3000 Computer “Performances”, But My Second Guitar Band Performance Was a Grade “D”

My second public guitar performance was a “D” Grade.

I have played guitar twice publicly. Once at my 75th birthday party and once for our Chicago bungalow’s block party.

1. 75th Birthday Party: B
   • July Block Party: D

I could explain why my 75th Birthday Party performance with a friend playing harmonica was a B grade. But maybe another day.

Let’s focus on my D grade guitar performance in July 2026.

First, I am Not Used to Dismal Public Performances

In my life I have easily taught approximately 3000 three hour computer classes. I have taught Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. I even taught Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect 5.1 in the 1980’s. Ever hear of Next Computers? I even taught them in the 1980’s. I recently learned and taught Scrum around 2020. I have taught thousands of adult students.

And all those “performances” were good. They had to be. When you are a self-employed contractor teaching computer courses, you must be good, every darn training session.

I was a great computer trainer. I delivered rock solid “A” grade training.

So it wasn’t fun doing a dismal guitar performance on a front porch this July 2026.

I gave my assembeld band of 3 players a D+ grade. I am a harsh critic, but that’s my grade.

What Went Wrong on My Second Public Guitar Performance?

1. Venue change. I planned on playing with Tom on my front porch. The audience would sit on our grass on our Chicago street (it’s very nice).
   • But the City of Chicago put the “bouncy house” for kids in front of our house. Fan blowing constantly, too noisy to perform. We moved two doors north.
2. New Drummer. I thought Patrick might do a ukulele solo for us. As it turns out, he was a drummer in a band for 11 years in his 20’s and early 30’s. So I said, “Join us.”
   • But Patrick wasn’t the problem. Spending an extra 20 minutes to print off some songs for him took more time than I thought it would. That use of time was an unexpected waste.
   • Patrick actually helped the three of us keep some kind of beat when our music became disorganized.
3. Wind Scattered My Songsheets. I had never played outside. Silly me, I didn’t bring clips for my songs.
   • I hadn’t memorized our songs. Knew them, hadn’t memorized them.
   • The wind stirred a bit on this 90 degree day, and my sheets of paper bent over on my music stand and I couldn’t see them. I lost my place, kept strumming the wrong notes, and put my cell phone on the paper so it wouldn’t fly away. Darn wind.
4. Reading the Audience. That was OK. We skipped a song because I knew, and Tom quietly agreed, to skip the song.
   • But I sure as heck didn’t “read the audience”. Were they enjoying it, did I make eye contact? I did none of those things.
5. No Guitar Strap. I tried to put a strap on my Ibanez V70 acoustic electric in the early morning. It didn’t fit so I gave up.
   • A picture of me playing guitar on the front porch would show me holding it almost flat like a beginner struggling to see their chord shapes.
   • When you play your guitar at a 45 degree angle, not 90 degree angle, your fretting hand has a shorter reach. Also, you aren’t strumming consistently. You are digging into some strings instead of grazing them with your pick hand.
6. Guitar Amped Too Loud.
   • The amp worked great but I amped the Ibanez acoustic electric too loudly. My wife tells me it was harder to hear other parts like singing and/or harmonica.
7. YouTube Recording, Nope. I didn’t record it on YouTube. I had a microphone ready but needed a sound engineer (not my wife’s specialty).

Learn from Your Guitar Performance Mistakes

I will learn. An obvious thing is use clips on your music stand when playing in the wind.

I will be better prepared next time. I will have a checklist.

Even a Poor Band Performance Teaches you Something

1. Amp was great. Fender Acoustic Junior amp was great.
   • People had no trouble hearing us from the middle of the street.
2. Microphone was good. Behringer XM8500 Microphone. Worked just fine. Not a Shure, but surely worked fine 🙂
3. My Song was the Best. “Yes, Yes, Just Say Yes” was easily heard.
   • A 3 1/2 year old happily danced to the chorus. Hurray.

I Had the Guts to Slap a Front Porch Band Together in 5 Days

Frankly, at age 75 I know that extra years are given to no one.

I chose to do a Front Porch Band for our July 2026 Block Party.

I wanted to start a Block Party Tradition of a Porch Band Playing on our Block.

And that’s exactly what I did. So even if the band’s performance was a D- or C+, let’s give me an “A” grade for having the guts to take a risk and to perform. Hurray.

Next Time: My Guitar Performance will be Better

Even though my 3 person band got a “D” grade today, I give myself an “A” for guts to do it.

Thanks for visiting Shoshin Guitarist today.