Song Writing Secrets

One of the biggest ideas in song writing or for any artist to get their mind wrapped around is that you can't pass judgment on your creation until you are done with it.  Really it does not matter what you think of your work, it is what others think that will determine its place in the world.  Here are some words of advice about learning music and writing songs

Passing judgment and being frustrated. 

Have you ever started learning a song, or subject and got frustrated about how it is turning out?  It’s because you have passed judgment on what you are doing before you have completed it. 

Your desire to be perfect has overcome your desire to be. 

You have to stay balanced and move forward until you finish your work.  It is sometimes difficult to stay the course and work through something to completion when you are half way and you know it is not what you intended.  What you have to realize is that this is the learning process and the creative process. 

Don’t think of it as failure because you did not reach a certain level.  Most likely you learned something and that is a step forward, it was creative. 

The more you can separate your idea of success from the reality of your situation the better off you will be.  The less you judge your current situation the more likely you will be able to move forward by working on your future in the here and now.

You’re not the one in charge. 

If you still think that you are in charge of what you create you are mistaken.  Called it God, your muse, call it dumb luck if you want. The truth is you are a conduit for what art and creativity is.  I have found the best way to be happy and creative is to let yourself find out what you have created when you’re done.  Let go of yourself, your ego, your desire to be the best. The only way you will ever be the best is if you just let yourself be.

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Creativity Killers part 2

Keeping a healthy perspective through life is tough sometimes.  Creativity Killers are everywhere. Especially in times like today when the economy is not as strong as it has been.  

There is more pressure on us today than ever before.  Between the need for a higher education/training in order to excel in life and the normal every day pressures that we put on ourselves being a quality musician is getting tougher and tougher for the average person.

Then there is the instant gratification society that we have been born into with video games and fast food telling us that we can do what we want now and should not have to wait.  Being a musician is a different life style.  It takes time to be a quality artist.  It takes 10% talent and 90% hard work pasted together with a substantial serving of patience.

Pressure

Some times there is an outside source putting pressure on you such as a person telling you that you are too old to start or you don’t have enough talent.  Maybe you have already had some music business success and you are having trouble duplicating it or that person is telling you how great you have to be. 

Relax; it’s about the music.  You “Play” music you don’t work it and if it is your job than maybe you should start playing a little more.  Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do.  Maybe you have to have a conversation with the person pushing you.  Tell them to lay off and that they are not helping.  It might be a difficult thing to do but might be the best thing for both parties.

If it is a family member pushing you than perhaps you should look for an outside source for help.  Teachers and friends can be great inspiration and can truly help.

The bottom line is that everyone has the right to be happy and that we all need to have a way to relax.  There is no reason why a person can't be a quality musician and still be responsible.  Remember to have balance and be a musician but still live a quality life.  Go to school, go to work and learn your craft. 

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Creativity Killers part 1

What clogs up our creativity and causes us to stop being creative. Bob Dylan once wrote

"... there is no success like failure and failure is no success at all...".  I think he means that to fail is to have tried only once and once is never enough. 

Fear of failure is the biggest killer of creativity.  There is no excuse for not trying.  You have to be willing to fail. So if you fail don’t let your passion fade.  Realize that failure is a step toward success. Trust yourself and your intuition.

To be able to attain your larger goal you first have to accomplish your smaller goals. The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will have to do it again. 

We all have plenty of reasons in life to be afraid of things but we overcome them.  Do you remember your first day of school? Scary, wasn’t it?  The first school dance? Also scary!  There are plenty of issues that you have conquered in your life and music is no different. 

Be Realistic. 

Know your dream and your large goals but work on small goals. Learn your instrument and try to write a short two chord or two note songs before you try to write a ground breaking album.  Be consistent, work hard at practice and play hard in performance.

Pressure is another creativity killer. 

We talked about passion and how it can drive us.  Well it can also drive us away. Pressure can be self induced or come from outside sources.  If you are putting unnecessary pressure on yourself you are walking a pathway to unhappiness.

