mark_h

Thank you Greg and Diane, I’m afraid that the story is not all that exciting. ? I have always loved guitar but never had the time to practice. About 10 years ago my wife set up a business doing Bridal hair and make up for English speaking wedding parties getting married in Spain. I helped her with the setup and over a couple of years it became very successful. Successful enough so that I could take some time off to do something I loved. So I started studying guitar. Most of the first while was spent trawling through the internet and picking up bits and pieces of songs until eventually I found the L&MG course. I spent about six months on it and it really helped focus me on my weaknesses.eventually I had to except that I was never going to be a sight reader, no matter how much time I put in it just never got above a very basic level. So I just started learning pieces by rote and practicing technique. This is where I had an advantage that most people don’t , my wife gave me the support and space to dedicate 6 - 10 hours a day every day for about 2 years. As soon as I could bang out a couple of blues tunes I went and played at local jams and every opportunity I got to play in public I took it no matter how scary. I was finding it hard to push myself and one of my wife’s wedding planners heard me play and suggested I play at weddings. So I bought a book called popular wedding tunes for solo guitar and started learning them bar by painful bar. ? after a couple of months I had Cannon in D, Air on a G string, the bridal march, and a few other classical pieces and about 20 other songs under my fingers and I got my first booking through my website. That first wedding was an eye opener. After they booked me they asked for 3 songs not on my list, luckily they gave me 3 months notice and I figured out how to find solo guitar versions of songs on YouTube and learn them by watching, listening and changing whatever was too hard for me. That first wedding was a terrifying experience, but the couple were happy and I got paid. The first year I did 5 the next 16, last year 27, and this season I am booked for 58 but I’m still getting bookings for Sept and Oct. I have 82 booked for next year so far and 6 for 2020. I got popular with wedding planners because I never say no, always arrive 2 hours before the ceremony, dress appropriately, always have replacement gear, and my PAs are all white. Weddings are not performance gigs, it’s more like film music setting the mood, the tone and pace is more important than everything being perfect. I make lots of mistakes but I never lose the pace and my PA and nylon string make everything sound sweet. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to ceremonies, playing the melody, with some nice reverb and delay, a little more slowly than you think it should be played is all that’s needed to get everyone crying and that’s the objective. ? it used to take me a week to get a new tune under my fingers, now it usually takes 3 to 4 hours, maybe 2 days for a really hard one. I still find pieces that are too hard for me so I have learned to change them to suit my abilities. I am rambling now! Anyway, what I started out to say was; the biggest leap in my playing happened when I decided that I was a professional player. No one will ever give you permission, you have to just decide that that’s what you are. I still cringe when I see myself on YouTube but I get lots of bookings from those videos. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, only that people like what they hear. thanks for the interest, Mark.

Thanks Randy, i offer the ceremony, cocktail reception and dinner as options and so need a lot of tunes, but some guitarists only do ceremonies and have a song list of only 12 to 20 pieces. I only had 25 to start with. Mark

Thank you Mandy, i wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in the topic, but it seems some are. The song list just grows naturally as couples ask for more tunes. Some are fairly easy to remember and only need to be play once a week or so, but others need to played every 2 or 3 days or parts of them need to be relearned. thanks again, Mark

