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Why do you play guitar?
For fun (stress relief - study) 60%  60%  [ 43 ]
For the Ladies/Dudes (I need all the help I can get) 7%  7%  [ 5 ]
For the money (now or in the future - I love it) 4%  4%  [ 3 ]
For the money (I've lost my passion) 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
For the fame (I'm an attention seeker) 10%  10%  [ 7 ]
I think guitars are pretty (I'm a collector) 14%  14%  [ 10 ]
What is a guitar? 1%  1%  [ 1 ]
How dare you make a post on my forum and force me to read it! 4%  4%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 72
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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:46 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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For fun, sex, drugs, and rock and roll!

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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:39 pm
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White Dog wrote:
Deluxe Matt wrote:
It would be cool to be a young player with all the information and advantages of the internet and accessible gear that today's young players have.

Advantages today for all ages. Now we have the capability of going on the internet, and browse through pictures, videos, specifications, and descriptions of instruments and effects pedals, etc... to see if one is even interested in pursuing said item, before driving to the nearest guitar/music store to actually try one out for ourselves. Big advantage indeed! Especially at todays gas prices---save gas on GAS.


The disadvantage today is that everybody wants to play guitar, but nobody wants to listen to guitar.

Back when I was younger, you couldn't get a guitar and amp for the same price as a school book. Now, it's not something people save up for, and everybody has one, and knows at least the cowboy chords and a Clapton riff or two.
And you have tabs, which is pretty much the guitar equivalent of paint-by-number.


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:01 am
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:45 am
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Location: Finland
I play guitar on mondays and other days; sometimes like here:
http://maihinnousu.net/s/23279


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:05 am
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Aspiring Musician
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arth1 said:
Quote:
The disadvantage today is that everybody wants to play guitar, but nobody wants to listen to guitar.

Back when I was younger, you couldn't get a guitar and amp for the same price as a school book. Now, it's not something people save up for, and everybody has one, and knows at least the cowboy chords and a Clapton riff or two.
And you have tabs, which is pretty much the guitar equivalent of paint-by-number.
Absolutely true! It is also why Craigslist (in my little area of the U.S.) is jam packed full of cheap guitar "starter kits".
People of all ages, THINK they wanna play guitar or bass, and buy these Squire/Epiphone/Ibanez/Yamaha/Dean kits that come with a strap, tuner, 10 or 15 watt Solid State amp, and some times instructional CD or book, for around $200.00; and then 2 weeks later they post the equipment for sale with the terms "hardly ever used", "lost interest", and/or "comes with original packaging" somewhere in the ad.

There is nothing wrong with these cheap "starter kits" mind you; everyone with a PASSION, and a small paycheck deserves a chance at a start---my problem is the flood of the 'used' market with them after Bobby or Suzy decides in a day or two, that they'd rather just keep playing Halo on their Xbox or Play Station.


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:10 am
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You left out, "It's an addiction."


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:01 am
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From first picking up a guitar at 11 till today at 53, it really has always been for the sheer love of the instrument and making music.I knew some really talented players through the years and when they didn't make it with their band they just stopped, got a job, married and raise a family. I have done all of those things but outside of medical isues a few times related to my hands never stopped playing and still get the same rush when I do.


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:04 pm
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For fun, and to do something creative.

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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:31 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 5:28 pm
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Location: So far out there, it's unbelievable!
I play because I love to hear the sounds I can make! Most of the time it is very pleasing (to me) and it is the way, only I, can play! Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that I am the greatest player by any stretch, but I do love to hear the sounds I can make.
Many years ago it was with a folk group onstage which really enhanced the sound. Finally got the Strat I had always wanted about 8 years ago which totally sparked my interest again.
And the sounds?
Well, you know. :D

Cheers
Gridlok


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:48 pm
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because I just have to. it's me.


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 8:54 pm
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Whoa - now the poll looks totally out of whack with the new UI.
i can't even begin to describe what I see, but several pages of white-grey gradients with some numbers interspersed doesn't really tell us much about the poll.

QA. It's not just for guitars.


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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:09 am
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 9:28 am
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Location: UK
I Play for the fun of it, I was 11 when I started and totally S**T at sport (I Still Am) :roll: So it was good to have something else to turn to. :D I have been in a few bands but just enjoy jamming and laying a few tracks down when i fancy.

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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:16 am
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Drubbing wrote:
Ladies? I've been married decades, I can't even impress the wife any more...
Fame? What, and be down there with Kim and Miley?
Money? Only if people end up paying me to stop.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:12 pm
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Location: Sackville, New Brunswick
I think I started when I was about 15, with an impossible-to-play (warped neck, no truss rod adjustment) acoustic guitar my parents bought me, from Sears or some such. At 17 or so I got an electric bass and started jamming with like-minded friends in my basement. We even played in front of people once, for a teen dance at the community hall.
Ooh, I wish I still had that black-face Princeton Reverb. (not that it was very good for bass)
(time passes)
I spent a good many years up North, where you had to learn how to provide your own entertainment. I went through an acoustic bluegrass and celtic phase.
(more time passes)
I'm uh ... let's see ... almost 62 now. My fingers are really slow, and my coordination and memory keep me from being brave enough to play in front of people. If they notice me, I mess up and have to start the tune over. I tell people I only play guitar in the shower.

