Day 9 - I Have Musical ADD These Days

It's amazing how my mood and attitude can change in just a few hours.  I must have adult ADD.  Or perhaps I'm just normal.  Or maybe it is that music - just the RIGHT music for us at just the proper time - will perk up our spirits.

First:  My Humdrum Practice Session

After spending literally the entire day at my son's bowling tournament, I really was not in the mood to  rock out on guitar. Nothing against my instrument - I didn't want to do anything.

Still, I sat down to play. I thought perhaps a change of pace would help motivate me, so I plugged my electric guitar into my iPad and fired up the Rock Prodigy app.

Rock Prodigy is a learn-to-play app.  I bought it shortly after I purchased my Fender last spring in the hopes it would help me with lead guitar style playing. But the app frustrates me to no end.

Often it doesn't "hear" my guitar so it falsely accuses me of errors, lol.  I make enough mistakes on my own; but when I wrongly get points deducted I get aggravated and want to quit.  Childish?  Perhaps.   I think Rock Prodigy is a useful and comprehensive app - for someone else. For now I'll stick to my video acoustic lessons.

Rather than recap the uneventful practice session, I'll just pop in a pic of my notes. Had I planned to do so in advance I would have used my best handwriting; instead you are stuck with my scribbles.

Second:  Bon Jovi To The Rescue

Late tonight, after a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and a soothing soak in the whirlpool, I decided to pick up the Takamine.  I had no plans - I just started strumming chords to warm up.

So far so good.  Then I fired up the Songsterr app.  I could sing the praises of Songsterr from now until eternity.  It is my most amazing guitar app.  I love it.  Period.  The end.  I'll gush about it in detail soon, but now back to the story.

I played a few of my favorite songs and felt my mood start to lift.  Honestly I wasn't in a bad mood prior; it was just a long day.  I was worn out and wanted to be a bum.

One of the songs I played was These Days by Bon Jovi.  I played it a lot.  And it was amazing.  Not my playing, but the fact that the music coming from my headphones, plus the music I was creating with the guitar, lifted my spirits and eased the tension.  It's almost like the "runner's high" you experience sometimes when running.  Even though my strumming was imperfect, I felt like I was on top of the world.  And feelings like this are what make me fall in love with my guitar all over again.

And now to share These Days...

A few months ago I discovered my absolute favorite rendition of These Day on YouTube.  It is Jon Bon Jovi in 1998 singing the song to a fan club gathering.  I love how Jon is all smiles, but most of all I love the enthusiastic singing of the fans.  The energetic sing-a-long makes ME smile every time I watch it.  So I will leave you with this amazing video.

 

Does music boost your mood?

PS:  To top off the day, we learned that my talented son made it into the finals for his division.  Apparently I will also be spending tomorrow at the bowling alley.