How to get over fear... (Page 2 of 3)

I have a question did you say you were the only guitarist

A peice of advice:become fimiliar with the names of the notes n your guitar. When Im trying to play along with a song I dont have tabs or sheets for, I just pluck single notes on the guiar until I find one that sounds right, then I figure out the name of that note. Like ll be playing along and Ill hit the third note of the A string and be like "oh, that shounds good, and thats a C." (you dont have to kow the note by its particular sound, just become fimiliar wth whereall the ntes are on he fingerboard. somtimes it takes e a while to figure out a note.) then play a c CHORD along with that part of the song. usually it sounds right when played along with the song, sometimes you need to make it a minor chord though. bring a chord sheet with you so ou canfind out chords yu dont know. Tell me if this doesnt make sense and Ill try to explain it better; I did a somewhat crappy job this time. :-(  nyway, Iveonly been plaing or 11 months and I can already play alongwith most songs using this method, try it out.

perhaps you had your amp pointing at them? Does that sound too obvious? :E

But you may have the old problem of everyone wants to be heard over everyone else! (used to have that as a bass player...lol)

patrickjacques wrote:

yo detman since you are the only guitat player you might ask the keyboard player to get together just you and him and work at figuring the chords to the songs. have him play his chord and slide a bar chord up and down the neck until you hit the right chord.You can the transform it to an open chord. One thing I would suggest also is that at the next preformance you bring a tape recorder and record the songs. With the recorded music you can practice and figure out chords replaying as much and as often as needed. People often tell me that I am lucky to be such a good guitar player. I attribute that to only one thing. The amount of hours and hours I have practiced . I honestly beleive that anyone with that many hours of practice would be as good or better than me on the guitar. Keep Pushinhg and it will come

Also it is quite common when playing electric. Everyone wants to be louder than the other, thus drowning out the other guy. Place you amp so that you are standing directly in front of it and not pointing directly at the other musicians. This sould help so that at least you can hear yourself

Thank you for the advice. In my church, I am the audio technician as well as a budding guitarist.
I have recorded the band and musicians singing on multiple occasions and have quite a few of their songs that I play to at home to practice. I will admit that I do a lot better when there is no audience or anyone else around to hear me mess up.

I will point my amp at me this sunday so that at least I get to hear myself play. If everyone else can hear too then more power to them.  But as long as I can hear myself playing that's all that counts because I will get better. Plus, as loud as the music is, I should be able to still hear it along with my amp.

=]

Dm

I truly hope that it's just misunderstandings and learning pains and not egos at work with your Church group...sometimes getting a good sound is a real challenge. Typically I'll set my amp over to the side and point it back at me and away from the keyboard...that way I can hear it and use it for a monitor...once I get my sound set then I'll place a mic in front of the amp and the sound tech can mix it with the overall sound. Sometimes this is difficult in a smaller church with limited space and sound resources but ideally the amps should each be micd and the drums should be "boxed in" in with a plexiglass sheild and also micd...then let the sound person mix everything. I find that I can stand in front of my amp and hear what I'm doing over the overall mix, or I can step to the side and hear the stage monitor to hear everything. Hopefully you are able to have some practice sessions to check things out...

Hello,

    I've been playing off and on since I was a teen and seriously devoted myself to learning the guitar last october 2006. I want to be able to play along with my church band but I don't know where to start. I can read tabs and play out the songs I see on chordie. But when I take my guitar to church I can never find any sounds that go along with what the band is playing. Everything I play is so out of tune with the songs and I sound like a frickin 2-year old playing around with a guitar instead of someone who spends an hour a day practicing.

It's depressing.

I love this so much but I suck so badly at it. How the hell am I ever supposed to just know where to go on the fretboard to get a particular sound? And how am I supposed to know what key anyone is playing in? They ask me that all the time and I don't know what the heck they are talking about...
The only time I ever sound like I know anything about playing the guitar is when I'm at home with tabs in front of me.
My guitar is tuned in drop-D and I can't even get my playing to match what they're playing and Drop-D is 10 times easier than playing in standard tuning!

Do I have to know what each sound is when I hear it? (Like...hear a song and instinctively know that a note played is "C")
I really just don't have a clue what to do and it's bothering me to the point of sadness.

Does anyone have any advice?

I know about all of the usual suggestions such as:
1. Get lessons.
2. Play with people, friends and/or family.
3. Go watch some musicians play.
My response to those is: I'm married to a regimented christian woman and I don't have much money,
so all 3 of those options are out the door.

The guitar is all I have left in my life...I don't want to lose this too.

Thank you,
Dm

Detman101 wrote:

Greetings everyone,

         This past sunday was the first succesful attempt at playing with the church band. I pointed my amp towards me and played on. I found that with the amp pointed towards me, it was easier to roll the volume knob and find the right notes to play, they turn the knob all the way up and play along with the band.

And people could hear me too!!! Well, the front row of the audience could hear me.... =p
But it's a start!!!

Dm

Fella, I'm really pleased for you! Keep right at it and keep on rocking my man

I find this topic utterly amazing. I cannot believe that the musicians in your church have treated you like this. Some people tend to forget that they had to learn too.
I have kept my guitar pretty much a secret from my church group because when they find out they will be HOUNDING ME TO JOIN IN! But I don't feel confident enough yet.

This group of people in your church need to realise that they may not always be there. For whatever reason they may move on, or whatever. Where does this then leave your church? With nobody left to carry on the music. They need to see the bigger picture and realise that the work of the church is what's important and not their own little private club.

Most churches that I know are desperate for people to join their groups (for all activities) so that they can carry on into the future. This even goes as far as welcoming people without any church background in the hope at showing people what it's all about and sparking an interest  in their spiritual life.

What surprises me most is that they do not even invite you to rehersals. They are quite happy to watch you struggle away DURING SERVICES and then tell you to pipe down! Something not right there.

I have nothing but admiration for the way you have stuck it out.

Just a thought Dm, but are there any other budding guitarists in the church who may benefit as much as yourself to a short get together to bounce things off each other. Send the feelers out for anyone else who may be even more reluctant than you were originally to get involved. Once you get together a couple of times you'll be amazed at how much good you can do for  each other.
I also hope you get the material from Bootlegger so you can get it down with some chords for some popular songs. I know the group in my church always have at least a word sheet with corresponding chord changes so that nobody gets lost half way through a song.

Good luck and God bless,

Al V

I picked my guitar up about 18 months ago after a break of about 10 or 11 years. It was hard getting those fingers back into shape. I have now only just reached a point where i am happy play for family and friends but 18 months ago even that would have sent me screaming from the building.
I don't know how many guitars you have but if you have more than one why not offer one to the guy as a loaner to see how he gets on. After a couple of months and he is still the same them fair enough. Just a thought.