Are you intimidated?

thereshopeyet
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:19 pm
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:54 am

Thanks


willem
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:53 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:09 am

264 views now,,please unknown readers will you respons atleast with some words to this post,,it is very important to know you and how you doing,,,


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:21 am

Tony, we need a new category here called Tony's Thought of The Day. people really respond to your questions and this one is an important one and I'm happy to see Ralph come out of the wings to say hi and put his point of view. Ralph, once you are out there, you're out there so enjoy the ride and let us know a little more about yourself.

Motivation is an issue I spend a lot of time thinking about as a coach. There are two sides to the coin when it comes to seeing a great performance. It can be inspiring and it can be intimidating or show up inadequateness in the viewer's mind. The point being its not the performer, its the viewer's perspective which counts. Its the viewer's repositioning of him/her-self after viewing which is key. If I see a new lesson from Neil and think, hey that's within my reach, good for me I'll move forward (as long as I actually invest the time and practice!). If it looks a bit tricky and like lots of hard work... I'm sure I'll find an easier lesson! Tommy Emanuel is fantastic to listen to and a joy to watch but from the get-go, I know I'm never going to play anywhere like him in this life but that's ok, I can reposition myself as a grateful viewer admiring greatness. All good. Or I listen to John's recent vocals to Daryl's Eagles tune and the coin lands on it's edge this time. I am inspired and a little daunted by what I'm hearing because I know I have a long way to go to match that and I'd better get my recording quality up to speed and understand harmonies a lot better and get some serious vocal practice in! But after 5 minutes that's all good too because I can reposition myself as a fan of John's work and become a pupil striving for improvement and not just someone who's content he can sing a little. I had a video almost ready which I then didn't post because I realised, I can and want to do better. There again, I'll sometimes just impulsively bang out a song I want to share and not be bothered that it's not perfect. I think being unafraid of making mistakes is as important as striving for excellence. In fact it's a big part of getting there.

I enjoy everyone's postings as an act of sharing, connecting and exchanging. There is always something to be learned, I think, and continual self improvement is what its all about. And everyone who posts gives permission for someone else like them to post too. If a beginner posts (s)he makes it easier for another beginner to post because they see they are about the same or even a little better and feel encouraged to come out of the closet. We have a cycle of inspiration going here at TG and evry post gives the wheel and extra push... so post on folks!

PS: Dermot was it one of your videos where I reminded folks to tidy up the room first? Hope I wasn't being rude... I was just thinking of Fred's comment way back when he asked me if it was a giant bong in the background of my video... it wasn't .. and Hollywood makes bigger errors in nearly every film they make. I bet there's a vapour trail in the sky of every western ever made!


ffsooo3
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:35 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:00 am

neverfoundthetime wrote:
.......I enjoy everyone's postings as an act of sharing, connecting and exchanging. There is always something to be learned, I think, and continual self improvement is what its all about. And everyone who posts gives permission for someone else like them to post too. If a beginner posts (s)he makes it easier for another beginner to post because they see they are about the same or even a little better and feel encouraged to come out of the closet. We have a cycle of inspiration going here at TG and every post gives the wheel and extra push... so post on folks!
Chris I totally agree. I feel there is "ALWAYS something to be learned" by the viewers AND by the one who uploads a video. I know my playing and A/V abilities have improved tremendously since I started uploading videos.


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:20 am

Yet another deep question Tony........ You must have entirely too much free time on your hands or else you can't sleep at night.......... ;)

My answer would tend to parallel Andy's for a bit. I have at least 10-12 songs or so that are probably ready to post, but life at the Music Junkie household is a complete whirlwind these days. I have been trying to reorganize my priorities and spend a little less time with my guitar and a little more time with my family.