I am sure that there are many benefits to being a famous musician, painter or businessman for that matter.  But having a fame or bust attitude is crazy.   There are also many benefits to having no fame and the future is a difficult thing to predict.  If you stay in the here and now, work hard and take time to enjoy your life you will be happier and in the long term be more successful. 

Experiencing life is a great jump starter for creativity. 

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Musicianship: part 2

Musicianship is more than just practicing perfect like we discussed in Musicianship: part 1.  It is also the way you deal with yourself, the way you set yourself up for success, the way you conduct business and what you give back to the musicians and listeners around you.

Life is more than music.  It is who you are as a real person and not just the icon you see on T.V. or listen to.  Happiness with yourself comes from being well balanced and these feelings and ideas will come through in your music.  This is musicianship and this is what attracts people to your music as well as you as a person.

Positive surroundings

A key to success is to put yourself in a position to win.  By this I don’t mean that you should surround yourself with people that will tell you how great you are all the time.  What I mean is that you should surround yourself with people that will give you honest criticism that is meant constructively, tell you that you are doing great when you are doing great and help you achieve.

Surround yourself with people who are looking for success and live by the same or better values than you live by.  This might be one of the most important keys to your future!

Give back what you get out of music. 

It is important to build a community of artists.  If you learn something from this blog tell a friend (Yes, this is a shameless plug) or teach them and help them grow.  That is love and love will come back to you.  Music is the constant and never ending improvement of your craft as well as yourself. 

Smile and Appreciate

There is no better sight than to see a person walking toward you with a smile and congratulations.  Give honest and sincere appreciation to those around you.  It is a key to you success as well as theirs. Criticizing and complaining only alienates you and creates a bad atmosphere. Smile and be genuinely interested in those around you and they will be interested in you.  Encouragement makes all the people around you feel great and want to make you feel great.

Musicianship is all of these ideas wrapped in to one.  It is the act of putting your passion to work and develop a product that is the best quality you can make.  This can be as in depth as becoming a recording artist for a record company or as simple as playing a song for your family and friends. 

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Musicianship: part 1

Musicianship is the active participation toward mastery of music.  It is the path a musician takes to realizing their full potential.  Not everyone reading this is going to be interested in having a career in music. I would say that if you are reading this you do care about what you do.  Playing music is a craft, an art.  It takes practice, passion, knowledge of technique as well as theory (weather it is one you made up or a learned theory) and it takes time.

How do you develop your musicianship?

Practice

Practice is the most important step, developing good habits and working your small goals  toward your big goals. I can’t stress this idea enough.  

You will never get to any of your big goals if you don’t put in the time to get there. But putting in time is not enough, it has to be quality time learning new ideas or creating new theories that will truly help you attain your goals.

Push Yourself to Learn

Learn everything you can get your hands and ears on.  Listen to ever type of music you can.  Even if you are a Death Rocker there is something that will help you in Classical music if you are open minded enough to listen and learn from it.  Don’t be afraid of taking classes at the community college to learn to read and write music.  It’s a great way to pass time and improve yourself and the lives of those around you.

Patience

It is a virtue that pays off ten fold.  It is important to have good ideas but even more important to have good execution.  A good idea can get lost if you rush the project. Even when you are practicing it is good to exercise patients.  Practice for 15 to 20 minutes and take a break for a few minuets.  It will clear your head and allow you to get over your mistakes. Just make sure that you are practicing more than you are resting…

Trust

Trust in yourself that you can do what you have set out to do as well as in the people around you.  If you take the time to surround yourself with people that are as good as or better than you are, there is no reason why you can’t trust their ideas and talents also. 

Develop Your Style. 

The great part about music is that ten people can sit in a room with one teacher, hear the same lessons and practice the same material and come up with ten different ideas.  You will have your own take on these ideas and you will have a style of your own if you allow for mistakes and learn from them.  You can’t help but be and sound like yourself!

