Your biggest regret...

Thought I would start a new thread counter to the musical success thread...thought maybe it would be interesting to hear peoples biggest failure of regret...

Mine is the fact that I didn't follow through with an opportunity I was given...it's not a guitar related one but it is music...

When I was a kid at school I played the drums...I started at around 12 years old...I did pretty good for a couple of years and played in the school band and orchestra...My drum teacher had played with the London Symphony orchestra for 20 years...he was a world class percussionist...he took me through my drum grades and got me to the point where he wanted me to go for an audition with the county youth band...I went to the audition and passed and was offered a place...but i never took up the place...for what ever reason...maybe a confidence thing I don't know...but after all that work I turned the place down...!!!

The worst thing is that my teacher also taught the percussionists from the youth band so I would have had ongoing tuition from a world class teacher and also the band toured Europe and played everywhere...!!! I could have been 13 years old and touring Europe...!!!

I look back today and think what an absolute f***ing idiot I was...!!! I could have gone on to work with professional orchestras...god knows I could have even made it into the London Symphony Orchestra myself...!!!

As much as I love playing the guitar I still look back and kick myself for turning down the best chance I ever had to be a professional musician...!!!

I regret giving up the dream for 20 years.

Originally Posted by: RazboI regret giving up the dream for 20 years.

What was the dream man...???? And could you get there in another 20 years...???

ohh we should not focus on regrets...however....
if I would of "stuck with it" back in college, I would be so far along.....and not starting at the beginning 20 years later..
but in an attempt to be positive, the person I was then probably could have never handled the touring band life...I would of fallen prey to so many evils!!!! :) Now at least I think I'd be mature enough to focus and enjoy!

My biggest regrets don't pertain to music, but in the spirit of the forums I'll name one of my music ones.

I regret not learning and practicing "correctly". In terms of doing the exercises, learning theory when I was younger and just sticking to tabs for so many years. No I have to go back and sort of "re-learn" everything the way I should have from the start. As a kid you never want to do the boring parts of practice, just play the fun music, but that isn't always the best way to learn and progress.

I don't know if I really have any major regrets that I felt were defining moments... it really seems to me life is about the choices you make, and sometimes its tough to really be able to gauge how things would have turned out had you gone right instead of left, that sort of thing.

I'm very much in Hunter's camp, though. I really admire guys that hunkered down as kids/young adults and mastered their instrument. I was never really good at learning covers or even just being able to tell what a guitarist was doing by listening to a record. Music was a real struggle for me when I was younger. But there's a lot of good things going on now... lots of great information, lessons, etc... gear is cheap compared to 20 years ago, and the technology is really great... I have a Korg D3200, 24 tracks, digital, built-in effects and mixing automation and can burnt to CD, all for $1399... pretty amazing where we've come from.

I think in both the "success" and "regrets" thread though that I'd like to recommend a movie I just watch "The story of Anvil" or something like that. These guys were a bit of hit in the 80's and stuck it out for well over 30 years trying to make it back into the industry. Its a great documentary, and I found it pretty inspiring, so check it out.

Originally Posted by: Marshallmk1What was the dream man...???? And could you get there in another 20 years...???

I gave up music for a couple decades. Literally. Didn't buy it, listen to, or play it. Didn't buy a CD for 20 years. Like S&G's dream, or a bad movie where the evil witch has stolen the music. On the upside, I am now "discovering" all kinds of music. I barely knew who SRV was until a few years ago, if you can dig that.

Aside from guitar, it's taken a couple of years to get back vocally, but I feel recently like a wall just fell. Like I just got here. So for me, [u]having[/u] the dream [u]is[/u] being there. So, maybe the story has a happy ending and I don't have to get anywhere at all. ;-)

I agree that keeping a positive attitude will surely have a better impact in your life than focusing on regrets. We should learn as much as we can from the past and move on. Someone said we should use our past as a trampoline and not as a couch... Just an advice, hope it helps!

Regret: Second gig of what could have been a pretty good band.

We weren't ready. Everyone was pretty good (though the bass player was a bit hard to nail down for practice). A couple of guys booked a couple of gigs when we should have waited.

The first actually went ok but the second was during a below zero cold snap. We borrowed a van from another band...couldn't turn on the heat or lights or the battery would die. When it's -8 degrees...nope. Me and the drummer drove in that van and it was bitter.

Everyone at the gig stood at the back of the hall....

....and we taped it. Much to my dismay and disagreement.

I told em we were gigging too early. They watched the vid from that night and the drummer and other guitar player decided that they couldn't go on with the band.

Not that any one person did a bad job. We just weren't tight.

I said we shoulda waited. I regret I didn't argue more.

...though we did do a smokin' version of Crazy Train...matter of fact, any song I liked, we did better...hmmmmmmm

Some people are saying we shouldn't dwell on our regrets...but to be honest it's a part of human nature and sometimes it helps just to say what you wish you had done differently...I started this thread not to be about psychology...Sometimes things just don't go right and we might need to share that with people who have had similar experiences...or even share them so other people don't make the same mistake...

This part of the forum is about the experience of being a musician...be it good or bad...