An Unusual Question I Know and the reason I ask is because these were The exact words of a new student last week who said how on the one hand he was excited about the possiblity of Playing on stage, and yet
at the same time this exact same thought conjured up feelings of terror.
This is something that I’ve heard time and time again, usually in different ways and different words – after all everyone is unique – and yet it comes down to this sense of inner conflict, push and pull (Your Inner Guitar Tug Of War & Are You Winning ?) when it comes to the idea of Playing On Stage – something that its all too easy for You to get a sense of, especially if You watch many of the videos of different events shown here through out the website – although of course not all the events involve playing on stage.
This raises two very important issues, that will affect Your Guitar Playing, Your Music Making Progress and potential and only one of them actually has anything to do with any kind of performance On Stage,
(the fear side is all about future projection of current ability – more about that later…)
But You Playing On Stage is far less important than something which is far more critically important to You reaching for being fulfilled as a Guitar Player and finally beginning to eliminate Your Musical frustrations
And the key point, far more important than actually Playing On Stage is this……
Aiming to Play On Stage, has Nothing To Do With actually going on to Play On Stage – and Everything to do with You reaching for Your potential.
An unusual, You might even think bizarre and completely illogical, makes no sense thing to say… but I’m going to make the point again..
Aiming to Play On Stage, has Nothing To Do With Playing On Stage – and everything to do with You
reaching for Your potential!
Now You’re probably thinking ..
Hold on a minute… that doesn’t wash.. doesn’t ring true….doesn’t make sense
How can Aiming To Play On Stage have nothing to do with Playing On Stage?
A very unusual point,something You very likely have never ever heard anywhere before, and yet how else could You explain Beginner John,age 70 going on to Play a Workshop On Stage ?
70 Year Old Beginner John Plays With drums at WorkShop
But Surely You’re thinking, the whole reason someone would set a goal to Play On Stage is because they want to Play on stage – what other possible reason could there be for wanting to set a goal to play on stage,
And You might also be thinking…that YOU have no interest in playing on stage, and YOU are not going to entertain any such idea You just purely and simply want to learn and Progress to Play for YOUR Own Pleasure thank You very Much!
You’re right it absolutely is an unusual idea – this bizarre notion that Aiming to Play On Stage, has Nothing To Do With Playing On Stage – and everything to do with You reaching Your full potential!
And Yet having been very fortunate and having the privilege of seeing first hand and of helping, teaching, coaching and mentoring many students in not only the Coventry but also the , Warwickshire, West Midlands and surrounding regions to reach their unique goals I have been extremely lucky to have gained some unique insights not only on those who do go on to Play On Stage, and at Workshops – but also and far more importantly equally gain insights on those who do decide to purely keep their playing for their own pleasure… and the unusual thing is.. for both types of students the one key common factor, the one thing that helps them reach their potential is staying open to possiblity, and not limiting themselves – in other words being open to the possibility of fulfilling Your Potential is way more important than whether Or Not You actually ever go on to Play On Stage or at some other type of workshop or immersion event.
The other side is that by holding onto this mindset of not being open to possiblity, will likely continue to hold Your playing back – the same way that for example, driving a car with the handbrake on will limit the potential and driving performance of a car; and by not being open nto possibility You are in a certain sense putting the brakes on Your Guitar Progress and Music making Potential.
Many People like the new student from last week come to the website, see the video performances and then assume that they have to have a goal of Playing On Stage – because they have seen so many videos of students doing exactly that – and yet this very thought of playing on stage causes conflict and can create some sense of fear – some openly admit this, others don’t – and many others simply say to themselves I’m never going to be able to any of that –
Sadly too many others just limit themselves, they don’t stay open to possiblity – this is certainly not what 70 year old beginner John thought – he never actually set a goal to play at a workshop event up on stage, John did however stay open to possibility, the notion the idea that he would keep doing all the things he had learned and continued to learn and apply, and that at some future point, should he feel ready then Yes he would go on to Play at an event, Being open to Possibility meant that for John it wasn’t going to be something that he would completely dismiss out of hand – after all John at 70 years of age does nto believe in limiting himself – he wanted to and continues to stay open to possiblity 70 Year Old Beginner John Plays With drums at WorkShop
Nor was it what Beginner Rock/Metal Student Fedj, who went on to form the band Lethal Agenda thought (You can hear Fedj’s journey here : Fedj from Beginner to Band
Infact when You watch the clips of 70 year old John and also Fedj Playing Rock/Metal styles You would think they have completely different thoughts and views on Music and everything else – and on one level You would be completely right – However there is one key thing that they have in common – the one thing that led to John really start to reach for his Musical Potential, and for Fedj to reach for and progress towards his unique, and different (to John’s) Musical Potential – and that is ” Being Open To Possiblity”.
Even those students who do keep their playing purely for their own pleasure, progress and find more sense of satisfaction andsense of Musical expression by not limiting themselves.
It’s staying Open to Possibility that is the one common factor that allows You to finally progress and go towards playing how You want to Play.
It’s staying open to possiblity that allowed retired headmaster Arnold to take his playing to new levels : Arnold Proving Never Too Old To Play and Progress The BLues
It’s staying open to possibility that allowed Beginner Chris to progress to even Playing his own wedding reception : Student Chris rocks his wedding reception with Dr Teeth Big Band
And staying focussed on possibility that allowed Beginner Dan to progress to play workshops, on stage, form his own band, and record and compose in a recording studion: Student Dan recording In the Studio
The flip side of course to being open to possibility, is NOT being Open to Possibility – which sometimes translates to low aim
– by not being open to possibility, the danger You find is that just aiming to Play for Your Own Pleasure is not something that actually brings You pleasure – and the fact that You’re reading through to here suggests that is very likely the case for You right Now.
And for those, like the new student from earlier this week – who actually do want to perhaps one day Play On Stage, the thought is on the one hand exciting and yet also terrifying because it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of projecting into the future with your current skill and playing level – in other words You fall into the Self Image trap of seeing Yourself play the way You currently play right now, with all the short comings you have and imagine playing this exact same way at some point in the future – without taking into account how much further Your Playing could be further down the line.
The key is to understand that very often Your Musical ideas are likely to evolve over time – as many students have talked about, this idea, new found skill and competence lead to increased confidence Student Talk – and that leads to learning and progressing more and more,
Whether You actually go on to Play on Stage or not is not important,although being Open To Possibility and willing to reach for Your Potential most certainly is – after all why would You possibly want to limit Yourself – and in case You’re not sure of the answer to that – wacth and see 70 year old beginner John who never really thought he would play at a Workshop – although he did stay open to possiblity : 70 Year Old John at Workshop Proving the Power Of Possibility Thinking
To Demonstrate that Yes These things are Possible when You start by simply being Open To Their Possibility!