Now, That’s Music People!

I auditioned for my churches band last week. It was probably one of the worst auditions I have ever had. It seemed if it could go wrong, it did. You name it. I started one song in the wrong key, failed to get into the meter of another. Could not hear myself on guitar (I wish I could blame the sound guy, but it was up to me to turn my amp up, and I didn’t).

At the end of it, I was feeling down. I auditioned on bass and guitar. I felt out of place and uncomfortable as it had been almost two years since I had played with a band. I had also neglected any serious practice in the last year or so. This left me rusty and worse than mediocre.

I talked to (read: whined) to my wife about how I am never good at anything. I’m a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy, master at nothing. She verbally put me in my place with one sentence (paraphrased):

You are not good at one thing because you try and do everything.

I never thought of it that way. I took her advice and re-prioritized how I spend my time, and what I spend it doing. I set up a guitar / bass practice schedule and I am making it a practice to cut out other things. In turn, I traded in some gear for a new bass and a bass amp, something I have never owned.

I have also decided to work on my preaching and writing more. I hope to be preaching once every couple weeks (at a local rehab / homeless shelter) and to get back to writing daily. In turn, I am going to guard my time a little more in terms of hobbies. While I would love to take up photography, geo caching, kite flying, racing cars and raising farm animals. But that will just have to wait.

I’m a little busy right now.

-Don-

PS. The pictured bass is the one I bought.