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Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 7 2014, 06:05 PM

Hi guys! The other day I was walking around my neighborhood when I saw a dog trainer giving rewards (some kind of sweet for doggies) to the dog every time he did what the trainer asked. I noticed that this was a big motivation to the dog and also a way to tell him that he was doing the things in the right way.

If I relate this to my life, I use to reward myself after a long day of work, and also after achieving my diary goals because I feel that I deserve it. This reward can be simple but it’s something that makes me happy. It can be watching a movie, buying a sweet, or ordering my favorite foods to the delivery.

I was wondering if you apply this idea or “rewards” to your guitar practice.

Do you reward yourself after an intense practice session? How? Or is the reward perhaps the session itself?

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici May 8 2014, 08:49 AM

I guess for me a good practice session it's a reward itself. I'm happy if I record something and I like it. Actually, so happy than I can't eat, drink or to sleep. I listen again and again and again what I did and I'm just feel happy

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 8 2014, 09:07 AM

Nice way to look at it, Monica I for one like the simple pleasures of life and for me, a 2 hour practice session having a glass of red wine near and knowing that after that, I can spend some time with my band or with a loved one, is pretty much one of the best things in life.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 8 2014, 10:19 AM

I think we musicians are masters at this? I mean rewarding ourselves.
What better reward than getting - new gear? Maybe this is where GAS comes from?

I have heard it million times - we manage to always justify even craziest buys with why we need that particular pedal, amp etc. I've been there myself many times. Getting new gear is always rewarding and motivating to practice more (use the new stuff). Personally, I find the gigs and recording most rewarding product of practicing. That is where it all makes sense for me and becomes so worth it. Hearing the amp roar on stage and rocking with your band mates is a huge reward. Thinking about it, I played so many gigs which if you objectively look at it - they could be classified as "failure" and "waste of time" due to this or that reason. But - they were all so worth it in the end (all the trouble of traveling, practicing etc) just for the sake of playing live.

Now what I notice sometimes is that buying new gear syndrom overcomes and becomes unreasonable. For example, you start to have tons of gear which you don't use or you don't keep practicing - just keep getting new gear. In that sense, I did meet a lot of guitarists who went this path and its where it stops being fun as the skill level on the instrument is not improving + the guys start having problems getting a good tone (keeping up with the gear setup) as they don't have enough experience (=practice under their belt) to utilize it properly.

The biggest award for me after an intense practice is that I feel more "confident" on the instrument instantly. Also I like that special feeling when I grab the bass guitar the next day and it feels "familiar", "comfortable". If I don't practice even for a few days, strings under my fingers and my hands feel slightly "estranged" on the first contact with the instrument, until I get playing for some time. This doesn't happen if I practice daily and especially after intense sessions so I would say that is the biggest award for me - it just feels good

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 8 2014, 10:54 AM

I think the biggest reward is always satisfaction that you did something.. and freedom from guilt. When you know you should be doing something, you feel guilty right ? When you know you've worked hard and given to the cause, you can feel free to just 'be' and do something else. That's a good feeling.

Posted by: Marius Pop May 8 2014, 01:31 PM

Of course! Rewarding yourself is very important. It gives you ballance and that's the key to succes!

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 8 2014, 02:30 PM

This also happens to me, mostly when I'm composing. The best reward is the final result and the happiness that gives me to listen to it over and over. When the moment of "listening over and over" happens, means that I composed something good.

Posted by: klasaine May 8 2014, 03:30 PM

I only reward myself after I have successfully incorporated (as in people/the band like it) whatever it was I was working on into an actual piece of music. Preferably on a gig or in a session. My reward is simply a feeling of satisfaction that I am indeed doing the right thing ... which keeps me going.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 8 2014, 04:34 PM

Nice reward.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 9 2014, 10:07 AM

Well, the guys that have bands know about another reward. The day your newest material is ready to be shipped into stores and you hold it in your hands Your finished work - such a great reward!

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 9 2014, 06:27 PM

Sure! There are many rewards related to our bands.

-The first time our album is in our hands,
- When a video clip is finished
- Listening your music on the radio
- Watching your video on TV
- Sharing stage with a band that you love.
- Watching your band's fans singing your songs.

These are things a few of all the rewards that a band can give us with hard work and dedication.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 10 2014, 01:22 PM

Exactly! You know, yesterday, I was obsessing a but over the Planet Caravan solo - there were some notes there that really caught me and I think that recording was a good reward Now I will just shuttup and go back to practice in order not to fool myself on anything

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 10 2014, 04:33 PM

hahaha don't worry! You deserve the reward mate, enjoy it.

Posted by: klasaine May 10 2014, 04:47 PM

Related to my initial response to this thread ...

