Re: Any Guitar Players, ADD is an up hill battle

[Anonymous]

What a great discussion! I am 56 and have been playing guitar off and on for 40 years. I play several times a week now on my own, every other week with a couple of friends. I learned to fingerpick from playing at parties years ago, put it down until I found that it was fun to sing to my boys when they were really little. It’s a great way to get away from the world for a while. I am learning these days from some of the great dvd’s that come from Homespun Tapes. I have to watch the same small bits forever to learn them but that’s how it goes. I can’t read music and don’t know theory, I know basic chords by letter and what sounds good to me and I wish I knew more theory but to get started I am not sure you need all that. As several people have said, putting in the time is the way to get better. Listen and practice.

I have found that a lot of the ADHD people who struggle like me in so many activities, have been blessed with imagination and creativity that is not always rewarded in school or after. I think that some of my creative, imaginative friends have ADHD but just don’t know it. I love the guitar but wish I had learned piano, I went to one lesson and the lady was intent on making me place my fingers just so…

When I play with other people I find that it is helpful to play songs that I know really well because I don’t learn quickly and I am so distractable that when I hear something that sounds good I forget to pay attention to my own playing and I am lost . My friends understand this, so I just don’t participate when they are doing something with which I am unfamiliar, I am happy to just listen to them play. Some of the songs I play I have been working on since High School so I have played them enough times that they have settled in and I can focus on hearing accompaniment or making small improvements. Playing music relaxes me, sharpens me up and puts a smile on my face. Music for me is right up there with food and shelter.

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