I was thinking of this on the way home today. I definitely have "Guitar Jones" and play for fun. But I also play hymns, spiritual songs, and my own melodies to God and man. I hope this is not deemed religious. If so I'll amend the wording.

Music for me has been a large part of my life back as far as I can remember. And I remember Hank Williams Sr. Even though I don't play as well as a trained player I have my own methods and write my own songs, which bring applause and enjoyment to diverse folks who hear my tunes.

    But, when they ask "How long have you been playing....etc." I know what they mean and I respond, "over 40 years, but I just fool you, if a real player was here he would see right through me"
 
   I like being honest, and then giving my best shot at "fooling" them a little more. On a rare occasion I fool myself.

              I'd really like to hear from the members here, I hope we can have some fun with it.

           You can vote up to 3 times, so choose what fits you, or share something that fits you better.

Just for fun rules.  But there is also the challenge of mastery.  Six years into it I can see that mastery isn't going to happen, but I still have this dream of being pretty darn good.  And I would certainly settle for listenable.  I like improving.  That's what has me stick with it.

Thought provoking and fun idea you had there Danny. After 45 years of off and on playing this made me think a bit, and I could've easily chosen more than three of the options. It also made me think way back to what got me started in the first place. But these days I'm thankful for having musical pursuits because I simply enjoy it so much, be it playing at church or with friends and family, on the deck or at a local jam. And being a very proud new member of the Larrivee owners family, I've found that new LV-03 reason enough to play. Even my wife often tells me that she loves the sound of me playing in the background as she goes about her business. Kind of like how you put it, I'd never fool a really good guitar player, but I can play better than a lot of folks. But it's not about that at all, it's about enjoying the music that comes out of them as a result of our own hands upon them. Ummmm, I think I'll go play for a while... :guitar  

I have at times played for various reasons, but I have been told numerous times by people close enough to notice. I just "have to". 

Sometimes I don't enjoy it. I just "have to".

Sometimes I don't want to. I just "have to".

And if I don't, then people around me can tell, and it ain't purdy.

Quote from: ST on June 24, 2013, 05:38:00 PM
I have at times played for various reasons, but I have been told numerous times by people close enough to notice. I just "have to". 

Sometimes I don't enjoy it. I just "have to".

Sometimes I don't want to. I just "have to".

And if I don't, then people around me can tell, and it ain't purdy.

I knew you had the Jones when I met you, no surprise to hear these words now.
   
   Sometimes I also play thru the pain, or because of the pain (blues). It's not always fun and campfire good times.

My username conveys the foundation for me.  Beyond that I love to study music.  I want to be a musician whose instrument of choice is the guitar.  At my age this pursuit is mainly a hobby.  However I don't want to meander in my pursuits.  To be deliberate I choose to follow the Bridges guitar curriculum offered through the Royal Conservatory of Music's MUSIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.  I have a teacher who guides me in this process.

The grade school I attended gave all 4th graders a music aptitude test. Typically students who scored well got tapped to play an instrument in the 5th grade band or orchestra. When I took the letter home to mom and dad, they talked and Dad asked whether I'd like to play drums or guitar. I answered "drums" and Dad said "guitar it is, then" and enrolled me in lessons the summer of '66.

As I recall, my 1st guitar was a rental Stella and for Christmas, mom and dad gave me a National Westwood 75 (http://www.petesrareguitars.com/products/National-Westwood-75-Cherryburst-1963.html). I played that for several years, but didn't really get turned on by the guitar until my parents bought me a classical guitar in high school and got me a new teacher who began to teach me finger style and some Peter, Paul and Mary tunes. And then I heard the "Spring Hill Mining Disaster" tune and was smitten with the guitar, finge rstyle, folk music, deeply emotional lyrics ...

The guitar has been for me, a mode by which I can express feelings I can't find words for ...

These are some cool responses, it's good to learn a little more about the gang who stick around this forum.

Cos chicks dig 'em and you can't busk with piannys!  :wacko:

Quote from: ducktrapper on June 24, 2013, 06:18:02 PM
Cos chicks dig 'em and you can't busk with piannys!  :wacko:

Maybe that should have been one of the choices.

Quote from: dependan on June 24, 2013, 06:20:36 PM
Maybe that should have been one of the choices.

You mean it wasn't?   :?

If I didn't I would die.

Hmmm...

Never could dance
god?  what's that?
Fun?  Yeah
Making money?  Used to make my living playing.
Game?  What game?
Like guitars?  Yeah, I like most instruments.

I'm about to turn 55 and I started playing music at 6 (violin) and shortly after trumpet.  At age 8 my dad started teaching me chords and simple accompaniment on ukulele.  I think a big reason I play music is because it is just something I do...  it's part of my make up.  I think I play acoustic guitar because it is self contained, but not necessarily so.

Ed

Well it seems someone wiser should offer a better poll topic. :blush:

Quote from: dependan on June 24, 2013, 10:03:52 PM
Well it seems someone wiser should offer a better poll topic. :blush:

Nah, have a Wiser's and play your guitar.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/82/Wiser's_De_Luxe.jpg/250px-Wiser's_De_Luxe.jpg)

Why do I play guitars ?  Hmmmmm   Let's see.
I started to play all those years ago because I imagined myself a songwriter and I had to have something to write songs with.  Guitar was an obvious choice.   My only previous musical experience was a year of struggling with a clarinet when I was in grade school.   I never felt like such a nerd as when I was carrying my clarinet case and a couple of friends were carrying their guitar cases.   So that's why I started playing guitars.   I play now, as others have said, because I feel like I have to.  If I go more than a couple of days without playing I get almost frantic to get one in my hands.   It's hard to explain but playing a guitar is almost like therapy for me.  No matter how bad my day has been I can find escape in the wood and steel of my guitars.   They transport me to a place that I can't get to any other way.    I realized at some point that I am never going to be a "great" guitar player.  But I can entertain myself for hours and, once in a while, I can even entertain a group of friends and family.  And that's plenty good enough for me.   And the songwriting is still important to me as well.

