Keeping the Urge to Play

Kyle23

Kyle23

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I'm not sure what happened, but I've almost completely lost the urge to play recently. I'm not sure why, I've been busy lately, but not so busy that I don't have ANY time to play. Has this happened to anyone? It really kills me because I love the instrument. The Uke just isn't a fad to me, I've played countless hours over the past 14+ months, still watch Uke videos, but I haven't played my Uke for more than 10 mins at a time in a couple months. I also find myself rarely coming to these forums anymore. I just thought this was interesting enough to post here and maybe someone can give me some advice on how to keep the urge. There probably isn't even an answer, because I shouldn't have to find the urge to do something that I love to do. I just don't know.
 
Once a person masters something, it's not as fun anymore.

Start anew with the oboe and your enthusiasm will blossom.

(Seriously, you have made huge strides in a few months. You'll get answers here from play in a group to learn new techniques to hire a teacher, but the bottom line: take a break You've earned it. Plus, if you don't, you'll next be learning how to Sheetrock and plaster a damaged wall.).
 
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Obviously the answer is a new uke.

Failing that. Just completely step away for a few weeks and at some point you'll pick it up again and it'll be like you never put it down.
 
Maybe pick up something new anc challenging; a new playing style (clawhammer), low g for classical or even a different ukulele tuning (maybe even 5, 6 or 8 strings). Challenge is what keeps me going, if there isn't something new that i can't do, I get bored.
 
Not that I'm an expert, but this has happened to me with guitars and other hobbies. Learn some
new songs you never had interest in, better yet, write some. Join a Uke group if there's any nearby.
 
As much as I love music, I now realize that it need some form of self discipline....

To this day, I still need that initial push to get off my ass and go practice.

The danger in not doing that is that you become unmotivated and next thing you know it will be years since you played, and may come to regret it.

I did this, and did not do any music for 30 years. I finally realized what a huge mistake that was. Luckily, I now realize that and would never stop playing for more than a day or two.

Others have given great suggestions, try other ukes,other music, record, perform, even take a short break, etc... But whatever you do, don't stop for too long.

Just wanted to give you a different perspective and a reason why you might regret not playing in the future...

What finally woke me up was realizing now much I love music, then realizing that it's even better to play and create than to be passive and just listen....
 
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Lot of wisdom in your post Olarte. I stopped almost immediately when I got a uke and decided to learn to play an instrument and now two years later I'm really playing and very much regret that loss of two years. Especially at my age of 61.
 
New songs, new styles, new challenges. It's very easy to get in a rut and play the same stuff over and over and, if you go there, you will probably quit because it gets pretty boring.

Also, have you recently picked up some other hobby or interest? I found that last fall when I started looking for a motorcycle after many years of not riding I was spending a lot of time on research and such and I didn't play much even when I had time. But, as soon as I got up to speed on the current state of motorcycles, and actually bought one, I went back to playing pretty much as always.

John
 
Kyle23 said:
I'm not sure what happened, but I've almost completely lost the urge to play recently. I'm not sure why, I've been busy lately, but not so busy that I don't have ANY time to play. Has this happened to anyone? It really kills me because I love the instrument. The Uke just isn't a fad to me, I've played countless hours over the past 14+ months, still watch Uke videos, but I haven't played my Uke for more than 10 mins at a time in a couple months. I also find myself rarely coming to these forums anymore. I just thought this was interesting enough to post here and maybe someone can give me some advice on how to keep the urge. There probably isn't even an answer, because I shouldn't have to find the urge to do something that I love to do. I just don't know.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you need a break. This is 100% normal. I love photography and I mean LOVE but in the fall/winter I often don't photographs for months at a time. I think its actually good to take a break from things and come back to them.
 
coolkayaker1 and others point this out, and I agree: cycles are natural. There may be some other things you need to work on right now. And a rest time gives your brain and mind time to do the unconscious stuff necessary for learning. And ten quality minutes with a uke is good!
 
