Practice Doesn't Make Perfect

It's pretty much a universal truth; practice makes perfect. Musicians know all too well that if you want to master your art, there is no substitute for practice. The problem is that this statement is much too vague.

The Blind Leading...

Just blindly practicing without thought can do more damage than good. Thinking that you can just show up and go through the motions can install false hope and produce unrealistic expectations. It also may cause doubt and pain after a huge investment in time and money is made and there are no results or improvement. There are right ways to practice and wrong ways to practice. There are wrong ways to learn and wrong ways to work. You can actually practice hard everyday and not accomplish very much at all. The student who practices wrong may be doing more damage than good; wasting years of time and effort practicing the wrong things over and over. Or, they may be going through the motions of practicing without making any effort or challenging themselves at all. Essentially, it's not enough to just sit down and practice, you must make sure that you are going about it the right way.

Why Are We Here?

While this may seem obvious at the outset, a lot of students will go about practicing without thought to why they are doing it in the first place. Some musicians have the really bad habit of practicing certain skills without too much thought about proper fingering or technique. People like to practice the same material and skills over and over. Learning new skills and keeping yourself challenged takes some discipline. Keeping on track with planning, execution and periodic self assessment is hard. It seems so much easier just to get to it; even when we know better. If may be as simple as not looking forward enough to see how much could be gained by some planning and discipline.


The Two Finger Approach

A lot of the time, making that initial investment seems like more trouble than its worth,. We're simply too lazy, can't be bothered and just want to get down to the task at hand. There are some skills that people don't take the time to learn even though the investment would be quite small in comparison to the time and money saved. The best analogy of this is the simple task of typing. Many people spend most of their day on their computer yet never learn to type. Even though it will save them a huge amount of time in the long run, they never take the time to learn and practice the skill properly. Some people go through an entire lifetime typing with two fingers. If they took the time to learn the skill in the first place, with regular practice they could double their typing speed in a relatively short time. The best part is that this is a skill that will stick with you the rest of your life. With a little concentrated effort and planning you may achieve much more in a significantly less amount of time. When you take the time to learn the proper technique, you will only get better with time. It's a good idea to think about this when planning your practice regimen. Think about what it is you want to learn and how (or who to go to) would be the best way to go about it.

Do You Have One?

First of all, how many musicians do you think actually have a practice regimen? By that I mean a specific time set apart where the musician will sit down and follow a charted course of lessons and exercises. How many musicians a) practice simply when they have a spare moment or just whenever they feel like it? b) actually take notes during their practice sessions? c) record their practice sessions and periodically review their progress? Working at something without actually charting your progress seems ludicrous. Can you imagine practicing a sport without taking the time to measure your progress and results? Yet how many musicians do this? How many musicians take a haphazard approach to practicing, writing, technique and their overall progress? As a student of any other activity, you would never do this.


General Rules

I'm going to go over some general rules to always keep in mind when sitting down to practice. These principles can also be applied to any endeavor which takes daily, regimented action.

Always do the following when sitting down to practice.

• relax and focus on the task at hand
• be mindful about what you're doing and why 
• review what you did in the last session
• plan for the practice session
• work on problem areas
• work on new skills and ideas
• take notes
• stretch and challenge yourself daily
• use a timer
• include warm ups and fundamental exercises
• make notes for next session
  

While this may seem like it would be a chore to do and hard to implement, it's actually like most other learned behaviours. Once you do it a couple of times, it becomes easier to do. After an extended period of time it will become automatic. It actually saves a lot of time and takes a lot of the guess work out of what you're trying to do. It's easier to stay on track because it's all right in front of you. There is little guess work. It may be hard for a lot of easy going, artistic personalities to get into such a regimen but once you stick with it for a while and start seeing results quite quickly, your attitude may change.

