Saturday 26 February 2022

What's happening February 2022

I've hit a practise low. I have finished my arrangements for Cream - White Room, Dragon - Rain, Bob Dylan - It's All Over Now Baby Blue, Queen - I Want to Break Free and I am not happy with my ability to play any of them.  I can be a perfectionist and am overly self critical, but normally I can forgive myself,  just create and post.  But this time I seem to be unable to even get any of them to the most basic level of play through that I would expect.  My practise is currently unfocused - we should all be practising intentionally - normally I can wing it through a song with just ad hoc practise - so without focused intentional practise - but not at the moment.  Not sure what the solution is, I'll report back.

Possibly as a result of the above, for the first time in a long time I have thought about playing the electric guitar.  Fingerstyle of course, I'm not a philistine! ;-) The only electric guitar that I have ever owned, which my mum bought me when I was 16, does the job but I've never really enjoyed playing it fingerstyle.  One recording exists of me playing it on youtube, a long time ago, 2007. I feel that a telecaster is the right guitar for fingerpicking, it seems like a simple unit with no fancy floating bridge making it go constantly out of tune, but I've never tried one.  As if by magic, Joe Robinson played one for his first song on his previous livestream and as much as he nailed it, I just didn't like the sound!  I think one of the reasons I am considering an electric is because my touch has become so heavy, I need to restrict myself by playing an instrument that demands a light touch.

There's a lot to unpack in all that, but I think I'll go play the guitar instead.  I've got a bunch of songs to record!

JAW