Accomplishments

[Lola]

One thing your very proud of in your musical journey so far. Tell us.

Me: how my ear has developed. I don’t even use tab like I used to. To be able to figure things out by just listening. And now I listen to songs that I like intensely and it’s like, “I can figure this song out”. It may take me a while but this is such a cool skill to have. I am in it to win it.

 

[Tony M.]

The fact that a number of children have taken up the guitar over the years
because they saw me play and told their parents "I want to do that".

 

[RickP]

I’m proud of the longevity of the experience. I started playing guitar in the mid-1970s, and saw my first stages then. Now, in my 60s, I’m still seeing new stages and faces along with those many people who have followed me through multiple bands. I’ve gotten to share stages with big names and lots of equally talented but lesser known souls chasing the craft. I’ve experienced the recording studios, the late night breakfasts after the gigs, and the sense of community with fellow musicians for the better part of 5 decades now. All of this while having a long career in LE and raising a family.

I started in the 70s, and hope to still be doing it in my 70s. That’s an accomplishment worth chasing for me.

 

[veinbuster]

I am pleased to have my own voice.
And to often have something to say with it.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Where I am today musically is what I am most proud of ;~)) I am at the highest point of my musical journey at the moment best I can tell! Writing my best material ever, playing better than I ever have and experiencing ear to ear smiles with every note that pours out of me!! Now if the rest of my life would kindly follow this lead, I would be eternally grateful!!! Currently working on a very time intensive music video for a song ("Midnight Noon") I will hopefully release in the next week or two. I have learned a LOT about Adobe After Effects over the past week or so and things are looking really good IMO ;~))

 

[Mike J.]

I play at church. I guess the one thing I feel best about (other than serving the Creator) is the originality I have to offer.

Sometimes I cannot make out what the guitar is doing because it's all so big sounding with lots of reverbs going on. Because of that I'm forced to come up with my own parts. So far, no complaints. Other times I'll listen to the songs, will look at who in the lineup is playing and I'll know what elements are going to be missing. For example, some songs will have piano and synth sounds and depending on the player I'll know if the synth will be missing or not. (Some guys like just playing piano and nothing else). So I'll come up with something that that will fill the void.

I find it hard patting myself on the back, but so far when I play something different in these songs the other players like it.

But I find I really enjoy the challenge of coming up with different things when I have to. Keeps this old brain active!!

 

[Tony M.]

I’m proud of the longevity of the experience. I started playing guitar in the mid-1970s, and saw my first stages then. Now, in my 60s, I’m still seeing new stages and faces along with those many people who have followed me through multiple bands. I’ve gotten to share stages with big names and lots of equally talented but lesser known souls chasing the craft. I’ve experienced the recording studios, the late night breakfasts after the gigs, and the sense of community with fellow musicians for the better part of 5 decades now. All of this while have a long career in LE and raising a family.

I started in the 70s, and hope to still be doing it in my 70s. That’s an accomplishment worth chasing for me.

Same here. I started in '63.
I'm 76 now and I'm still at it.

 

[Tony M.]

I play at church. I guess the one thing I feel best about (other than serving the Creator) is the originality I have to offer.

Sometimes I cannot make out what the guitar is doing because it's all so big sounding with lots of reverbs going on. Because of that I'm forced to come up with my own parts. So far, no complaints. Other times I'll listen to the songs, will look at who in the lineup is playing and I'll know what elements are going to be missing. For example, some songs will have piano and synth sounds and depending on the player I'll know if the synth will be missing or not. (Some guys like just playing piano and nothing else). So I'll come up with something that that will fill the void.

I find it hard patting myself on the back, but so far when I play something different in these songs the other players like it.

But I find I really enjoy the challenge of coming up with different things when I have to. Keeps this old brain active!!

Me too.
In church we have an acoustic player/singer, a bass player, 2 angels out front singing and me.
I have to constantly come up with electric guitar parts that will complement the song in this format.
Sometimes it's just a very subtle chime or texture.
Other times it's a guitar part that sounds like someone took it off a Mountain album,
put the amplifier 3 blocks away and stuck it in a tunnel.
Very big but very far away.
The people like what I put in the songs.
The other players like what I do.
I have fun doing it,

Triple win.

 

[dmatthews]

Leading a band.
Making it easy for the other players to be the best they can be even when it makes me take a back seat.
Helping to create and fill a practice space that has grown to 6 dedicated bands on dedicated nights every week.

 

[Huggy Love]

Being able to compose my own original songs.
It's also bittersweet cause my computer related health issues have stymied my ability to record and I haven't done much lately. Hoping to get back into it once I find some inspiration and a method of recording that requires less mousing and keyboard work on the DAW.

 

[RobRiggs]

I am pleased to have my own voice.
And to often have something to say with it.