The Big Review

You're going to have to sit down periodically and do an overall review. These reviews serve two purposes. First of all it gives you a good idea of what you've done and what you want to accomplish. That way you can make sure that you're working on things that are going to get you where you want to go. With music, there are so many skills and things to learn that it becomes easy to work on many different things. It's easy to get into a whole set of skills that aren't related to what you wanted to accomplish in the first place. It gives you something to measure as far as seeing if you are actually moving toward your goal.

Secondly it also helps in motivation and keeping on track. It's all too easy to lose your place or even worst, lose your motivation when practicing. This after all, is just you. You have to try and be objective about what you've learned and if you're making any progress. If you've taken the time to write down what you want to accomplish, you can later go back and see if you've done what you've set out. A lot of the students I have taught get excited when they see the results in their playing. Sometimes, it's as simply as recognizing a chord progression on the radio, but once there are measurable results, it gives up the motivation to stick with it. There are always periods of what seems like no growth at all but then there are always moments of a-ha where you realize that have improved or accomplished something significant.

The Big Plan

One of the things that's important to do before you even start a practice regimen is figure out what it is you want to accomplish. Write down what specific skills you'd like to learn and what the big plan is. It should be within a given time frame. This could be a year or 6 months or even 3 months. Don't worry about being too accurate with your time frame if you're just starting out with a new skill. For a beginner this would include learning to play an instrument for an intermediate musician, it may be earning to write a symphony. You won't know how long this is going to take. As you get going with your regimen though, you should do a review after a couple of months. From this you will be able to tell if you're improving and it may give you a better idea of your time frame and how long it may take to learn a new skill.

Check, Check

You must make sure that you are checking your results and always striving to get better. It's possible to keep going over the same things and think that you are practicing but you're not. This is when people seem to hit that 'ceiling' and can't seem to improve. When learning new skills you may have to get 'worst' before you get better. There's the idea that mastering a skill takes 10 years but it's possible that you could work on something for a decade or more and see very little results. It's also possible for someone with a set plan, with the right materials and work ethic, to master something in a fraction of that time.

Working Solo: R&D

Last time we talked about some of the problems with goals setting and planning when working on your own. When you're a musician most of the time you're going to be on your own which makes it that much harder trying to get it all done.


What to Do…What to Do

Planning is simply figuring out what’s important, what needs to be done, and how it’s going to get done. The problem with the music industry is that there isn't one way to the top. There are as many ways of getting there as there are musicians. So what do you need to do? What's your first step? What's your next step? What needs to be done first? Of course the answer to any of these questions has a lot to do with where you are now and what you want to accomplish. There is no set approach for artists and musicians; more now than ever since the turn in music industry in recent years.


R&D

You are going to have to spend a part of everyday on career development. Most companies spend a good deal of time (and money) in research and development. As a business, you're going to have to do the same. It’s said that in business that you should be reinvesting a certain percentage of your profits back into R&D; otherwise you become obsolete and die. You need to be doing the same. That means spending time everyday doing some research in figuring out what people in your industry are doing to make it. Much like practicing and working at your craft, this is one of the things that you should be thinking about and working on everyday. How do you go about this? What do you do first? If you’re just starting out, you’re going to have to do quite a bit of research and a lot of trial and error.


This process of research and trial and error never actually ends; you just get better at it.


The ‘R’ Part

For a starting musician (or even if you’re not), you will need to do some research first. Go to your library and take out books. There are tons, pick a couple but don’t just read them, make notes and put some of the ideas into action. This will be the beginning of your master plan. Don’t worry if you’re doing the ‘right’ thing yet. It will become apparent what works and what doesn’t soon enough. Do some research online. Don’t spend too much time on this. You could spend years going through all of the stuff online and end up wasting a lot of time. Do the same process as you did with the books. Take some of the good ideas, print them out on a separate sheet so you can access them anytime. This will get rid of any temptation to do any extra surfing while trying to work on your goals. Make a list of some actionable goals from the ideas you got online and then get out there and do them.


