And what a wondrous magic it is!!!
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Good on you! We all have our own hills to climb, and you are doing great with your’s. For me it’s enough recording my singing/playing/riff’ing while a camera rolls, and then sharing on youtube (for better or worse).
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Another comment I’ll add is if others are of a similar mindset, no goal to play in public, and you feel stage fright and don’t want to do it, don’t. It’s a challenge that some of us are willing to take on, but it’s not for everyone and that’s really fine.
My wife has a wonderful voice and yet no desire to perform publicly in spite of coaxing from others (not me). She’s occasionally got up on stage but has no burning desire.
Another good friend of mine had huge stage fright, and to challenge it he took on too big of a challenge, he joined an on stage competition at a local music festival and sadly it ended in tears for him. He got about a third of the way into his song and completely lost the plot and stopped mid song and walked off the stage. You don’t have to have much of an imagination to know how badly that failure devastated his confidence.
Perform publicly by all means if you want or accept the challenge but don’t feel at all bad if it isn’t your thing. :-).
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That’s fantastic Maggie! Well done and you should be very proud of yourself. Hopefully I can emulate you someday and get myself up on stage. 
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I am full of admiration for you it was clearly an exhilarating experience and your bravery paid off 
Great photo - I too clicked on it before realising it wasn’t a video 
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@Eddie_09 thankyou Eddie, I’m glad I pushed through the doubters chatting in my head and did what I really wanted to do.
I’d suggest you start looking around at OM opportunities in Chicago. Ideally a music club where beginners and newbies are encouraged. That environment tends to have a quiet, attentive audience who will support you. If it’s a pub or bar, put your name on the board early in the session, it’s likely to be quieter. Go there to check out the vibe, get familiar with it, chat to the person on the sound desk who may also be the MC, make connections.
I’d also suggest you choose a song or songs that you relate to and love playing/singing. When your love for what you are offering the audience shines through it adds to their enjoyment. You might like to go back to a post in this thread I made a couple of weeks ago about the 9yo and his enthusiasm. That experience flipped a switch in my head big time and was what helped propel me into the OM on Thursday night.
I look forward to hearing your progress with this.
@Nancy15 thankyou Nancy, I’m glad I honoured the commitment I’d made to myself. A photo of me is more than a enough 
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Thanks Maggie, it’s definitely something that’s on my list. I have a few songs that I am pretty comfortable playing so I should be ok. I did write a song for my son that I am happy with and shouldn’t forget the words to but you never know! I might first try the community OM and take it from there. Keep rocking on Maggie!
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Just make them up and keep playing 
All the greats do it, so why can’t we?
Here’s Ella Fitzgerald giving us a master class in improv. Go to 1.15 for the beginning of the song, the improvs start at 1.28 through till 2.06
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Love it ! Thanks Maggie. I grew up in Ireland and listened to a lot of Christy Moore ,who was once asked why he sings with his eyes closed and he replied that he writes the lyrics on the inside of his eye lids so maybe I will do that .
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December 2022
My year seems to be littered with unfinished guitar projects. Songs partially written; new songs learned on the guitar enough to be memorized, but shonky in execution; recordings of same begun and left unfinished; folk fingerstyle course same deal, learned, played, taken no further. I started this with the intention of applying it to Neko’s version of These Days. Theory? Pah! New songs written and recorded … one.
What I’ve managed to do is to keep playing the 28 songs I know with poor to reasonable expertise , in both skill level and recall of chords and words. Barre chords have regressed. I was able to play all the barre formations fingerstyle, now I can’t even play decent E shaped barres on my acoustic.
My time has been given to singing. In this area I’ve progressed. Learning how to video myself singing, then to put it together in Reaper where the audio was recorded simultaneously, render it as a .MOV file (thankyou @DavidP ) and upload to YT so my videos could be viewed and discussed by my singing teacher and class, has been a significant achievement. I’ve been uploading a video each week, that’s where my music time has been invested.
This is the only new DAW skill I’ve learned. I’ve forgotten a great deal of what I learned two years ago. It’s been unused and has gone rusty.
I’ve done four more OM’s, three of which were in a local bar.
Now I’m flitting off to learn another new song that attracts me. I wonder if I’ll ever finish it?
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Sounds like my kind of year, Maggie. Your GIF paints a perfect picture. Keep chasing the butterflies, following the muse. Your song and singing shared were showcases of progress made and always a treat.
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Always good to see you post Maggie. I can’t speak to music that I can’t see or hear, but I’m sure it is heartfelt and a joy to listen to. Hope you are well!
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Sounds like business as usual Maggie. Very much a similar year but unlike you, the plan to cycle round my complete “set list” of 23 never seems to get off the ground. Your not alone.
There’s a new year coming so time to map out a development plan but if your like be by the end of Feb you’ll be bouncing all over the place again. 
However, it does sound like you have had a very productive year on the vocal side, as you have admirably demonstrated now and then. Plus real live Open Mics to boot !
At the end of the day you can’t do everything but I reckon you’re doing ok !
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Great to read an update Maggie.
Some ups and downs in there. Great you did more OM performances. Sounds like that might be working out better than turning up at the acoustic club and there already being a full set list?
Bummer about the barre chords. Why do you think that is - did you not use them much, is it injury, or aging?
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Hi Maggie, chasing butterflies looks fun and no need to catch one, but with the guitar you may need to catch a few. I think as the achievements grow so do the expectations. Projects that at an earlier point may have looked motivating can be not so much at this point so look for goals that motivates you. Can be short term goals or longer term to be achieved progressively. Can be a new song, a new technique or style or going back to something you think you can do better this time. Congratulations for your singing progress and OM participations.
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@DavidP thankyou David. You’ve made marvellous progress this year, be proud of that.
@CT so nice of you to pop in. I hope your sourdough is doing all the right things and the fish are biting.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner you’ve been so immensely productive this year as well as a driving force behind the JG OMs. Yep vocal progress is pretty good, though I’m finding that now I listen and hear more acutely I find more about my singing that’s not happy making. I’ll keep chasing butterflies.
@jkahn Yep JK, you’re right about the local OM, though the bar environment is very challenging. I’m learning how to read the atmosphere and the crowd before I make a decision about playing or not. I’ve given up on the acoustics club OM for the reasons you name. It can also take a chunk of time to get there. Barre chords? Lack of practice. I can go for a week without picking up the guitar and when I do I use my time to play my OM songs. Very little time spent on guitar this year.
@dobleA thanks for wise words Andrés. It’s lack of time spent with my guitar that’s the problem. I’ve been giving my time to singing and getting my videos uploaded. I plan on changing that before I lose what I’ve learned and gained.
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!!! A week at a time without guitar!
The important thing is - are you happy with that? If you are, great, keep chasing butterflies! Guitar has different levels of priority for people. I tend to assume it’s some kind of focus given your tenure on the community.
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Keep chasing Maggie
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Hey Maggie! Thanks for the update. Always nice to hear from you. Awesome you are still out there singing and doing the OM’s. I sure would like to hear a song from you on here. Maybe soon?
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I’m here most days, still chiming in as appropriate. 
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