Subject: It's All About The Song!
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Before I get to today's message, I'd like to ask a favor. My local teaching business - Falls Rock Shop - is entered in the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest to win up to $25,000 to help us grow the business. If we were to win, we would use the funds to add more classes, start producing instructional videos and grow our custom guitar shop. Here's the favor: would you vote for us and help spread the word?You can vote here. Thanks - you rock! ------------------------- When you have musical thoughts, are they about sharps and flats and progressions and time signatures and theory? No, I would hazard to guess that when you are thinking music, it's all about the song going through your head at the moment. You are hearing the melody and feeling the beat and tempo. You are remembering the words and the pictures those words conjure in your mind. You may even be feeling similar emotions to those evoked by the lyrics and music. You are experiencing the culmination of individual parts that result in something you can enjoy - again, kinda like cake! It's only after imagining or hearing a song that we begin to start wanting to break it down into the various parts that make it up so we can learn how to recreate it. We analyze it so we can both make some connection to the songwriter and performer and to internalize the song to our own experience - to make it ours in some way. Maybe we want to know why the song does what it does to us. Perhaps the song inspired an idea and now we are using that inspiration to create something new. Heck, one idea has the potential to turn into an entire catalog of music. We never know the power of a batch of notes arranged in a particular manner to a specific rhythmic pattern with just the right amount of atmosphere added for good measure. Throughout history songs have been known to have the power to affect individuals and entire nations to do the greatest (and worst) acts imaginable. So what is it that drives us as musicians to learn? Why do strive to learn guitar or drums or piano or how to sing properly? We as humans generally tend to suffer from tunnel vision. We start down a path and then get so caught up in the daily minutia that we lose sight of the reason we began in the first place. We forget there was an underlying reason to take up our instrument. We wanted to be a part of the feeling we received from the music. We wanted to be able to create that same feeling for others. We wanted to be a part of the song. Our normal educational structures were built on systems of teaching rules and theories built on memorization, but in many cases this approach doesn't focus on how any of these memorized lessons can be applied in out every day lives. We get the mechanics, but we don't necessarily get instruction on how to make a song come alive. In music, when we learn music theory and memorize all the various melodic, harmonic and rhythmic patterns, the end goal is not to be able to play a scale faster than the next guy or to win a world's record. No, the goal should be to internalize the mechanics of music theory so that it doesn't get in the way of the creative process. When the fingers can operate on auto-pilot and play what your brain (your creativity) tells them to play, you've finally entered into the ranks of a true musician. As you challenge yourself to learn and master the guitar (or any musical instrument), it's very easy to get caught up in the technical and mechanical aspects of study and practice. You need to remember why you began the journey in the first place - it probably wasn't to be the fastest player or to put out the most music. Again, it's all about the song - creating and sharing something that touches people and draws them into your experience. It's creating a scene that your audience can see themselves living in - or have experienced in the past.. Whether the goal is to perform music composed by others or you plan to write original music, it's important to learn everything you can about how music is created and how to perform it on your particular instrument. We still have to achieve a certain level of mastery to be able to infuse emotion and get our ideas across to others. Even if we're only interested in playing for our own enjoyment, the rules are the same. For us to feel like we're actually playing music, we are still constrained by the physical boundaries inherent to living here on earth. We can't change the fact that we're only able to hear between certain frequency ranges and decibel levels. We also can't change the fact that because music is a physical manifestation of energy, we have to train ourselves to use that energy properly to influence the listener's experience with the song. So yes it's true, we must learn the technical aspects of our instruments, and there are rules we have to follow because physics demands that we do (as long as we're here on earth - out in space, who knows?). But using those rules and techniques to create original works or to perform the works of others is just the foundation. It's up to us get inside the song and make it ours - make it convincing for our audience. Because at the end of the day, they don't care about the mechanics of music and technique. All they care about is how the song relates to their life experiences. So don't get too concerned if you can't read music, or you don't understand all the theory behind music. Don't get stuck on the pieces parts. That's not what's important. Worry about playing the song so your audience can sing along, tap their feet or dance. Worry about playing it with heart and giving the audience a good laugh or cry. That's what music is all about - it's about the song. ----------------------- To get better at guitar, you have to actually spend time with it and play. For most of us, we want to play (even practice!), but with everything else going on in our lives, guitar tends to fall down the priority list. And then we get to feel bad that we haven't picked up our guitar in days (or weeks). It doesn't have to be like this. Rekindle your relationship with your guitar today by establishing The Daily 5 Guitar Habit. Invest 5 minutes a day with your guitar so you create a new habit in your life to... play your guitar every day! Everyone has a spare 5 minutes they can carve out for themselves and their beloved ax. Sign up right here to get a daily reminder to pick up your guitar and play. It only costs you a few minutes time every day, but it'll pay you back in a lifetime of enjoyment. Get started today - you won't regret the decision! ------------------------ Thanks again for voting for Falls Rock Shop in the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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