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So, I haven't played guitar for roughly 5years now pretty much coinciding with the birth of my son and also becoming more involved in bjj. I've carried on listening to flamenco and still love the sound of the guitar. I've recently tried to reignite my passion to play. However I simply struggle to be bothered to learn and just end up plucking away. Anybody else had this problem?
That’s funny, I started Flamenco because I couldn’t do BJJ and Muay Thai anymore. Pretty common for me, what works for me is I sign myself up for things that I have to be ready for. Dance classes, shows, etc, it’s hard to get it together but it’s rewarding when you do.
I also have a motivation problem! I cant't get motivated to do flamenco or practice enough, that's why I suck ay it I guess. Actually for me it's hard go get motivation about anything. At one point I started to think that it's just me...I mean if I don't get motivated to do something I think it just mean that at the bottom I don't want want it.
Fo guitar and flamenco, when I have motivation it is usually after I listen to some good music, usually Paco (Leverkusen 2010 bulerias helps a lot). When I listen to flamenco guitar I usually get some motivation and I want to sit and play. Later, I don't always sit and practice...sad!
I'm like Leñador. My best motivator is to have some kind of obligation. A class to attend, a rehearsal, a show, whatever. Probably just my personality but if I didn't have those obligations, I think I'd just slack off.
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
In my early twenties, I decided to try Judo. On the first day, the instructor took one look at my right hand and told me I needed to cut my fingernails.
I told him I couldn’t, because I was a guitarist.
He said (amazed), You don’t need fingernails to play the guitar, you play it with a plonker.
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
There's no way tape would survive a good BJJ rolling session, it's all hands and grip. You could get away with fingernails if you kept them as short as possible, it'd be great for keeping your arpeggio and picado really tight. No margin of error with short nails.
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Probably just my personality but if I didn't have those obligations, I think I'd just slack off.
I use this strategy on myself for all kinds of things, I'm lazy but my fear of being thought of as a flake over rides my laziness.
I was thinking more along the lines of the other guys' safety than protecting your nails but yeah, I can imagine tape wouldn't change anything if you had claws like Moraito. I know a few guitarists who are regular rock climbers and don't seem to have that much problem with their nails, but granted they keep them short. Though I guess it's different too because, even if it's all about grip, there's not nearly as much shock as in judo or bjj. I did a few hours climbing with one guy and my nails were fine. And then somehow I broke one making my bed
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
One fo the reasons I started guitar was that 10 years of BJJ and had pretty much destroyed my right rotator cuff. Any more BJJ and motorcycling for fun were off the table.
i play guitar for 25 years now , Flamenco only 6 years , i always wanted to play Flamenco , i started when i switched my job as a nurse for System Administrator
the reason ? nails , always nails , i could not keep long nails in a medical job ...
Finger nails are a no go with bjj. You'd hurt somebody or snap very low on the nail bed.. Ouch
Lenador sorry to hear about your injury. Could you not find a good sparring partner to flow roll with. Shame to give it up and sooo much better than gym.
Pdl played with short nails didn't he? I think it's always in my head that I'll learn a piece of music and forget it within months, I found this most frustrating.
Pistol grips held reduce hand injury in gi but the risk is always there. I'm very careful with my hands always aware of where they are and never grip in the gi that's when things can get nasty. No gi you are less likely to get hand injury and can grab the opponents hands (below the knuckle).
I never really had a motivation issue when I was gigging. The gig provided all the motivation. But now it is difficult to play and study regularly because there is no reckoning. I also have little desire to do a gig, and only do one when someone calls. Lately those calls have been for electric guitar.
It's ironic, when I was younger and full of desire to perform I didn't have the money for the best gear. Now I'm older and can afford whatever, and I have little desire to perform. I'd have killed 30 years ago for the stuff that sits mostly unused in my house today. But I still love flamenco, jazz, good guitar playing in general, and I'm breaking in a new guitar-at my leisure.
There are some things that are really bad for flamenco guitar playing. Never realized BJJ was one of them. Bowling is another. Sure you can play a few games, but if you bowl for hours, you might not be able to do a rasgueado for days. Surfing regularly in 50 degree water hasn't been the best for my playing, but for me it's more fun than playing guitar so oh well.
Thankfully I still get inspired thanks to Paco videos and Rito y Geografia and such....and as mark said, having to do gigs is motivation. I used to do martial arts and was always intrigued by all the different styles, but whenever I hear about BJJ I still can’t help but imagine being in a gym doing karate and wrestling on the matt with a bunch of hot Brazilian babes....
There are some things that are really bad for flamenco guitar playing. Never realized BJJ was one of them. Bowling is another. Sure you can play a few games, but if you bowl for hours, you might not be able to do a rasgueado for days.
That wasn’t my problem: my thumb-nail kept snapping off.
I tried bowling left-handed for a bit; but since I was scoring in the low 50s…
I remember bowling for hours once and couldn't play at all the next day. Took a few days for my fingers to be able to make the required moves. Next time I took a lesson from Mariano Cordoba I told him about it and he proceeded to tell me bowling was a horrible game and that flamenco guitarists should never play. He played once........
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ORIGINAL: Paul Magnussen
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There are some things that are really bad for flamenco guitar playing. Never realized BJJ was one of them. Bowling is another. Sure you can play a few games, but if you bowl for hours, you might not be able to do a rasgueado for days.
That wasn’t my problem: my thumb-nail kept snapping off.
I tried bowling left-handed for a bit; but since I was scoring in the low 50s…
I don't know man... I think the little manhood I have left would fly out the window when a woman like Amanda Nunes throws me to the ground, breaking as much of a sweat as she would to flick a peanut across the room. I think I'd rather go bowling with her
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
My first BJJ class, I had boxed through high school, already had a couple years of Muay Thai under my belt, in my mind felt like I could fully handle myself. That class my instructors 130lb girlfriend tapped me out 5 times. VERY HUMBLING. It took me about 3 months 3X a week before I could use my size to beat her. BJJ is crazy....
Like the saying you've gotta leave your ego at the door. I'm not sure what's more difficult to learn bjj or flamenco guitar. We do pick complicated hobbies.
once I start playing the motivation packs me by itself, it doesn't need much. just the sound of the guitar is enough. finding passion in what you do is the greatest motivation you can have, and this applies to everything actually. playing with other people and gigging of course can be a motivation to get better, but the foundation of everything is passion, IMHO.
In my experience even simple hobbies can be really complicated once you get into it. I'm sure even bowling has all these intricacies that aren't apparent to an outsider like me. What I like about martial arts is that most of them remain open to beginners even when you get older. By that I just mean that if I wanted to find a BJJ class for complete beginners at my age, I still could and wouldn't feel weird about it. That's not always the case in some sports. I was thinking about getting back into rollhockey lately (and Spain kicks some serious *ss at that sport) but the few clubs I've visited really didn't accomodate adult beginners (well, I'm no beginner but I haven't put my skates on in over a decade...so very very rusty). I can join some informal groups here and there just for the fun of it, but access to actual training is more or less closed to adults unless you're already really good. Not so with martial arts.
_____________________________
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
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