 

[deepender]

My dream, when I began playing in 1972, was to play my music for the Lord. Since then I’ve been in a sad 3 piece band, played while leading worship in churches and youth meetings, played in several country bands,stopped playing for 10 years (the women liked me too much and I needed to preserve my marriage), came back as a bass player in a Christian rock band, have played in church worship groups for decades; mostly bass and occasionally guitar. What I’m most grateful for is that He gave me my dream; my heart’s desire, and has allowed me to enjoy it for decades. I’ll be 70 in May.

 

[Mike J.]

Me too.
In church we have an acoustic player/singer, a bass player, 2 angels out front singing and me.
I have to constantly come up with electric guitar parts that will complement the song in this format.
Sometimes it's just a very subtle chime or texture.
Other times it's a guitar part that sounds like someone took it off a Mountain album,
put the amplifier 3 blocks away and stuck it in a tunnel.
Very big but very far away.
The people like what I put in the songs.
The other players like what I do.
I have fun doing it,

Triple win.

It is fun, isn't it?

Glad I'm retired because I spent all day yesterday working on "Goodness of God" by Bethal. I'm serving at church this coming Monday for a pre Thanksgiving special. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar, piano, two vocals and me. This live version is HUGE. Lot's going on and there are multiple guitars in this song. Another example of...."yeah, I hear the guitars but I can't make out all the details of what they're doing." Plus the piano player we're using (God bless her) is a bit limited so I'm forced to put on my thinking cap and get to work. I'd say 90% of what I'm doing is what I came up with. Thanks goodness for recorders!

Hope it works!

 

[JasonE]

I had a bit of a struggle when I was playing at a church years ago. The other musicians always wanted me to improvise solos in the songs. The liked hearing them. There were also some in the congregation that liked hearing them and I would get very positive comments all the time. The struggle was that as a praise team we used to discuss how we wanted to be a conduit for worship and not have the attention on us. When they would ask me to do this, I struggled with putting the attention on me instead of the worship even though people really liked hearing it. There were some times when we would do a special song that was not necessarily part of worship but tied to the message that I was okay with doing it because it wasn't taking focus from worship.

 

[Mike J.]

I had a bit of a struggle when I was playing at a church years ago. The other musicians always wanted me to improvise solos in the songs. The liked hearing them. There were also some in the congregation that liked hearing them and I would get very positive comments all the time. The struggle was that as a praise team we used to discuss how we wanted to be a conduit for worship and not have the attention on us. When they would ask me to do this, I struggled with putting the attention on me instead of the worship even though people really liked hearing it. There were some times when we would do a special song that was not necessarily part of worship but tied to the message that I was okay with doing it because it wasn't taking focus from worship.

I know where you're coming from. While I know why I serve at church, I do get compliments from members of the congregation. I say thank you but after a while I told myself "well, I guess they could tell I did my homework" and I leave it at that.

It's certainly not about me, but it is up to me to try and do the very best I can because I volunteered to do this. We had players in the past who were much better than me technically, but their efforts were often less than desireable and on a constant basis. Bottom line with them, they just weren't trying. Told myself I would never do that.

I'm a decent player but I know players like me are a dime a dozen. There's kids on YouTube who can blow my doors off in a heartbeat. So much to learn and I'm just trying to do the best I can with what God gave me.

 

[Lola]

I know where you're coming from. While I know why I serve at church, I do get compliments from members of the congregation. I say thank you but after a while I told myself "well, I guess they could tell I did my homework" and I leave it at that.

It's certainly not about me, but it is up to me to try and do the very best I can because I volunteered to do this. We had players in the past who were much better than me technically, but their efforts were often less than desireable and on a constant basis. Bottom line with them, they just weren't trying. Told myself I would never do that.

I'm a decent player but I know players like me are a dime a dozen. There's kids on YouTube who can blow my doors off in a heartbeat. So much to learn and I'm just trying to do the best I can with what God gave me.

You have put your heart and soul into your music. Even God couldn’t ask for more than that!

 

[Mike J.]

You have put your heart and soul into your music. Even God couldn’t ask for more than that!

Thank you Lola. Truly appreciated. Have a blessed week!

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Me: how my ear has developed. I don’t even use tab like I used to. To be able to figure things out by just listening. And now I listen to songs that I like intensely and it’s like, “I can figure this song out”. It may take me a while but this is such a cool skill to have. I am in it to win it.

Just noticed this thread. That is a massive skill to have IMO. Completely changes the game as it develops.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

2 angels out front singing

... like... real ones???

 

[Rhythmisking]

Quite a long time ago, in a very unusual setting in Queens NY, I had put together a small group for a small concert doing some jazz arrangements of mine I had made based on some obscure Indian lyrical songs.

I was friends with Narada Michael Walden at the time and shockingly he asked me if he could play drums with that group. I obviously said yes. So that right there was HUGE for me. Narada is one of my all time favorite drummers. And the performance went really well.

As I was walking out, Lonnie Liston Smith (!) came up to me (he had been in the audience) and said "That was beautiful, man...". I was a huge fan of his (still am) and I almost started to cry. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I think I peaked early