What to do next! So the new place is all cleaned up refinished and ready for business, now all I have to do is move everything in and get everything in its correct place. Let the dust settle then get working!
The problem is there's just too much stuff to unload and then unpacking everything is going to clutter up the new place so bad that it will probably look worse than before we moved in! Add to that where to put everything! What a nightmare that can be, there's only so much free space to work with. Oh great, here comes that "overwhelmed" feeling again. Well then this is a good time to take a break and hey I'll have more clarity tomorrow morning! Oh wait, its only 10 am.. Hmmm...
So this is me right now, KNOWING what needs to be done but making it into such a mountain that I find it hard to even attempt moving one pile of junk into the other room or even just throw it away! Sound familiar? So yea here comes the music thing... Ok so I have all these basic foundational things that need to be done, but not just done, MASTERED! I mean really get this down deep so the fingers and heart play the notes, not me thinking ok here comes the ii V I.
So I turn on the beatbox, pull out the exercises and get playing them in all 12 keys. Ok one down! Whew I'm exhausted, I think I want a break now! Then comes that guilt and the overwhelming thoughts like "I'm too old for this" yada yada...
The first goal then, has to be getting to the house warming party! Yea that's it a party! Now we're talking, that would be fun! Here's the dilemma, how do we make the basic rudiments feel and seem fun and even enjoyable? You know something with an instant reward right? We're all about instant rewards aren't we? Nobody wants to wait 4-6 weeks for shipping these days! No, we pay premium so we can have it tomorrow! Same with our work etc.. Its easy to talk about but how do we address this, how do we stay inspired in the day to day grind. Its not like my job is going to pay me to practice at night after I leave work so theirs no monetary reward at least not yet. Most days I'm pretty exhausted from being at a computer all day, now I need to sit or stand in front of sheet music and metronome for how long each day?
If I can turn this into "fun" then hey I'm there, isn't that a reward in of itself?
I don't think there's an easy answer to this, I wish it were easy but something keeps popping into my head.. Something from a movie.
Yea that's it, "Million Dollar Baby"! In the movie, there's a quick scene with the actors talking in a boxing gym. Behind them is a huge poster that says simply "Winners do, what Losers Won't!".
So its getting later into the evening and I want to call it quits. I push myself for about 15 more minutes of intense practicing. NO NOODLING AT ALL!!! I've learned that is the fastest way to ruts and wasting time. So now with 45 minutes of solid "real" practice (learning mode) I have to take a break. I do something else for about 20 minutes and guess what? I'm thinking you know I could put in another 20 minutes at least. So this is how it is, some days I'll put the instrument down about 4 times but still pick it back up a little bit latter. I got the idea of shorter practice sessions from Kenny Werner the author of "Effortless Mastery" a book I think all non-prodigy musicians should spend some time on.
Where is it written that you must practice for 4 hours each day without pausing? I used to do that when I was young but after a lot of reflection I realized that those "so called" practice times were also filled with a lot of random noodling and brainless rehashing of things I already knew! That's not "practicing" in the sense of becoming a master, that's staying where you are! Well I'll tell you I have come to realize that I probably spent about 20 years of my life in that mode! Lets think about this, seriously! Aren't we all supreme masters of dental hygiene by now? I mean we brush our teeth everyday right, so we must have really improved on it? Hmmm.. interesting concept. Kenny Werner asked a simple question about "how much is enough/ how well do I need to know the basics etc.." then he said..
"How well does the tight rope walker know his craft before stepping out onto that wire"? Yikes! I think you get the point!
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Old Manufacturing Plant
So I have an old manufacturing plant. Its been mine since I was about 16 years old. Its full of many things, some completed units, many unfinished and some assembled with parts missing. Definitely few items worthy of leaving the plant to be sold. The walls and structure are in need of repairs and refinishing if we want to open up for business once again!
Where do we start? Well I can start by cleaning up thru a process of categorizing items into "Trash" or "Save". Then move on to essential repairs, then refinishing. Think of those times when you make even more of mess in order to cleanup things right! When all this is done, we can again open the doors and hopefully do business like never before!!
Ok so I lied, I don't have a manufacturing plant perse! But what I do have is years of performing music in several different environments; Weddings, Parks, Festivals, Dinner shows, private parties but mostly in Church as part of a Praise and worship team. However things like "LIFE" happened and for whatever reasons that contains, the music venture came to a stop, a full stop. One of the biggest reasons however was the lack of mastery that haunted me constantly. I new there were holes in my playing and for whatever reason, I continued to ignore these!
