Players whose technique has diminished with age

General Music Discussion
#21

In martial arts, we say “time is undefeated.” Obviously, fighting another person is a much more physically demanding and takes a much heavier toll on the body than playing an instrument.

I know it’s not what you’re implying, but I think it’s hard to attribute Steve Morse’s issues with his particular technique as some people often do.

He has lived an active lifestyle and has been injured in other pursuits. Yngwie Malmsteen famously damaged his picking wrist in a car crash, and Steve Vai suffered a severe bacterial infection in his picking arm.

It’s also possible that every picking technique carries some risk of wear and tear, and Steve Morse has probably picked more notes than anybody else alive.

A little over two years ago I dislocated and tore my right shoulder. It feels fine now (I’m 33) and doesn’t impact my guitar playing at all, but how will it feel when I’m in my late sixties?

2 Likes
#22

Understood - but this is part of aging. The longer you live, the more stuff happens. Some of it good, some not. But it all adds up and you work with what you have.

Due to burns suffered in a fire, Django Reinhardt was left with just two good fingers on his left hand. The approach he took in relearning to play helped define an entire genre.

1 Like
#23

I absolutely agree. I just think it’s important to seperate the idea of gradual decline due to the inevitable effects of aging versus decline due to specific injuries experienced over the course of our lives. One affects us all to some degree or another, and the other is unique to each of us. Many people will go their whole lives without experiencing the shoulder injury I had, for example.

1 Like
#24

I’m not sure the average age of forum members here at CTC, but in other groups where I know there were a lot of guitarists in their “2nd half” whenever the topic of hand related overuse injuries came up there seemed to be many guitarists reporting of issues that have interfered their playing or even at times requiring an extended break from the guitar. It’s hard to isolate “pure decline” from even conditions that simply were more aggravated by other non-guitar activities (in my case, weightlifting in my 20s) but my only point is that it just seems incredibly common for SOMETHING to come up and play a role in physical abilities/hand health.

IIRC when I was doing occupational therapy , my OT said she did a clinic at Berklee College and surveyed students and when asked if they were playing through any sort of pain or discomfort something ridiculous like 80% said yes.

Maybe “avoidable but difficult to avoid” applies here.

edit to add: @Tom_Gilroy that account of Eric Johnson is super interesting. I’ve also had various tinnitus and neurological issues, + to be honest, anxiety, and they definitely can all connect and create a sort of “negative synergy.” Eric’s story has a happy ending but it’s also a little comforting to be reminded how the elite pros struggle with “normal human things” just like us normal humans.

2 Likes
#25

While I don’t disagree - the two are inextricably linked.

1 Like
#26

I could barely play guitar for about two years due to tendon issues from typing my thesis. I couldn’t even comfortably hold a cup of coffee in my left hand for most of that time. I learned to play some slide, I couldn’t do much else.

Two years ago I dislocated and tore my right shoulder during BJJ. It didn’t really bother me while playing guitar, except that I couldn’t practice elbow driven picking movements. As you say, it’s almost inevitable that SOMETHING will happen on a long enough timescale.

I think learning that my heroes are human beings who have human struggles and human flaws and failings has been essential to me. It’s hard to believe that you can do the things that they can do it you see them as “special” or somehow fundamentally different to you.

The later chapters of Eric’s story are happy ones, and I’m delighted that he’s still making music and releasing more frequently. Venus Isle is still my absolute favourite album ever, but I’ve loved Eric’s more recent albums.

Some of my other favourite players haven’t had happy endings. Allan Holdsworth and Shawn Lane are both much more tragic stories, and both players active roles in creating their own misfortunes. They were people with their own struggles, flaws and failings, as all of us are.

#27

on reflection whilst re-reading this thread, I think I’m more concerned about not reaching a high enough peak in the first place! I don’t really have much to diminish!! :rofl:

1 Like
#28

I’d like to cast a vote for this sentiment! While I’m not that old (just turned 40) there is a very good possibility I’m past the halfway mark. Especially since I had my mid life crisis in my late 20’s lol!

All thanks to CtC, I’m (technically) better than I was in my 20’s, when I was practicing hours and hours per day. I’m excited to reach my peak :slight_smile: I’ll worry about the decline when that happens.

#29

C.f. the Terry Syrek interview. The stuff he says he did there, like “practicing” (quotes intentional) for 14 hours straight as a type of competition with his friends — it’s tragic that anyone thought this was a good idea. The venn diagram of personalities that elect to go to formal music school and personalities likely to overtrain for illogical reasons is probably a circle. I’m not sure who or what to blame. And Terry is a wonderful human and player, just to be clear.

1 Like
#30

Hahahahahahaha! Well I did elect to “major in music” (at a normal 4 year degree type of college) but I took as much conservatory type stuff as I could jam into my schedule. And I always thought that “more is more” and definitely spent hundreds of hours on mindless exercises over the years. Small sample set with just me, but that venn diagram was spot on in my case.