People, Places

Get out there and talk with musicians. This may be your greatest resource. Even if they aren’t ‘rockstars’ yet, that doesn’t matter. Every musician has stories and lessons learned. Remember to take it all with a grain of salt. See what ideas you like and try them out. If you hear one piece of advice over and over; memorize it and learn from it. It may save you a lot of pain later. There is no substitute for real experience but with a little research there won’t be as many surprises. Make no mistake though, there will be surprises!


Always have research and development as part of your to do list. No matter where you are in your path, this always needs to be on your list. This must be an ongoing thing.


The ‘D’ Part

The development part has a couple of areas that needs to be considered. Just putting your research into action is part of your development. Tweaking that research and you master plan is another. Remember we’re talking about career development here and not about your art; development of your art goes is another article entirely. Development in your career also involves networking, administration and of course finances. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent years working on your craft, leaving the business largely alone. There is no place for this anymore. Just as you work on songwriting everyday, you must work on the development of your career. This means that once the research has been done and you’ve written down some goals, it’s time to see what’s working. Most businesses have a method of measuring if something is successful or not. They measure if it was worth their while and check to see if they can replicate that process. If you can do this, it’s a good idea but a lot of the things that you do in your development wouldn’t be so clear-cut. Sometimes the most unexpected things happen as a result of something that seemed arbitrary at the time. Sometimes upon closer inspection, there things don’t turn out to be as arbitrary as you think. It’s all part of the process.


Anything Happening Yet?

There will be times that you can see a direct result of something that you had done as part of your R&D. This may be getting contacts at a networking event, meeting other musicians at a jam night or simply getting sales from a local gig. When you achieve some success, it’s important to take a second and figure out why. If you can trace your steps back and see what you did and how it resulted in that particular success, you’re more likely to do that again in the future. It simply means that this process or goal works for you and it’s always a good idea to build on successes. A lot of very famous musicians have built a career on making the most out of one or two ‘small’ successes.


Your Career Workbook

One of things that you may want to do right from the outset is put together a career workbook. I have one of these for my practice sessions as well but having one solely for your business, planning, career and PR is a good idea. Once you’ve made a list, put it in there. Any marketing ideas? Put it in there. CD release checklists, networking events, etc. Put it all in there. Some people like to have their workbook on their computer. I personally find a binder much better. I carry it anywhere, doesn’t need any batteries or back up, and I have a hard copy of all of the most important items. This workbook should be opened at least once a day and checked. It’s important that this is a vehicle for action and results; not another system that you spend all of your time on tweaking and updating. It’s a WORK book.


Try and Try Again

If you’re just starting out don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. Check out some of ideas that you’ve found in your research and get started. Keep a list of what you want to do and what you’ve done. If something works, make a note of it. Rework the research and the plan. It’s a work in process.

Working Solo: Staying Motivated

There’s been a ton written about the importance of planning your goals. It's common knowledge that one of the best things you can do to make your dreams a reality is to put together a list of goals and then take steps to get those goals done. This is rarely as simple as it seems. Take a trip online and see all of the websites, programs and applications that are supposed to make this process simple and painless. The problem with goal setting (and achieving) is that we all have different goals (approaches and applications) and different personalities (methods and motivators). There doesn't seem to be one system for all. What we're going to discuss today is a good starting point in putting together some lists so that you have a strong foundation. We'll look at some of the universal problems in achieving your goals. From here you may try any one of the systems out there and see what works for you. In any case, you'll have set the ground work and not matter which system you end up using, you will be heading toward your goals along the way.

You're Special

One thing that most systems don't take into consideration is the fact that no two people work the same. There are provisions in most time management systems that allow for folks to try and discern the most productive time of day and try to work around that but there's a lot more to it than just the time of day. People have different ways of working and different motivators. Some people like to work under pressure, some hate it. Some people need to work in a neat and orderly place, some people thrive on chaos. Most people need structure, though the amount varies a lot between individuals. Some people need a lot of supervision and feedback, some very little. You get the point here. There are a lot of other variables that most systems don't take into consideration. Some just leave these questions wide open and leave it up to the individual to figure them out for themselves. The problem is that these issues are really important and may make the difference between a system working for you or not. Let's look at a couple.


