Why Do You Play?

[peter]

I’m watching concert clips and music videos with my wife and here’s the truth. Since I was a little boy,  I’d hear music that inspired me, and I felt compelled to play. I’m sitting here with pain in my wrists from tendinitis that stopped me from being a musician posting on a site dedicated to playing music. I can’t go and play with other musicians anymore and I cannot express how much I miss that. The closest I can come is playing simple music I can record. It’s not impressive. A part of me that’s still a perfectionist musician feels like, why bother when I can’t play even marginally well. But there’s something kind of spiritual that happens when you get caught up in playing. It’s indescribable. One of those things you can’t explain, you can only experience.

Funny,  when I was a working musician,  so many of the guys I played with told me they played to be popular with girls. I started music lessons at 3 1/2 and music was like a second language in our home with our musician, music teacher mother and my three fellow musician siblings.

Three years ago, when I told my then HS age son I was going to attempt to play and record some songs. He asked me why. I explained that even though I knew my tendinitis and 20+ years without practicing have left me with the chops of a cat walking across a piano, I wanted to record a song I wrote for him and what he means to Mt life. But I also wanted to experience the thrill  you get from getting lost and inspired by music.

That’s what led to this site. My being a musician was never about money or the opposite sex or fame. It was always about the ability of music to move me in a very spiritual and unique manner. I’d love to know why others here do it and how they see the role making music plays in their life.

Your friend who keeps the beat. I suppose I'm also the chef at this place.

3

[bapu]

I play because I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan (I just turned 11 the day they landed in New York) and I knew I wanted to “that”.

At first, I was leaning towards the drums. Ringo seemed the coolest to me.

Then 2 years later I was gifted a very cheap acoustic guitar and a Mel Bay book from an older cousin. That did not go well, self learning.

Then for my 14th birthday I asked for an electric guitar and amp. I fortuitously  met up with a old class mate who was playing drums (he knew one basic, what we would call country today) and he was working with a guy who was on guitar and he gave me some “guitar tab” books and I was off the rails.

At 16 I was realizing I was never going be Jimi or Eric so I looked at alternatives. Drums and and Hammond organ were just too much to carry around, so I switched to bass.

Livin’ the dream since then.

 

My name is Ed. I Am still bapu though. My Studio

Virtual Bands: Citizen Regen, The Forum Monkeys,  Fizzy Pickle, The Coffee House Band

3

[peter]

On bapu said

I play because I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan (I just turned 11 the day they landed in New York) and I knew I wanted to “that”.

At first, I was leaning towards the drums. Ringo seemed the coolest to me.

Then 2 years later I was gifted a very cheap acoustic guitar and a Mel Bay book from an older cousin. That did not go well, self learning.

Then for my 14th birthday I asked for an electric guitar and amp. I fortuitously  met up with a old class mate who was playing drums (he knew one basic, what we would call country today) and he was working with a guy who was on guitar and he gave me some “guitar tab” books and I was off the rails.

At 16 I was realizing I was never going be Jimi or Eric so I looked at alternatives. Drums and and Hammond organ were just too much to carry around, so I switched to bass.

Livin’ the dream since then.

 

Well that is why you started playing. I’m most interested in why you keep playing. I am really interested, probably because of my own experience of not being able to perform with other musicians anymore and really, not being able to play well anymore, and yet I still have this really strong desire to play. And a lot of us are older. We’re not dreaming of being a rock star anymore. That world doesn’t exist and even when it did, once you hit 40, those hopes were over (or should have been). So for me, it’s this unstoppable desire to play to express myself and get completely absorbed in a song that compels me even when my body is fighting it. What is it at this age, Ed, that makes you pick up that guitar (or bass) and play, just like yesterday (intentional Who quote)? That’s what I’d like to know. For reals.

Your friend who keeps the beat. I suppose I'm also the chef at this place.

[MagicRuss]

I started playing because I thought Jimmy Page and Angus Young were cool.

I kept playing because It kept me going.

31

[timboalogo]

I think I started playing guitar because my best friend played guitar and drums. His drums were these cardboard snare-shaped things that he managed to make sound like drums.

My first guitar (Degas) cost $100 Cdn in 1975. I somehow learned to play it, not realizing there were such things as minor chords. I went to a catholic school that had money for religious education, but not for music. The guitar ended up in my sister’s garage for 20 years, along with the tuner and a crucifix or two.

