Hey guys,

I have a ten string. It's got 250 notes on it. It follows that the possible combinations of notes within the span of two hands practically infinite.

Therefore, it will take an infinite amount of time to master the instrument.

Obvious, really. I've been playing for thirty years and six months, and have felt impatient at times, and retarded at others, wondering when I was ever going to get good at this thing we call The Stick.

Patience. The pedagogy is as new as the instrument.

I feel like I could have learned everything I know how to do in five years, not thirty, if it had been condensed down into a curriculum. But I didn't have that luxury, and working fulltime for these decades has put limits on what I can achieve.

Patience.

R

I share your pain , frustration. They more I play out the more I think I dont know, then I think why dont I know this, dont waste time etc etc etc. Tricky conundrum , we do what we can.

I look at it as a constant learning curve. The more I practice and time I spend the more I learn. That I think is the addictive part for me. Of course the more I learn the more I realize I’ve got a long way to go. It’s about the journey anyway right? Even the masters haven’t mastered the instrument fully but mostly. Or they are really good at covering up any blunders

Maurice Ravel often spoke of his unceasing strive for technical perfection stating:

"I can strive unceasingly to this end, since I am certain of never being able to attain it. The important thing is to get nearer to it all the time.”

Or in the words of the beloved and wise Stan Marsh:

"You don't ever catch the dragon dad!"

The possible combination of notes is indeed infinite, but there's only 12 notes in the scale.

There's 26 letters in the alphabet, around 171,476 words in current use, with 50k or so of obsolete words that one might still possibly encounter. They can be arranged into an infinite combination of sentences and meanings. Yet I have a literal Master's of English and I think I have the fluency I need to express myself. It's no different for musical instruments.

There's 52 cards in a deck of Trump cards. They can be arranged in so many possible combinations that each time you shuffle a deck of cards, the chances are almost nil that that particular arrangement of cards has ever been seen before or ever will again. And yet, people master our various little games of chance enough to live in Vegas and get endorsements from the Poker websites.

I'm not being contrary--well, I am, but I'm not doing it to be a dick. Just pointing out that you TOO can master the Stick, and keep on Mastering it and getting better every day of your life. But there's nothing magic or inaccessible or unknowable about it.

I picked it up and was recording guitar lines the first week on it, and I'm a keyboard player. Sure I sucked and continue to suck, but that's never stopped me from using it to the best of my abilities, and also writing to the level of my (then) abilities. If I'm waiting for "mastery," I'll be waiting for the rest of my life. I got stuff to do with the Sticks and I'm gonna do it the best that I can. And next year, I'll do more and better!

35 years into piano, and I could have learned a hell of lot more and faster with lessons. And without having to work a job. I definitely agree with you on these points. But there ain't nothing magical--or Black Magical--about the Stick, except when it's played beautifully. (The magic of a good performance is not bound to any instrument or player.)

Excellence in anything equals time spent on it (plus some amount of natural talent). Get a teacher and collapse that time down; keep working on it and you'll keep getting better. When are you EVER finished?

When is Bob Culbertson gonna be finished getting better? Probably never. Has he reached Mastery? If not, we need to redefine our definitions of mastery. Is he done? Man, I hope not!

Keep working at it and Sticking with it!

An interesting thread here. I have used to this concept to stave off the subtle and not so subtle nagging feelings of time slipping through my fingers .

So I used to read a lot of Carlos Castaneda back in the day and I still do on occasion...
Paraphrasing here, Don Juan says to Carlos " if you live your life by years you will have precious few of them, but if you live your life by moments, then...." .

Another "Don Juan" concept about time that I like is when he talked about something called the "cubic centimeter of chance". With the Stick I think that can be looked at in a way of knowing that we are all in "beginners mind" but
every so often we play something good and when we do we know it, we can feel it. Thats when we step into the "cubic centimeter of chance".

The cool thing is, a musician employing
these concepts can be both beginner and master simultaneously, with most of the "moments" spent somewhere in between .

jRj
*j*
.~

How about just 3 notes?

When you become the master, you can walk away. There's nothing left to do.

If you're willing to give away your gifts, limitations don't matter. Just 3 notes can stretch out into a complete performance.

Rhythm, stamina and guts (Richie Haven's "Freedom" from Woodstock). He was a drummer before guitar.

Thanks for all the cool replies guys!

I was so fuzzy headed this morning when I wrote that.

And Emmett, I love Richie Havens! There are so many cool Youtube videos of him doing his thing. What a voice!

And Jzzb8ovn:

The good side of addiction! Where our propensity for addiction is based! We do something, we get a rush, we want more! No white powders necessary.

Y'all have a wonderful day.

R

The more I play, the more I realize what I don't know. 3 years in and I am now just starting to know what I don't know.... a little .
Been drumming for over 50 years, and I'm still learning. I suppose that will continue with the Stick. Altho I don't think I'll have another 47 years to get to 50 years on it like my drumming lol!
I LOVE the quote above.... living life by years we have a pretty short time, but living life by the moment... WOW!

I want lots more moments with my Stick!