One is the Loneliest Number

One of the major issues people have today in getting things done is that most things have to be done on your own. This means that not only do you have to get the job done, but you also have to figure out what’s important and what needs to be done. Just as important you have to try and find the motivation to get do these things on a daily basis. The fact is that a lot of people don't work well completely on their own. Most people work best within a system with some structure. Working with other people, it's easier to stay motivated and on course. It's all too easy to let things slide when you don't have any one waiting on results. It's easier to think that an item isn't as important when it's your own responsibility and no-one's reputation or job on the line. The problem is that if you have an important item on your list that must be done, you must find a way in make sure that it gets done. If you boss tells you that he needs that report by Friday morning by 9, it's a lot easier to put much more importance on it because somebody is waiting for it. It seems easier for most people to get things done when there are other people waiting on it and you're reputation is at stake. That's why when people are trying to lose weight and going on an exercise regimen, they are encouraged to tell somebody they trust about their plans. When there is somebody waiting on a particular project, there is a huge built in motivator for you to get that done. When you're on your own, that external motivator isn’t there.


Feedback and Community

Along the same lines, another big motivator that keeps you on goal is feedback and community. When you have a community of people that know about your goals, you can turn to them for advice and motivation. Sometimes just being able to have a conversation about what you're working on and what you plan to do in the future may provide enough motivation to last for weeks. It certainly can help when you're not sure what to do next or if you're questioning the goal in the first place. There is also that built in motivator that we talked about in the last point. Suddenly there are other people that know about what you're doing and you may feel pressure to get things done just to keep up with the community. Community is also great when things aren’t going well. It’s comforting to know that there are others out there going through the same kinds of things that you are. It may also give you an idea of what the trouble is and finding a solution.


Welcome to the Show

It’s no longer enough these days to just be a musician. You need to be able to run your music career like a business. That means that most of the time you’re going to be doing a lot of things at once. Most of these things won’t be your area of expertise. You are literally a one person show. Even if you join a band, these same principles of running a business still apply. You won’t have the money to get all of the help you need so you’re going to have to do a lot of things on your own. You will have to start working your music career like a business.

As a business you’re going to have to set apart some time to make some plans. Knowing how you work, how to keep motivated and on course is critical for your success. At the end of the day, you’re on your own and it’ll be up to you to make sure that you get all that needs to be done…well, done.

Next we’ll take a look of some specific examples from the problems listed above and find some solutions.

Quality Control

Whenever the labels were going to release a new album, there was a procedure that they followed. It was all about timing and making sure that the proper channels were set up. That way, when the album was released, there would be enough momentum and they were assured a certain amount of press and air time. Things now are different. Now most artists do a lot of their marketing online. There is also the ability to get new material to all of their fans simply through their website and online aggregators. Because of the availability of tons of music at their fingertips, most fans can pick and choose what they want. There is no limited shelf space or even limited air space. As an artist you can pretty much now release whatever you want, whenever you want. Question is (just to be even more confusing), is this something you want to do?

Death of the Album

Before the advent of the internet, the album was it. Ever since the Beatles released albums like ‘Sgt. Peppers’, the album has remained the preferred choice for fans and labels alike. I’m still a fan and its how I usually choose to listen to the music and artists that I enjoy. I usually found that the tracks that I loved best from the artist were never the ones that made the top ten. But because of the internet, it’s now possible to get almost any song you desire. The concept of the album hasn’t completely died but it has now taken a far less important role. Like it or not, the single has once again taken the dominant role. The problem that arises for the artist is to consider even creating an album in the first place. There are many industry people that say creating an album is a waste of time since it’s probably not going to be ‘consumed’ that way anyway. They have a point but there is way more to consider here. You have to ask yourself some questions about what it is you want to do. If the idea is to create some tracks and then go out on tour then putting together a CD is critical. It’s also another way to sell your tracks online and gives fans another alternative. Like Trent Reznor has shown the world, it’s all about giving the fans choices. Some fans will want all of your tunes and putting together a complete CD package is the best way to do that. Albums also give fans a snapshot of were you happen to be at a certain time. I know that for my favorite artists, there are albums that I love more than others. In most cases, even if you do most of your sales online, it’s a good idea to put together an album since it creates another stream of income from your music.

