Amish Guitar

Mark your calendar. Today is the day. Call the children in. Wake the neighbors. Today is the day I officially announce that I have crossed the line between being someone who is learning guitar and who is a guitar player.

I have groused about this dilemma before on Amish Guitar. And I've come to an early conclusion that one does not ever stop learning guitar. The question has always been about when I describe myself as learning guitar or as a player.

Today, while playing in the praise team at church, the switch happened. It wasn't an epiphany. The sky didn't split open and a golden pick descend as a dove. I simply remarked after church that I was not conscious of my playing. Or should that be self conscious? I just went up on the dais and made music with my friends.

I played guitar on three of the four songs. And, I wasn't perfect. Chord changes weren't as smooth as butter. I got lost a few times. The difference was that I felt I was making music, not organized sound from an odd shaped box with strings.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. I've written before of frustrations. I've written before of accomplishments. I've written when my playing has gone extremely well; when my guitar sings and I make a place in the sound that is magic. The difference today is that today all the sound, the music, came out natural. The chords came out without my conscious thought. The rhythms were organic. The mistakes came out without hanging a blinking neon sign stating "Newbie". I jumped into that void and found myself on the other side. I found myself contributing to the musical sound of the group instead of being the musical tag-a-long.

I have no illusions that everything will be peachy keen from here on out or that I'll be able to sustain this feeling from now until eternity ends. However, I will remember this time as the first time I felt like I played, I really played.