I played flute and sax as a kid, and I'm not sure why I stopped.  I guess I realized that as shy as I am about being in front of people, I'd never be a performer.  But music has always been wildly important to me.  I have listened very carefully over the years, was moved to tears just a couple of days ago by a song I hadn't heard in a long time.

I started "playing" the guitar about a year ago in an effort to get my then 9 year old daughter interested in an instrument.  We took a beginner's class together; she quit, I didn't.  I don't think I'll ever be good enough that anyone would want to hear me play, but I love trying.  For me, it's almost a form of meditation.  I can't worry when I'm that focussed on trying to get my fingers to do the right thing.  And trying to get even the simplest thing to happen has given me a much greater appreciation for the music I've always listened to.

I play many guitars, in many situations, for a living.
I was 'stung" by the guitar bug at 6 or 7, been playing ever since.
It sorta chose me, never had a "real" job.
just play guitar, which led to other instruments (piano, banjo, hammer dulcimer ), then singing, song writing, recording, touring, theatre, acting, studio sessions, and on and on it goes.
never look back.
even when NOT on a call, or a gig, I play, early morning with coffee, late late nite with a nice wine.
I play because I was meant to .
simple.

I like ST's answer and ducktrapper's on to something about the ladies digging the guitar player.  They even did a study:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320752/Music-really-food-love-French-scientists-carrying-guitar-increases-chance-getting-date-third.html

I started playing in 9th grade.  Having a lousy childhood my guitar was the one thing that always gave me pleasure and allowed me to take my mind off of my family situation.  It has been a constant in my life especially when life presented some challenges.  The guitar has continued to be that release for close to 45 years now.   Am I a great player?  Hardly.  I'm mediocre and play well enough to entertain friends and family but enjoy it as much as anything I do.  I play just about every day for an hour or two, sometimes more.  After building 2 acoustics and an electric in other peoples shops I am finally finishing tooling up my shop to build a few guitars in my retirement.  Like my playing I am building for fun and the challenge.  I can't imagine life without my lovely wife or music.

#9 The magic's in the music and the music's in me.  :nana_guitar

I play for my soul.

Me too, and at times my spirit.

Quote from: GA-ME on June 25, 2013, 12:03:11 PM
I play for my soul.

I play from my heels and sometimes on my toes.  

Quote from: Denis on June 25, 2013, 08:14:32 AM
I like ST's answer and ducktrapper's on to something about the ladies digging the guitar player.  They even did a study:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320752/Music-really-food-love-French-scientists-carrying-guitar-increases-chance-getting-date-third.html

Or maybe just on something.   :whistling:

Yup

Making music is human, it's natural, it's in us all, it's good for the soul.  The guitar is the perfect little portable instrument to make music any where and any time.

Quite simply, cathartic release. Many of us live hectic lives and it's a way of unwinding, decompressing from the daily grind. I could have answered several of the options and they would fit for the mood "at the moment." I love guitars, they are fun, and I can't dance.

:donut :donut :donut

OK WILSON!

PICK-IT!

answer: Opposable thumbs.
I don't care how smart they say them dolphins is.
They ain't a-never gonna do this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTVLIZaxMk)

 I like exploring , and I'm too lazy to physically hike around - and the pay can pretty good on occasion , monetarily and otherwise.

 :bgrin:  Nice playing. The Dolphins would be envious.

    Well with interest in the poll subsiding it appears that we LIKE guitars and play for FUN in general. :+1:

Is there gonna be a "why we play Dolphins" question?

Quote from: headsup on June 30, 2013, 05:56:02 PM
Is there gonna be a "why we play Dolphins" question?

Check over on the National Geographic forum.

Good poll and interesting reading.  I just want to add my 2 pick's-worth.   :humour:

For 40 years, I played worship music in church, lead the singing and wrote some of my own stuff...all on a 12 String Martin D12-28.  Then I got sick....in 2005 the docs figured out I had a congenital arrhythmia and I went into heart failure.  Long story is I got a heart transplant in 2009.

I decided to learn finger style while recovering, and my first nice guitar in 40 years was a Larrivee L-03 I bought from Kevin Donovan here.  What a difference!  Going from strumming cowboy chords to a wonderful, nuanced Larrivee brought tears to my eyes.

The reason I play now?   To promote the organ donor programs.  I'm scheduled at farmers markets, coffee houses, retirement communities, churches and anywhere I can play, tell my story and push folks to sign their donor cards.

I still play in church from time to time - mostly when the young folks who lead the worship regularly can't be there.  And I've discovered the Larrivee neck is too flat for my big hands and style (that's why there isn't one now in my signature).  But I will always be thankful for that first Larrivee!  Should they ever become available in 12" or tighter neck radius in 1-7/8", I will own another!    :nice guitar:

The same reason I do anything - to pick up women.

RW, try an SD.

Quote from: broKen on June 30, 2013, 11:44:41 PM
RW, try an SD.

Tried a Sd60 next to my tinman heart guitar.  Neck felt much flatter even though they both were 1-7/8".  My custom is a 12" radius.   :winkin: