Conference napalm::guitar

There are three situations when I find I play the best:

1) When I've had a *really* bad day, stress-wise or emotional-wise. 
For some reason, if I pick up my guitar and play with the band that 
night, I'm able to work out my frustrations by playing well.

2) When I haven't played my guitar for a long time. Sometimes I get 
into a rut and just put my guitar away for a couple of weeks. The 
next time I pick it up, I find that I'm able to play with new 
creativity which was lacking before.

3) *NOTHING* gets me playing better than an enthusiastic audience. If 
I know people are digging what my band is playing, I'll feel better 
about my playing and take more chances. The results are usually 
positive (although I have made some major booboos by trying to play 
live outside the realm of my ability).

-Dan

    What gets "me" going? 
         
         It's a combination of:
    
     1.) When you have a drummer who never misses a beat and is always
         where he should be.
    
     2.) A bass player who doesn't mind going past the 8th fret and
         plays all the right stuff at the right time and plays with
         the drummer and not by himself to keep the timing together.
    
     3.) A guitarist who hangs his ego at the door and plays
         "with" the band and doesn't try to outshine the other members.
    
    (other members are optional, but you get the picture)
    
    You put this all together and NEVER loose the "I want to have FUN"
    attitude, which makes the energy level (key word here!) rise to
    unbelievable proportions. Volume should be such to get just
    the right tone and not enought to kill everybody in the band.
     
    In short.... when everything works! When everything is slightly
    loose, and the adrenaline is flowing like crazy! When you don't have
    to work at making the sound just right. I just stand back, listen
    to what is going on around me with a smile on my face thinking....
    gee.... now THIS is fun! It could "almost" be the most fun you can
    have with you p__ts on! Almost!
    
    Fred

    
    I play my best when I psyched!
    
    There are certain things that influence this. The primary one is
    when my sound is the way I want it (You know, when your guitar
    is going over the brink of feedback but you can conrtol it). 
    Another one is the attitude of the other musicians.  If someone
    doesn't have their head together its hard to be psyched. Also,
    the audience has a big part in it, but not really.
    
    wjb

    
    	I always play my best when the tapes are still and no-one is
    watching or listening - :')
    
    	Joe Jas
    

    I play best when I'm not concentrating too hard on what I'm
    doing. Sounds wrong, but when the audience is having a great time,
    then I do & don't think too much about what I'm doing. I'd say that
    most of the guitar players that I've heard comunicate from brains
    directly to fingers, without a great deal of interaction with other
    aspects of the brain. By this, I mean, the fingers are working like
    your mouth & Vocal Chords & communicating with a guitar. It's very
    unpredictable for me. Whether the tape deck is running or not isn't
    my hang up. If the part is pre-rehearsed, then it's just a memory
    recital, if it's improvisation, then I never know what it will
    sound like. I do always try to start in a different place everyother
    time I try to solo. Unfortunately, I tend to forget where the best
    sounding spot to start is...
    
    							Jens 

    Oddly enough, playing before even enthusiastic audiences has never
    boosted my playing even though I always enjoy and appreciate a
    supportative audience.
    
    What gets me going is (being somewhat aloof here):
    
    1) The right mood - a combination of enthusiasm, mental state, etc.
    
    2) The right tune - I wish I knew the properties of tunes that
       coaxed good stuff out of me.  I wouldn't bother playing anything
       else. 
    
    3) A drummer with (and I emphasize this) ABSOLUTELY ROCK SOLID TIMING
       and good eye contact.
    
       Some of you guys came up to my place one time and jammed with
       my friend Fred.  I have never enjoyed playing with any one musician
       as I have playing with Fred.  Unlike most drummers, I never have
       to think about where the beat is.  He just sorta draws you into
       it.  And he and I were constantly looking at each other - he
       "gave good cue", which is to say he could decide to throw in
       a stop or a fill of some kind, and it always seemed OBVIOUS
       (to me) what he was gonna do.
    
    4) I really play my best when I'm alone in my studio adding stuff
       to existing tracks.   I guess its just because I'm able to really
       focus on the important things about getting it onto tape.  I've
       never had the problem mentioned earlier about "when the red light
       goes on".
    
       Oddly enough, these days, I live for the moment when I can work
       through the night putting down the guitar solo.  It just seems
       to be the most satisfying thing.  Unfortunately, it seems to
       take forever to get to the point when I'm ready to do that
       (So far, I've always done the guitar solo last).
    
    		db

    	On a rainy days, all alone, warm cup of coffee and amaretto
    and no interruptions. This always seems to put me in the mood
    to play my best. The only problem is recreating this in a club.
    Seriously, I do my best with the least amount of distractions as
    I am able to put body and soul into what I'm playing. I agree
    with db on the right material as well. Some songs have that
    charateristic that fit my style of playing so well that I just
    seem to play better. 
    
    Don