what is better???
recently i have been looking up alot of chords for songs to play on my guitar. i've been storing them in my favorites folder on my computer. i have roughly 50 songs in that folder that i want to learn. i also have about another 50 songs printed off in my apartment that i like to play. and i want to get a whole bunch more too.
my friend jodi (she is the one that taught me how to play and she gave me her old guitar, which is like new, so i don't have to use the one i found in the trash...thanks jodi!) has been playing for about a year, give or take. she has quite alot of songs that she has saved over that year.
now here is where we differ in opinion.
she wants to memorize and perfect about 20 of her favorite songs. that way if she's ever at a bonfire, for instance, and someone brought a guitar, she can pick it up and play those 20 songs, no problem. nothing wrong with that. in fact, that's a great idea. i love when someone pulls out a guitar at a bonfire and plays a song i recognize and can sing along with. i think the majority of people out there do.
but for me, it's a bit different. i want to keep finding more and more and more songs that i can try to play. i've looked at 80's songs, punk songs i can play acoustic, some worship songs, indie, folk. but i still want to find some more like oldies, 90's tunes, really bad pop songs, maybe some rap songs i can make twangy, etc. even if i can't perfect any of these songs, i want to keep trying new songs. my memory of lyrics and playing skills aren't up to jodi's, so if i sat at a bonfire and attempted to play, i'd probably forget some of the words and play sloppy. maybe not so enjoyable for the average joe roasting a marshmallow. but that's a product of spreading myself out over so many songs and not focusing on perfecting just a few.
and that got me thinking to the question of what is better. is it better to be excellent at one thing and not attempt many other things? OR... is it better to attempt many things, but not really be excellent at one thing?
is it better to be excellent and spend most of my time at a handful of songs, but not try a whole bunch of other ones out there? or is it better to try tons and tons of songs, but not really be excellent at any of them?
maybe i can explain this better with a different example. lets look at john mayer vs. john thompson.
john mayer (professional singer/songwriter/guitarist for those of you who are fortunate enough not to know who he is...lol) is excellent at playing guitar and writing lame lyrics. but i'm sure if my buddies invited him out to play basketball or football, he'd get picked last. i'm sure john mayer couldn't teach a high school math class, or ride a skateboard. he probably can't fillet a fish, read something other than a magazine, or drive a tractor. not that there's anything wrong with that. john mayer has spent the majority of his life dedicated to making music and perfecting his craft. and because of it he's made more money than i'll ever know. i think he's a good example of someone who is excellent at one thing and probably average to below average at most other things.
and then there's john thompson. i'm the anti-john-mayer. the opposite end of the spectrum. i'm not excellent at one single thing to the point where i'm a professional at it or to the point that i'd make millions of dollars doing it. i've never buckled down and focused on one thing from childhood to adulthood. i have jumped around alot and tried many things... sports, careers, music, etc. and because i have jumped around alot and tried a variety of things, i can achieve some success at these things, at least to the point where i don't completely embarrass myself when i do them.
it's like every time i skate and i see a little bit of improvement, i always think... "what if i didn't quit when i was 12 years old? what if i skated every day from when i was 12 to now? that's alot of years!!! i could be a professional now." but then i think of all the things i would have missed out on. i would have missed out on engineering and the most boring year of my life in an office. but then the humor in 'office space' (movie) and 'the office' (tv show) wouldn't be so relatable. i would have missed out on teaching children. or going on mission trips and seeing God work in really amazing ways. i probably never would have read a book, or picked up a guitar, or played high school football and basketball. i'd have a different circle of friends.
so after all of my inner dialogue and thoughts, i guess it all comes down to this... i'm glad i'm not john mayer!!!
recently i have been looking up alot of chords for songs to play on my guitar. i've been storing them in my favorites folder on my computer. i have roughly 50 songs in that folder that i want to learn. i also have about another 50 songs printed off in my apartment that i like to play. and i want to get a whole bunch more too.
