Enthusiasm!

Enthusiasm

Beware it!
I've seen it fool many a person, including myself.

One instance is when we get a new worker, and we give them some unappealing task. They always say, "sure, anything." That lasts about a month, then they're bitching and whining just like the rest of us.

Another is when I hear some music for the first time, thinking, "this is the best music I've ever heard." This also doesn't last long--only until the next listen.

My suggestion--while turning this into a positive--is to take initial enthusiasm with a grain of salt. I realize that we can't really control when emotions surface, but we can learn to detach and deal with them in rational ways.

Random Notes

Sometime try this:

Set a metronome for any tempo above 80.
For each 16th note(there are four per click), play a different random note.

Sounds dumb, but many of us have been conditioned to play within 'boxes'--perhaps
this may break us out. Or possibly it will stretch our brain to make new connections.

We may hit upon a combination of notes that we like, or we may have never played constant 16th notes for any period of time.

Give it a try.

Wall of truth

One thing the guitar presents is a challenge to those wishing to apply their interest. You can find out a lot about a person by how they approach learning guitar.

Some say things like, "I want to learn," yet, they don't acquire a guitar. Or they find a guitar they can borrow from a friend, only to have that friend's car get impounded and the guitar and the friend locked away.

Another challenge is practice. One may come up with all sorts of reasons whey they don't practice. It is very entertaining to me to listen to these excuses.

Yet another excuse is, "I don't have any time."
While watching TV or internetting 5 hrs a day.

The positive:
I challenge all of you to be authentic. I keep working on it myself. Don't lie about why you didn't do something. You can do it, it comes more with age, but it's interesting and fun to learn.

Learning Your Instrument

This is one easy fun way to learn your instrument.

Play along with records.
Whenever I read Guitar Player mag interviews, the best guitarists always say that they learned how to play by playing along with records of their favorite musicians.

I've found it to be a good way to learn because of these reasons:

You learn the songs
You learn the keys and chords that make up keys
You learn the fretboard if you are soloing
You learn the fretboard if you are figuring out the chords
It sharpens your ear
You learn how to improvise
You get inside the composer/songwriters head

Try it out. If it's really hard, pick easy songs and go from there. Always start with the possible and go toward the impossible.

Inspiration

Inspiration

The best way I have found to get inspired to practice or to write new music is to see an excellent musician or band play live.

The second best is to see them on video.

It's a cool thing to do when you pick out a band you have never seen and go to their show. Surprises can be so fruitful for musicians. Randomization of life also.

I've found that if I randomly alter my schedule I run into new and interesting things. Why not do it with musical events/tastes/purchases?