Who here /terrible at their instrument/?
>tfw guitar
>tfw forgot how to read music because you would just play the same songs forever and not learn anything new
>tfw can't remember chords
>sloppy guitar player
>fuck up at least once in a set
shit sucks but its my fault for being lazy.
>tfw synth
>tfw you just get your Chinese roommate to program it for you
>>60306248
program what? patches?
I was the same with piano but I bought a little adult beginners book 2 months ago and its really easy to re-learn
>>60306299
I don't even know senpai, I just tell him to make it sound squelchy and he does it for me
>used to be terrible
>got serious & learned all the widely used patterns & shapes
>still not the best but it's a lifelong journey
>>60306187
>guitar
I wouldn't say I'm terrible but I feel like I should be better than I actually am for how long I've been playing (6yrs). Also I haven't learned a cover in years, all I do is riff off half baked ideas and noodle around for a few hours everyday. I mean I have fun and I think most of what I come up with sounds good to me but I lack the motivation/focus to develop any of my stuff into anything I'd feel comfortable putting out into the world, and I'm much to insecure to find a band to jam with
>tfw its what I love doing the most in this world (other than shitpostung obv) but it will might never amount to anything more than a selfish masturbatory activity
I've been playing since I was in like 3rd grade and I'm a 20 and a half year old and I still can't play good because I'm lazy and impatient always have been, and this affected my learning of guitar as well as piano and drums in that I only ever learned what was essential to me and my "songwriting" (which pretty much usually ends up being me improvising to some extent for too much of the time) and I didn't learn much else. Of course with guitar I've still improved but not like conventionally, I essentially have tought myself guitar over the last few years of my life since I was too young and impatient to do my guitar teacher's homework (who was an awesome guitar teacher and a major inrfluence on me). However all of this said I have always been developing my music writing skills and I think I do just fine. It's helped me come to really develop my own playing style, and that mixes especially with the music from my head.
>>60306445
>"oh my gosh anon you play guitar? play me something!"
>"nah I don't really feel like it"
>"come on, please?"
>play something I wrote
>"oh that was cool I guess, uh do you know any jack Johnson?"
everytiem
>>60306619
I hate it when people ask you what songs you know when you have never cared enough to learn other songs as much as you should
>14 years on saxophone
can't solo for shit, tone is okay, could read music kinda above average, currently learning heads I like by ear, not practicing, no fake/real book (no money)
>6 years on drum set
still rush and drag, can't connect ideas that well, still fuck up, keep it basic, trying to learn jazz, never owned a kit, always played at church, still do, took several lessons, decent technique
>4 years on acoustic guitar (my best skill)
decent singer and somewhat savvy with jazz chords
>1 year on electric guitar
can't solo for shit, don't know the fretboard, took several lessons, barely got anywhere even past maj and min scales which I still fuck up
I guess I'm at an okay spot but when I see my friend who's 4 years younger than me already killing it at sax with his prodigy-level knowledge of music theory applied to everything he plays on sax and piano (which he also kills) and then I see other people my age killing it on all their instruments, and I can't even jam with them unless I'm on drums and even then it's pretty amateur, I feel like shit and don't even wanna be around musicians but sometimes I see that I'm actually really lucky I guess and I'm doing okay for a multi instrumentalist
>>60306187
accept your role as a bassist.
>>60306310
:^)
>Reasonable clarinetist
>Serviceable alto sax player
>bad trumpet player
>okay guitarist, but I only can play guitar in the sense of "muh chords" so I'm not a real guitarist.
>can not understand flute no matter how hard I try
For the most part (except flute), I'm at the point musically where I can teach myself and improve just fine. My big problem is with memorization. I play open mic nights and occasionally manage to get spots at coffee shops, and people seem to be satisfied with my playing/singing (I'm not), but I always feel like a fucking tool because I bring up a sheet with the chords and lyrics. It doesn't seem to matter how much I play this stuff, it's excruciating to memorize things. How does it work?
Also, unrelated: If you're a flute player - how the fuck do you do it?
