Performed in Front of a Live Audience

One evening several years ago, Greg and I were kicking back, playing guitar. During our jam session, Greg told me his aspiration as a musician. "I'd like to play live for real people and have them appreciate what I played." It was a modest dream, but it seemed reasonable and achievable. I adopted that for my own goal as a guitar player.

I achieved that goal today. It was terrifying and exciting. My wife and I played in front of our church today... she sang and I backed her up on my guitar. It was the first time I'd ever soloed on my guitar in front of anyone I didn't know. It was the second time I'd ever played in front of people I didn't know. It was a group of roughly 100 to 150 people.

I knew that I'd be nervous, but I can't remember the last time I'd been that nervous. I spent the entire church service mentally practicing my part... I missed most of the sermon because I was in my own little world. Part way through my mental practicing, I completely forgot my chord progression. I ended up writing it all down on the church bulletin. My hands were clammy during the whole service too. Then came the moment of truth...

When I got on stage, I completely tuned out the audience. I had the church bulletin on the music stand, but I didn't need it. My fingers remembered where they were supposed to go, and my ear (which were tuned in to the wife's singing) told me when my fingers needed to move. It wasn't flawless. I made one mistake in the first verse and one in the second. The third time through though, was flawless, as I started to relax and focus on the music.

When the song was over, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, my circulation returned to my extremities, and I finally allowed myself to look at the audience as I heard the applause. It was totally worth it.