It's called Spring, Kyle! After all these months of being cooped up inside I want to go do something and sitting on a couch playing unfortunately isn't one of them right now. Once the bon fires start back up I'll be at it in full force.

The muse ebbs and flows. I'm sure she will be back soon.
 
I agree with Craig '10 quality minutes a day' can help get you out of a slump. Going through cycles of varying motivation is natural. For me, there are just times when I need the extra discipline, even like setting a timer and not stopping until the time is up, to get some momentum back into my playing.

I also agree with what others have said here about taking on new pieces and new techiques to keep things interesting and challenging. Playing an instrument has got to be hard enough to keep my interest but not so diificult to be discouraging so once in a while you might to review your goals to be sure they are realistic.
 
I fell into the same boat with guitar, learned to play almost fifty years ago, but in the last 20 years barely kept up. When I took up the ukulele last July, I signed up for the Los Angeles Music Center Play-Along, this made me realize how motivating being in a group is, so I immediately joined a strum and hum group, and shortly after joined an advanced instrumental ukulele ensemble (challenging to say the least). In the past seven months I've devoted myself to the ukulele more than I have the guitar in 20 years and I definitely attribute that to the groups I'm in.
 
I agree - playing the uke in the endless winter cold was fun. Then, I suddenly didn't want to play most of the songs in my songbook. I was learning the songs from my mother's generation to play for her enjoyment. They aren't bad songs - It's Only A Paper Moon, Mr. Sandman, Tennessee Waltz, Love Me Tender etc. - but they seemed stale and boring.

I visited her over spring break and she loved the songs. So, one day during the visit, I tried to play without my song book and found I had not internalized enough to play without the crutch of the pages. So, for the rest of my visit, I practiced a few songs over and over to be able to just pick up and play when I was with her.

That seemed to "reset" everything for me. I re-learned the beauty of the chord structures, the phrasing etc. of the existing songs I know. As so many pointed out here on the forum, I had to do something a little different to get my enthusiasm back. What had seemed stale is fresh again.
 
WashAshore said:
Not that I'm an expert, but this has happened to me with guitars and other hobbies. Learn some
new songs you never had interest in, better yet, write some. Join a Uke group if there's any nearby.
Click to expand...

What I do is write songs with new techniques, be they strumming patterns, time signatures, keys, anything. And if I don't know them already--which would be the point--of course I have to learn the things before using them in a song. This is fresh in my mind because it happened earlier this week.

That said, I've also had the long hiatus you describe. In the past it made me mad, frustrated, and brought me to selling ukes. That's fine if you really don't like them, but I once sold one I loved. So when the break was done breaking, I could have kicked myself.

So I say try to see the break as good. If you really can't bring yourself to play, don't feel obligated. It's a delicate balance, but so is everything. Maybe it's like a growing season. When you first plant seeds, you don't see plants. So maybe something is brewing under the surface that you just can't see yet. Whatever it is, don't beat yourself up about taking a break. That serves no positive purpose.
 
Really appreciate the advice everyone. I thought I was going to be looked down on, but I guess it's a normal thing. Once the weather gets nice, I'll go play outside on my porch and I bet it'll get me right back into it! I've been playing a lot of the same songs for awhile now too, I know a lot of songs, but after a year it seems like I need to widen my variety a little more. I haven't forgotten how to play yet, so I have that going for me :)
 
If you haven't joined this group, try and make it. If you are an advanced player, help lead the group. I think that playing with other musicians will help a lot. http://www.meetup.com/BuffaloUkuleleClub/
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
If you haven't joined this group, try and make it. If you are an advanced player, help lead the group. I think that playing with other musicians will help a lot. http://www.meetup.com/BuffaloUkuleleClub/
Click to expand...

katysax said:
Get out and play with other people.
Click to expand...
:agree:
Playing with others always inspires me to learn new songs and techniques. Go to a festival too!
When I first joined my uke club, I was kinda stuck in a rut. I went home with a list of songs to work on and I learned new chords while I was there.
 
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