By Brittany L.

Recently I was given the opportunity to sing & play for a benefit concert, and being so new to playing guitar I turned it down without much hesitation.  I thought there was no way I could possibly be ready to take on a solo performance and I certainly didn’t have the confidence or skill to make it happen. 

After chatting with [my teacher] one day about the opportunity I decided to pass on, he asked me “what’s the worst that could happen?”

While the idea of playing in front of a room full of strangers evokes an alarming amount of possible scenarios, the chance that any of those would actually happen is unlikely enough that I decided to go for it.

My performance was anything but perfect.  There were missed chords, fumbling fingers and things that didn’t sound right.  But I kept going, took it a line at time and made it through!  I don’t know if you ever hit a point where you feel completely ready for a performance or totally confident that you will nail every note, but I can honestly say I’m glad I went for it.  It was a great learning experience, I know what to work on for next time, and no one took their money back!