I've seemingly lost the desire to play...

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Tone Monster

Tone Monster

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It's strange. The wife and kids have been outta town for three nights and I still didn't play. Alarming to say the least. Anyone had a "lull" like this?

P.S. I still have GAS and that's extra dumb if you aren't gonna play. :cry:
 
Yup. I havent played in several months. Gonna sell off my gear. Just keep one strat and pick up an acoustic to keep around. I'm moving forward in my life with other things that interest me more.
 
After working the book store all day I usually tend not to play since my feet hurt, my back kills and my arms are dead... Until I show up to practice not knowing my shit and I feel like a clown...

One thing I notice is after watching a concert on YouTube or something I have an intense urge to play, like I get antsy and just want to play along
 
Harly practice anymore after 25 years. But im constantly working on different projects that make me learn new shit when writing it seems. Havent had a band practice in a month or two and its been heaven!

Breaks are good
 
I had really bad nerve damage in my arm and thought I wouldn't be able to play again because my neurologist was a jackass.

But even after I got better I didn't really want to play because I was worried about more nerve damage....and what's the point of practicing for hours if you can't play in the future?

But I guess that's different than not wanting to play at all. For me it was more like investing in a house I wouldn't be able to live in.

Anyways, I guess you should just do things if you enjoy them.
 
Definitely good to have a balance of interests. Guitar can be pretty intense & the learning curve is infinite & shallow. Learning a musical instrument is, literally, Kung Fu.

I parry my musical interests with playing golf which, equally, has an unreasonably shallow, daunting & infinite learning curve.

So i've found my niche by dedicating my free time to several punishingly difficult activities. Invariably, i get fucked off with one in favor of the other & "thus the balance of life is maintained".
 
Tone Monster":2shh8i5m said:
It's strange. The wife and kids have been outta town for three nights and I still didn't play. Alarming to say the least. Anyone had a "lull" like this?

P.S. I still have GAS and that's extra dumb if you aren't gonna play. :cry:
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Normal.

Playing takes effort and when you're in a slow/non playing cycle you're still likely reading forums looking at pictures of gear.
 
I went through a stretch between 2008 and 2013 where I could count maybe 8 or 9 times I sat down and played... It stemmed from a major disappointment of missing out on a record deal because of issues within the band. I put everything in the closet and pretty much stopped playing all together. What revitalized my love for playing was getting the call to play BASS of all things, for Full Blown Chaos this past September for a couple shows in NY and MA... Now I can't put my guitar down and am constantly looking at new gear... My case may be a little extreme, but I've seen the desire go away temporarily in many many of my musician buddies over the years. Sometimes it's better to take a little bit of a break than push yourself when you just aren't into it... It can only make things worse.
 
Sitting around playing gets boring.........get together with some buds and brews and crank it up and rip through some stuff. That's what's fun about playing rock guitar. :)
 
Maybe the desire will come back. I usually play WAAAAY more when the weather gets cold (less things to do). It just hasn't happened this winter. Weird.
 
I took a 8 year break when my son was born 26 years ago. Now I sometimes take a week off if I have other things going on. Keeps my interest up. Don't worry about it.

MrHIwatt
 
I take years off at a time...when I lost my job and was out of work for 8 months I didnt even look at a guitar because I felt guilty....then had a ton of personal crap go down with my kid and stopped playing for years until just recently that got settled and I quite literally picked it up again because I spent a few weekends at James Lugo's house and got the bug a little bit...

