My friend Mike came over the other night to lay down some bass guitar tracks for a few songs I recorded. He got done 2 out of 3 songs, which isn't bad for 2 hours of work. I appreciate him so much. Here is a guy who is busy going around playing with bands, playing at church, he has a son and a full time job, and still makes time to do a nice thing for me because he sees my potential. I don't know anyone else who is kind and selfless like that. In comparison, some musicians won't even acknowledge me.
He told me that I made a mistake on one of the songs... he said I lagged slightly when coming in. He said that I'm doing really good though, and told me it's a lot harder to play by yourself. When you play by yourself all the time, you don't have anyone to ask, "Hey, how does this part go?" or, "I'm having trouble with the timing, can you help me with that?" When you play by yourself all the time, you develop bad habits, which can be hard to break. He said the way to get better fast, and have better rhythm, is to play with other musicians. Well, guess what? I've known that for a long time! That's why I did so much better when I played guitar with Ryan when we led worship at my church the couple of times I did it with him. If I got stuck on a part of the song, Ryan could give me a bit of help with it. But sadly, those days are long gone now. And my church isn't interested in spending any time or effort to grow their music team. So any opportunities I get to sing and play with others won't happen until I move to Michigan. Even if I only got to sing and play once a month with Ryan's praise band, that is once a month more experience than I get now! And plus, just being around other talented musicians who also care about me as a musician and take me seriously is a great boost for my confidence level. The encouragement I got in Michigan was so much greater. The folks in the music ministry out there actually ASKED me to lead songs, and said I was doing a good job! I was told I have a beautiful voice, and was encouraged to sing with them. Completely opposite of what I'm used to.
A few people at church agreed 6 months ago that I wasn't "ready" to sing on stage. Was it because I didn't have enough experience? Or did they just think my voice sucked? My question is, how do you get better when they won't even let you sing or play once a month to get the experience? It's a no-win situation...especially when there are others who wanted me on stage. If they would have given me the opportunity 6 months ago, just think how much experience I could have gained by now! What a waste.
Darryl reminded me that in every venture in my life where I have put my mind to it, I have excelled, even going beyond those who have years of so-called experience. I had zero experience with programming, but I managed to streamline the work of organizations I worked for... cutting down weeks of work into a few clicks of the mouse. Rather than being promoted to a higher position and being recognized for my accomplishments, I ended up having to train my bosses at a few of my jobs! I had zero experience with homeschooling, but I managed to get my kids through college with high honors! (And that from someone who had originally dropped out of high school!) I had zero experience with Publisher or PowerPoint, and now I'm great at doing bulletins and slides for church, among many other things I've never had experience at before. In all these things, and more, I taught myself and excelled!
So what if I haven't had "experience" with singing or playing on stage? And just because someone does have a lot of experience up on stage doesn't mean they are good. Experience is not the end-all criteria for doing a great job. You will never convince me otherwise.
That being said, I do believe getting experience can be beneficial.. What good would all the programming in the world be if I hadn't had a place to use it? What good would Publisher and PowerPoint be if I had no place to use it? Going back to what Mike said: playing guitar with others will make me better. But dang, Michigan is a long way off.
Looking forward to what God will do with me. I know there is an opportunity to sing and play and worship out there...somewhere...it's just a matter of God moving me to it. I will spend as many hours as possible learning to play and sing better each day. I will continue doing the best I can for kids club, even with it's own set of challenges and conditions... like playing alone, and having distractions.
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