Release It Now

There is one more item that should be looked at when releasing new material. This is what most industry insiders usually refer to when they say that releasing an album isn’t a good idea but they don’t explain it properly. It’s the idea of releasing material immediately. Since the distribution chain is almost immediate, you can release material the day it’s completed. This gives fans immediate access to new material and also gives them a reason to come back to your website. The advent of the big CD release should be reserved for special occasions when there is a market and gives you a great reason tour, to connect with more fans, and to send out press releases. Otherwise it’s a good idea to release material on a regular basis giving fans a reason to come back again and again. Some artists not only release new material on a regular basis but add other items such as videos and separate tracks for the fans to remix. In other words, break down any walls between you and your fans. Always give them a reason to come back. Releasing your new material is a great way to do this. Some artists have even released demos and asked their fans for feedback. There are other sites that allow fans to invest money into their favorite bands to help with recording and tour costs.

The Package

One thing that seems to get lost in this equation though is keeping your focus together. Sometimes it’s easy to just start writing anything and then sending it out there for fans to consume. There is a fine line between keeping fans back and simply filling up you website, just to fill it up. The point is that even though there is the ability to release whatever you want and get it out to people, do you want to release everything that you do? There still needs to be some filter to decide if the material is up to your own standards and musical vision. Even if the song is in demos form, is it a good representation of the band. Remember that once it’s out there, it’s out of your control. This is different from sending your stuff out for remixing. Once there have been new material ready, give it a day to review it and see if it something that you really want to get out there. There is a danger now that you can contact people anytime, to make sure that when you do connect, it’s for a good reason. Trust is the issue we’re talking about here. Fans know that if they go to your site that there’s going to be a certain level of quality there. Even if it’s a demo, they know that it will be of a certain quality when it comes to the content. There are a million ways to connect with you fans but there is only so much time in the day that they will be available. This means that when you do try and connect, have something worthwhile to give. There are artists online that constantly push their own stuff without giving much value in return. There is no room for that anymore. There needs to be content but it has to keep the fans attention. It’s not good enough to just have stuff there, it needs to mean something. Putting together CD releases is a great way to have quality content. Putting your newest tracks online for the fans to comment is also a great way to get traffic. Constantly bombarding people with your ‘go to my site’ isn’t. Releasing constant material without making sure it’s of the highest quality isn’t. People now have the choice to listen to anything that they want.

Quality Control

There are no surprises anymore. You can have the greatest marketing and websites in the world but without great content, you’re going to lose. That’s it’s important to always have new material but you have to make sure that it stands up to your standards. Releasing something just because you can isn’t a good reason. If you do this often enough you will betray people’s trust and they won’t come back. It’s been said a million times before and it still stands. It’s all about the connection with people. Release anything, whenever you want. Try to connect with as many people as you can. This takes a while and doesn’t happen in a day. The auto-replies and friends adders don’t work anymore. There needs to be a connection and a reason for people to come back. Give them as many reasons as you can to do this. Make sure though, that it’s something that you feel represents you and your music. Because after all; people and music, that’s what it’s all about.

10 Years or 10,000 Hours

Cover via Amazon

There has been a lot of talk lately about the latest book for Malcolm Gladwell called ‘Outliers’. The basic premise of the book is that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky." One of the most memorable parts of the book is where he goes on to talk about how these people had achieved success. Not only did they have certain advantages but they also put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort. The figure he comes up with as far as the time that needs to be put into an endeavor is about ’10 years or 10,000 hours’. He cites that this is the necessary amount of time needed to achieve that level of success.

How Long??