Yesterday I had a rec session for someone I've never worked for before. I had no idea what they might want (that's all totally normal but I still get a little apprehensive).
I got an email last night after the session from the engineer saying "good job, she seems to like it".
That (and the check) is the reward. One more day in the right job ... whew!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 11 2014, 12:49 PM

Knowing that the job you have done is a great thing for your client, is always a great reward! True words, Ken!

Posted by: verciazghra May 11 2014, 06:30 PM

Whenever I create something that I like I usually reward myself in the worst possible way. I feel like I want to share it with people and hopefully they'll get some enjoyment out of it. But generally this doesn't work and I mostly get criticism back and go back to developing the piece in a frustrated mindset with thoughts like "can't they see this is a WiP?", "sure, it's not the greatest thing in the world but it's not that bad...",.

Yeah my psychology is weak, but criticism isn't one of the things I really care about. If your heart is big enough for you to dedicate yourself enough to share music with others, the only proper thing I can see is to applaud it and value it's uniqueness. Positive criticism is another thing tho but I don't really like that either, I just want to explore and share my findings.

Anyway that's how I reward myself by getting myself frustrated

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 11 2014, 10:52 PM

It's difficult to deal with criticism and how it affects to us depends on each of us and our personalities. I remember feeling bad about criticism in the past, nowadays I use to analyze them and try to learn a bit when there is something to learn. Sometimes criticism don't have sense but many times there is something there that can help us to grow as artists and musicians, but you have to be strong, most of the times the is a percentage of "hurt intention" on them...

Posted by: Ben Higgins May 12 2014, 09:18 AM

My whole approach with creating things is, if I know it isn't ready, I don't share it.

However, I can understand why it would be a beneficial thing to do, especially in a guitar community like here, to pick up tips and arrangement suggestions.

For me though, I write exactly what I want.. if people like it, great. But by doing it with no external feedback during the writing process makes it less likely that I make decisions based on pleasing other people.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 12 2014, 12:25 PM

I tend to be on both sides of the camp somehow - how is this possible?

- sometimes, when I like something I create VERY much, I tend to become enthusiastic about it and show it to everyone, even if it ain't finished
- if I know something has potential, I will keep it there until it's finished

Vince, would you rather everyone just praise you? I think that meditation should also help you into dealing with criticism I never got anywhere without it, simply because when you work on something, you can be SO much in there, that you become incapable to see the big picture.

Sometimes, a gentle nudge or even a kick in the behind can help tons - wouldn't you agree?

Posted by: klasaine May 12 2014, 03:53 PM

Of course people don't know or understand (or care) if it's a WiP. You put it out - you showed it. Why did you do that? *I understand why but do they - ?

My skin is very thick when it comes to [my] art. Unless the criticism is from a peer, my general reaction to (negative) criticism is, "yeah, lets see your band".

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 13 2014, 07:34 AM

Hehe! My thoughts used to be the same But, compassion grew a little inside me and I began to understand that these folks that usually criticize mercilessly, are poor unhappy souls, having nothing else to do. Could you do anything else than pity them?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 13 2014, 02:06 PM

This is something that we need to have clear.. if it's ready or not. If we share something that we know isn't ready we have to be ready to receive obvious comments about the things to improve.

It also interesting what happens when we hear and old recording that we did and thought it was ready and great... we usually discover that there were many things to improve there. But don't feel bad, it means that you have evolved as a musician and artist.

We could compare it to watching an old photo, we would say: oh no! what's happening with my hair there??

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 14 2014, 07:44 AM

Precisely This is an aspect that I usually argue on with my best friend and band mate Cezar - for him, things are almost never finished, because he feels like there's ALWAYS something that he could bring to a piece and make it better. I always say 'Dude, stop it! This way we'll NEVER finish!' How's it working in your band? Who decides when something's ready or not?

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 14 2014, 06:40 PM

This was something that happened with the first recording of my band... first demo, first album, when you are still experimenting a lot and are not sure about the identity of your band. You feel insecure and you think that it's never over. This also depends on the personality of each musician, some are really obsessive and tend to be more nonconformist. The other members of a band should take the decision of saying.. ok, this is the finished album!

With my band, I was the most obsessive and also the one that decided when it was over. I was much more obsessive in the beginnings but I was searching for something that we weren't able to achieve at that moment. and that's the thing that we should know. Bands and musicians become better with experience and practice, so there is always a way to improve something, but once you get a good standard we should let it be, after all, our songs, recordings and albums are like photos. We are not searching for perfection, we are letting our spirit express.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu May 15 2014, 08:51 AM

EXACTLY! Each song or album is a moment in time A sound photography pf who you were and what you were experiencing at that time. Life doesn't stand still and neither should you - I'm not saying you should release songs in a raw form in which you are sure they are too far from what they should be, but neither hold on to a song, knowing that 'one day' you will be better and you will be able to play it faster, more expressive and so on

How about you guys? What experiences did you have in respect to this idea?