Ok, healthy, sort of what I meant, thnx.
I actually wonder if practicing an instrument 6 hours a day is detrimental. I hardly think so,, unless you have a day job…. ;-)

when i was learning it was as soon as i got home i turned the record player own and sat down in front of it ,, till suppernn then go back after,,,
wife would get ill sometimes so it was headphones and a sock behind the bridge... but i was obsessed with learning....
when the child came along i scaled back ,, but i was already with a group playing by then.

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Originally posted by 1935tb-11

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Originally posted by banjopaolo

I’m a classically trained professional musician, I have spent about ten years of my young life in italian conservatory practicing every day for hours and hours Bach Brahms and co on my viola…
I think I’m quite nice guy!
But I must say that I didn’t feel very confortable in the classic music community: too much competition for me…
So I have soon played more in non classical music styles: jazz folk blues rock etc
Not really bluegrass since here in Italy there isn’t a real bluegrass scene… there are some really great bluegrass musician of course but they are a bit isolated, never saw a bluegrass jam here around….

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there is a guy in Genova who is world class banjo player and builder of banjos . his name is silvio ferretti . his band travels the world playing  its called Red Wine.

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Ciao Terry, me and Silvio are great friend: I own two Scorpion Banjos crafted by him and all my instruments are set up by Silvio with scorpion bridges, in this period he is making a new five string conversion neck for my late 20ies TB3... but maybe we are getting a bit off topic! Anyway he's a great guy and I'm happy to call him my friend... also his son Marco is a very talented picker

I prefer quirky introvert with sharp edges rather than a well-rounded person.
I like being a bit "odd".

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Originally posted by chuckv97

But isn’t there a legitimate pursuit of excellence, or is ego attached to that also?

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People pursue excellence for different reasons. It can be personally harmful, but ultimately it is the obsessive s who push through the envelope to new, higher standards that we can all aspire to. I think there is a case for it. Imagine guitar without Eddy Van Halen. 

Ahem,, I can definitely imagine guitar without Eddie VH,,, ;-) …. this august forum isn’t about me, but y’all know I’m a rabid! fan of acoustic only music…. (with rare exceptions). ;-)
Is obsessive the same as passionate?

I thought he might be a relative - he has “van” in his name too.

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Originally posted by Laurence Diehl

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Originally posted by chuckv97

But isn’t there a legitimate pursuit of excellence, or is ego attached to that also?

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People pursue excellence for different reasons. It can be personally harmful, but ultimately it is the obsessive s who push through the envelope to new, higher standards that we can all aspire to. I think there is a case for it. Imagine guitar without Eddy Van Halen. 

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Guitar has so many heros: Segovia, Django, Paco, Jimi… just to say some… of course Van Halen was a giant but why not Knofler or Ry Cooder or Frisell or John Fahey? 
 

there are guitarist like Bert Jansh whose songs have been stolen by people like Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Paul Simon... Bert didn't care so much about that: he kept playing in his favorite pubs all his life for a beer! 
 

maybe I'm going again off topic...  I just wanted to say that 'exellence' and 'fame' are not always the same thing...

Btw One of my greatest guitar heros is Joseph Spence: how many people in this forum knows who he was? 

Yes, Joseph Spence,, Bahamian? fingerstyle guitar player.
My long time favourite is Duck Baker,, a bit of a quirky player but has written some very fine guitar tunes.

As for “Vans” and EVH , Van Morrison could be an Irish Dutchman….

.

I’m reminded how as a young art student I was puzzled by my contemporary 19 and 20-year old painting students and the Fine Art study route. Given that all the painters that I knew were spending all day every day cloistered in a studio attempting expressive personal work it seemed a weird paradox to attempt that without first experiencing more of life. Creativity has to have something of value to communicate. Value is more typically the complex product of wider, more varied experience.

We similarly normalise a music industry whose output is skewed to a youth perspective. Commercial priority tends to infantilise. And infantilised is not a description of, or a synonym for 'well-rounded'.

Obsessive dribbles the ball only
Compassion scores.

(   ):)====‘== : : }

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Originally posted by chuckv97

Hey everybody,, do you think a person who aspires to become a professional musician has to spend so much time practicing in their formative years that they become a less well-rounded individual,, maybe even kind of quirky, introverted , or just sort of an oddball?

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Aspires, and actually succeeding are different things. I couldn't practice 8+ hours a day, at the exclusion of other things, and stay sane. I like having a normal life, going to the gym, watching sports, walking my dogs and being a good husband, etc. I'm rather regimented in the amount of time I dedicate to activities, and give my music up to a couple hours a day. That's enough to have fun, be a mediocre banjo player in a couple local bands over the years, but not even close to professional level. I know what I've put in, and I know what I've got out of my efforts. So I would answer this way, using my own personal experience. YES, I think professional level musicians are long suffering, quirky introverted oddball freaks (all quality I admire). I could have aspired all I wanted to, but was never willing to sacrifice other areas of life, to get to a higher level. So I guess I'm just normal. Honestly, as I grow older, I'm more quirky about the time I dedicate to health and fitness, than music. That way, when it comes time to heft a 13 pound banjo over my shoulder for a couple hours... I can actually do it.

I started violin/fiddle @ 30yrs. I started piano @ 50yrs.
I started banjer @ 18yrs. (open G. It was easier than guitar)

I'm having a h@ll of a time with my health lately.
It hurts to get around, and I've lost 60lbs. This weather's got to change.

Question? How can you still have an ego after being married for 45yrs?

Correlation does not imply causality. Perhaps the less socially adept are more inclined toward solitary practice, and thus develop better musical skills. I'm suggesting here that for some people the character traits may precede the expertise, rather than being a product of it.
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As an extension of Ira’s observation above, the type of music setting is probably also relevant.
An example are professional orchestral musicians who rehearse and perform in a highly social and integrated setting. Mal-adjustment tends to exclude people from activity where sensitivity and integration is essential. And orchestral musicians are probably top of the league in terms of practice time.

It has a lot to do with how and where you grow up,imo.
I grew up on the tip of a 15 mile-long peninsula out into the Gulf of Maine with islands on 3 sides.Our house was the last home on the right of rte. 131 which is named "The Port Clyde Road".
Population of Port Clyde was +- 320 for years.

I used to deliver The Bangor Daily News to about 100 of them every morning before school and my daily "job" was being a self-employed lobsterman who unloaded (lumped) 10-15 draggers' groundfish.
Catching Pogies and horse mackerel in gill nets put together by my Grandfather who I went lobstering and halibut fishing with tub trawls.

Weeks would go by with me never leaving the boat or village.
I was related to nearly half the residents of Port Clyde in those formative years and my two forms of entertainment were playing music at home with Mom and Dad and friends from next door.

My social life was to go to church and sing there with everyone else.
Kind of isolated and removed from what was going on in the Big World.I joined our school band in the 4th grade and played parades and orchestral settings through the 12th grade with our exceptional Mr. Parker who played in Don Doan's band,taught all the instruments and spent countless hours and years making good music happen,here.

Playing music and singing well were very important to my people.