[Jonathan]

Hey Cheryl,

 

That’s gotta be frustrating. Nothing like going camping for some peace and quiet and people are blasting their radios all around you.

Sorry you had that experience. You can always try to play and sing louder. Because you’re in close proximity to yourself, you can play and sing loud enough to drown out any noise, unless it’s a crazy circus going on, in which case just pack it up and take your losses.

I know when I started out, it took me a while to build enough confidence to sing and play as loud as I do now, and I notice that with new people who join our worship team. The reason is, the louder you are, the more noticeable your mistakes will be, and so you tend to play and sing softer in the early stages of playing for others.

If I could go back, I’d tell my younger self not to be so afraid of making mistakes in front of others. Mistakes is the only way to learn how you should be doing something right. If you don’t make any mistakes, you will never progress.

Ok, sort of got off topic, but there’s my two cents?

You never fail until you quit!

[Cheryl Davidson]

I lasted for about a half hour, then I did pack it up.  It was a circus.  I do not think I could have outplayed the loudness, as the radios/CD/MP3/boats/cars/trucks/RVs/etc… were using amplified speakers.  Helped possibly because of the valley terrain, some boat radios from the lake were resounded off of the hills surrounding the park.   You could hear as if you sat beside the radio, even when hundreds of yards away.

The positive from this experience is that I tried in a challenging environment.  The hardest to play was a steady rhythm.  I tend to follow (not lead) in music, so I fell short of keeping rhythm with all the off beats resounding in my ears.  Just shows that even a bad practice can yield a learning experience!

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Col 3:16