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Silence In Music

Silence in music is one of the most over looked and most powerful tools that can be used. Silence is just as important as playing fast, dynamics, tone and timber and countless other musical ideas.  In modern pop music it is overlooked and under appreciated by most.

As a musical term silence is noted as a "Rest" and has as many time increments as any other note value.  Here is what some of them look like.

 From left to right tis is the 16th note rest, 8th note rest, 1/4 note rest, 1/2 note rest and finally the full note rest.

Power Of Silence

Why is silence so powerful?  Silence is as much an emotional response as yelling and screaming.  Have you ever been in an argument when the person you where fighting with stopped talking and used there silence as a weapon?  In an argument the person talking is typically the person loosing. 

Music is different because there is no competition to win as there is in an argument but it is similar because music is communication. 

Silence creates anticipation in the listener.  It makes the person listening sit on the edge of their seat waiting, hanging for the next note.

Deliberate Silence

 Using a rest or silence in your music deliberately also shows the listener that you understand what you are doing as a composer or songwriter.  It is another tool for you to control the listener's attention and entertain them. 

Silence is also a way to bring a band together.  Practicing breaks and stops in music makes every one of your band members count and anticipate your song.  It makes the piece more fun and can also be used as a way to show off just how good you all are!

Silent Contribution

Silence as a dynamic is important because it allows you to change direction in your music or adds power to the next musical statement.  What I mean by this is if you follow up a sudden silence with a hard hitting, loud bar of music you will energize your crowed.  Conversely, you can follow up a loud section of music with a sudden silence and then a light beautiful few bars and end a piece with a sigh of relief. 

There are so many things that you can do with silence in music.  Be creative and experiment with this new tool.

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Sales Skills For The Musician

Most of us musicians don't think of ourselves as sales men or women.  Few of us develop sales skills for the musician.  In fact most of us hate to think of music as a job.  It is what we do for fun.  Some of us do have bigger aspirations but what can we do to take the steps to the next level.

Here are some ideas that will help you be a better musician as well as salesmen in your industry.

Get A Day Job

One of the most inspiring things that you can do for your career in the music business is get a job in it.  Be willing to take control of your future and look to do what ever you have to so that you are involved.

If that means get a job at a record store so you can get lots of cheep music than do it.  Maybe you want to find a local recording studio and ask if you can be an intern for a few months. 

The bottom line is that you need to create your luck and create your opportunity.

Being A Bandleader

Being in a band is work.  You need to be organized and make sure that you and your band mates are on a good path.  Being a bandleader might be the answer.  But remember that being a follower is sometimes what it takes to be a leader. 

Open the doors of communication between you and your group.  Take initiative and get some gigs, write some songs or what ever you see needs to be done to take the next step toward your goals.

Make A T-Shirt

If you already have gigs and some folks are going to your shows than it might be time to start making T-Shirts.  If you are an artist than design a cool logo for your band.  If you are not than find someone at a college near you and pay them $50 or $100 to make a logo for you. 

Print a bunch of shirts and stickers and give them away for free or ask for a donation.  It sounds expensive to you now but it is exposure.  Make sure you have your website, free blog page URL or an email address on the shirt so that folks can find out when you are playing!

Learn Music Theory

If you want to be a musician it is your job to be constantly improving yourself.  Listen to music, learn music theory, and educate yourself some way so that you can improve your creativity.

Music theory is the fastest and most logical way to do that.  If you wanted to be a writer you would surely learn how to read and write.  If you where interested in being an athlete you would learn how to train your body.  As a musician you should learn to communicate with other musician and music theory is the way to do that effectively.

Make a Demo

Make a clean demo and start sending it out to places to get gigs or producers so that you and your band can get signed to a label. 

Email Lists

Create an email list when you are at your gigs is so important these days.  An effective email list can drive traffic to your gigs, inform and entertain your fans as to what you are doing and if you are smart you can even fund your band with a big enough email list.

Don’t forget to sign up for our Tip’s and musicians quote of the day e-mail service at the top left corner of the page.