At any rate, few years back, I rediscovered Surf, Space, Spy, and Spaghetti Western instro guitar. I got me a Strat and a Line 6 Pocket Pod headphone amp. I could turn it up to 11 without disturbing anybody else. I plug in my iPod touch and jam along with a playlist (classic and retro rock, industrial, alternative/indie, and New Wave) or else streaming music from an internet radio station. (Australia? Dakar? Kathmandu? Pakistan? Mongolia? - there's some real interesting music out there.) This usually happens late at night, sitting on the couch.
I still suck at it, but once in a while I'll get in the zone and hit a few good notes in a row, and in my fantasy world, I sound great and fill the stadium. That's all that matters.
More recently I got an Epi Les Paul "Studio", and I'm very happy with that too. The Strat is all white with a maple fretboard, and the Les Paul is all black with a rosewood fretboard. There's a whole good&clean vs evil&dirty, grownup music vs rebellious punk kid music thing going on, and I switch back and forth as the mood moves me.

I don't really think too hard about what I'm actually playing, so it's really a kind of meditation. If it works right, I'm what I call transported, and taken out of the mundane world. A good novel, movie, music, or sunset can to do this for me too.
A few days ago, the fit came on me to get a Mustang I V.2 amp, and I prefer the sound I get, even through the headphones. Maybe the input has more headroom or better modelling, or something. I might eventually play it out loud if everybody else is out of the house. Don't hold your breath.

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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:23 am
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Post subject: Re: Why do you play guitar?
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:45 pm
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Yea...I think I need an "other" option there as well and even with the current selection, 2 choices really weren't enough.

Yes, I think guitars are "pretty"...love looking at them, love holding them, love playing them. And while I don't really consider myself as such, since I do have around 30, I guess you could consider me a "collector" as well. That said, there is something about (most of) my guitars...that little whisper in my ear that says "play me". If it were as simple as aesthetic or collector considerations, I would likely be content to lock them all in hermetically sealed glass cases and just stare at them all day, but there is something more there that drives me to play.

Yes, I do play for the money...at least publicly...however that is by no means exclusive in any sense. In short, I consider myself to be an "entertainer" and when I'm doing a show, I am providing a service. Like being a photographer or DJ or anything else of that nature, I do expect to be reasonably compensated for that service. Sometimes it's little more than pocket change...the terms are often negotiable...however I do expect to be payed for doing a gig.

Yes, I do play...to some SMALL degree...for the attention. At nearly 50 years old, no I'm not doing it for the whole "rich and famous" thing...if it happens, hoo-ha, but I'm not counting on it. That said, as an artist, I would be less than honest if I were to say that I didn't enjoy the attention. There just isn't anything quite like the feeling I get when we play a crowded room and everyone's really diggin' the tunes...it's arguably the best natural high there is.

Yes, I do play for fun...both for stress relief and to some degree even as a study, but mostly just because I do enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. Which leads me to...

I play guitar because it's simply part of who I am. Perhaps it's just that I'm an artist and have that innate need for self-expression and the need to "create" and playing music is one (very significant) way of filling that need or maybe it's just that passion I have that requires an outlet. Perhaps it's because I was raised with music (Mom played a little, Grams played, several Uncles played...) and I was lucky enough to be encouraged from an early age (Dad bought my first guitar for me when I was only 4). Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm a great lover of music in general...from some of the earliest "composers" such as Hidigard Von Bingen to later composers such as Mozart, Debussy and Wagner to Glenn Miller to Robert Johnson to Chuck Berry to Clapton, SRV and Pink Floyd and soooooooo many more, I -LOVE- good music! Maybe it's this love of listening to music that drives me to play myself. Perhaps it's even something more ethereal...that something that goes beyond words. Regardless of the reason however, for those times in my life when I've gone without playing for any period of time, I'm just NOT the same person (and my wife and others have said as much). Without music and without playing, there is an emptiness to my being that simply leaves me as a lesser person.

In my life I've worked as a machinist, I've held retail and managerial positions, I've worked as a cook, I've delivered pizzas, I was a computer technician for a few years etc., ad nausium, but what I am is a musician. Whether I'm playing to a capacity crowd at a local club, jamming with some buds in someone's basement or simply sitting on the side of a river on a sunny day with my dogs and an acoustic, playing guitar (and playing music) is simply who I am.

- and I like who I am :-)

Peace.


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