How to Know When You're Ready to Play Guitar Onstage

July 12, 2023

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that I’m very fond of analogies and their power to help illustrate a thought. 

 

So, go here with me as we talk about SCUBA diving.  That’s right, the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus that many of us recall Jacques Cousteau using in his amazing undersea expeditions.

 

Years ago, I had the privilege of training to be a PADI diver – another abbreviation for you – Professional Association of Diving Instructors. 

I trained in the cold waters of the Puget Sound.  And on my many adventures, I got to go on a lot of different diving expeditions that varied in difficulty and complexity.

 

My first of several trainings was the basic Open Water Diver course.  And it began in the classroom, but was shortly followed by several training dives in…

 

The Local Swimming Pool

Since I had never donned the BC (Buoyancy Compensator) with the tank and the regulator, my instructors wisely thought that training in a pool would be the safest controlled environment.  And they were right.

Once I had the gear on, I was able to submerge myself and enjoy the quiet world of underwater buoyancy, even as I looked around and saw the pool tiles and stripes that marked the depths.

 

This was a great place to start, but ultimately, it was not going to be the best place to remain.  What followed logically was…

 

The Sheltered Beach

We have some beaches in the Puget Sound that have great topography for walking into steep inclines and getting right into the water.  But the water is cold, and it’s murky, and there are some unpredictable aspects to the submarine landscape of Puget Sound. 

My instructors knew their way around, and they showed me where to go, so after several open water dives, I was ready for…

 

The Reef

My dad and I took some of our less heavy dive gear on a plane down to Belize in Central America, where we enjoyed diving on Glover’s Reef, about 2 ½ hours off the mainland.  This is where we saw the more beautiful colors, because the water was super clear.

 

I was able to go up and down steep walls of coral and sea life, because I had gotten really good at controlling my buoyancy level with my devices and even my breath.

 

I still hungered for the next level of challenge, which ended up being…

 

The Night Dive

Diving at night is also exciting, because even if you’re in the murky waters of the Puget Sound, which we often were, we got to shine our light, which contained all the colors of the spectrum, and see things in their true colors.

But diving at night required an extra level of certification.  It was important that we know how to plan for unforeseen circumstances, like how to signal our diving buddies if we got too far away from each other, or how to surface if there was an emergency.

 

Night dives were a step towards the next type of diving which was…

 

The Wreck Dive

I promise we’ll talk about the guitar very soon!  You might be thinking – is this a blog about scuba diving?

 

So, if you’re going to swim inside a wreck, there’s a next level certification.  This is because you have to be very aware of yourself spatially.  Having a tank on your back makes you larger, and unable to fit through smaller openings in a wreck.

 

It’s one thing to dive into a wreck; you also have to be able to get back out of the wreck. 

 

And I had bought a book called “141 Dives in Washington and British Columbia,” so I was super excited to discover the vast collection of undersea wrecks that were silently waiting…whether boats, train cars, or other unexpected playgrounds.  Next was… 

 

The Drift Dive

The best way to describe diving in a current is that it’s like flying underwater.  We dove in a passage in the Puget sound called Agate Passage, for which we had been certified, but it had to be a 3-man operation. 

 

One person drove the boat on the surface   while two divers floated almost effortlessly below, holding onto what I’d call a “wishbone” rope that split to their two ends, and went up to a float on the surface.

 

But the water, as we had been warned, was swift.  The boatman actually had to zigzag upstream, against the tide, to keep pace with the divers. 

The best part was that the water brought so many nutrients to the sea life on the floor that it was just teeming with anemones, mosses, and other organisms.

 

We dove when the tide was moving, so we could get the most motion underwater.  But it was also a bit precarious, because if one of us let go of the rope and drifted away, it could have gotten dicey.

Fortunately, the third man of our operation was a Master Diving Instructor who showed us exactly what to do. 

 

Optional Dives: Ice Diving and Cave Diving

Now that I have a wife and kids, I’m much less adventurous when it comes to thrill-seeking.  So, I can confidently say that I will never dive in ice or in caves.

 

Ice diving involves cutting a hole in an icy lake, and diving down in the water to see the dark, clear landscape.  I’ll let you think about what might happen if a diver lost track of where he or she entered the ice.

But don’t think about it for long.

 

Similarly, cave diving involves a very specific approach, including a dive line, so you can make your way back out.  But unlike ice diving, cave diving can get really claustrophobic with small, dark passageways, and the silt on the floor of the cave can get kicked up, thereby decreasing or eliminating visibility.

 

And the divers only get so much air in their tanks.

 

I’ll watch movies about ice diving or cave diving, thank you very much.  No need to experience these myself.

 

Plan the Dive…Dive the Plan

One thing that teachers of many different skills will say is that some of the beginning concepts we learn are used by experts.

 

And one thing I learned early on as a diver was the importance of having a plan for every aspect of the dive, and sticking to it.

 

Even if I was planning to dive to 50 feet and I dropped a piece of gear like a light or a camera, and it fell to 100 feet, my plan was to complete the dive and surface, without trying to salvage the gear. 

Changing the duration or the depth of a dive mid-stream is not wise, for multiple reasons.  There are dive tables that show the amount of nitrogen concentration in the blood after a certain amount of time at depth.

It’s just not worth it to push the limits.  So, having a plan, and sticking to it, leads to peace of mind, but also safety.

 

The Guitar…Onstage

Ok, now the moment you’ve been waiting for.  Connecting the dots.  This has got to be one of the most long-form analogies I’ve ever offered, but if you’ve come this far, you’ll appreciate it.

