Oh yes- mostly guitar, but I’ve played drums, keyboard, and bass in bands too. I’ve been in choir and the lead singer of bands. I’ve been able to pick up and play things like mandolin, banjo, cello, and even clarinet on occasion.

In bands i’m usually known as “the resource”. The guy who knows how to play that part or what part comes. I’ve been in the awkward position of reminding people what they themselves wrote.

When I first started learning guitar, any time I wasn’t playing I was doing “mental reps”, imagining the process and result of actually playing. I would practice with an unplugged electric guitar (for noise and convenience reasons) and imagine what it would sound like with distortion or effects.

When I was a drummer in a band, there was a kit in our practice space but I have never had a kit of my own, so I was 100% reliant on mental reps for my individual work. Still worked out pretty well.

I remember back in my senior year of high school, 8th period English class, getting bored one day and deciding to attempt to write a song right there. No instrument, no computer, not even able to hum out loud. I came up with a fun riff with some weird time signature stuff going on, fleshed it out into a song, and kept it in my mind on the bus ride home. Then I was able.to grab a guitar and figure out programming a MIDI version of all of it. Every now and then if I find i’m stuck writing things on guitar or piano I try to do that just to get a spark.