Any Guitar Players, ADD is an up hill battle

[Anonymous]

Well Ed2020….”is there anything better than that”…….hmm…… not with your clothes on!!!!!! Hahahahahah. Sure stay on it 2020, I’m sixty and gig and love it. Blues and school rock and roll and rock-a-billy are my thing….everything came from blues anyway. you learn that you can move on to whatever you want. It was the late great Ray Charles that said…. you can sing and play blues….you can play anything!!!

Here is how it goes though: first find the gig, noon pick up the rented PA, drive X miles to the gig, set up later that afternoon, do sound check, go for supper, start at 9: 00…play (4 sets of 10 tunes each) until 1:30, tear down, pack up, drive home X miles home, unpack all the gear, hump it into my basement, next day get up and take the rented PA and bins back. We do it all for $1,500 per night and we are not cheap….. trios play for much less.. We are a six piece band….you figure it out??? I don’t do it for the money!!!

No idea what a Fretlight guitar is. A guitar to me is very personal…. screw what anybody says is the best. It has to feel right to you when it hangs around your neck and when it sits in your lap. The neck has to feel good in your hands…they are all different. Most shops allow people to try guitars for a week and change them out try another and another until you find the right one…..any good shop anyway. Same with amps…if it’s a good shop. I prefer off-shore guitars, I’ve had expensive Fender Custom Shop guitars but I prefer and play a Epiphone, Semi-hollow body, Sheraton, with hot-rod Gibson Humbucking pick-ups thru a Peavy transtube with a second 12inch slave cabinet. The sound is gritty and smooth and puts the boutique rigs to shame!!! blah blah blah

I get carried away….. it’s one of my passions for sure. Like I said I would put the theory down… or read it as you maybe need to. But it’s not required for sure not to just have fun……

Can I ask what do you want to play???? What type of music??? Give me a song??? Oh ya a good tablature site is for most rock. blues and pop tablature is…… ultimateguitar.com. Use your browser type in ultimate guitar.com it has a search engine in it, or type in tablature – the name of a song and the band, likely it will come up. Also “songster” shows tablature for songs in real time or slow time along with an electronic accompanyment. Woooohoooo

Ripping off a solo is where the ADD people shine, we can think so far ahead and react quickly that when you are in the midst of a solo your RIGHT THERE!!!! It’s the best!!!! We play again this Sat night…sixty miles from home….I’m pumped!!! Eddie and the House Rockers… we have facebook somewhere my Bass man takes care of that, check it out!!!!

toofat (just another blue stringer )

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[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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[Anonymous]

I hear you new strings.

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[Anonymous]

Piano Ed2020???? I’ve been teaching myself to play piano over the last 8 to 10 months, it’s coming fine. I’m not stage ready with piano, maybe never will…. but… that doesn’t matter I have a chick playing piano in my band so that’s covered. Point is… once you have one instrument down and understand how to make a chord, progressions and know those two scales I mentioned previously….it is simple….or shall I say simpler….. to move from instrument to instrument.

Remember……learning specific chords and songs will take forever to move forward on….so best learn the generic chords they are universally applicable to all songs and all music. The bar chords. I have taught people (friends) to play enough to have fun in a very very short period of time.

Get one instrument down the rest will fall. Stay with it man…you will be giging someday in the club!!! Make the dream real.

I’m outa here……..I’m off to play for a bit…..

toofat

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[Anonymous]

I began playing in the early 1970s, when along with everything else I got M.S. But my doctor said to keep playing the guitar and typing on my manual typewriter. Today I have much stronger hands than I used to. Instead of having a problem staying focused, however, I would sit down to play and get up 5 hours later (quick pause for the cause). Once I start, I must go through everything I know and all that I forgot, too!

I’v had a few bands, done a lot of solo work, and never had the patience to do lead guitar (even though I can hear every lick in my head and heart). I play rhythm guitar, keep a really steady beat (if I don’t speed up) and use my voice as my lead. I keep my songs on 5/8 cards w/chords so I can remembe what I know: I’ve got 5 little binders and one big one to hold them in. I still love to perform, and do informal jam sessions where I live (in the foothills, off the grid) at our local (and only) store a couple times a month. Of course, we al take turns and nobody “takes over” or plays over anyone else…we’re all a bunch of players from way different backgrounds and genres.

Knowing when to stop is an issue to me. If my left arm or fingers don’t clue me in sharply, then I only tend to notice the pain when I stop playing. So…I keep on playing!

No drugs. I use diet, homeopathic, nutritional, and mostly I have learned to control my mind and my body. I have been like this for all my life, only didin’t know it until my youngest son was born ADHD. He still is, and so am I, so we get along well. Once I knew what to work on, I just got to work on myself. It truly is a “do it yourself” job for me. And I finally have a very patient husband. How lucky can one get?