Now, after saying that, I can honestly admit that I can continue to make up excuses for my lack of posts, or I can admit that, for me, it is a very intimidating prospect. Not really because I am worried about people here at TG saying anything mean, but because I have been a chicken my entire life about this kind of thing. Giving speeches in HS and college were excruciating for me. I get the shakes so bad......pretty sad really...... :laugh:

Mix into the equation my horrible perfectionist traits and it is no wonder I shy away from posting. Nothing is ever right (although when I watch other posts and see minor mistakes, I still think the posts are outstanding - even professional musicians make mistakes). My wife gives me a hard time, cause I can't even pick out gifts for people because I spend too much time trying to find the perfect gift and then run out of time....... :woohoo: :woohoo:

Tony: I will take that list of professional help, if you still don't want it........ B)

Easiest way to cure this problem is to just put it out there though like others have mentioned. Here at TG, you can pretty much count on getting nothing but positive feedback, so for those of us who stand back, we ought to give it a go more often........O.K., who's first??????? I'll stand back and organize the line.......... ;) ;)

J


dennisg
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:34 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:52 pm

Am I intimidated? Sometimes. But I'm not at all intimidated to post, just to post songs that other people are doing, especially when I think my version pales by comparison. An example would be Daryl's wonderful version of Homeward Bound. I saw that and thought that it was so good, I didn't really want to put my version up. It's enough for me to have learned it and to keep at it.

I think part of the reason I choose oddball songs is that there's little likelihood that other people will also be doing them.

One more thing: viewing this from the opposite perspective, I also don't upload songs I think I'm doing better than someone else who has just uploaded the same song. I wouldn't like it if he or she felt bad about the comparison or felt like I was trying to upstage them.


MarkM
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:26 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:53 pm

Tony my man, another insiteful thread you've started here. I learn as much from peoples responses to your questions as I do from their videos. Its great to see folks thoughts as they try to answer your questions. There are alot of pretty talented people here including yourself. Speaking for myself, intimidation has, is and probably will be apart of my daily guitar life. When I first posted a video over a year ago I played a song that I knew pretty well (The Beatles Cry baby Cry) but boy did that camera really rattle me. There weren't too many videos up at that time from what I can remember. The end result was a version that was too fast, clunky, and played too hard (thinking that the mic would never hear me I was wailling on the strings). What I learned though was that this site had some outstanding members. Everyone put me at ease and congratulated me for posting. In addition I got some real good tips on how to make that song sound better. It all worked out.

The camera doesn't intimidate me nor do the oustanding folks here watching it. What I will say is that I put more pressure on myself to grow as a player and put something up here that may surprise a few folks. Yeah I can manage to stumble through some songs that have 4 open chords in 4/4 time and that is all well and good but that is what I've mostly been doing here. I think it was Dennis that gave me the push to try my hand at fingerpicking (that I was intimidated with :laugh: :laugh: ). Well that was exactly what I needed. To have someone else say "Hey I really want to see you try this becasue I think you could do it" was so huge for me. I'm not sure I would have given it nearly as much effort if he hadn't pushed me there. I NEED that push from the members here. It's kind of like a homework assignment for me. So I went out and bought another guitar so I could try and fingerpick. With that investment now I have to do it.

Singing )(#$&#)(&#&Y :angry: :angry: :laugh: :laugh: . Yup that intimidated me. I mean with a voice like mine you have to understand. At first I would try and play a song as best I could and then put the vocals on seperately. I got some great feedback on that, although I think most people were just being nice :) :) . Which is what I needed at the time. Hell I even freaking fingerpicked and sang that John Lennon tune and threw it up here on the site. Although I sang it seperately it was a big TG moment for me as it was something different that folks hadn't seen from me. MarkM trying to fingerpick????? Whoa. Even though it was a simple song and many people here could play it in their sleep it was a first for me.

Singing and playing at the same time??? Well since I can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, hell yeah that intimidated me. Not for any feedback that I'd get but rather from myself. I want to put up a video that I'm somewhat proud of and this was going to be very hard for me to do. So about a week or so ago I put up that Rolling Stones busking thread doing Dead Flowers. The song iteself was fairly easy but to sing it as well took some brain power. The guitar playing was pretty clumbsy and the singing needed improvement but I put it up here anyway as I'd never posted something like that before. The feedback was invaluable.