Time passed by.. then suddenly (last year) I had an epiphany about playing music as a sort of Partial retirement or who knows what! The Torch of Inspiration had been rekindled once again with a new and refreshing aspect. The new aspect being, fix and repair all the holes in my music knowledge and performance ability. Add to this. that unlike before, my goal is to master music using 2 hand TouchGuitar (In my case the Megatar) versus standard Electric Guitar which has been my mainstay since I was 13 years old!
So why pursue Mastery? Is it even attainable? Well.. There's a lot of folks that think that is attainable but then again the term mastery could mean different things to different people. Is it merely attaining a state of proficiency in the language of music or say specifically "Jazz Music" (which is my passion)? Or is Mastery broader than this? Does it not include being able to connect with an audience or write music that is received well? Is it having your own voice after learning to speak the language of music? Is it being able to deliver a solid performance night after night, week after week?
I would have to say the answer is most likely "all of the above" and that's a daunting task. Much like the old saying of how do you eat an Elephant comes to mind! And yet performers do this everyday!
Onward.. So where I'm at right now, I'm back to basics and I mean "basics" but going after "Mastery" at every turn. No longer will I breeze thru exercises that seem mundane or not really helpful only to get to the "good ones"! NO, those exercises are there for a reason, even Charlie Parker was known to run thru some very very rudimentary exercises when he warmed up backstage! So everything needs to reach the smoothness that I'd want to hear myself at my favorite artists concert.
So how will it go? What will be the outcome? We'll have to wait and see.
However, if the years have taught me anything, its this: "Doing everything the same way will get you what you already have". Also, doing nothing will get you nothing!
My Father in-law always says "The Years are going to pass whether you do something or not". So the way I look at it now, I don't have any more minutes to waste!
Please stay tuned and follow me on my Journey!
Pete.
P.S. Please check out my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNm63wMiuSh3-8Y4f_LUDvw
Where do we start? Well I can start by cleaning up thru a process of categorizing items into "Trash" or "Save". Then move on to essential repairs, then refinishing. Think of those times when you make even more of mess in order to cleanup things right! When all this is done, we can again open the doors and hopefully do business like never before!!
Ok so I lied, I don't have a manufacturing plant perse! But what I do have is years of performing music in several different environments; Weddings, Parks, Festivals, Dinner shows, private parties but mostly in Church as part of a Praise and worship team. However things like "LIFE" happened and for whatever reasons that contains, the music venture came to a stop, a full stop. One of the biggest reasons however was the lack of mastery that haunted me constantly. I new there were holes in my playing and for whatever reason, I continued to ignore these!
Time passed by.. then suddenly (last year) I had an epiphany about playing music as a sort of Partial retirement or who knows what! The Torch of Inspiration had been rekindled once again with a new and refreshing aspect. The new aspect being, fix and repair all the holes in my music knowledge and performance ability. Add to this. that unlike before, my goal is to master music using 2 hand TouchGuitar (In my case the Megatar) versus standard Electric Guitar which has been my mainstay since I was 13 years old!
So why pursue Mastery? Is it even attainable? Well.. There's a lot of folks that think that is attainable but then again the term mastery could mean different things to different people. Is it merely attaining a state of proficiency in the language of music or say specifically "Jazz Music" (which is my passion)? Or is Mastery broader than this? Does it not include being able to connect with an audience or write music that is received well? Is it having your own voice after learning to speak the language of music? Is it being able to deliver a solid performance night after night, week after week?
I would have to say the answer is most likely "all of the above" and that's a daunting task. Much like the old saying of how do you eat an Elephant comes to mind! And yet performers do this everyday!
Onward.. So where I'm at right now, I'm back to basics and I mean "basics" but going after "Mastery" at every turn. No longer will I breeze thru exercises that seem mundane or not really helpful only to get to the "good ones"! NO, those exercises are there for a reason, even Charlie Parker was known to run thru some very very rudimentary exercises when he warmed up backstage! So everything needs to reach the smoothness that I'd want to hear myself at my favorite artists concert.
So how will it go? What will be the outcome? We'll have to wait and see.
However, if the years have taught me anything, its this: "Doing everything the same way will get you what you already have". Also, doing nothing will get you nothing!
My Father in-law always says "The Years are going to pass whether you do something or not". So the way I look at it now, I don't have any more minutes to waste!
Please stay tuned and follow me on my Journey!
Pete.
P.S. Please check out my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNm63wMiuSh3-8Y4f_LUDvw
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