A Pretty Cool Sunday Morning
Last week, before our first practice in a while, Toby asked me if I wanted to try playing electric guitar since he'll be playing bass until we find a permanent bass player. I was a little hesitant, but I figured I'd humor him and at least give it a shot.
Thursday night was our first practice, but Toby wasn't there so I played acoustic. Man did my fingers hurt after that. It had been so long since I played that all my calluses are gone. So when I knew we had to practice again on Saturday I gladly tried the electric if only to give my poor little fingers a break. Toby forgot to bring his FX pedal that day, but trying to strum properly on an electric took up most of my concentration anyways. Strumming is quite different on an electric when all you've done before is play rhythm on an acoustic before. I actually had to consciously tell myself not to strum so much. Easier said then done when you're singing as well. But everyone liked that I was playing electric and I felt comfortable enough that I agreed to play it Sunday morning.
Things got off to a late start before the service because my ride slept in by accident. So I ran outside praying that our beast of a truck would start. It did, so I piled all my stuff into the cab and drove to church probably a little faster than I should have. ;) When I got there I set up as quickly as I could, got tuned up, and plugged in the FX pedal. That thing is pretty fun with all the buttons and knobs to play with. So after we were done our warm-up set we were good to go.
The actual church service was a lot of fun. The whole church was rockin'. I mean after we finished one of the songs we were asked to play it for a second time. Afterwards Ron, our leader, came over to me to say that he'd never been asked to do an encore in church before. But the church was into the song and they wanted to sing it again. Our pastor seemed really relaxed during his message - he was really funny cracking jokes left, right, and center. He gave a good message about not worrying in life by seeking His kingdom first - i.e. putting the things that God value most at the top of our priority list. Once we do that everything else falls into place and our stress levels come down.
We got lots of compliments after the service and lot of questions about when we'll be leading the music again. Kinda felt like we had never done this before, but it had just been a while since we last did. I even had two people from work that go to my church make a point of coming to see me Monday morning to tell me how well we did. Oh and did I mention that some friends of mine from the States that I play and chat with online listened in on the internet with their whole family? Kim, Bob, their three kids, and their mom, sat around their computer and listened to the service! Makes the whole "global community" talk hit home a little more.
So now it looks like we'll be looking after the music in our evening services from now on. We're not sure if those will be broadcast over the web or not but I'll let you all know. It also looks like I'll be playing electric for a bit longer. I should probably borrow Toby's guitar and pedal so I can mess around with it and work on my strumming.
Matthew.
Thursday night was our first practice, but Toby wasn't there so I played acoustic. Man did my fingers hurt after that. It had been so long since I played that all my calluses are gone. So when I knew we had to practice again on Saturday I gladly tried the electric if only to give my poor little fingers a break. Toby forgot to bring his FX pedal that day, but trying to strum properly on an electric took up most of my concentration anyways. Strumming is quite different on an electric when all you've done before is play rhythm on an acoustic before. I actually had to consciously tell myself not to strum so much. Easier said then done when you're singing as well. But everyone liked that I was playing electric and I felt comfortable enough that I agreed to play it Sunday morning.
Things got off to a late start before the service because my ride slept in by accident. So I ran outside praying that our beast of a truck would start. It did, so I piled all my stuff into the cab and drove to church probably a little faster than I should have. ;) When I got there I set up as quickly as I could, got tuned up, and plugged in the FX pedal. That thing is pretty fun with all the buttons and knobs to play with. So after we were done our warm-up set we were good to go.
The actual church service was a lot of fun. The whole church was rockin'. I mean after we finished one of the songs we were asked to play it for a second time. Afterwards Ron, our leader, came over to me to say that he'd never been asked to do an encore in church before. But the church was into the song and they wanted to sing it again. Our pastor seemed really relaxed during his message - he was really funny cracking jokes left, right, and center. He gave a good message about not worrying in life by seeking His kingdom first - i.e. putting the things that God value most at the top of our priority list. Once we do that everything else falls into place and our stress levels come down.
We got lots of compliments after the service and lot of questions about when we'll be leading the music again. Kinda felt like we had never done this before, but it had just been a while since we last did. I even had two people from work that go to my church make a point of coming to see me Monday morning to tell me how well we did. Oh and did I mention that some friends of mine from the States that I play and chat with online listened in on the internet with their whole family? Kim, Bob, their three kids, and their mom, sat around their computer and listened to the service! Makes the whole "global community" talk hit home a little more.
So now it looks like we'll be looking after the music in our evening services from now on. We're not sure if those will be broadcast over the web or not but I'll let you all know. It also looks like I'll be playing electric for a bit longer. I should probably borrow Toby's guitar and pedal so I can mess around with it and work on my strumming.
Matthew.
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