That’s what I need to do. I need to turn it up.
I know someone out there has been waiting for me to say that. Waiting for me to figure that out. It’s a big step for me, to admit to that. I need to turn up. I was watching the video of the sets I played for this weekend’s jam and that was the one big take away for me. I need to turn up. Oh, not my vocals. My guitar.
In case you hadn’t heard, we had a blues jam this weekend. It was interesting because for as big a turn out as we had last week, outside, at Moochies, this week, outside, at Halligan’s, we had a much smaller group. A smaller group of musicians and a smaller
audience. Not to worry. That meant that some of us got to play more than we usually do. And that’s not a bad thing. It also took a little pressure off that maybe we don’t realize is there sometimes. With fewer people, there was less worry about getting it perfect. Instead it was more like, we’ll give it a go and do our best, and have fun. Which is the most important part.
I certainly had fun. I felt more relaxed. And I think when you watch the video you can see that. Not that I didn’t get bits of nerves a time or two. They only lasted for a moment though. And of course Bryan has a way of choosing songs from my ‘not quite ready for
prime time’ list and I find myself singing and playing songs that I don’t have down as well as I’d like. I need to work on those songs more or I need to take them out of the book to stop tempting him. Though, to be fair. It does cause me to step out of my comfort zone a bit and make that stretch which is a good thing.
Now back to the main theme. Turning it up. I’ve been working on my lead stuff and I got to do some fun rhythm stuff this week. As I was playing, I felt like things went pretty good. I had some leads that fit pretty good and I made a point of taking them on most songs. On a couple, it just was too difficult for me to fit it in and pick back up the rhythm. Or in the case of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ I didn’t really play. I just sang. And while I don’t think I got all 19 ‘I know’s’ in there, that one turned out ok. I was worried.
With it feeling like the night went really well, and with as much fun as I had, I was really looking forward to seeing the video afterwards. I wasn’t disappointed overall. I had a fairly accurate read on the night. The only thing I was disappointed in was that I couldn’t always hear myself when it came to my solos. I did turn up for them. I really did. You can see it and you can hear it. I just started out not loud enough so when I turned up, it still wasn’t quite loud enough. You can still hear me. It just doesn’t have as much punch.
That means, in addition to all the other homework I still have from last week, what I’ll be paying attention to next is turning things up when I go to play a solo. It’s not just so everyone else can hear me. Though that is important. It’s that when I watch the video, it’s
hard to evaluate how I did if I can’t hear myself. I know I’m getting better at leads. I know I still have a ways to go still. I just want to be able to hear what I’m doing right and what doesn’t work so that I know where try something else or work on a particular technique.
The fun thing about this jam was that, besides Bryan’s song choice, I got to do some new stuff that I hadn’t played before. They were songs that were a little more interesting to play or maybe a little more involved to play. That was a lot of fun. And I have a couple that I’m going to add to my list of songs to work on. Even just for playing. I don’t need to sing them. I’d just like to play them with a little more confidence.
Yes. There is video. I played three sets which means there is a fair bit of editing to do to get them posted. I’ll be working on that. As well as a new song or two, some lead practice, some hammer on practice, work on getting good tone, and a half a dozen other things. I’m going to be busy. Here are some pictures that I pulled from the video as we here playing and a couple of the other groups that played. Enjoy.