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[bless]

Hi all,

There's a bad thing happening to my family for quiet a while now. It affects me very much. But what really makes me sad, although somewhat selfish, is how it affects my guitar playing. I can't enjoy playing as much as I used to. Everytime I held my guitar, all i saw is the depressed face of my mother and I couldn't even bring my self to strike a single string. I've even cried one night, for what has happened to my family, but mainly because of bitterness i feel for not being able to play peacefully. I can face almost anything that people could throw at me. But i really can't stand if something keeps me away from playing a guitar.

I know i'm new here, but I have go to get this out of my mind and share it with people who know the precious feeling you have when you play a guitar.

Thank you

[Wolfgang]

Hi bless,
I've had the same feeling sometimes.
What I found out is that in those situations it's better to put away the guitar for a while and concentrate on the other thing happenin'.
It's not good for your guitar playin' if you try to force yourself to do somethin' the inner you doesn't want to do. Guitar is a passion, a way of expressin' yourself, but should come naturally to you: don't force yourself to play if you feel you're not willin' to do it, you'll loose inspiration and motivation.
Once the fire strikes back, you'll find out a desire to play you didn't have before, and that's good.
Hope everythin' will be fine

[EricV]

Hey there,

I can relate to your story. I was going to write an article about a quote I once read in a drum hardware-commercial. The quote was "Live Well. PLay Well"
Because the way you live, the way you feel, definitly affects the way you´re playing.
Some people can even channel negative feelings, like sadness etc., into playing. When I was growing up, I went through a lot of stuff that had me crying or feeling sad and depressed, and after a while, the guitar became some kind of an escape.
Something to pick up to get away from the bad stuff and the sorrow. But if you don´t feel like playing, don´t force yourself.
Try in between, but if you don´t feel like playing, don´t.
I hope you´ll feel better now, don´t lose your hope.
Warm regards
Eric

[Oceano]

I can relate to it too. I have gone, and go through those feelings sometimes. That's part of life, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it from happening, therefore, you have adjust to it the best way you can.

Put the guitar down, for whatever amount of time it takes. I sometimes put the guitar down for a day or two on purpose, and find that when I come back to it, I am hungrier for it, and believe it or not, I think my playing actually gets better.

It's not quantity (time spent playing/practicing), but quality (how/what you play/practice) that is important.

Another thing you can do, is use the way you are feeling, as an inspiration. Write some dark sounding melodies, progressions, some sad song, etc. Something that captures how you feel. Some slow blues sounding stuff (maybe).

When I am sad, I find that I can't play fast stuff, or very technical stuff. So If I do play guitar in those periods, I find myself mostly playing very slow depressing stuff (which also has it's place in music).

Cheers man.

[bless]

I'm begining to hear melodies in my head again. I'll go to my room, plug my gears and i'm gonna let all i'm hearing in my head flow out through my fingers. I saw my mother smile again this morning. I hope it was a sign that everything wil turn out OK.

I Thank you all very much for sharing with me.