my friend jodi (she is the one that taught me how to play and she gave me her old guitar, which is like new, so i don't have to use the one i found in the trash...thanks jodi!) has been playing for about a year, give or take. she has quite alot of songs that she has saved over that year.
now here is where we differ in opinion.
she wants to memorize and perfect about 20 of her favorite songs. that way if she's ever at a bonfire, for instance, and someone brought a guitar, she can pick it up and play those 20 songs, no problem. nothing wrong with that. in fact, that's a great idea. i love when someone pulls out a guitar at a bonfire and plays a song i recognize and can sing along with. i think the majority of people out there do.
but for me, it's a bit different. i want to keep finding more and more and more songs that i can try to play. i've looked at 80's songs, punk songs i can play acoustic, some worship songs, indie, folk. but i still want to find some more like oldies, 90's tunes, really bad pop songs, maybe some rap songs i can make twangy, etc. even if i can't perfect any of these songs, i want to keep trying new songs. my memory of lyrics and playing skills aren't up to jodi's, so if i sat at a bonfire and attempted to play, i'd probably forget some of the words and play sloppy. maybe not so enjoyable for the average joe roasting a marshmallow. but that's a product of spreading myself out over so many songs and not focusing on perfecting just a few.
and that got me thinking to the question of what is better. is it better to be excellent at one thing and not attempt many other things? OR... is it better to attempt many things, but not really be excellent at one thing?
is it better to be excellent and spend most of my time at a handful of songs, but not try a whole bunch of other ones out there? or is it better to try tons and tons of songs, but not really be excellent at any of them?
maybe i can explain this better with a different example. lets look at john mayer vs. john thompson.
john mayer (professional singer/songwriter/guitarist for those of you who are fortunate enough not to know who he is...lol) is excellent at playing guitar and writing lame lyrics. but i'm sure if my buddies invited him out to play basketball or football, he'd get picked last. i'm sure john mayer couldn't teach a high school math class, or ride a skateboard. he probably can't fillet a fish, read something other than a magazine, or drive a tractor. not that there's anything wrong with that. john mayer has spent the majority of his life dedicated to making music and perfecting his craft. and because of it he's made more money than i'll ever know. i think he's a good example of someone who is excellent at one thing and probably average to below average at most other things.
and then there's john thompson. i'm the anti-john-mayer. the opposite end of the spectrum. i'm not excellent at one single thing to the point where i'm a professional at it or to the point that i'd make millions of dollars doing it. i've never buckled down and focused on one thing from childhood to adulthood. i have jumped around alot and tried many things... sports, careers, music, etc. and because i have jumped around alot and tried a variety of things, i can achieve some success at these things, at least to the point where i don't completely embarrass myself when i do them.
it's like every time i skate and i see a little bit of improvement, i always think... "what if i didn't quit when i was 12 years old? what if i skated every day from when i was 12 to now? that's alot of years!!! i could be a professional now." but then i think of all the things i would have missed out on. i would have missed out on engineering and the most boring year of my life in an office. but then the humor in 'office space' (movie) and 'the office' (tv show) wouldn't be so relatable. i would have missed out on teaching children. or going on mission trips and seeing God work in really amazing ways. i probably never would have read a book, or picked up a guitar, or played high school football and basketball. i'd have a different circle of friends.
so after all of my inner dialogue and thoughts, i guess it all comes down to this... i'm glad i'm not john mayer!!!
posted by TIM HORTON at 7:29 AM
1 Comments:
John: Your dad told me about your blog site so I checked it out. Behn(one of your St.Anne's students)and I play together sometimes and its just like you and your friend. I've memorized 50 or 60 songs,but Behn is always learning new stuff.Keep playing! I'm not as good as Behn but when I'm playing I must be having even more fun than John Mayer or Stevie Ray Vaughn!I enjoy the site.
Thom Strople
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