Playing with – and through – a disability

[Ted Hoffman]

Hi, allow me to introduce myself, I’m Ted, and I’m a bit of an old geezer, but I loves me some rock and roll. When I was a kid, I had a friend who played left-handed. He was right-handed, but he was born with deformed and unnaturally small fingers on his left hand – so he adapted, and in so doing became an inspiration.
The great Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi are two others who come to mind as guitarists who overcame a disability. Now, at age 60, I’m faced with Parkinson’s Disease. Anyone else here have a special challenge they’re trying to rise above?

 

[Jak Angelescu]

To quote A7X, “Welcome to the family!” Everything we love to do comes with some sort of obstacle and some can make these things permanently difficult to do. It’s constantly a never-ending mental battle with yourself and it can make you feel really down. But don’t let it. Remember not to let your Parkinson’s defeat you. If you give up on guitar and feel the condition sucking the fun out of it, you’re letting it win. I know it’s easier said than done. But be happy and proud you still pick it up and you don’t let it defeat you

 

[Josh Wright]

I’m really happy to hear you adapted to it. We all have some obstacle in the way of playing, whether physical or mental. Some don’t even realise it, I kind of have a mental block telling myself I can’t do something and I turn that into proving myself wrong.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Thanks, Josh.. although to say I’ve adapted to it is probably a bit premature. It’s an ongoing battle, and really frustrating to think that things that used to be easy aren’t so easy anymore. A good analogy would be to flip your guitar over and play opposite-handed for a day… your brain and your hands know what they’re supposed to do – but to make them do it seems almost inpossible.

 

[Josh Wright]

Oh ok. I think I misunderstood what you had said earlier. Although I am happy that you aren’t giving up. One of my ongoing battles is having a mental metronome that is always off by a little bit so I have to fight that to stay on beat. It’s taken about 3 years to get to where I can keep a beat.

 

[John Tierney]

Hi Ted, glad your with us. I had Cancer (A.L.L) and as a result I have a permanently broken shoulder and on top of that I have mental disabilities that make it hard for me to focus and force myself in to an automatic competition. What I learned is that here we care for one another, and don’t give up. YOU are an AMAZING guitarist because YOU are unique. On top of that when you get to those milestones as a guitarist (TRUST ME you will know them and GET them) the fact you can say “I did this with a disease” makes that milestone MUCH more rewarding. KEEP GOING AND DON’T STOP.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Thanks, John… always great to hear from a cancer survivor – believe it or not, I’m battling that too – chonrdrosarcoma in my case. I reckon guys like us just love playing too much to give it up for any reason!

 

[Ted Hoffman]

No worries, Josh, every single one of us is battling something. The important thing to remember is that we’re bothering to battle it because we love what we do

 

[John Tierney]

@ted jeez dude my thoughts ar with you. When I had it I was forced to put it down cuz my protocol was really rigorous but that’s when I started bass Ultimately keep fighting music put me in an alternate world in my mind and I just felt at peace

 

[Ed Seith]

Aww man, I’m not the oldest guy here anymore (besides Papa). Sorry to hear about your struggles. One of my best friends was diagnosed with Parkinson’s probably almost 15 years ago. He has good days and bad, but finding the right cocktail to keep him steady was a huge undertaking, and involved a number of times going “cold turkey” from one cocktail to “reset” for the next. He’s on fairly minimal stuff right now, and doing better than ever – GOOD LUCK to you on your unfortunate journey.
Whenever you need inspiration to fight through, remember that JASON BECKER is still making music.
http://jasonbecker.com/

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Ed. I asked a surgeon once what he would do if he ever got diagnosed with Parkinson’s (following the idea that a surgeon uses their hands much like a musician) and he replied “deep brain stimulation” (sounds kinda like some 70s electronic band, huh?) … a surgical procedure in which electrodes are implanted in the brain and mild shocks are
given to stimulate the production of dopamine. If I ever have that done I want my electrodes connected to neck bolts like Frankenstein…
And yes, Jason Becker is inspirational!

 

[Ted Hoffman]

John, glad you’re doing well!!! Us medical marvels have gotta stick together!!!