The Good Musician

After a long time, I managed to get back into the musician habit again. This was hard for me because I had a lot of other obligations going on at the same time, and music wasn’t on my priorities list.

I’d hardly have finished one project when the next project rolls in and you’re time is once again consumed by non-musical things. This lead me to a realization:

If you can’t do something, it’s because you don’t want to do it.

If you think you’d play more music if you had the time, you need to MAKE the time, or you’ll never get around to it.

I followed some brute-force techniques to get myself back into the habit of becoming a good musician.

1. Join or form a band: This forces a commitment and in turn forces you to practice. It’s also a lot of fun to play with others.
2. Initiate a music day: Set, for example, next Saturday to be your music day. Let that day begin with music, clean out your CD collection, listen to old discs or LPs, declutter your iTunes library or go buy some new music. Spend a few hours practicing your instrument, put on new strings or clean that old guitar you have lying around.
3. Buy a book: I grabbed myself a copy of a Funk & Soul basics book, which helps me explore a new genre, but also gives me a “game plan” for what I need to do next.
4. Enroll for classes: I had to drop out of classes for a while, but finding a fresh teacher got me flowing really quickly. It really takes you forward.
5. Watch The Pianist. This movie really got me to love my instrument even more. And it’s a brilliant movie about WWII as well.

Get out there and play! Sometimes motivation can be a hard thing to find, but be strict with yourself: With a few smart hacks like these you’ll be rolling really soon.

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