Yesterday, practicing cover songs for an upcoming show. 6 songs. Played them with two singers at our rehearsal space. Me on guitar. 6 songs, and we played each of them around 5 times. Multiply that and you get 30 songs. In a few hours.
My fingertips. Every note etched into my fingertips. If you play guitar, you know about callouses. They are essential. They are your "badges of honor." You are changed by playing. It's almost like the strings, and where you place your fingers, are tatooed. You wear the changes. You are battle-tested. Hardened.
We recorded the last run-thru of songs and I just listened to the recording this morning. They all sound better than I thought they would. Satisfying. And my fingertips seem different. More alive, and less sensitive, at the same time.