Well, this week I was faced with the trial of canceled (or poorly scheduled) musicians. So, “you know who” got to play electric guitar. It’s funny, I enjoy learning new riffs and playing with my pedals but come Sunday morning it always adds another level to my stress meter. Lincoln Brewster, I just don’t know how you do it!
Here’s how we did it…
Band:
egtr/vox – me
agtr/vox – Jul
bass/vox – Dan
drums – Ross
Setlist:
All because of Jesus (Fee)
Friend of God (Houghton)
-welcome-
The Stand – (United)
-message-
Take my life (Tomlin/Giglio)
-offering-
Take my life (reprise)
Tech Team:
Audio – Andy Jones
Audio 2 – AJ Jones
Lights – Paul Chavez
Lights 2 – Bradley Waldrop
Video – Andi Waldrop
By the way… I love the way that Andi’s been scheduling families to run the tech booth. It really adds some cohesiveness (is that the right word?).
First service went pretty well. I think I hit most of the leads… who am I kidding, there was really only one and that was on the bridge of “The Stand”. But second service I totally butchered it. In fact I think I butchered most of the set.
For some reason I set up my in ears but decided not to use them. I’ve been doing that a lot lately because I like to hear the mix. However, for some reason this week I had a little trouble hearing my guitar and I should have been using the ears because the mix sounded just fine. I think I need to stop doing that!
During “All because of Jesus” I looked down and noticed that I was playing on the wrong fret… uh… yeah, I know. How is it possible that I didn’t notice that? And then during “The Stand” I went to do the simple lead part during the bridge and I hit the wrong note. I quickly muted it and then proceeded to not play until I could regain composure. I’m sure that 1/2 the people didn’t even notice… uh… I guess that means that the other half did. Ouch!
The most encouraging part of the day was after first service when we were just kinda jamming on the chorus of “Take my life”. My good friend and uber-talented guitarist Sal Hamby came up to me as I was playing and said, “what are you playing there?” Of course, proud that I had figured out one of Daniel’s 2 note driving guitar riffs I smiled and showed him. He then said, “oh… stop playing for a second… now play it again?” After listening for a second he gave me one of those looks. You know, the one that says, “Hey man, I love you, but are you sure that’s right?” Yeah… not so much.
It’s so hard to lead and play lead at the same time. I don’t see how you guys do that… Karl?
ericbeeman.com 
haha I’m sure you rocked it and sounded great.
I kind of came at it from the opposite angle from you…I started as a lead guitarist. So the most difficult thing for me has been to learn to error on the side of vocals. For a long time, I’d let my voice go off pitch, or I’d miss lyrics, or I’d not concentrate on voice tone, if it meant getting the guitar to sound right. So it was a realization process for me that, especially in worship leading, the vocals are probably 90% more important than the lead guitar.
And God really used it as a learning experience for me, not just for that, but in my playing, too. I’ve had to introduce techniques and gear (with lots of presets) to allow myself to hit as few switches as possible, tune less, play more intentionally and cleanly, and use my hands more as my volume and dynamics tools. And that, in turn, has actually helped me in my lead guitarist ventures at other churches when I’m not leading.
🙂 And sorry for the storybook of a comment, there! lol But hey…you’ve known me long enough; you know what happens when you ask me about gear. 😉
Heh, I’m kinda in between: I started acoustic rhythm and vocals, I can either play Electric and lead, or I can sing. I can’t play electric rhythm and sing. Its an either or kinda thing. I can pull off background vocals and electric, just don’t expect me to lead worship playing electric, I don’t know what to do with the hunk of wood in my hand. hehe
I love it Eric, the humility that comes from mistakes, from having to let the Spirit lead you and be your power, your strength. What a blessing that you’re doing what the Lord has called you to. I also love that you’re real and not afraid to share your experiences with us!
Karl… thanks for the tips the other day. They really helped this week. Learning to simplify my playing and patches helps a ton!
Larry… I know what you mean… “I don’t know what to do with the hunk of wood in my hands…” Sometimes I wish I could just play lead guitar. It’s becoming so much fun! Especially with your help Karl.
Angie… the way I look at it, if you’re not making mistakes every once in a while, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. We’ve got to get out of our comfort zones every now and then or we’ll create this safe little bubble called “monotony”. 😉 Thanks for the encouragement!