How much do you play/sing?

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
Being that I can't currently visit my old friends in the Alzheimer's units, I'm probably playing about 10 hours per week, including planning and leading music at church on Sunday mornings.

I hope we can get back to visting the Nursing Homes by September; that will give me a few more hours every week.

I do spend a few hours each week learning new songs from a variety of sources, many that I hear on my Pandora station.
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,956
Reaction score
8,019
Location
Massachusetts
I play/practice only for myself right now. When I'm in school, about 8 hours a week. If not, more. Playing guitar relieves my stress, exercises my brain, and makes me smile. +1 on learning new songs.

walrus
 

Rebosbro

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2020
Messages
838
Reaction score
805
Location
Moseley Va
Guild Total
3
About 12-14 hours a week, but you would never know it. No new songs, but working on soloing. The other guitar player makes me take one each song. I’m to the point where I’m not embarrassed, but want to get to the point where I don’t have to”think” about it. Progress, not perfection.
Paul
 

GardMan

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
5,359
Reaction score
959
Location
Utah
Guild Total
5
With jam on hold, I am playing 6-7 hrs/week these days....
 

Uke

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 1, 2017
Messages
2,127
Reaction score
2,521
Location
Land of Stucco, Pointy Things, Heat and Hurricanes
Guild Total
4
I'm playing a lot by myself lately. I spent 30 years playing in an institutional setting on geropsychiatry in-patient units in two hospitals (kudos to you, Dread). I've definitely had my fill of that, so it's good I'm retired. I am currently spending a lot of time on learning fingerpicking solo jazz pieces. I find they keep my brain in gear. As far as the number of pieces I try to learn I always have the voice of my classical guitar teacher in my head. I once mentioned to him that I would like to get about 10 classical pieces under my belt. He very soberly responded, "if you get three or four down you will have really accomplished quite a bit." Don't know if he was just referring to my skill level, or to every player. Bottom line: I play almost exclusively now for myself -- it calms me and keeps my brain in gear. As with many players, perhaps, sometimes I'm just happy to sit on the sofa with a guitar next to me and strum the open strings -- I find that very calming. I once read a piece about Segovia which opined that since Segovia was a pretty lonely child, his connection with the guitar was inevitable; it is, this person said, the perfect instrument for a lonely kid.
 

merlin6666

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,173
Reaction score
305
Location
Canada .... brrr
Very little these days maybe two to three hours. I work too many shifts and without open mics and weekly jams my motivation to learn new songs has also gone down a lot.
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
Yeah, I find I need to push myself a bit more than usual lately. I'm afraid I will digress otherwise.
 

Rich Cohen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
3,144
Reaction score
2,273
Location
Charlottesville, VA
My playing time is curtailed by research and writing projects I have for my other side -- university teaching. But, that doesn't stop me from continuing to sell and acquire guitars. I'm currently waiting on two: a '94 JV-72 and a '46 Epiphone Deluxe ( a birth year guitar). They'll be arriving later this coming week.
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
My playing time is curtailed by research and writing projects I have for my other side -- university teaching. But, that doesn't stop me from continuing to sell and acquire guitars. I'm currently waiting on two: a '94 JV-72 and a '46 Epiphone Deluxe ( a birth year guitar). They'll be arriving later this coming week.
Well those oughta keep you interested in playing for awhile!
 

Rambozo96

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Messages
1,659
Reaction score
1,192
Location
Texas
Guild Total
5
I made a few attempts here and there. I have pretty much no range whatsoever and the guitar drowns me out pretty easily. Maybe a few times a month.
 

Aarfy

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2020
Messages
226
Reaction score
181
Guild Total
4
I’m every other day - not a great player - mostly rhythm looking at more lead - self taught but I’d say 12-16 hrs per week - love it!
 

spoox

Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 3, 2014
Messages
729
Reaction score
1,480
Since our band hasn't been able to get together since November of 2019, and I continue to write a song every two weeks (and come up with music for our
drummer's found lyrics) I find something has got to give. For me, a song is an irritant like sand to an oyster--I have to get it recorded to get rid of that
#@&**!! pearl (no matter how malformed). Now I have so many tunes stuck in my head I'm forced to write lyrics without the music completely thought out--something I usually don't do. I have a friend who will call me tonight and no doubt talk to 2:30 in the morning--with roughly 4 hours of sleep tomorrow
I'm sure I'll crank out another ditty--lack of sleep seems to have that effect on me. I could record what I have already myself, but it's just not the same--
there's no magic unless were together in Steve's garage. Although without Chuck our drummer it will definitely be weird--whether or not anyone else
showed up, the 3 of us always managed to get one or two songs finished in a day. This year is our 50th. year as a band (with a short 30 year hiatus).
So, mainly I try to run through everything I've written every day on various instruments to see if I can still remember tunes to them from this past year.
Oh, and come up with riffs--I do those and the melody and lyrics, and Steve seems to always come up with the perfect lead parts. And he's that rarest of things: a lead guitarist without an ego...
 

Westerly Wood

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
13,323
Reaction score
6,496
Guild Total
2
I play about 20-30 minutes a day, nothing concrete. No real song, mostly progressions I like if I stumble upon. I mostly meander, let’s say. The ones I like I record and share with you all. The ones I don’t I move on from. There been a lot more of the latter vs the former 😀.

Saturday nights for a long long time I pitch in with a worship band. Lots of old hymns folked down or up depending on your POV. That only lasts like 60-90 mins.
 
Last edited:
Top