Originally Posted by: KasperowAnd thirdly, being in a band with conflicting interests is not the best option, if other options are available. Our styles are vastly different, and so are the bands we mainly listen to. Actually, the only common denominator is that both they and I want to get out there and perform on-stage and make a bit of money that way. I'm just not 100% convinced that this band is the right one for me. Still, I'll roll with it for a bit longer to see how things turn out.

Sounds like this will likely be a stepping stone for you - you gotta start someplace though, right? You've got some ambition and some goals - all good stuff.

Something you shouldn't lose sight of is playing is playing, even if it is in a style you aren't totally into. I learned first hand that *any* playing experience is very advantageous. I'm a rock kind a guy and my guitar idols are guys like Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Joe Satriani, Al DiMeola, etc. Since I started playing over 30 years ago, I wanted to lean how to play killer solos and dreamed of owning a Fender Strat one day. In high school I played in a garage band that I had to leave before they made it out of the garage. We played Beatles, The Who, Rolling Stones, The Police... Probably not exactly the kind of guy that would aspire to playing acoustic guitar in a church you might think.

10 years ago I did just that. My wife sang in it, so it was something for us to do together. They also needed a guitar player. As far as something to advance my playing, I didn't give it a thought - I figured it would be easy, just strumming some chords, right? I can do that with my eyes closed.

Well not really. It was humbling bordering on humiliating that at the first practice I could not keep up with the chord changes. I knew the chords, but couldn't get the changes down right or my strumming pattern to fit.

To make a long story short, I had to practice *a lot*, mostly at home with recordings I made. And I learned soooo much! My sense of rythm improved and I learned how to fit in with the other musicians. I also learned how to listen to what others were playing an incoporate some of it into mine. It wasn't improvisation per se, but I would add things I heard on the piano that was not written in my guitar book. I devloped my ear for music.

So I didn't learn how to play any kick ass solos or face melting soling techniques. However, my playing advanced in other ways that have helped me in learning areas of greater interest. It was a lot of fun too.