Guitar Doldrums...

Summer Oh Summer  (link to laid back summery music recorded on my phone - Sepia by Thierry Tisserand) - a great time to kick back and relax, do something a little different, maybe take a vacation... I had great plans for guitar this summer -  I thought I'd take a break from regular lessons and orchestra and pursue some of the things that I have no time for during the regular semester.  Even though I work at a university, my job doesn't change much inside and outside the semester, so doing something different with guitar, I figured, was a great way to change things up a bit and make some progress in new areas.   So I made a wish list of things to do:  attend several guitar camps (fun!), sign up for an online course to see what else I could learn outside of what I get from my teacher, get to grips with that Villa-Lobos piece that's been languishing for a year or so, figure out what modes are all about,  work on sight-reading (I am still abysmal at it), learn the new orchestra pieces in a leisurely manner so it's not a mad scramble at the last minute... not too much, right?

 So here I am taking stock.  Summer is almost over -  my son goes back to college next week - how am I doing? All started out well: I did indeed sign up for an online course for a month, and spent a pleasant few hours watching videos and getting ideas.  I did have a great time at a couple of guitar camps.  I even took a few lessons from a different teacher to get some new ideas... but after that I seemed to lose focus.  Got a bit sidetracked when I decided I should relearn some easy pieces (p.s. I'd like to be able to play Lagrima like that) I had forgotten so I could play them at the nursing home.  Got even more sidetracked deciding to learn some scales, then put that on hold as figured I needed feedback.  Gave up on the Villa-Lobos, again.  Abandoned modes after the course I signed up for turned out to be a bust (but wait, see recent progress in my other post!).  Started to work on the sight reading, decided the book I was working through moved too quickly so switched to a second book, which got lost under a pile of stuff...  Looked  at the orchestra pieces.   Hmmm.  Even worse, I don't really feel like working on any of the things that are lacking, so I'm not playing guitar much. I'm in guitar doldrums.  How did this happen???

Of course it's my own fault.  I'm a deadline kind of person - give me a deadline and I'll meet it, but I won't be energized to work on it until it's due.  Once I cut loose from lessons and orchestra all the deadlines went away, so my motivation to work on things that require actual 'work' went with it.  On the other hand, I seem to have managed the more pleasurable stuff (relearning pieces, camps, video viewing) just fine :)  And if summer is all about kicking back and relaxing, then perhaps it's OK.  After all, this is a hobby not work! But next summer  if I want to make actual progress,  I'll make sure to program in some deadlines...  As for curing the doldrums? First orchestra rehearsal is rapidly approaching, so I think I'd better get started.   And as for the rest?  I think I'll just enjoy the summer and just play what I feel like, when I feel like it, or not :)