Though I am a guitar player and teacher, lately I seem to have gotten somewhat pulled away from my regular practice routine. It used to be that I would practice at least two hours every day, and sometimes much, much longer.

It's hard to really pinpoint the reason for this gradual change of behavior. I could blame it on the fact that I have some nerve damage in my elbow which causes my left arm and hand to ache whenever I play the guitar these days. Or perhaps it's because I've been so busy working on my website, writing blogs, teaching guitar, and taking care of other responsibilities that it's just hard to find the time.

As a guitar player there really is no excuse. Slacking off on my guitar practice is the reason I was caught off guard not too long ago when I received a request to play for a local radio program. The call came one evening while I was in the middle of giving guitar lessons. Normally, I wouldn't even answer the phone during this time, but for some reason I did. It was the producer of the radio program. I was told that he had gotten my name from another musician I know. He had learned that I was a guitar player and asked me if I would be willing to play a little "Spanish" guitar for a show he was going to air the following day. Said it wouldn't have to be anything special and that he only needed about 30 seconds of music.

Well, my student was in the music room waiting for me, so I told him I would have to call him back. After the lesson was over, I began rationalizing why I could not possibly play guitar for this man's radio show. Afterall, he hadn't really given me enough notice and I, "the guitar player", just wasn't prepared. I didn't even know what kind of Spanish music he had in mind, or where I had filed my Spanish music. He probably wanted Flamenco music anyway, and I hadn't played any of that for quite awhile. Besides, my arm had been bothering me a lot and...

When my husband got home I told him about the call. He thought I should do it. I agreed to, at least, see if I could find some music that might be appropriate for the show. We went into the music room together and started paging through my books. After several minutes, I finally found something I "used to know."

Putting the sheet music up on the music stand, I reluctantly pulled up my guitar and started to plunk through the material. After a short time, the pieces were beginning to come together and even sound fairly decent. We decided to time what I had put together. Exactly 30 seconds!

Well, I called the producer back and agreed to let him hear what I had to offer. I told him that I thought it would be best for him to make the final decision as to whether I was the guitar player he wanted to use on his show or not. The next day he came over and recorded me in one take! That was a great relief.

I guess several things can be learned from this experience. Let me share some of my thoughts with you as one guitar player to another.

If you ever find yourself in a similiar situation:

• Don't be too quick to say no to a request.

• Even if you feel unprepared, you might have material to pull from that is familiar enough to brush up on in a pinch.

• Responding to a last minute request can show a measure of professionalism.

• Being willing to help others is a way to create good public relations and possibly lead to other opportunities in the future.

• Being stretched beyond what you thought was possible is one way to know that you are growing as a musician.

• Life is like a song, so let's put it to music!

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Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit: http://www.abclearnguitar.com