Topic: For the musicians on the board

[Burke]

I have been a guitar player for many years. I have enjoyed music of all sorts. Jazz, alternative, classical, bluegrass, celtic, chamber, country, you name it. If it is a good piece of music, I can respect it for that.
During my down time I unfortunatly sold off all my music equipment . This past holiday I went out and bought myself a new guitar, a Epiphone Zephyr Regent, this is more of an archtop jazz style guitar. I have alway stayed away from jazz because it has intimidated the hell out of me. But I am in love with the overall musicianship of it all. But I am learning a little everyday and maybe someday jazz will come to me .

Do other musicians feel torn between the music that challanges them, versus music that moves them?

I would love to play like Joe Pass, but on the other hand I would love to write songs lke U2 and the Cure.
Does anyone else have this conflict?

[benly- ben]

I play guitar, i went through a stage where i was good at playing but there was no eagerness to play it. but now hearing great rock music (rock is my fave) just makes me want to learn it. youll be surprised of how easy some songs are!! im learning sweet child o mine at the moment it is actually really easy and because im still in school  i get taught by a great teacher. this is a great website for tabs and notation for anything! http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ just type the song name in the top.
benny

[SteveD CB500F]

My son plays the tuba professionally. He had a CG125 when he was at school so he counts as a "biker".

His stuff is here:
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/YouTuba/8669838947

There are guitar threads on here as we have some very talented members.

Ben - there's a guy in Berkhamstead (about 20 miles from me) who makes his own bass guitars. Awesome.  His K2 is coming along as well.
http://gaskill.biz/
His username is Bassman_720

[Retro Rocket]

I have been playing for 30 years and when playing live i love to rock, when i am on my own it completely depends on the mood i am in. I mainly play electrics, Les Pauls specifically and i find when you have developed a "style" of your own, it doesn't necessarily suit every type of music i would like to play. I suppose thats why i like to play, there's still a challenge around every corner.....

Mick

[tramp]

the style i play is my style
the hardest thing is finding someone my age to play guitar with

[azuredesign]

I would love to play like Joe Pass, but on the other hand I would love to write songs lke U2 and the Cure.
Does anyone else have this conflict?

I wonder if it has to be a conflict to play more than one bag. I think that being able to play different musical styles well, and even merging them as a stylist has become more common over the last couple of decades. Popular music has embraced a assortment of blended styles which I first remember identifying with Steely Dan, and musicians also seem to have become much more proficient, perhaps due to videos and internet formats that have made sharing info easier. While Joe Pass was a fellow who played amazingly well in different styles within the jazz idiom, guys like Mark Knofler or Robben Ford, or Duke Robillard, or a whole bunch of other guitarists who I can't even think of, have done a great job of just being excellent musicians in whatever style of music they're playing in while maintaining their own identity.

I say just put the passion you have for the music you're playing into your approach and go for it. Don't worry about the category, it's the emotional content, and perhaps the technical or wow factor that'll attract people regardless of what label is attached to the style of music.

[fuzzybutt]

i've been playing off and on since i was 8. i love all sorts of music but these days surf and surf punk as well as bluegrass dominate my playing time. i play the guitar and bagpipes and i'm learning the mandolin.