So that's where I stand now. Intimidation? Hmm. No I would say old fashion nervousness. I get up in front of folks all the time with work and speak on this or that. Sometimes its a breeze and sometimes I'm nervous as hell. It all depends on what's riding on it and who my audience is. The great thing with posting a video is that all the crap can be edited out before I can put something up that will pass. Where I do get nervous is that last 30 seconds of a song that has gone really welll and all I can think about is trying to get the last several measures out clean without screwing it up :laugh: . We've all been there I'm sure.

At the moment I haven't posted much because I'm a bit frustrated as I try and learn new things. I don't want to put up the same type of music for the sake of it. I want to show some form of growth as a player. It's a slow process. As I write this I think I'll post a seperate thread on that.

As for other folks here. I've gotten so much enjoyment and have learned so much from others videos. There is a ton of talent here. Some I watch, who may be beginners, and say I feel your pain. Been there and understand. However the beginners here progress much faster that I ever did because they are learning the correct way. Its really amaziing to see the progression people have here. I'm very envious of that. The vast majority of players are ahead of me on the talent curve and I learn from their videos and get inspiration form them to get better myself.

I think it is obvious by now that peoples fears or intimidation of posting shoudn't be for the type of responses they would get regardless of ablility. We all know that the community here is very accepting and will give great feedback on options to improve or just to say great job. I also understand if people have that perfectionist trait and won't post something because it isn't up to thier internal standard. I've been messing around with Needle and the Damage Done for years and I'm still not happy with it :laugh: :laugh: . The one thing I always say to myself be it at work or here is that no matter how good or bad your performace is, no one is going to take your birthday away. So with that said, throw up your video and lets see what happens...........


MarkM


eagle670
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:45 pm
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:12 pm

No video No intimidation, that's my motto.

Just kidding really. I am probably the only founding member that has never posted a video. Not because I don't feel I am up to it, but mainly because I have crap recording equipment. My playing has improved beyond anything that I had hoped for, just like the rest of you. Singing, well that is another issue. I can sing, but playing and singing is a real trick and those of you that can do that, well I applaud you for it.

I feel like all of us have grown up here together at TG and have matured as guitar players. So intimidated, no, afraid of embarrassment, maybe.

Kevin


NKenny
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:22 pm
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:53 pm

I don't get intimidated by watching some who play and sing well. I may get frustrated when I see others do things that I cant seem to accomplish. But I have learned you can't compare yourself to others. No matter how bad you think you are there will always be people not as good. No matter how good you think you are there will always be people better. If you do you will never be happy with what you can do. I learn and play to entertain myself, I know I will never be on stage entertaining others. I think most of us want to post a video where we have done the best that we think we can. I enjoy all levels of playing on the videos, I learn from some that are good and some that are struggling like myself. If I ever figure out how to record and post I will someday attempt to play and post a video.

One last word, if any of us got intimidated by watching others, we would never pick up the guitar after we watched Neil play. I think he is one of the best, most knowledgeable guitarist there is.

Great post Tony
Kenny


lil40
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:28 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:30 pm

A very thoughtful threat Tony...

My take on things is that yes, it would probably be easy to be intimidated as there are so many fantastic players on here
but then on the other hand everybody ALWAYS answers so nicely and if there is critisism it is positive and gently
presented.

I've not even played for a year and even though not great I'm personally pretty proud of myself with regards to how far
I've got within that time frame :lol: My laptop unfortunately has a terrible camera, everything's very black and I seem
to move in slow motion...

Once I've bought a little proper camera I will upload summin' more as a means to introduce myself properly and also
as a way of showing that there is definitely no hard feeling just because there a people who play at a level I will
probably never reach - it's not their fault that they're great :laugh:

All the best from sunny Spain,

Lil


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic