Recital

Well, today was the big recital!

Our guitar teacher insists that we play recitals twice a year. It's an all-day affair for him - all of his students play one or two songs each. He has it broken down into four or five different recitals, plus his wife has her piano recital the same day. Each recital takes about a hour and half.

I'm a huge fan of the recital. I think it's so important to get out and play in front of people. I mean, that's the point, right? Everybody's nervous, but the only way to get used to playing in front of people is to play in front of people. That's just the way it is.

Still, every time, we get a few new people who never come back. That always makes me sad.

And there's the guy who backed out at the last minute because he injured himself at work the other day. After the recital was over, he was hanging around hoping somebody might want to listen to him play. He admited to me that he really didn't like playing in front of a bunch of people, which I suspect had more to do with his backing out than his carpentry accident.

This was probably our fifth or sixth recital, and every one's an adventure. Once, I wasn't that freaked out. Just once. Recital three. Today - freaksville. I was overcome, as I waited for my turn, by the notion that I could not remember my song. I had it memorized, and I left the music at home. Sure enough, I got up to play, and I couldn't remember it.

Two false starts later, I finally got through it. Then on to the second song, which went fine.

Maybe the greatest lesson one learns from these recitals is that it's not the end of the world when you screw up. Everybody screws up. It's part of the process.

So no worries...I'm not going to pull a Barbra Streisand and never play in public again. Today I learned that I can forget my song and still be fine. I'm sure that lesson will come in handy at another recital - probably very soon.

PS: Missed Andrew's bunny ears and his fist fight with Steve.