FAILURE

Now, here is a huge F-word a lot of musicians cringe at. As a matter of fact, I can honestly say that everyone in the world hates failure. Sometimes I can be a perfectionist. Whether it be a worship set I planned and expected the musicianship to keep up with me or I had my whole day planned and something sideswipes me and messes my whole day up. Failure is not something one likes to accept, but there is always a lesson in failure. 

How many times have we picked up a guitar so confident in ourselves that we have the music down and ready to go only to mess up while playing live? Were we humble? Were we prayed up? Were we in tune with God or with only our musical abilities? There will be times that we fail ourselves and it needs a situation like this to humble ourselves. It still happens to me to this day, I’m so pumped to play and I’ve been talking about it so much. When it comes to show time, it’s awkward or uncomfortable. Stay humble and remember:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

–Matt 6:33

So now let’s talk about messing up chords and hitting wrong notes. Let me say this…….IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Sure, it’s a terrible thing to do as a musician and worse when your colleagues or the congregation notices your error. I’ve walked off stage many times feeling like I failed. But the important thing is that God was glorified. He still used your mess ups to reach a soul and bring them into His presence. This allows you an opportunity to go back and practice your skill and enhance your abilities. Imagine what God can do with you then. 

TIP 1: Take your time with learning songs. Don’t rush and create an uncertainty in portions of a song. You want to give your best and be prepared no doubt, but don’t risk not knowing a song 100%. 

TIP 2: If for some reason you can’t nail down a part in time and there is a deadline on when your team is to present the song, try creating a part to as a substitute until you have the time to put some work in that part of a song.

I hope this has blessed you and would love to hear stories here, or on Instagram or Twitter @anhonestsound!

-AO