What is this fun you speak of……..
So, I just got off the phone with one of our suppliers here at Solo Guitars, and we had a long chat about the state of the music business and the musical instrument business. What’s good, what isn’t, what’s real what isn’t, reality shows and whether they help or not, guitar hero’s and so on. This blog isn’t about any of that lol….this blog is about fun.
Fun. Fun is a word that I don’t hear a lot anymore….it’s defined as “enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure”. Fun is what my entire childhood was about, and my teen years and a good part of my adult years. My supplier brought this up in reference to a concert he just went to which had very little production, and was performed by a bunch of elderly guys who have been in a band for the last 40 plus years. The concert wasn’t perfect…there were out of tune guitars, speakers blew up, there were some wrong lyrics etc, but everyone that my friend spoke with (including a couple band members) said that the evening was the most fun they have had in a long time.
So I got to thinking…when was the last time I had ‘fun’? For me, I have changed the source of fun from goofing with my friends at the park (when I was 8) to finding the ‘fun’ in learning, or in working (whether for free or for pay) and now most recently in playing live. Oh it wasn’t fun initially, I had butterflies (which I have no business in having after all these years), I worried about the sound, I wasn’t as efficient setting up etc and my playing….oh brutal! I was certain after the first couple songs I would be asked to stop….but then someone came up and said this is awesome (despite the rustiness) and I began to remember…this is supposed to be fun. There was no money involved and that wasn’t even the point, I was just helping a friend with an opening. Guess what? As soon as I stopped worrying, I felt better, I played better and I started to sound better (I think…). I was having….fun!
So really, as I kind of apply that concept of fun to everything we do here at Solo, it becomes a store full of ‘fun’ stuff! Whether you are building a kit, modifying your guitar(s) or upgrading, or even just buying stuff to make you sound better, if it wasn’t for ‘fun’….why would you do it? I’ve been doing all this stuff for a long time…building, modifying and repairing guitars and basses…I still get stumped, I still get mad at myself if I screw up or wire something wrong, and I still get frustrated if I can’t figure something out…but yet, I keep doing it, because I like it…it amuses me and gives me a sense of enjoyment. That is supposed to be….’fun’!
So now I have a challenge for all of you…if you aren’t already having fun with Solo, the challenge is to do so. Order a kit, buy that part, do something you haven’t done before, in fact do anything and try to see it as fun. There’s enough not-fun stuff in the world right now, but music and anything related to it should be the opposite. Learn a tune to play for your partner, learn a new lick on the guitar, put a little more challenge into the kit you are building or just try to learn something new for the fun of it. I can be a cynical old so and so, but last weekend reminded me of something super important in life….fun. I highly encourage you to embrace that feeling…
One response to “What is this fun you speak of……..”
Playing is fun as kids we went out to play, as you said. So therefore it’s interesting it’s called playing music, whether you make the notes yourself or put on a recording. I’m now closer to my 67th B-day than my 66th but love to play music. Some friends are coming over this afternoon a beautiful coastal South Carolina October Sunday and we are going to play in the backyard! Fun!