Music has been a passion of mine for a number of years now.  The first time I can remember getting serious about playing the guitar was way back in grade 9.  My friends and I would practice in his basement for hours at a time rather than going out on the weekend.  Like many musicians we longed to play live in front of people. After a year or so of practice a couple of us got opportunities to join bands and play a couple live gigs.  Like most musicians we were so nervous are first-time but when it was over and if it went well it was really quite a rush.  I can remember the various bars I have played around Toronto all those years ago.  I left music alone for a number of years because I didn't have time for it and I had to pursue a career that would pay the bills.  But recently however I have rediscovered how much fun it is to play music.  I wonder why I left it alone for so many years.  In fact I come to regret it because I missed out on many years of fun and who knows it really could've gone somewhere.  

    Anyway now that I'm 34 I have rediscovered music and I have played more live gigs in the last couple months than I have done my whole life.  My playing has never been better and I am obsessed with learning new songs all the time.  My confidence level is at an all-time high and I can't wait to get on stage again.  I am trying to approach music in a slightly different manner this time.  I am taking time to learn a lot of my favorite songs.  Particularly a lot of the progressive rock songs I love to listen to when I first became passionate about playing music.  The band I am most obsessed with now is an Italian progressive rock band named PFM.  I have learned three songs of theirs in these three songs happened to be my favorites.  I am constantly thinking about the time I will introduce some of these songs to my band members so he can play them live.
   
    The approach I take to learning new songs has been working out very well for me.  I simply use garage band  which is a standard program built into the Mac operating system. It allows you to drag and drop MIDI files right into the sequencing screen. You can then pick apart every note and play it back very slowly.  You can also live sections so you make sure you can get it perfectly note for note.  Also don't forget to check out the view keyboard function which actually shows you which keys to hit.  If you are a keyboard player like I am this is very informative.  As I mentioned I'm also a guitar player.

Anyway the point I wanted to get across in this article is the fact that I love to play live in front of people.  Lately I have been so busy playing music that I have to actually cut back a little bit.  Some of the people I play with have no aspirations whatsoever to play live in front of an audience.  And this kind of seems like a waste of time to me.  I would rather focus on playing with the people who are serious about giging. I'm not so serious about becoming an excellent songwriter however that would be nice.  My focus now is solely on my ability to play keyboards very well.  And along with that comes my desire to learn stagecraft.  It's very important look confident when on stage.  As well as engaging the audience and generally entertaining them.  I would say don't be afraid to look a little bit silly.  If people see how much fun you're having playing music most likely they will be engaged by your performance.  I often think of various players within the progressive rock field.  Take Steve Howe for example from yes.  He always looks quite odd and overexcited on stage but this is part of his persona.  And somehow he channels his unique energy and it helps his playing.  My philosophy is that at the end of the day it shows how much you enjoy playing your music for others.  Don't be a snob and worry about how technical you appear to others.  Just have fun and channel as much energy as possible into your playing.

Anyway my advice is have fun with it and don't give it up if you love it.  You only live once and always make room for your passions.

PS, if you want to check out some songs from my latest performance look at this guys my space page.  I am the one on keyboards and piano.  See if you can pick out my minimoog.
www.myspace.com/musicien