>>60308157
I think learning songs by ear make memorization loads easier. I remember back when I used to learn from tabs and chord sheets, I couldn't remember for shit. Now I learn every song by ear. Depending on the song, it can take a few days to learn, but the goal is never to learn it for a gig. The goal is to learn it because you enjoy singing the song or listening to it and you connect with it. I've been playing for 6 years and I tend to sing to myself probably 10-20x more than I do in front of other people. It's therapy. Back when I was trying to learn songs to perform, I couldn't learn for shit.
>>60308157
>tfw I haven't played my clarinet in years because I don't have anyone to play with and I can't into solo playing.
>>60308468
yeah, tabs and chord charts are bullshit and really don't help you do anything but impress people with the one song you knew and then forgot the moment you stopped playing it. learning by ear is way better, plus it gives you a better sense of how the chords are constructed and helps you refine your technique.
>>60306307
hey senpai you wanna link me that book?
i'm trying to get better too ;__;
you all make me sick. C- apply yourself
>you will be a jazz drummer
Fuck this gay earth
>>60308017
and a shit bassist at that
>Guitar 5 years
Can into just about any chord and my improv is decent but my technique isn't top notch and I don't know any arpeggios. I have shit gear too
>Bass 6 years
Had it for a year then stopped playing because I got my guitar. Shit at bass. I only use it because I don't know any halfway decent bass players in my area.
>Piano 1 1/2 years
Not learning very fast because I can't afford a teacher. I use it as a writing tool mainly.
>>60307987
>no fake/real book (no money)
http://www.swiss-jazz.ch/partitions-real-book.htm
Thank me later
>>60308724
There is literally nothing wrong with being a jazz drummer, if anything you will have more freedom to solo than being a buttrock drummer
Anyone know how hard cello is? I want to start learning.
I'm actually really fast at learning instruments but the problem is once I get as far as my natural ability can take me, I can't find the discipline needed to actually practice properly and get me to the next level. So I'm just good at everything and great at nothing.
Anyone ever watched some of Pebber Brown's videos? He shows you the kind of monotonous shit it REALLY takes to be an expert. He's probably about 50 years old and a master at guitar yet he still spends 30 minutes every day just alternate picking on open strings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdoz16LRz9Q
>>60308724
Not really sure what you're trying to say, the best drummers are jazz drummers.
>>60308539
I joined a community band after running into the same problem. It's .... okay. Everyone in the band is an old as fuck manchild, so it makes me a bit afraid because they're my future.
>>60308889
>Can into just about any chord
>I don't know any arpeggios
if you can't into arpeggios you don't into chords as well as you think you do. arpeggios are just all the notes of the chord you can reach.
>>60308958
thing is, if you really want to master an instrument you'll come to your own realizations about everything this guy goes over in the video. I'll play guitar and get lost, then snap back in 30 minutes or even hours later and realize I've been running through the same patterns over and over and over because I really wanted to get it smooth, especially if I'm high. would be totally intolerable on anybody else's ears but I actually enjoy the process a lot
>Tfw Tenor Saxophone
>tfw suck at improvising Jazz chords
>tfw giving up after 8 years of playing
>>60309189
I can play arpeggios if they're in the shape of a chord. But if it's something like pic related I wouldn't know all of these notes off the top of my head in an instant.
It gets even harder when I'm trying to play stuff like Horace Silver where there's stuff like B7#11 and Cm11 and I have to solo over that.
>>60308889
I love you. One day I will track you down anon during the day of your wedding and when the minister says "speak now or forever hold your peace" you know I'll bust through those double doors and propose to you on the spot by playing every single song in the real book in chronological order.
>>60309248
HEY! GET BACK IN THERE!
I'm 14 years at alto, can't improv at all, just got back into it. Of course, I never really appreciated jazz until this past year. Before, it was just about going to jazz band in high school and playing whatever was written out for me. My jazz teacher didn't do shit for us. Didn't even help us appreciate jazz. Serious. He really didn't care.
I inherited a bass and I have legitimately no clue where the fuck to start or what the fuck I'm doing.
