You've just joined a band as a bassist, even though you've never played bass before. You humbly join and put some effort into keeping up with the other band members. Through a little bit of encouragement from the others and overcoming obstacles you start becoming more confident. Then one day, you look back at how far you've come and think to yourself "I've got it now. I can do anything they ask me to." You start thinking you can pluck along with Red Hot Chili Peppers, break into improv solos, and write your own music. Soon you'll be a local favorite, and if you really want to you could go mainstream and top the Christian billboards, but you won't because only the locals deserve to be graced with your band's sweet sounds. That's just how you roll.
The ice we skate is gettin' pretty thin
What's this? It seems you've stopped practicing! Are you that talented that you can just pick up where you left off and groove again with the band? But you guys haven't met in months! No church has actually asked you to come play a gig, so you ask to join your church's worship band to get your face out there, and prove that you have the skills. Church services don't really lend themselves to your mad skills that you think you have, because it's not about you, it's about God. So you blend in, can easily play along, and you don't really need to practice in order to sound good. You play with the band, which has practice twice a week, meetings once a week, and obviously you're required to attend every church event to show that you're a dedicated member. You're still playing on Sundays though and at band practice though, so at least you're maintaining your skills, right? You prove to yourself and the rest of the world that you can still play by showing up on Sundays and plucking the root to keep up with the music, playing the bare necessities to get by.
My world's on fire. How about yours?
A popular local band just lost its bass player in a horrific gasoline fight accident and is holding open auditions. You pick up your bass and start coming up with an audition riff. But who are you kidding? You never actually practiced once you gained your unwarranted confidence. You hit a plateau and figured you were good enough to do anything, when there are people who have PhD's in bass performance. Listen to Dream Theater. Can you play like that? Could you ever play that? Then when did you ever think you were good enough to play along with anything? When did you think you were good enough to stop practicing? Not only would you not improve, but you obviously got worse. Yet you still thought you could play bass.
So you have a choice. You can either continue in your mediocrity, quit altogether and stop calling yourself a bass player, or buckle down and build a practice schedule, whilst seeking private lessons (which take place at the same time as worship practice). Which do you choose?
Welcome to my world of ~4 years ago, only times infinity (or at least it felt like it at the time). Continuing in mediocrity isn't so bad, if you put it in perspective. It's very idealistic to think of always striving to be the best you can, but maddening to know that you're falling shorter and shorter of that every time you're watching TV or working around the house or going to bed early instead of practicing. But honestly, most of us aren't meant to be professional musicians, and that's ok. If playing bass for church a couple times a week makes you happy and adds something to your worship (assuming that's part of why you play) then there's no shame in backing off to that level. It's not worth forcing yourself into the mold of "musician" if that's not what you are. Ask yourself if you are a bass player, or a guy who plays the bass. Or, if you want to think about it with respect to your higher power, what do you think God wants you to do? If you didn't go the serious musician route, would you feel like you were turning your back on an important gift God gave you, or would you feel like you're following his will only down a different path?
ReplyDelete