Hi there,

I'm wondering if some of you nice people out there can give me some advice. The reason I'm asking in this forum is because I have had some really amazing advice with other issues I encountered with my guitar.

I'm having massive problems with my confidence when it comes to playing with other people. As a bit of background, I joined the site a couple of months ago after around 18 months trying to learn myself and I have noticed an improvement in my playing and knowledge of music theory. Oh yeah, I'm 52 years old (just for info).

My goals seem quite simple:

Write my own music which I'm working on - very basic at the mo but improving and I'm told it's not bad (sometimes good), people seem to like my lyrics the most

Play with other people, maybe in a little band - I'd like to form this and for my band to work on our own songs

Get into the looping/live performance side of things - I just ordered a device for Abbleton Live and am proficent in Logic Pro X, mainly producing electronic music so far

...and whatever else or wherever else my lovely guitar takes me...

The problem (one of several but this one is what our Americal cousins call a 'deal-breaker' - confidence! This week, I have played with two people and whenever I have to play/sing, especially my own stuff, it goes very badly to pot. As I mentioned, I'm 52 years old, have recently survived a very severe illness and this is why I took up guitar and singing; because I wanted something nice to focus on (I'm a member of a singing website also and don't think my voice is so bad), so I should not care less what anyone thinks. I really want to get over this or I honestly think I can't achieve my goals and I'm very keen to be able to do what I want. Can someone please help me attain the confidence I want? Any sound advice would be very welcome and I may even send a virtual hug to whoever can give me a few tips.

Just to finish, I get so nervous that I literally have to stop. Stupid but there it is.

Thanks, thanks, thanks,

theMolster