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[Anonymous]

Well jelopez19……..what a great story you have. Never, ever…. under estimate the human spirit and magic of music. It appears you have combined the two to a great end. Thanks for sharing that…….

thanks…. nuff said

toofat

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[Anonymous]

Hi, well only playing 1/3 of the guitar I dont know if ukulele players qualify. I’ve played guitar in past and have struggled with it too. I picked up a 5 string banjo on an impulse and took to that quite well. Not a year went by and I was playing with a friends soprano ukulele. It was a lot of fun even though i didnt know the chords. I found that it was so much easier to play with. Like really play with. Maybe the “toyish” reputation made me feel at ease I dont know. Anyways it took me 10 years to loose 2 strings and thats what it was for me.

I hyperfocused like crazy to get to where I am skill wise. Like worked a 40 hr work week, went home, skipped dinner most of the time and daily would practice from 6:00pm until 11:00pm. So ok 5 hours 5 times a week for 25 and then the weekends i’d spend the entire day from the moment I woke up (would littereally wake up next to my uke and start playing) to the time i’d go to bed (litterally falling asleep while playing) I really poured myself into playing and on the weekends was getting (because of breaks and stuff) around 25 more hours of practice in the 2 days. So on average I was doing 40-50 hours of practice. I stopped socializing with friends, family. I went to work and went straight back home. I only ate when I was really hungry and keeping track of when I would last eat kept me from getting sick. I try to not go more than 2 days without eating if i’m going to hyperfocus on anything (I know its not good for you but thats just my thing)

Within 4 months of doing this I was comfortable with writting and performing my own music w/ lyrics without being embarassed but I have a background in public performances and stuff like that. Not busking or anything but a lot of attention being drawn to me in public is common.

So thats just my story on my instrument of choice as of now. I try to get into other instruments too. Like I have a trumpet in the basement, that I havent even started on (I dont think I will, as I am a woodwind player not brass) Funny about that like how crossover instruments or instruments with similarities can be picked up so easily without any real help. I tried clarinet for a bit and found it to be pretty easy too but now i’m off subject.

I’m not sure if it had been mentioned or asked but what kind of guitar/s do you play/own? My first guitar was a piece of junk. I cant remember what kind it was but it was about the same as a johnson. Oh and acoustic. I dont know what strings I had on it but I ended up putting electric strings on instead of the acoustic and it made it easier. Over all it was a piece of junk and it was just hard to learn on. Same thing with my first uke. Every uke player MUST own one of these at one point in time, they are mahalo soprano student ukes. They suck and inotation isnt in the ukes vocabulary. So anyways, after switching to an oscar schmit, or wait, no I got a cheep lanikai concert, then the oscar schmidt. anyways, the ou-2 was way nice and learning was great. It wasnt just the me but the instrument.

Oh crap gonna be late to work

Gotta end the post.

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[Anonymous]

So I cant edit my post, and my over active brain wont let me close the window without saying sorry for the long response of useless info. I really need to read all the responses before I post. Anyways, yeah I agree toofat’s advice is great.

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[Anonymous]

Hahaha hi there kylep…yes you can edit posts…hit the edit button and away you go.

What guitars do I have??? My main guitar is a Sunburst finish, rosewood neck, Epiphone, Sheraton, semi-hollow body hotrodded with Gibson 57 Humbucking pick-ups. I love that guitar it plays like we are one…beautiful tone fits like a second skin. It’s not a real expensive guitar but it plays beautiful and the finish on it is outstanding…I keep it polished, clean and mint. OCD and happy about that …hahahahah

also….

I have a black Dobro for Delta and slide stuff, not for stage. I have a Gold Metalflake Peavy Telecaster knock-off that I use for twangy country stuff……don’t play country much… if I do it’s old school Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck shit, the old Outlaw country. Hmmm I also have a natural finish Yamaha Fender Stratacaster knock off that I have really high strings on I keep tuned to open tunings (G) for straight slide work, it sits most of the time. I usually play slide in standard tuning on stage with the band it’s more versatile.

Finally…. I have a natural finish 1950 Ephiphone Regent, Arc-top, single cutaway, F hole hollow-body with a 1955 Johnny Smith pick-up in it, and a rosewood neck…. it is mint mint mint….. it is my “eye candy” guitar, it doesn’t leave the house, it will be passed on to my kids. I bought it from a piano maker in St John’s NFLD in 1995 when I was out there on business. I have always loved those guitars searched everywhere i went for years for one….. it is art in it’s self….very very nice instrument. yummmm….pretty

Anyway….that’s my pile of guitar shit???? I’m not a gear head…. but I like what I have and have what I like.

