For as much joy as playing with another person can be, it can also produce a ton of anxiety… and I mean the kind of anxiety that can cause any player to lock up.
What causes this anxiety are the questions that bubble up. Those pesky questions that rattle around our guitar #guitargeek brains like:
What if I don’t know the song and can’t play along?
What if I’m not good enough to play with others?
What if I’m unfamiliar with a certain chord?
What if whomever I am playing with asks me to do a solo?
What if there are no song sheets to follow?
What if…
There are a billion “what if” scenarios, but the reality is that the overarching theme here is fear of the unknown and that is totally valid.
This is something all #guitargeeks go through at one point or another and, quite honestly, it never totally goes away. The good news is that there are some things you can do to keep that fear at bay and open yourself up to the learning opportunities that present themselves while playing with other folks.
Here are some tips to gain confidence in playing with others and some things to learn that will help you on your guitar journey.
1.) Guilt By Association – Surround yourself with guitar geeks that share the same thoughts, enthusiasm, and approach as you. This gives you the peace of mind that the folks you are playing with are there to support and help you along on your guitar journey.
2.) Open Mind – Go into any situation with other players as a bonus opportunity to learn. So many times the practice room feels like the only place to learn a lesson, but the truth is you can learn lessons any where and often the ones outside the practice room are the most valuable.
3.) Ask Questions – There is no rule, that I am aware of, that says you can’t ask questions and that you are magically supposed to know everything without ever asking. When playing with others it’s ok to ask questions about what chords are in a song or what key it’s in. Really any question is fair game and usually those questions lead to major breakthroughs.
4.) Communication – This is key, no pun intended… hehe. Communication lies at the heart of having an awesome experience when playing with friends. One of the most crucial parts of communication is having the musical vocabulary to do so. Understanding what a key is and how chords work within a key will not only help you communicate with fellow guitar players; it will also help you be able to musically function within a jam which will certainly cut down on your anxiety when approaching a playing situation.
So wrap all of those things up with a nice little bow and you have yourself a launching pad into a world of fun that you will enjoy for years to come.
Wait, wait, wait… what if all those sound good except for that whole communication part???
No worries, I’ve put together a FREE workshop on that very topic that starts on Monday, April 23rd.
In this workshop I am going to discuss the Foundational Five which will help you not only clearly communicate in a jam, but also give you the confidence to start playing with other folks.
It’s super easy to attend the workshop, all you have to do is visit fretwiz.com and be sure you are on the waiting list for Fretboard Wizard. That’s it!!! I can’t wait to see you there and share in the lightbulb moments that will be happening.
