I challenged myself last month to
practice guitar and/or sing every night for a minimum of 20 minutes. All but 3
nights, I did it.
I wanted to tell you about what I
learned because it really pointed a few things out to me.
First, I am retaining the songs I
practice better when I play that often.
Next, I never played for only 20
minutes. It was always an hour or more. Its so easy to keep going once you
start.
Then, I started feeling my voice
getting stronger and my guitar playing getting better.
I also had nights where I was
MISERABLE and tired and didn’t want to play so I would have to make myself do
it anyway and all but one of those times, once I started, I was glad I did it.
The biggest thing I got out of it
was that we played 3 shows on Saturday, and then again 1 on Sunday and by the
time we got done I was exhausted but there is NO way my voice would have held
up for all that if I hadn’t been strengthening it.
I know now that this challenge I
gave myself is something I need to continue. I challenged all our Facebook
followers to challenge themselves to do something and got no response. It made
me sad because as people AND musicians we should always be challenging
ourselves to be better and not one person wanted to improve anything.
I challenge you now. Think of
something you need or want and challenge yourself to get it. Sometimes it will
be hard. Sometimes it will be the hardest thing in the world. I wanted to just
go to bed and sleep quite a few nights and the first night I missed, I only
missed because I got home from work and was about dead so I went strait to
sleep. I was so sad the next day that I missed one day. It was easier to push
myself on tired nights after that.
I truly believe that we all can
improve ourselves; we just need to decide what’s first to work on. Now that I
know I have at least a LITTLE discipline, I will try to eat better lol.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
1/26/2011
Our Dirty Laundry All Aired Out
First off, I want to say we are by no means perfect. Any professional of any trade who thinks they are, are sorely mistaken and are setting themselves up for a very rude awakening. Never have we claimed to be perfect.
Sometimes, it seems, the universe likes to give you the great, and then pull the rug out from under you. This is the universes way of seeing if you will be able to keep on your feet. We have known many musicians who fall when this happens and they are unable to get themselves back up. It is a tragedy, but for some, it is for the best.
Before you put your heart and soul into anything you should know a few things. 1: Is this what I truly want and for what reasons? 2: Can I work toward this if it takes all my life? And most importantly 3: Can I handle all the bull shit that is inevitably going to come my way from every direction possible when I am least expecting it.
If you want to be a musician, you unfortunately have to deal with the following on any given night at least once in your career and if you tell me at least 90% of these have never happened, they will or you’re a liar lol:
Cancelled shows, shows where you play to only the bartender (99.99999% of this happens when starting out but every once in a while you have a fluke show or last minute at an unknown venue), People texting during your set, people talking during your set, people laughing at something other than you and in some cases at you during your set, unprofessional musicians, unprofessional booking managers, unprofessional venues, free shows, paid shows, paid shows where the pay becomes an issue, agents who don’t come through, agents who come thorough with things you didn’t expect, agents with little or no skill, agents with lots of skill and bad luck, agents with great luck, bad sound, bad sound men, broken equipment such as bad cords, bad mics, etc, stinky mics, ill suited venues for your style, misunderstandings, missed shows for one reason or another, bad shows for one reason or another, missing gear, missing picks, missing songs, tough crowds, drunk crowds, obnoxious fans, no fans, great fans, head colds, sore throats, sore fingers, missed chords, missed verses, nay sayers, getting sex eyes from someone, getting sex eyes from someone you do NOT want them from, loud cheerers, no cheers, no applause, ‘free bird!’, ‘Skynrd!’, Crazy people, Cool people, new connections, LESS connections, clash of personalities, bad pictures, no pictures, bad video, no video, long drives, running out of gas, car breaking down, no place to sleep, bad moods, fights between fans, fights between people you don’t know, the need to put your foot down with a venue or a booking agent, firing people, hiring people, missed opportunities, being left out, being forgotten momentarily, being referred, being denied, being dissed, being complimented, being new, being hit on, being neglected, feeling like a #........ Need I go on?
Many of these have happened to us at one time or another in the 3 years we have been playing together and to me in the 2 years before that I played on my own. I’m sure Ty has a few things to add to this list lol. I’m not trying to be discouraging. I’m trying to tell you that these things happen.
