Rllink
Well-known member
I find this thread interesting. I've noticed that people have different motivations. It seems a lot of people just want it to be a private experience. Something they do in the privacy of their own home. Something for their own private enjoyment. Others want to entertain in some way, some want to strum and sing, others try to dazzle the audience with their fingerstyle powerless, their mastery of the fretboard, or a combination of both. It often times are the non singers who are into that dazzler thing it seems to me. It is just an interesting study. There are just so many approaches to it.
Back in the day, when my kids were just little, talking early eighties here, we had this friend who played the guitar. A bunch of us would get together in his back yard, let the kids all play, build a fire, drink a little wine, roast hotdogs, and sing folksongs. It was a time of innocence for me. We were so young, and we had our whole life ahead of us. It is a time that was lost when our careers took over, and when our kids got old enough to set our agendas. And so it was.
A few years ago, my wife and I met some young people who reminded us so much of ourselves back then. They got together, they sang, one played the guitar, another kept time with some wooden sticks. They invited us to join them, and we brought the wine. A seed was planted. I was inspired, and I ended up playing the ukulele. We have found a whole lot of like minded people, young and old, who want to get together, relax, play music and sing. For me, it is about sharing the music. It is about everyone's voice. And when it is about everyone's voice, it has to be about something everyone knows, and what everyone wants to hear. I like to do some fingerstyle once in a while, and dazzle everyone who is not used to seeing that kind of thing, I like making up my own stuff, but if I really want to impress people, I ask them what they want to hear. To me, it is all about being able to pulling it off, whatever it is. I want to give people what they want, not what I want. My gift is to give them that, and I work very hard with my ukulele to that end. And by the way, in answer to the question, I don't get a lot of criticism. Well, except for my wife, who knows a lot more about music than I do, and her criticism is without exception, constructive in nature. She makes me a better ukulele player.
Back in the day, when my kids were just little, talking early eighties here, we had this friend who played the guitar. A bunch of us would get together in his back yard, let the kids all play, build a fire, drink a little wine, roast hotdogs, and sing folksongs. It was a time of innocence for me. We were so young, and we had our whole life ahead of us. It is a time that was lost when our careers took over, and when our kids got old enough to set our agendas. And so it was.
A few years ago, my wife and I met some young people who reminded us so much of ourselves back then. They got together, they sang, one played the guitar, another kept time with some wooden sticks. They invited us to join them, and we brought the wine. A seed was planted. I was inspired, and I ended up playing the ukulele. We have found a whole lot of like minded people, young and old, who want to get together, relax, play music and sing. For me, it is about sharing the music. It is about everyone's voice. And when it is about everyone's voice, it has to be about something everyone knows, and what everyone wants to hear. I like to do some fingerstyle once in a while, and dazzle everyone who is not used to seeing that kind of thing, I like making up my own stuff, but if I really want to impress people, I ask them what they want to hear. To me, it is all about being able to pulling it off, whatever it is. I want to give people what they want, not what I want. My gift is to give them that, and I work very hard with my ukulele to that end. And by the way, in answer to the question, I don't get a lot of criticism. Well, except for my wife, who knows a lot more about music than I do, and her criticism is without exception, constructive in nature. She makes me a better ukulele player.
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