"Well, thats the thing about art. Different strokes, know?"
> Precisely .... The bassist for Dream Theater,John Myung,said that one of the things he did to improve while attending Berklee was practice to Iron Maiden's albums sped up from 33 to 45 rpm,think about that for a second. They're ALL badass. On the other hand,Rush has been an inspiration for me since Tom Sawyer was in the top 40.
> The only instrument I play is guitar unfortunately. I started my freshman year,practicing constantly,but progressing slowly. My main thing then was football. I broke my left wrist in a playoff game my junior year,but I never thought it would cause the problems it did later,even though it made no difference on the field. I graduated high school and went on to a junior college long enough to build my chops some more and take the 2 Spanish courses I had to have to be able to get into a 4 year college. Just before I finished there I started experiencing pins-and-needles sensations in my left palm. After a month it spread all the way to my fingertips,and I went to a doctor to see what was up. The diagnosis was CTS or Carpal Tunnel,caused by 40 hours a week or more of having my hand wrapped around a guitar neck,compounded by improper hand positioning,as a result of being completely self-taught other than guitar mags,vinyl,and cassettes. I eventually had to put it down completely for 6 months,but occasionally I would pick it up and play for a couple hours,and not feel a thing,until the next day when my wrist throbbed,or took a couple Motrin. This went on for 3 years,during that time I found something that let me discover who I really am,competitive pool.
After the 3 years,much of my chops were gone,and even though I could probably play for 5-6 hours now with no effects,it just isn't as much of a rush to play in front of people or even by myself if I can't just burn it the hell up. At the time of the CTS,I had only heard 7-8 pieces my whole life that I couldn't play,period. I can probably play anything with guitar in it you've heard on the radio since Nirvana came out,but it's not as satisfying as playing Far Beyond The Sun flawlessly in front of 90 people at a friend's wedding,as a present to the bride. I got her before he did,LOL.