What Did You Improve in 2023?

[Moondog Wily]

Biggest one for me in '23 was starting to finger pick. It was not planned, and in the 30 years prior, I had maybe done finger picking style about 1% or less of all my guitar time over those decades. I think it was August or September when I dropped a pick and finished the song fingerpicking! For some reason, it flipped a switch in me and I now feel that I never want to hold a pick again! It even opened doors to songs that did not feel right the way I was strumming them, and now with the fingerpicking, those songs suddenly seem right as rain ;~))

What I failed at is a much longer list ;~)) Considering this thread is about what was improved, I will only include one of my failures:
Taking over the world!

 

[FuzzyAce]

I figure I got 5-10 years left before it’s really going to take it’s toll, I’m going to regret it if I don’t help it along!

Just slow it down a bit, make it creepy like this:

 

[FuzzyAce]

What I failed at is a much longer list ;~)) Considering this thread is about what was improved, I will only include one of my failures:
Taking over the world!

Good luck, you have some stiff competition!

 

[DrewJD82]

Just slow it down a bit, make it creepy like this:

That’s what breakdowns are for!!

 

[Moondog Wily]

That’s what breakdowns are for!!

About a year ago, I listened to an interview with an artist who was explaining her songwriting process. She said the chorus is the overall theme/message of the song, the verses are the details of a story that feeds into/from that theme and the bridge "is where somebody dies"! Your "breakdowns" comment reminded me of that and I think of it every time I write a bridge now, that it needs to be extreme and really break away from the rest of the song, yet still be connected in some way.

 

[DrewJD82]

About a year ago, I listened to an interview with an artist who was explaining her songwriting process. She said the chorus is the overall theme/message of the song, the verses are the details of a story that feeds into/from that theme and the bridge "is where somebody dies"! Your "breakdowns" comment reminded me of that and I think of it every time I write a bridge now, that it needs to be extreme and really break away from the rest of the song, yet still be connected in some way.

Ya know, I think I might have actually called out “THIS IS WHERE SOMEBODY DIES!” before a breakdown at a gig before. That’s definitely what you go for in metal.



It’s pretty tough to beat “What the fuck‘s up, Denny’s?” though.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Ya know, I think I might have actually called out “THIS IS WHERE SOMEBODY DIES!” before a breakdown at a gig before. That’s definitely what you go for in metal.



It’s pretty tough to beat “What the fuck‘s up, Denny’s?” though.

Yeah, the Denny's shout out was definitely the best in that bunch! My apologies, it appears I have confused breakdown with bridge!! Sorry, lack of my headbanging probably explains it!!!

 

[Iron1]

Mine was Strengthening my Pimp Hand! ::sideeyes @megametal7::


Honestly, it was surviving.

2020-early 2023 was the most brutal stretch of my adult life. But I made it through, in part due to this place, the Do Nothing err Something Challenge and my gear/music. Appreciate all of you more than it may seem.

And, getting Red Vinter off the ground was probably my "biggest" music related accomplishment.

 

[DrewJD82]

Yeah, the Denny's shout out was definitely the best in that bunch! My apologies, it appears I have confused breakdown with bridge!! Sorry, lack of my headbanging probably explains it!!!

Hahahah no worries, in a lot of metal music, a breakdown is the bridge of a song. I knew we weren’t talking about the same thing but sometimes metal is so silly it‘s too easy to make fun of.

What initially started as “Let’s make this bridge the heaviest, most headbanging part of the song” turned into a bit of a meme of itself after a while. At live shows, to let the audience know a breakdown was coming up singers would often do a call-out, “Get ready to kill yourselves in the pit” or something similar, but singers started having fun with it instead of being ultra serious all the time, so you’d hear shit like “I want to see this place turn into Walmart on a Black Friday!”, or “Half of you pretend you‘re Justin Bieber fans and the other half pretend you’re Justin Bieber, let’s go!”

 

[la szum]

I figure I got 5-10 years left before it’s really going to take it’s toll, I’m going to regret it if I don’t help it along!

Yup. Get it while the getting is good!

My prime gigging years were 35-50. I was competent enough. Mature enough. Connected enough. And neither
too young nor too old.

I can't honestly be bothered to grind it again like I did then. No fucking way!

 

[la szum]

Just slow it down a bit, make it creepy like this:

Half-time headbanging at 40bpm. Hmmmm?????

 

[DrewJD82]

Yup. Get it while the getting is good!

My prime gigging years were 35-50. I was competent enough. Mature enough. Connected enough. And neither
too young nor too old.

I can't honestly be bothered to grind it again like I did then. No fucking way!

Those are also definitely things going into it; just no grind involved. A most it’d be 4 gigs a month, nothing more than 30 minutes away with zero expectations aside from “We’re going to show up and have a good time”. Really, I’d be fine with 2 gigs a month.

 

[Stone]

My prime gigging years were 35-50. I was competent enough. Mature enough. Connected enough. And neither
too young nor too old.

Damn Dave you sure are lucky

 

[Iron1]

Yup. Get it while the getting is good!

My prime gigging years were 35-50. I was competent enough. Mature enough. Connected enough. And neither
too young nor too old.

I can't honestly be bothered to grind it again like I did then. No fucking way!

:looking at my birth certificate:

 

[la szum]

Damn Dave you sure are lucky

Right time. Right place. And I was a bit driven.

One of my best friends and I were talking tonight----who I still play with, and did a lot of
those gigs with----about how little motivation we have to do anything because we put so
many miles on the roads already.

I enjoy hanging out in his garage once a week and making noise. That's fun. Gigging is often
a lot of work for a fleeting few moments of grace on stage. Those moments are precious, indeed.
Just feel like I know what they taste like, and what the cost is to acquire it.

I can get the same buzz these days in my Buddy's garage without hauling gear, and managing people's
expectations.

But I have played with other people who need to be in front of people playing live. They require
it. It's oxygen to them. I am just not one of those guys..... anymore.