# Well, I finally did it.



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

I played out the first time on Friday night.

Our favourite bar band, and friends of ours, has tried for months to convince me to sit in with them on a song.
I've always pushed back because I was nowhere near ready.
I finally committed to doing it a few weeks ago and worked on learning the song they chose for me.

Here is where I started from two weeks ago:

I've never played live.
I've never played at stage volume.
I've never really played with a band. The closest was goofing around in a basement in high school.
I've never, ever played through an entire song. Ever. I'd just never been able to work through it because I kept trying to play everything in the song.
I have been noodling off and on for decades, but just noodling and never really working through an entire song.

There was no rehearsal with the band.

I don't say all that to brag. I say it more because I can't believe I agreed to put myself in that kind of situation.

Friday night, I got up on stage in a bar full of about 50 people and did it.

I had a blast.









I took over one of the guitarist's rigs with my Les Paul Studio. I wanted my guitar there so that I'd be more comfortable.
I really wanted him to stay in and play in case I totally tanked, but he threw me to the dogs and picked up the tambourine and covered the backing vocals that he usually does in the song. It's probably the best thing that he could have done.
He cued me on some of the parts of the song. The rest of the band really helped carry me through it, too.
But I surprised a lot of people. Mostly myself.

Most of it was blur, but it was so much fun, I did it again on Saturday night. This time, I just used his guitar. I served up a few more clams, but it was still a lot of fun.
I think the biggest surprise for me was that when I made a mistake, I didn't melt down. I just picked up as best as I could as soon as I could.









I'm hooked.
But now I need to work on more songs.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Well reading everything you wrote, I'd say off hand, you've got more balls than Dick Tracy. As Mick Jagger would say, "good on you".

:sSig_goodjob2:


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Well done! Sometimes, I guess, it takes a push.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Good for you! 

It is a lot of fun, a band can really push your boundaries.

So can you keep on with these guys, 
or are you thinking of getting involved with others?

Keep it up!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Congrats, that is a lot of achievement in one night! I love to play in front of people, it's a blast.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Nice one. I've only done it once in my life. Couldn't bring myself to do it again, so congrats - I know it's not.the easiest thing to do.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

> I think the biggest surprise for me was that when I made a mistake, I didn't melt down. I just picked up as best as I could as soon as I could.


See .. that was easy.... the more you do it , the more you will be comfortable


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

sulphur said:


> Good for you!
> 
> It is a lot of fun, a band can really push your boundaries.
> 
> ...


I think that I will be able to sit in with them whenever we all agree that it's a good time.
They're already pushing me to learn more songs - which I am glad to do.

..and the jokes about quitting my day job are flying around - but they are just jokes.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

fredyfreeloader said:


> Well reading everything you wrote, I'd say off hand, you've got more balls than Dick Tracy. As Mick Jagger would say, "good on you".
> 
> :sSig_goodjob2:


It really was a "throw myself into the process" moment.
It's something I taught myself back in college in order to be able to speak in front of groups of people.
WIth that though, I defined all of the parameters: content of my speech, order of topics, style, etc. So if I messed up, no one would know because only I knew.

But playing music with musician's there are known parameters that you HAVE to hit in order for it to be good enough.
THAT really freaked me out.
If I messed up bad enough, I'd make the band look bad. That's was my biggest fear.

In reality, they are so good at what they do, I could have been playing barre chords on a diddly-bo, and they'd make it all sound good.
THAT was a huge safety net for me. I knew they could carry it if things went bad.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Congrats on the gig. It takes guts to play on stage. Easy for some to say it's easy if they have never done it. My stage days were done on drums and that was many, many years ago. I play the guitar in front of friends etc if we have a get together but have yet to play on stage. The situation has not presented itself since I started playing guitar and I doubt it ever will.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

Congrats!! Playing for a crowd is one the best feelings I've ever experienced. I feel every musician should experience it at least once in their life.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

I played bass in working bands for over 20 years but, like Scott, that was a long time ago now. Since I took up guitar, I have longed to play in a band but have been too scared of silent scorn for my abilities even though I have confidence that I would do just fine. But you have shown the courage to prove you have the right stuff and survived to tell the tale. Especially since the band is open to jamming with you again. I have to say I admire your guts. It's definitely not easy to do what you have done.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

bluzfish said:


> I played bass in working bands for over 20 years but, like Scott, that was a long time ago now. Since I took up guitar, I have longed to play in a band but have been too scared of silent scorn for my abilities even though I have confidence that I would do just fine. But you have shown the courage to prove you have the right stuff and survived to tell the tale. Especially since the band is open to jamming with you again. I have to say I admire your guts. It's definitely not easy to do what you have done.


I dont know if you're jamming with anyone currently, but if you're looking for a group to jam with, drop me a PM.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Yup, this is EXACTLY how it's done 

Congrads and keep at it. Jammin is pretty close to the most fun you can have with your clothes on.




shoretyus said:


> See .. that was easy.... the more you do it , the more you will be comfortable


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## robare99 (Jan 9, 2012)

Good stuff!!


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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

Good work. Keep the ball rollin'.


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

dodgechargerfan said:


> It really was a "throw myself into the process" moment.
> It's something I taught myself back in college in order to be able to speak in front of groups of people.
> WIth that though, I defined all of the parameters: content of my speech, order of topics, style, etc.
> So if I messed up, no one would know because only I knew.


So .. was everyone in the audience naked to you?

Way to go. It's quite the rush, isn't it?


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

laristotle said:


> So .. was everyone in the audience naked to you?
> 
> Way to go. It's quite the rush, isn't it?


Thanks. 

Honestly. I hardly noticed the audience. Not good showmanship, I know, but I was busy thinking. "1,2,3,4.1,2,3,4. baaa bammm." 

I did look out over the crowd a couple of times, though. 
Once, I just saw a wall of dancing people right up at the stage...and by "wall" I mean about a dozen people.
The second time, I looked over to the table where I and my friends were sitting. I really only saw my friend's iPhone pointed at me.

Everything else was a blur.
They had one of their niece's up on stage to sing some backup vocals - I kind of heard the singer introduce her (and I), but I really don't know what words were said.
It kinda sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher to me.

It WAS a rush.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

laristotle said:


> So .. was everyone in the audience naked to you?
> 
> Way to go. It's quite the rush, isn't it?


I tried that old gimmick once, think of everyone as being naked, man that can be a real ball breaker. I mean some of those women weighed 250 plus pounds and most of the guys were worse. Only tried that once a real fuggly thought, best to just try to think of something real pleasant.

:sSc_eeksign: :sSic_vomitbuddy: :sAng_scream:


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

laristotle said:


> So .. was everyone in the audience naked to you?
> 
> Way to go. It's quite the rush, isn't it?


Oops. My brain didn't process that you were asking about the public speaking.

For the most part, I couldn't see them because of the spot lights.
It's been a while, but I kind of recall the looks on my friend's faces in the front row once I got going.
They'd seen me sputter and sweat in a classroom of 12 people, and now they were watching me run the show that would showcase the last three years of their work at school...and I was doing it.


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## Guest (May 7, 2014)

actually, I did mean the show. hopefully none were 250+ lbs. lol.


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