I still absolutely suck, so I am sure I will get frustrated and stop again here in a few months...:D (Its hard being a beginner when you are 40+ years old and cant really jam with anyone...guys my own age play a LOT better than me so its intimidating and embarrassing all at once and beginners are like 15 years old so they dont wanna hang with an old geezer like me and also have no interest in the music I like, you know...actual good rock and roll...LOL...plus there isnt a lot of time to invest when you have a real job and real responsibilities) I wish I could have picked it up as a kid, but I grew up with a house of 6 kids and strict parents who didnt even want me in the house at all, let alone making a ton of noise (kids are to be seen only at the dinner table and NEVER to be heard..we werent allowed in the house 90% of the time and were told to go play baseball, basketball, football with brothers or our friends, vice sitting at home playing Atari...not that it was a bad thing when I look back...) so I didnt pick up a guitar til I was in my mid 30's. I guess I could have grabbed one during the 12 years I was in the Marines, but I was REALLY busy in that time frame and spent at least 5 years deployed...so yeah, always loved guitar and music but didnt pick it up until way late in life. Initially jumped in with both feet and learned a lot, so much so it was probably a big reason for my divorce...:D

Even when I am not playing though, I still buy and sell them all the time...:D...keeps me distracted from all the crap going on...although not so much lately since its easy to buy but a class 1 A bitch to sell....
 
Tone Monster":3h9kgdlo said:
Maybe the desire will come back. I usually play WAAAAY more when the weather gets cold (less things to do). It just hasn't happened this winter. Weird.
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Of course it will. Whatever it is, something is telling you to give it a rest. And, this is exactly what you should do. In fact, don't feel guilty about it...just go do other things and totally forget about playing for a while. One day, you'll really start to get the bug again. I once took a two year break. I was just very uninspired. During the break, I even tried to pick it up a couple of times but it wasn't going anywhere. So, I just put it back down. Then finally, I just started to get the urge again. And, even then I put it off a bit. Each day, I began to think about it more and more. Then finally, I was back on the horse again. This was back in like 2005-2007. I have a couple of lulls here and there from time to time, but that was the longest for me. I play almost everyday nowadays.
 
I go through that a lot, and I have found that if I force myself to play I don't enjoy it, so I just let my gear sit there, and if I find the desire/motivation to play I will. I have been a bit down lately with my house taking a long time to sell, and my motivation to play has been somewhere between zero to none I haven't even been listening to much music. I have just been reading books, and watching TV. I am not worried about it because I know that once the stress of selling my house is done, and I have moved on to the next chapter in my life I will pick up my guitars again.

Ultimately to me the guitar is a hobby that makes me happy. Some of the enjoyment is from playing with gear, and some from playing the guitar. If I force myself to do either I will not enjoy it, and will probably long term play less, so I just go with the flow.
 
Tone Monster":3agfiggo said:
I still have GAS and that's extra dumb if you aren't gonna play. :cry:
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I thought I was the only one. I think I tell myself that I would play all the time if I had some gear (all I've got is an heirloom acoustic) but I don't really play much now as it is.

But I'm going to keep telling myself that I would play more if I had some gear...because I have no other way of salving my GAS :doh:
 
I feel for ya. If the passion isnt there, what can you do? Stepping away may be a good thing? I personally still play almost every day after 35 years and I still love it. I played in the same band for 25 of those years and we finally split up about 8 months ago, so its kinda strange not going to band practice, but i rip it up on the couch anyway! I figure im gonna play till I cant play no more. My arthritis is getting worse every day and I know there may come a time that I physically cannot play any longer, so I figure I might as well enjoy it while I can.
 
Lately i havent been playing very much and it pisses me off. The end of october my landlord lost the house i was renting to foreclosure. The bank sold it at a auction and for a couple weeks i was stressed out trying to find another place and i kinda lost the urge to play, then we was blessed to find a new place and moved in on december 1st and just been trying to get settled. Next is xmas and dealing with shopping, so there just hasnt been much time to play and the few times i have had a chance to play i been really tired. I still have a bunch of things to do at the new place but hopefully soon i will be able to relax and play again everday like i used to.
I picked up my guitar for 20 min last night and it wasnt fun and just didnt feel like it.
 
Being in several bands, I have no choice but to continue to play even when I don't feel like it...too many other people rely on our gigs for income so I can't just quit with a clear conscience. That said, I've been in a "guitar funk" for some time now...it's become more work than play.

I'm considering working on a solo album on the side to keep my interest/enthusiasm going.
 
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