This is a short video of extracts from a cocktail reception I play recently. I am just posting it to give anyone interested an idea of the level of playing and the type of gear you need to get started. Wedding guitar is my bread and butter, without it I couldn’t survive as a solo guitarist. This is my 4th year playing weddings and I am now getting bookings upto 2 years in advance. I have a repertoire of 100ish songs and although I rarely do it, I can play for upto 5 hours without repeating a song. A typical wedding would be play for 10 to 15mins as guests arrive, play something for the Bridesmaids entrance, something special for the Brides entrance, some background music for the candle lighting, something special for the register signing and then the exit. I usually have to pack up and beat the party back to wherever the cocktails are going to be and because this is often tight I usually do the setup before I go to the Ceremony. That way I just run in with my guitar plug in and start playing. Sometimes couples are very particular about all the music and send me a full playlist, but that would be rare, it’s normally just 2 to 6 songs that they want for particular parts of the ceremony. If they want a song that isn’t on my list I ask for at least 3 months notice. If they want more than one that I don’t know I charge extra for arrangement and practice. Occasionally I am asked to play for the Ceremony, Cocktails and dinner and that can keep me on site for up to 8 hours with the set up and packing, but normally it’s just Ceremony and Cocktails and that takes an average of 4-5 hours. In order to do 2 complete setups I need to have a lot of gear and because this is a sunny coastal area and most weddings are outdoors, one of the setups needs to be completely battery powered. (Sometimes the nearest powerpoint is 500 meters away). I could go on for a long time but if you are interested ask a question and I will answer as best I can. PS until just before I got the L&mg course I could just about accompany myself on 3 songs. I have been studying for about 8 years and started playing weddings after 4. I’m 58 so I started weddings at 54. You don’t have toa super player just solid in your repertoire. here is a picture of the rig I used at the wedding in the video. I hope this is of interest to someone and if you have a question just ask. Thank you, Mark.

Thanks Ian. ??

Great job Wim! That’s not an easy piece. ?? it’s a lovely tune, I’d forgotten how much I like it. You’ve inspired me to have a go at it over the winter. ? Mark

Thanks Greg, that’s much appreciated. Mark

Thanks Jim, great to hear from you. Hope all is well. Mark

Thanks Wim! ??

Thanks STEVE, I hope you and your wife are doing well. Mark

Thanks MANDY, i hope you’re hands are feeling better. Mark

Really hot here too. ☀️☀️☀️ Thanks Randy.

Thanks Jim. ??

Well, I opted out of last months challenge and I’m cheating a bit this month! Here is an original smooth Jazz piece called “Driving into the sunset” it used to be called “into the sunset”, but that wouldn’t have qualified. ? the percussion is the only part not played on guitar, all the other instruments are guitar synths. It was this or “Fly me to the moon” AGAIN. ???? Happy 4th of July. Mark

Thank you so much for all the updates, Diane. You have a wonderful way with words! Mark

Thanks Wim, you’re right, I hadn’t realized. ? Mark

Thanks Mandy, you’re very kind. I hope you are feeling a bit better. mark

Thanks Steve, living in the middle of nowhere has some advantages. ? Mark

Thanks Danny! Mark

Well, this is about as raw as it gets. ? Dean Martin was always signing this song in my house when I was a kid. It still makes me smile. My sister had me play it at her wedding last year, so it’s a definite a “feel good” song to me. It was a bit cramped in the car, but I was on my way to a wedding and thought I’d give it a whirl before packing the guitar. Mark

Hey Wim! Great track. Your tone is awesome. Well done. Mark

It certainly is but you seem to have a a good handle on it. I use a Zoom H4n digital recorder for video or just the zoom’s mics to record I to GarageBand. If I use GB I double the guitar tracks and pan them hard left and right. Not very high tech I’m afraid. ? mark

Great Job, Danny! Very professional sound. ?????????

Welcome back Mandy, ??? This is beautiful, well done! ??????? It’s a great idea to play around with recording techniques. You’ve managed to make something wonderful out of your (temporary) physical limitation. Bravo. There really is great potential for improvements with the right physio. Stick with it and I’m sure you’ll reach your goal. Good luck. mark

Thanks so much Greg, you are way to kind. You’re welcome to come with your guitar and sit in the sun with me any day. ? This community is awesome and it is always a joy to participate. I was working on Adam Raferty’s version of “Lovely Day” this morning and eventually had to admit defeat, and then modify it to suit my skill level. ? No matter where we are in our guitar journey there always seems to be a long way to go. But as long as we are playing better than last month, we are still moving forward. Thanks again, Mark