lol...u sound like me jeff...i can play 5 chords..e,a,d,g,c...nice to know i'm not alone
hey jojo, and you know, if you threw a Bb, Bm, F, Am, Dm, Em into that mix, you would know all the chords that 90% of popular songs are written in. i don't have a good ear, naturally, for tone either, but i just practiced obsessively. way more than the naturally gifted people. and remember, that once you find your "voice" and your "sound", that can only come from you, you are again another 90% of the way there. you have to trust yourself though. and the trust comes from practice. but, it's a relative thing, sound is. lots of people do not think that bob dylan or kurt cobain are anything to write home about, technically, but they have a certain soul and heart that goes with the rough sound, and i love them for it way more than some guy who *tries* to sound talented and professional, whether he is or not. find your sound, and find your heart, and don't compare yourself to others too harshly, or even ever, and i think you could fly. first get really technical, and force yourself to practice the regular stuff. then, forget your lessons, and get poetic, and your brain will naturally assimilate the technical stuff in the background, while your consciously focus on the poem inside of you. this is part of creative method. you want inspiration? it's a cliche, but it totally comes from within. i would argue not even to bother looking outside of yourself for subject matter. once you have tapped that place, (and i know you have it in you), you find a few chords that you like, you pretend you are the only musician in the history of the universe, the first personto ever play those chords, and you let yourself go, alone, flailing into the unknown. remember, you are a god(dess)... ;) sorry you are in that place. i hate it. it's not like hell. it's like purgatory. torture either way. i am down too today. i just dropped my sister and her sugar daddy husband off at the airport this morning. they are going on, get this, a one year world tour, literally, and i am not even sure that they know how to appreciate it. and i can't help but think to myself: "wtf josh?! pull your act together already..." and i have tried, several times over the years, and i hate pulling my act together.......... it's such a boring thing to do... - how is life such a swan ride for some people? they don't care about passing go and collecting two hundred dollars because they already own park place and the railroad. they roll the dice, and the dice seems like it's rigged. a mere slave to money i am. arrgh!! some days i want to write, some days be a war photographer, some days i just want to sell everything, put on my boots and just start walking south towards mexico. and i'm not joking. i seriously consider it, and i might still do it. a mere slave to my ego i am. arrgh!! that, and women just kill me. evil, evil, evil, impish creations of satan they are! ;) he he... but seriously, they are. the hard irony is that i can't help but worship them, and i always will. a mere slave to biology i am. arrgh!! hope you get better. have a hot bath, drink a bottle of wine, and write some poetry. ts