than "a guitar". It's the pure act of making music that I enjoy, and at its roots, that's probably a pretty primitive satisfaction. But I go to my guitars for a lot of different reasons that are hard to quantify. I find happiness, solitude, challenge, freedom - a whole list of emotions, and sometimes escape from different emotions, in my music, and I can't put a dollar sign on that.

I've got a buddy that has several vintage muscle/sports cars in his collection. We've been buddies since college, 27 years. It's a nice collection he's built up over the years, and it's never taken away from any other aspects of his life. He took a look at my gear a while back and commented "Holy crap! What do you need all this for?" So I explained to him just what I'm saying here, and besides, all my gear doesn't equal the cost of what he's got in any single car he owns. Case closed. Some guys have different hobbies/collections than others.

I've got guitars that don't come out from under the bed very often, but when they do, it's like rekindling an old friendship - I can't really put a price on that.

And I can pretty well guarantee that at 51 I'll never be recording or on stage.

But that doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that I'm happy with what my music represents to me, and I guarantee you I'm as excited as any 15 year old can get when I'm working a lick or new song and can finally master it.

In the same vein - I've written a few songs and am working to put the guitar against them. I get the same satisfaction and the same emotions out of writing as I get from playing - the satisfaction/emotions just come in a different way. I'm sure not spending all the hours I do writing in an attempt to get published.

So - to make a short story long - invest whatever time/money into your gear as you want that makes you happy. If you want a twin humbucker, you can afford it and it's not taking away from other important areas in your life, I say go for it! (Never come to me to be talked out of gear; come to me only if you want to find somebody to support you and the reasons you need something new!)

I'll be interested in hearing what some of the other folks have to say...

RickyD

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Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

With GarageBand you just drag and drop the drum tracks. There are also many sites for free drum samples/loops :

http://ryangruss.com/category/style/funk/

http://www.looperman.com/

http://www.freeloops.com/

Google for more...and good luck!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Find some guys who play and get together to jam every now and then. It doesn't have to be a "band" to be fun. You don't have to be playing gigs for pay to have a good time and learn a lot from other people.

I do some home recording too but nothing is the same as playing with other musicians. Playing with others will make you progress much faster as a guitarist than you would only playing alone, and it's FUN!

Good luck.

I'm sure if you took the total cost of your guitar "investment," then divided it by the number of hours you utilized your capital/time investment it would be a minimal cost. OK finance guy off.

One hour of guitar vs. one hour of psychiatric treatment. Definite incremental cost benefit.

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2015 Epiphone Casino Goldtop
2011 Taylor 814ce
2009 EC Custom Shop Merc Blue
2008 Schecter ATX
1964 Epi Granada E444T
Fender Super Champ XD

here's another sermon from Twelvebar

i think you have somewhat missed your teachers point.

I remember when i was starting out, I had a friend who used to put the point more succinctly, he didn't worry about softening the words to spare my feelings.

"If you are playing by yourself, you are playing with yourself'

Playing alone in your room, you may develop some technical proficiency, but for the most part making music is a social exercise. You need to interact with other musicians. A big part of playing is learning to play with other musicians. nothing will develop your musical senses as much as playing with other people. No two people will be exactly alike, they will approach things differently.

After you reach a basic level of proficiency nothing will benefit your playing, and more importantly the way you think about music and playing, than exchanging musical ideas with other people.

The fun factor goes through the roof. You can make staggering progress when you are having fun.

Most people who play only to lurk in the confines of their bedrooms never develop any ind of creativity, or character in their playing.

You don't necessarily need a gigging band, but i think he is trying to guide you toward playing with, and possibly for other people. Music is by it's nature a performance, a shared activity.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

My slant from, "left field": Playing should be about fun, enjoyment, self-expression, etc. If one is going to evaluate his or her musical history in terms of some kind of debit/credit principle and adhere to it as the axiom of his or her progress, this defeats the purpose and one might as well pack it in all together. As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

I agree with Twelvebar and your teacher. I personally was like you where I keep looking at new gear and wanting to buy new amps and guitars and the lot because I love everything to do with guitars. I still have a list of things that I want to buy but until I become better I am trying to stay away from that. My progress was pretty stagnant but when you learn with others I believe that it does sink in faster. I know that I get thoughts all the time about music that I used to be able to ask my teacher when I first started but having friends to play with and bounce things off of is much better. My goals aren't to play on a stage or anything like that, my goal is to just keep learning and get better at guitar but you'd be surprised how much better it sounds when you're playing Purple Haze with an actual drummer and bassist instead of the guitar parts against air. You sound and feel like a true musician and it drives you to play better and learn more. I would love to have a Mac with Garage Band and maybe that will be enough to get you moving along but I do agree that an hour spent playing with others is worth 4 hours of playing by yourself. You may not be comfortable at first but it is well worth it. I'd suggest at least trying it out.

As far as my investment into guitars, and my return...I've spent more money than I have gotten in return, but I have had a priceless amount of fun on my guitars...

To me, people who get into playing any instrument in order to make money, are playing for the wrong reason...Obviously, do not spend more than you can afford, but the return from my investment is the amount of fun, joy, and pleasure I get from buying them in the first place, and playing them once I have them...And while yes, its nice to make money, there are easier ways to make decent, steady money than being a musician...As long as you enjoy playing, and can keep a roof over your head and gear....As Nike used to say, JUST DO IT...

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

Thanks for the advice and wise words guys. Ive been quick to take action:

1. I didnt buy that new guitar. I can get it any time if i really need it. il leave it for the time being. as you say, i can make plenty of noise with my current gear.

2. I put a post up on a local bulletin board for bands and musicians. Already got a few responses and im currently in arrangements with folks to meet up and do a bit of jamming!

Il update this thread when i have more to update it with, in hope it will help other folk in a similar situation.

Here is my take, Like my brother Ricky D has stated about guitars, I am in total agreement. I buy all my gear for me. I do play out and I record alot. However as a person who loves music ti is about the enjoyment you get from it. So it is all good!
ABS