The past few days, I've just been fucking around with the strings in order to see what happens.
I'm totally lost, and can't afford lessons.
>>60309358
Double bass or electric? Either way, I could help you get off your feet. I have been playing both for over six years now.
>playing piano for 20 years
>shouldn't have dropped out of classes after learning scales and basic chords.
>still have no idea what chords Im actually playing beyond 1st interval.
>just play what sounds good
>oops hit a bad note
>oops did it again
>ah, that's right, this is the pattern
>better stick to this pattern
>fuck, what was it?
>I'll just switch back to Cmaj
>Blues scale, sure (right hand only, no chords, okay?)
>Played guitar for 6 years
>Join this board three years ago
>Believed that having a varied music taste would help me become a more creative song-writer
>I now have over 100 gigs of albums saved on a hard drive
>Still can't write anything more creative than a few Andrew Jackson Jihad ripoff songs.
When I start messing around with my loop pedal, I can belt out something that sounds slightly competent. Plus I'm starting to force myself to sit down and learn songs outside of my usual comfort zone. So there's that.
>Played bass for 20 years
>Have FT job in orchestra
>Have a bunch of students
>Always fuck up accompaniments because my piano playing is too shit
>No time to practice and git gud
>should have learned piano when I was young and had the chance
>>60306445
>I'm much to insecure to find a band to jam with
Get a loop pedal, or download this freeware drum machine: http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/
Mess around with those things, record your jam sessions, then try to see what parts you like and would want to develop into an actual song.
Also, remember that you're not the worst player out there. There are people much worse than you who are part of bands right now. If they're not insecure about their talents, you don't have to be either.
>>60306445
I think I should learn more songs, but I'll learn one and it's just not as fun as jamming out with scales and making my own shit. I just wanna find someone to play with and give me more ideas
>>60307794
I've only been playing since this past summer, and I find the people that ask me that don't play music themselves
>>60309595
or you could just produce some basic backing tracks in a DAW and play over the top of them. Then you have more flexibility to change them and can easily record things you are happy with.
>>60309684
That works too
>>60309497
I find it easier to write creativley with Guitar Pro or VSTs/MIDI because there aren't any limitations, and then try to figure out how to actually play what you've come up with afterwards
no fucks about any of this really , i always practiced guitar as a kid, ended up a nearly flawless guitar player and kinda hate it when I have to audition other guitar players who suck and cant even tune the fucking instrument. dickfucking hacks. go home and play guitar hero thanks.
>>60306619
It really does feel like it's a Jack Johnson request every time.
>>60306310
If you were in the studio you'd be the producer and him the technician, this is the way they do it in the big time
>>60309909
the normies are running out of musicians they know that play guitar
>tfw watching friends roommate try to learn a jack johnson song through youtube tutorials on his smarphone
>>60310021
True. I recently asked my sisters some popular modern songs that have guitar and they couldn't think of any really. It's fun to play songs where people can sing along! Sadly there's not a lot of that besides awful dance/rap music. It's a shame.
Oh man. Jack Johnson is the simple stuff too. Good entry level stuff desu, and it can be fun sometimes, but I'm just sick of it.
>>60309595
Ya know, i have been seriously considering buying a loop pedal lately for exactly that reason. Also I have been really wanting to learn how to program drums on a daw for jamming over but have never gotten around to doing it. Thanks for the website, I have it bookmarked and will check it out once I get back on my laptop for sure
It's funny that I've been thinking about this stuff lately and have been having doubts but honestly hearing it from some stranger on a Malaysian shadow puppet forum really does help. Thanks bro, really
>>60310021
This is kinda unrelated, but that reminded me of how so many normie musicians I know pull out their smartphones for the lyrics. Makes me feel a little better about myself since, even though I can't pull out a pop song on command, at least I've gotten to know my favorite songs more intimately and know all the lyrics.
>>60310671
>even though I haven't got the musical talent to play the chords required for a pop song on demand I for some banal reason feel like a better musician because I can remember lyrics