This is a fun thread…… maybe because it’s my passion.

toofat

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[Anonymous]

oops, I was asking Ed, about what he plays but its still good to talk about instruments,sorry for the confussion but i’ll continue anyways. You’ve got yourself some really nice toys. I’ve been thinking about Republic resonator of some sort. I have a couple of their ukes and like they way they feel and sound. Franks a pretty cool guy so that helps too. Not sure which one i’d ever get. I’m a pretty small framed person so any large or jumbo body guitars look stupid on me, so yeah i just want a nice parlor size or something. Ukuleles are a good size for me and the whole four fingers, four strings makes much more sense to me. hense the 1/3 of a guitar. Anyways, as far as my stuff goes, I have a Mahagony concert Kala KA-CE with a shadow pickup, Soprano Kala KA-15S (my junk soprano that sounds amazing), Republic Guitar concert reso uke. Republic Guitar concert Sprucetop w/ zebra wood side and back, and a soprano gladiator banjolele, I think it was made in the 50’s-60’s although dating is difficult on it. There is a sticker on the back of the headstock from the shop in San Antonio TX. I’ve not been able to find any info on the shop or the banjolele its self.

Thats it for my collection of ukes, I have a 50’s Kay 5 string openback, and a cheep Franciscan 5string openback, I took the resonator off, I didnt like the sound as much for clawhammer. Ummmmm I have some crazy keyboard laying around too but never play it, I lost the AC adapt a while ago then sold my amp so no sound outside of headphones

Anyways, ramble ramble. I could talk for days about music with anyone. I’d better get back to work

Yeah i’ve known aboutn the edit button but recently (the last two times i’ve tried to edit) I get an error message saying I’m not able to edit the post and it gives me an option to try again or to return to the forum.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Kylep, welcome to our post I like any instrument that can play in the 12 keys of music. Guitar is my passion, even though I am a want to be guitar player I have owned guitars for years.

I have almost enough equipment to be a professional. I have an Ernie ball Axes, Gibson Les Paul Classic, Peavey Wolfgang EVH model, Fretlight guitar pro, Peavey 5150 combo amp. more pedals than I can remember.

I’ve been chasing this dream off and on since I was about 20. I use to just sit there for hours and hours trying to figure it out through guitar tab not knowing anything about music.

I discovered if I knew some basic theory of how music works and how the instrument works it would make things more logical to me, it did.

Now that I am being properly treated for my add only a couple months now since I’ve been on meds I going to try to stay focused and become a great guitarist that I have dreamed of becoming.

So many people have reached out to me on this site I feel like I can do it, you see when I was a kid learning was very hard for me being undiagnosed add all my life till the end of last year.

When you’ve been told your not good enough all you life you believe it, that’s the biggest part I’m dealing with right now.

The “I’m not worthy” syndrome so to speak. I have to say to myself, you are worthy.

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[Anonymous]

Hey man, you can do it! Like you I was diagnosed as an adult at the age of 31. When i tried to play guitar I, thinking back yeah never felt like I could do it. Maybe thats why I ended up trading mine. Anyways, you’ve got some cool stuff too. Well, although completely different im sure we had a very similar childhood. I have the same complex about not being good enough at things. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good handle on things, and are on your way to becomming the next great (insert your favorite guitar hero). Yeah diggin the subject of music right now.

On that note, time to head out for my after noon break from work (camel’s and uke in hand)

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[Anonymous]

Thanks man, and thanks again to everyone that responded. This will be a new chapter in my life. Going to start some Add consoling too.

God bless you all. Ed

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[Anonymous]

Glad u r getting help+support 4 ur ADD!

Congrats on new chapter in ur life!

WAIT: ON EDIT POST

I still CANNOT do it=even when I hit edit

Just tells me my edit was=Not Successful

And then=my ADHD brain gets frustrated

Impatient

keep trying

should be doing my work 2!

BRIEFLY: U may b shocked=I hate reading instructions (ha, ha, ha)

How do u EDIT?

THANX!!!!!!!!!!

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[Anonymous]

Editing??? Should work??? I’ll try it right now. I’ll post this right now and then note exactly how I edited it…..here goes.

toofat

there…..

(it showed the above as being posted three seconds ago) ….. there is the word Edit right beside it.

– Click on that Edit word

– Ok… you get the posting box back with your orginal post in it…done…..now here I am editing the original post in that box.

-Once your done editing…right below this box in the right hand corner of the page are the words in grey…. Edit Post>…….click on that when your done….like this. It will re-post your note.

Yup it works…. this is the 2nd edit to this post. Good luck hope that helps.

toofat

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