Ever thought about quitting music?

[tigerdriver]

sometimes i have found that giving up on music is the first step towards enjoying it again, if that makes any sense.

[hatshirt]

i agree, creation comes from destruction, musically. i have thought about quitting due to bullshit politics within the band. i was forced to quit playing all instrument when i had wrist surgery that was caused by a skateboard accident.

[Ghost Hip]

Kind of a relative story:

I had band practice today, went horrible. Buzzy cables, fucked EQ, couldn't get the fuzz volumes right, and other stuff. So by the fifth song I just said fuck it and packed up. My friend's started playing some nirvana and ska tunes and I got back in a good mood.

Lesson learned:
Just have fun.

[the raytownian]

evur-damn day!

I get burned out on my personal lack of ability/innovation all the time... and every time I feel motivated to attempt learning anything (as best I can with the Innernette), I get bored far too quickly and find myself "screwing around" instead of actually putting anything to good use, or I just realise I still don't know what I'm doing, or I just never have the time to put into it... And I always find myself falling back into my old ways, and constantly going back to whatever familiar shit I know how to do.

Honestly, I feel like I've been mowing over the same ground and "re-inventing the wheel" over and over again for the past 3 years when it comes to actual instrumentation. It's very lame when I realise I haven't ever really evolved as a player at all (Tecnhicality means nothing to me, but I've never even been able to just make my lack of talent sound GOOD)... But every now-and-then I get inspired by a new project that actually seems exciting. Recently, I've been trying to do more "Droney" stuff with pedals/keyboards/etc. which has kept me entertained... It's all... I don't know..... meditative, or something... It's a pretty "calming" process, and it's a nice change of pace from banging a geetar or screaming into a bunch of distortion pedals... But I still don't really feel like it's anything to be "proud" of, you know? Like, I'm the only person who really has any interest in what I'm doing or something.

Maybe you can find some inspiration by trying something totally different from what you're used to... Even if you dislike it at first, or you never get to like whatever it is, it might be worth trying... Not that I have any suggestions on what to try, haha... Maybe you have tried everything!
----
"...its a wierd spot for me to be in, having started playing much later than most folks... I love it, I can't imagine giving it up, but I have no real confidence it'll lead to anything beyond just being a personal outlet for my own enjoyment. And thats fine... I wouldn't trade it away for anything. "

Totally... Even if I do feel like what I do is pointless sometimes, I still love doing it when I'm actually "in the zone", so to speak.

[metalmariachi]

Well, I played, then quit for years, started again, quit again. Music always took a back seat to work and the rest of my life.

Seems to be a pattern in my life.
I do have a very bad tendency to do things up to the point where I can do them fairly well and then quitting, moving on to some thing else.
I need the challenge of learning to stay motivated.

Luckily I know some really phenomenal musicians which prevents me from thinking I'm as good as I can get. so I continue to try and improve.

I drug out my 5 stringer today, cleaned it up and attempted to play chords. It hurt, My hand doesn't want to make those shapes. And unfortunately I could only remember 3 so tried them all over the fret board. I need to learn more, I need to seriously practice more.

I need to sit down and really work on my music.
And here it is, 4:22 am and I'm sitting at the pc.

MM

[jrmy]

Hellz yeah. It seems like every year I go through a cycle where things just aren't happening fast enough, all band/writing/recording/what-have-you plans are going wrong, nobody I play with is willing to try something I want to do, etc, etc. And every year my wife talks me off the ledge and reminds me that if I wasn't making music (or trying to), I'd probably be driving myself (and her) insane. Then I cut myself a little slack, and things eventually get better again.

This whole "adult life w/responsibilities" thing doesn't make it any easier...

... but then, I've always felt that the easy things usually aren't worth doing...

[ohsojayadeva]

i went thru that really hard with a band i was in for 10 years. long story short, we started playing nationally, and "everyone" generally assumed we'd be the next band from this area to "make it." the reality was that the band was deeply in debt and had no sign of ever becoming financially independent. we had lost sight of making music because we wanted to create something, instead focusing on having the "right" look and the "right" sound and being in the "right" place at the "right" time, etc.

it was one of the most emotionally horrible things i've ever been thru and i will never allow myself to be that way again. luckily for all of us the band split up.

now i make music because i love music, and because i want to create something i love, and spread joy and love to everyone that wants to listen. IMHO, as long as you're doing that, on any level big or small, you will be ok.

[opivy3056]

music? no. Its too big of an emotional outlet. If I didnt have it, I'd probably start crushing skulls for relief.

quitting "rock" music. Yes.
post-rock, screamo, and hardcore have kept me into it. "Alternative" (I cant beleive they still call it that), is basically dead to me.

[Louie62]

Never quitting.....just had a few breaks from it over the years.

I have a bi-polar disorder and when I used to get depressed I'd want to sell all my gear, or burn it, or something. I wouldn't even be able to look at my guitars for months at a time. Life would take priority. And when I was elated, there were far more important things to do.

As I've got older, my swings have become less behaviorally extreme, but more frequent - I guess I handle them better. As a result, my gear lies untouched for long periods of time. For example, I haven't switched the power on to my studio for the last 4 months. I only started noodling again 4 weeks ago.

But I know now that it'll pass.

Sorry for being so serious.