So what do we do about them????? We are professional no matter what! We shrug off the bad, and look toward the good and we understand that in ANY venture, bad things happen and good things happen and good can not be constant. It’s the way of the world. But, if we train ourselves to rise above the immaturity and the high school attitudes we sometimes come across we are the better for it. No one can stop you if you are talented and act like a human being. You have a right to stand up for yourself, but no one has a right to act like an ass hole, think they are a God, to walk all over you, or to slam your good name if in fact you have one. On the same note, no one has the power to ‘ruin you’ unless you let them. If you are doing the right things, any slamming that may come from someone’s ego will be dismissed because you have already set a foundation that no one but you can destroy. On the same token, you shouldn’t do it to them either.
The point to today’s blog? Some days suck. Some days you will want to give up even if for a split second. Some days, you will hate everything. But there is one constant. Karma is a bitch. Lol.
Sometimes, it seems, the universe likes to give you the great, and then pull the rug out from under you. This is the universes way of seeing if you will be able to keep on your feet. We have known many musicians who fall when this happens and they are unable to get themselves back up. It is a tragedy, but for some, it is for the best.
Before you put your heart and soul into anything you should know a few things. 1: Is this what I truly want and for what reasons? 2: Can I work toward this if it takes all my life? And most importantly 3: Can I handle all the bull shit that is inevitably going to come my way from every direction possible when I am least expecting it.
If you want to be a musician, you unfortunately have to deal with the following on any given night at least once in your career and if you tell me at least 90% of these have never happened, they will or you’re a liar lol:
Cancelled shows, shows where you play to only the bartender (99.99999% of this happens when starting out but every once in a while you have a fluke show or last minute at an unknown venue), People texting during your set, people talking during your set, people laughing at something other than you and in some cases at you during your set, unprofessional musicians, unprofessional booking managers, unprofessional venues, free shows, paid shows, paid shows where the pay becomes an issue, agents who don’t come through, agents who come thorough with things you didn’t expect, agents with little or no skill, agents with lots of skill and bad luck, agents with great luck, bad sound, bad sound men, broken equipment such as bad cords, bad mics, etc, stinky mics, ill suited venues for your style, misunderstandings, missed shows for one reason or another, bad shows for one reason or another, missing gear, missing picks, missing songs, tough crowds, drunk crowds, obnoxious fans, no fans, great fans, head colds, sore throats, sore fingers, missed chords, missed verses, nay sayers, getting sex eyes from someone, getting sex eyes from someone you do NOT want them from, loud cheerers, no cheers, no applause, ‘free bird!’, ‘Skynrd!’, Crazy people, Cool people, new connections, LESS connections, clash of personalities, bad pictures, no pictures, bad video, no video, long drives, running out of gas, car breaking down, no place to sleep, bad moods, fights between fans, fights between people you don’t know, the need to put your foot down with a venue or a booking agent, firing people, hiring people, missed opportunities, being left out, being forgotten momentarily, being referred, being denied, being dissed, being complimented, being new, being hit on, being neglected, feeling like a #........ Need I go on?
Many of these have happened to us at one time or another in the 3 years we have been playing together and to me in the 2 years before that I played on my own. I’m sure Ty has a few things to add to this list lol. I’m not trying to be discouraging. I’m trying to tell you that these things happen.
So what do we do about them????? We are professional no matter what! We shrug off the bad, and look toward the good and we understand that in ANY venture, bad things happen and good things happen and good can not be constant. It’s the way of the world. But, if we train ourselves to rise above the immaturity and the high school attitudes we sometimes come across we are the better for it. No one can stop you if you are talented and act like a human being. You have a right to stand up for yourself, but no one has a right to act like an ass hole, think they are a God, to walk all over you, or to slam your good name if in fact you have one. On the same note, no one has the power to ‘ruin you’ unless you let them. If you are doing the right things, any slamming that may come from someone’s ego will be dismissed because you have already set a foundation that no one but you can destroy. On the same token, you shouldn’t do it to them either.
The point to today’s blog? Some days suck. Some days you will want to give up even if for a split second. Some days, you will hate everything. But there is one constant. Karma is a bitch. Lol.
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