Fast forward 20 years. My kids got a Casio keyboard for xmas. I commandeered it because it could make Pink Floyd-like sounds and I  learned that it too had minor chords embedded in it.

Then I realized that the Casio’s keys lined up with the guitar fretboard. 20 years were wasted, but I haven’t looked back.

My daughters all can read music cuz they played in band in public elementary and public high school. They like a wide range of music, from classical to Taylor Swift, but can’t stand most rap stuff cuz of the awful lyrics that Frank Zappa fought for.

I wish I could read music. And that Frank was still with us.

4

[peter]

On timboalogo said

I think I started playing guitar because my best friend played guitar and drums. His drums were these cardboard snare-shaped things that he managed to make sound like drums.

My first guitar (Degas) cost $100 Cdn in 1975. I somehow learned to play it, not realizing there were such things as minor chords. I went to a catholic school that had money for religious education, but not for music. The guitar ended up in my sister’s garage for 20 years, along with the tuner and a crucifix or two.

Fast forward 20 years. My kids got a Casio keyboard for xmas. I commandeered it because it could make Pink Floyd-like sounds and I  learned that it too had minor chords embedded in it.

Then I realized that the Casio’s keys lined up with the guitar fretboard. 20 years were wasted, but I haven’t looked back.

My daughters all can read music cuz they played in band in public elementary and public high school. They like a wide range of music, from classical to Taylor Swift, but can’t stand most rap stuff cuz of the awful lyrics that Frank Zappa fought for.

I wish I could read music. And that Frank was still with us.

When I was a working drummer, I was constantly compared to Neil Peart, because I was strong on technique and would often do fast fills on my toms. But the drummers I really was most strongly influenced by were Vinnie Coliauta, Billy Cobham and Mike Clark (the last two are jazz drummers). Vinnie played with Frank. Frank used to refer to Vinnie as “another fine Italian.” I too miss Frank. I’m a huge fan of independent thinkers and non-conformists, and Frank was certainly strong on both counts. While I grew up reading music — it’s been so long since I stopped playing that I haven’t even attempted to try. A lot of rock, funk, pop and R&B players can’t read music either. Now, you wrote about how you started playing — which is interested, of course, but I was looking for why you play today. For instance, I used to play semi-professionally. But now, with tendinitis, that will never again be an option. I originally started attempting to record to get good enough to record a song I wrote for my son when he was a toddler about how much he’s meant to my life. Since I’ve recorded that, I suppose I could stop now! 😉

So, the big question for everyone is, why do still play today? What motivates and inspires you to play?

Your friend who keeps the beat. I suppose I'm also the chef at this place.

1

[Old Joad]

I play for the love of it, and therapy. It’s cool to have something deep to retreat into.

3

[thesteven]

Why do you play?

Because other hobbies, wild women, drugs, etc. have all failed to quench that inner fire that drives me to spend excessive time, energy and money in pursuit of a dream that was kindled when I was a preschooler listening to the radio in our kitchen, watching my mom singing and dancing to the music as she worked the kitchen.
I seek to become one of the wizards who craft stories and dreams out of words and music.
After all these years all I can say is that at best it’s still a work in progress…

At least the pursuit functions as a kind of therapy and helps keep me sane.
Though as a guitar player it’s often frustrating how much time I have to spend just trying to maintain my chops.

3

[peter]

@thesteven I think a kind of therapy is a big piece of it for me too. I’ve been playing piano since age 3, so it became a place I went to express myself ever since then, regardless whether I was a kid, a working musician, or a dad who still wants to rock!

Your friend who keeps the beat. I suppose I'm also the chef at this place.

1

[jude77]

Like Bapu, I started playing because I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan at age twelve and they totally blew me away.  I begged my mother for a guitar and she finally caved in and got me one with Green Stamps.  I think it was made out of cardboard and Elmer’s glue.  That was about 60 years ago.  I keep playing because it resonates with something deep inside me.  My skill has really diminished over the years due to an Essential Tremor in my right hand and arthritis in my left but I still keep playing because, even though it sounds dreadful, it’s remarkably satisfying emotionally.

1

[timboalogo]

Sorry I didn’t answer that part!

I play because there is always music in my head and 20 years ago with Sonar Home Studio I was finally able to get that music out. I haven’t stopped since.

1

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