ukeyermind
New member
struggle with finding a balance between the sheer joy of making music and the shame of doing it badly?
I'm not fishing - like a lot of people, I'm sure I'm my own worst critic, and really, no one has ever been anything other than super-positive and encouraging.
Still, it's a weird thing. On the one hand, I'm flabbergasted that I can make any music at all. I've picked up like a half-dozen chords, so there are plenty of songs to work on, and people who don't leave the room can generally tell what I'm playing. I'm so much better than I ever thought I could be and I have so much fun hearing myself make music. Sometimes when I'm alone, I get the uke out and just thrash around like I think I'm some kind of rock star and I have a lot of fun doing it.
The other side of that is I have listened to enough music to know what "suck" sounds like, and it's not going too far to describe my playing with that word. I'm better than I was 6 months, 3 months ago, and I have every reason to believe that I'll improve more as time goes by. But I don't think it's in the cards for me to escape the realm of the mediocre. I have some fundamental problems with rhythm and coordination and also with finding practice time.
And on one level, that's okay. I'm totally having fun. But on another level, I feel bad about taking beautiful songs and torturing them into something I can kinda sorta play.
Anyone else? Surely I'm not the only one with a performance gap. What do you all do with these sorts of feelings?
thanks
shawnb
I'm not fishing - like a lot of people, I'm sure I'm my own worst critic, and really, no one has ever been anything other than super-positive and encouraging.
Still, it's a weird thing. On the one hand, I'm flabbergasted that I can make any music at all. I've picked up like a half-dozen chords, so there are plenty of songs to work on, and people who don't leave the room can generally tell what I'm playing. I'm so much better than I ever thought I could be and I have so much fun hearing myself make music. Sometimes when I'm alone, I get the uke out and just thrash around like I think I'm some kind of rock star and I have a lot of fun doing it.
The other side of that is I have listened to enough music to know what "suck" sounds like, and it's not going too far to describe my playing with that word. I'm better than I was 6 months, 3 months ago, and I have every reason to believe that I'll improve more as time goes by. But I don't think it's in the cards for me to escape the realm of the mediocre. I have some fundamental problems with rhythm and coordination and also with finding practice time.
And on one level, that's okay. I'm totally having fun. But on another level, I feel bad about taking beautiful songs and torturing them into something I can kinda sorta play.
Anyone else? Surely I'm not the only one with a performance gap. What do you all do with these sorts of feelings?
thanks
shawnb