-
How “good” is “good”?
Background: I first learned to play at the age of 12 in 1965. Sixty years later, I’ve decided that I would like to be “good” at it. I signed on with TAC in late May of 2024. There is no question that I am slowly getting better but at 71 years old, is it too slowly? The question doing laps in my brain is how “good” do I need to be.
For you golfers out there, I think there are some good parallels. In golf, you are never as good as you would like to be. Some days are magic and some days you stink. No matter how well you play you can always look at a half dozen shots and think “I could have been even better.” In golf, there is a handicap system and unofficially, a single digit handicap can be deemed as good. I got there – for awhile.
With the guitar, I’ve done an open mic night with more confidence in my singing than my playing, but I did it. Huge win! But I still wonder – what IS “good” enough? Thoughts?
-
1 Reply
-
I think that no matter how good you are, you will always feel that you could get better. Do you enjoy playing? When we met in person I got the impression playing guitar was very enjoyable for you. I have noticed in the past few weeks a big uptick in the pleasure I get from the guitar. I have seen a bit of the magic happen that others (@Loraine for example) talk about, nothing big but just, seemingly out of nowhere, being able to do that thing that yesterday (or last month) I couldn’t.
Perhaps those moments are diminishing for you at your level. I remember when I got to a point as a snow skier, where just going up and down the hill seemed rather monotonous. I wasn’t being challenged anymore and that’s when I took up snowboarding. I found new joy learning to snowboard, at the same time skiing became more fun again because I could do things that I couldn’t do on a snowboard.
Log in to reply.