 

The Local Swimming Pool = The Living Room

Here’s where everything will start to make sense.  If you’ve been playing the guitar a certain amount of time, you’ll feel the urge to share what you’ve played with someone else.

 

A low-pressure performance opportunity involves playing something you’ve learned on the guitar, in a living room setting, probably for family and maybe a few friends.  This is the first place to start. 

It’s a safe environment where people will be very understanding.    They may even politely applaud, even if you struggle at times.

 

The Sheltered Beach = A Church Group Gathering (E.G. Bible Study)

There may be an opportunity for you to bring your guitar to an existing group who might appreciate what you have to share. 

This could be a life group bible study, a youth group, or some other informal gathering where people are open to hearing a couple songs from you, or having you lead them in a couple worship songs.

Again, the pressure is low, because they’re just glad to have you with them.

 

The Reef = An Open Mic

Here’s where a forum for sharing your talents is in place, but with less people you know.  You’d be stepping up to a mic (or plugging in your guitar) in a performance space that will likely have sound reinforcement with a PA, and some folks listening.

Note that I said “some.” 

 

There may be a fair amount of people chatting, even as you play.  Don’t take this personally. 

 

They’re not there for you – they want to have a place to hang out, and they might listen in for a few minutes if they like what they hear.

 

The Night Dive = A Worship Night

Here’s where you can step into a worship team environment, perhaps in a supportive capacity, strumming your guitar while someone else takes the lead. 

You’re not primarily responsible for holding tempo or starting songs, but you do get to be part of a group and to feel what that’s like. 

 

Mistakes are more audible, though, so you’ll need to be well-prepared and adapt to changing variables.

 

The Wreck Dive = A Professional Concert

This is where I spend most of my time as a guitarist.  I’ve toured all over North America and played venues as small as a coffeehouse, and as big as a grandstand. 

 

Each has a different intimidation factor, because although the sheer grandeur of the grandstand and all those people in the stands can cause nerves, the intimacy of a coffeehouse where people are sitting right in front of you, just feet away, is a different kind of intensity.

 

As with wreck diving, I as a performer need to be keenly aware of everything that’s going on in the space, whether I’m solo, or with a band.  I need to sense if the audience is with me.  If the audience is made up of multiple ages (as mine typically are) I get to respond to their comments.

 

If the emcee goes rogue and says something that doesn’t set me up for success, I can adapt.  If something unexpected happens, like we talked about in Episode 45 of Guitar Serious Fun – “Glancing Back, Looking Forward,” I can adapt.

 

But if I don’t adapt, you guessed it…things can be…a wreck.  So, I approach the live concert performance with respect.

 

The Drift Dive = The Recording

Whether I’m stepping into the audio recording studio, or filming a video, whatever will be captured will have a lasting finished product. 

It will be memorialized on a website, or on social media, or it may be sold as a product that someone can watch over and over, so I definitely want to get it right.

 

There is some room for post-production and editing, but it serves everyone well to have the material practiced to precision.

 

Being super prepared is essential.  And like the three-man operation of a drift dive, I’m relying on at least one other person in the mix to, well, mix and dial whatever’s needed for production.

Lastly, for now…

 

Ice Diving and Cave Diving = Live Video

In this day and age, we’re doing a lot more live streaming with music.  But depending on the audience size, it can be a little intense, especially since the recording is kept or archived.

 

Imagine if a glaring musical mistake happens in a live video concert or a live worship concert.  How much of that can be edited out or forgotten?  Hopefully, most of it. 

 

But unlike a non-live recorded video, the pressure is really on, because in addition to the people watching in the room, there are present and future people who will be watching over the camera feed.

 

So, a live concert or a live worship offering is something to be carefully considered.

 

Plan the Dive…Dive the Plan = Plan the Set, Play the Set

I know a lot of people who are spontaneous when it comes to music.  I am not. 

I’m working on it, but really, my creativity comes in the planning of an event. 

 

My set lists and my cue sheets really show my process.  And maybe in a future episode of Guitar Serious Fun we can talk about planning and creating set lists.

 

But for now, I’ll let you know that I like to have a plan from which to depart, if necessary.  And I usually have minimal departures.

 

This allows me to stay on track, and to avoid distracting my audience or congregation with what I call “blinks” that take them out of the experience.

 

Closing Thoughts

So, are you ready to step out onto the stage with your guitar?  Maybe you need to start in the living room. 

Or maybe you’re ready for the concert.

 

But one thing’s for sure: each of these subsequent venues (or types of diving) involves more and more pressure.

 

When it comes to the ice divers and the cave divers out there, they didn’t go under the ice or into the cave for their very first dive.  They started in the local swimming pool and worked up to it.

 

In a similar fashion, a beginning guitarist doesn’t embark on a professional concert offering right at the get-go.  He or she starts out in the living room as their first performance venue, and eventually they become an expert at whatever level they feel called to be.

 

So, as a guitarist on stage, start with something simple, and see how you do.  Look back at how it went.  Ideally, record yourself and objectively evaluate what you did.

And when the time is right (and you’ll know,) notch it up a bit to the next level.

 

We should always be bringing our best for the Lord, no matter how large our audience.  And really, He is our audience.

 

But let’s bless those who are listening in by playing well.

 

I hope this unique way of drawing parallels to our guitar journey was helpful and interesting.  And if you’re a scuba diver, or even if you’re not, I’m hoping that my analogy helped bring things into sharp relief for you.

Finally, if you’re looking for some solid tips and tools for enhancing your guitar progress in a seriously fun way, alongside fellow like-minded followers of Christ, I invite you to check out GuitarSuccess4U. 

 

Here’s to many great guitar expeditions.  Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you next time.