I have been writing songs for years. But it's not like it came over night. It took, well, years to learn how to do it...
First, I learned to play the guitar. Of course, this was a gradual process--particularly since I was taking formal lessons that included reading music. Then I transitioned from formal guitar lessons to playing popular songs out of songbooks. Thankfully, music stores have Easy Guitar sheet music and music books that allowed me to develop my proficiency with easy chords.
However, I learned from using those books that often the music had been "watered down" so much to make it easy to play that it no longer sounded like the original song. But at least I was developing my proficiency on the guitar. Over time, I progressed to more and more advanced chords. Eventually, I was confident in my guitar playing ability to play most of the songs I liked.
As I became proficient on guitar, I began to slowly shift my mental focus to singing while playing the guitar. This was very difficult at first. Nevertheless, I continued to practice singing while playing the guitar. I noticed it was easier to strum chords while singing rather than trying to pluck out riffs and solos while singing. While some talented performers can do this to a degree, for the most part, singing guitarists usually stick to strumming chords while singing because it's easier to play a steady rhythm with just a few changes in finger positioning rather than trying to do a solo, which requires many changes in finger and hand position. If the singer plays lead guitar, the solo is typically played during a vocal break in the song.
Learning to play a musical instrument, or developing any kind of skill for that matter, takes time, patience, and plenty of practice. Development can be seen in stages, and it was during this stage (when I was learning to sing as I played the guitar) that I remember being very shy about performing in front of anyone. Sure, this took place when I was first learning guitar, too; but for some reason this stage stands out more prominently in my memory.
I distinctly remember this stage: I felt confident in my guitar playing, but not my singing. In other words, I was able to play an instrumental piece because playing the guitar felt more comfortable to me than singing—especially while trying to keep a steady rhythm on the guitar. But I was getting it down, and it was exhilarating! It was like, "Wow, look at me, I can play the guitar and sing at the same time!”But as soon as I did have a person "look at me" while playing and singing simultaneously, I began messing up.
When I had an audience during this stage in my musical development, my focus would go from the guitar and vocal to "There is someone listening to and watching me perform. I hope I don't make a mistake."
To mess up is natural in a person's development because learning a new skill requires total concentration. So, the minute you have an audience, and you're used to practicing in seclusion or relative seclusion, your mind drifts to the person or persons watching you perform. This causes a break in your mental focus.
Over time, with continued practice, I became more confident in my ability to sing while playing the guitar. However, most--if not all--performers get a little edgy or downright anxious when performing in front of an audience. I have found the greatest remedy to this is to allow yourself to feel the song--the words and the music. Let them speak to you. This is your passion! Allow yourself to get lost in the music. And if can you do that, your mind won't be on all the eyes that are on you. ...Just enjoy yourself! That's what I do...
With years of practice and emulating acoustic guitar pop artists I loved to listen to, I began to develop my musicality. That is, my music skill had developed to the point where I could focus more on the feeling of the music as I sensed a creative urge that wanted to express itself. I began to be mindful of this creative urge, listening to it to find out what it wanted to say…
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