GTinSpanishFort
G.G.
I need advice. I've been playing guitar for about 25 years and for the last few years I have wanted to be in some kind of band. So last year I started playing in my church worship band and I'm not very happy with some things. I play rhythm electric guitar about once a month for a church of about 5,000 total members and four local campuses. Some of the things that are frustrating to me are as follows:
1) Sometimes there is an obvious unfriendliness, snobbery from some of the team members/musicians, etc. Some of the other musicians will walk right by without even speaking at all. However, there are some who are very friendly.
2) Since January it has become obvious that the church does not want me to play at the main campus which is the largest and my home church. They haven't scheduled me there since January and they predominantly have younger musicians play there. It appears that I am too old to play there. I will say that there are some downsides to playing the main campus- a) we all (guitarists) have to play the same guitar, pedals, amp owned by the church. It is nice equipment but, not what I'd want to play, b) They use a lot of track at this campus and therefore the guitarists and congregation have trouble hearing the guitars-they mainly hear the track, and c) The snobbery people I referred to above serve mostly at this campus.
3) There is quite a bit of disorganization every time I play. Examples are incorrect charts, incorrect mp3 jam tracks, and misinformation such as incorrect practice times. Every time I play I worry a lot that I'm not going to know the songs very well and sometimes worry so much that I lose sleep. Mostly the week leading up to my sunday to play is stressful and tiring to the point that it's not very much fun. Also, sometimes I am given very little time to learn the set.
4) I just haven't bonded with anyone that I have met from the worship team for the whole year. We are friendly to each other when we see each other but, other than that nada.
5) Numerous times they have had me scheduled at one campus and then took me off that campus without asking and then asked me to play another campus.
I will say that despite these shortcomings it has been a rewarding experience. I think I got quite a bit of practice at playing songs in front of people and even if they couldn't hear me very well I still worried and had to do my best. So, I think I grew as a guitar player. Also, it helped me a lot to overcome stage fright. Also, I enjoyed doing it for the obvious religious reasons-doing some good for people. So what do I do? Do I leave the worship band, stay and just deal with the frustrations or voice my opinions in hopes of instigating change? I have recently played at an open mic (played two santana songs-samba pa ti and europa) and did pretty well. Planning to do more open mics soon. Sorry for the long post. Please help!
1) Sometimes there is an obvious unfriendliness, snobbery from some of the team members/musicians, etc. Some of the other musicians will walk right by without even speaking at all. However, there are some who are very friendly.
2) Since January it has become obvious that the church does not want me to play at the main campus which is the largest and my home church. They haven't scheduled me there since January and they predominantly have younger musicians play there. It appears that I am too old to play there. I will say that there are some downsides to playing the main campus- a) we all (guitarists) have to play the same guitar, pedals, amp owned by the church. It is nice equipment but, not what I'd want to play, b) They use a lot of track at this campus and therefore the guitarists and congregation have trouble hearing the guitars-they mainly hear the track, and c) The snobbery people I referred to above serve mostly at this campus.
3) There is quite a bit of disorganization every time I play. Examples are incorrect charts, incorrect mp3 jam tracks, and misinformation such as incorrect practice times. Every time I play I worry a lot that I'm not going to know the songs very well and sometimes worry so much that I lose sleep. Mostly the week leading up to my sunday to play is stressful and tiring to the point that it's not very much fun. Also, sometimes I am given very little time to learn the set.
4) I just haven't bonded with anyone that I have met from the worship team for the whole year. We are friendly to each other when we see each other but, other than that nada.
5) Numerous times they have had me scheduled at one campus and then took me off that campus without asking and then asked me to play another campus.
I will say that despite these shortcomings it has been a rewarding experience. I think I got quite a bit of practice at playing songs in front of people and even if they couldn't hear me very well I still worried and had to do my best. So, I think I grew as a guitar player. Also, it helped me a lot to overcome stage fright. Also, I enjoyed doing it for the obvious religious reasons-doing some good for people. So what do I do? Do I leave the worship band, stay and just deal with the frustrations or voice my opinions in hopes of instigating change? I have recently played at an open mic (played two santana songs-samba pa ti and europa) and did pretty well. Planning to do more open mics soon. Sorry for the long post. Please help!