About a month ago, I met again with my friend and we broke out the guitars and played.  Success!!!  We both got into that zone where you couldn’t make out whose guitar was whose and the melodies and chords filled the room.  This is one of the reason why I play, for moments like this. 

I spent many days thinking about what was different between the two sessions. What I came to realize was the success came from me staying true to my ability as a guitarist instead of trying to match my friends style.  He and I have played together for 20+ years and know each others ways very well.  We can anticipate each others progressions and ideas in while playing.  It’s a beautiful ting.  As guitarists, we are two sides of a coin when it comes to our style.  I’m a fingerstyle acoustic player and he’s an progressive electric guitarist/shredder. 

In the past, my problem has always been that I try to play in they style of my friend instead of mine.  I grab a pick and attempt to play fast and even though, I’m not bad with a pick, I’m much better using my fingernails.  I struggled in past jams because I was featuring my weakness instead of my strengths.   Our last successful jam, I utilized my strengths and funny thing happened;  I played pretty damn well.

It’s a great thing to be flexible and well-rounded as a guitar/player musician.  I try to expand my boundaries as a guitarist everyday and will continue to do so.  I have become a better player not because I practiced more, I became a better musician because I learned to embrace and be true to my style.

I used to be extremely uncomfortable being alone up there or any place away from the distractions of technology because I was forced to face the many thoughts/ideas/rants rattling around in my head.  It could be quite nerve racking and I preferred to drown it out with iPods, computers or conversations with friends.  Over the past couple trips, I have found that this “alone time” was an opportunity to face the cacophony of thoughts in my head and I was forced to organize and purge; getting comfortable with myself and in turn, more comfortable, with my playing.

So here’s to getting more comfortable and getting better!