As an artist and a teacher I can see the validity of this point even if I don’t agree with the specifics. I look back at my own journey and see the value of sticking to a certain program and keeping focused on the music. I can also see the same thing in the students I teach. Whenever I get a new student I can already visualize all of the steps that he/she will have to go through to obtain some measure of artistic success. The problem I have is the notion that there is a certain time frame that we all need to adhere to. I have had too many experiences with too many people to magically throw a number at how long it will take for them to master a certain technique. Moreover, different disciplines require different approaches and completely different time frames. For example if a student comes in and tells me that he wants to become a concert pianist I can honestly say that the 10 year mark is pretty close. The level of proficiency for that kind of career is so high that even the brightest and most talented students will take many years of concentrated effort to get to a professional level. The same goes for a student wishing to become a master jazz improviser. For a young player to attain the level of playing necessary to compete, he/she will have to put in much more time on their instrument to achieve any kind of success. The difference between these disciplines and for example being in a rock band is that there is a certain prerequisite of playing ability just to get started. Arguably the bar isn’t as high when playing in a rock band where you’re look and performance has just as much importance. Most rock music is built on attitude and great songs and not chops and virtuosity. Although there is no reason why you’re rock band can’t be musically tight and put on a great virtuoso performance. The levels though are simply not the same.

Focus

One of the first things that I discuss with a student or somebody I’m working with is what we’re trying to accomplish. For most artists this is a hard thing to describe. Mostly because artists want to think that they have something completely original that can’t be described. Or, they’re not exactly sure what they want to do and are just hoping to get to work and see what happens. This is ok when first starting out or beginning on a new project. Just letting things happen can be a great way to start because you’re open to everything and you’ll just try things to ‘see what works’. In the beginning, defining yourself may not be necessary. There does come a point however, that it becomes absolutely necessary that you define yourself and your band. This is the best way to make sure that you are all on the same page and gives you an idea of what to strive for. Even if you don’t sit down to define who you are and what you sound like, it will happen anyway. There will be a point where you’ll be working on something and realize that it’s not you and that it doesn’t go with your sound. The point is that you will eventually have figure out what exactly your plans are and how you’re going to go about achieving them. Even now, when I get a new student or I start working with a new writer or vocalist the first question I ask is ‘what are we here for?’ This may be a generic idea like ‘we’re going to write a pop song’ or ‘we’re going to try some demos of our new material’. Either way, you have an idea why you’re there. Most projects, like most songs start out with a basic idea. After working on the project for a while, things become more defined. There will have to be a point where you see a general direction and will want to continue with that. Every individual in the Outliers book had focus. It was one of the things that separated them from the rest. They were willing to put in an extraordinary amount of time, and they had some external forces that helped them get that valuable experience. Were the external forces that the individuals in the book a result of the fact that they were so focused? Is one factor reliant on the other? We may never be absolutely sure about that but one this is certain: you absolutely need focus! Extraordinary opportunities may arise from simply keeping with the program.

Just Plain Lucky

There are a couple of examples from the book where Malcolm outlines circumstances in the individuals’ lives that gave them an edge over other people. The fact that Bill Gates had access to computer equipment when most people at the time didn’t was one of the reasons why he had an unfair advantage over others. I’ve written about being lucky a couple of times in this blog. My notion of luck is that it does have some force over things happening in your life but this isn’t something that you can depend on. I’m a big proponent of making your own luck. One of the examples Malcolm cites in the book is about how the Beatles had the chance to hone their skills by playing numerous shows a day in a club in Hamburg, Germany. I agree with the notion that this did have an effect on their abilities as musicians and as a band. The part I have trouble with is the fact that this was extraordinary luck. There have been other bands that have come and gone which had the same chance as far as honing their chops onstage. The Beatles had made an effort to go out and get the gig in the first place. The point is that they made the effort in the first place and made sure that when the opportunity came up, they were there to take advantage of it.

Some Deserved

There is no question that the life of artist can be hard. There are times when some people seem to fall by the waste side while others achieve incredible success. There have been times when it seems like the cream doesn’t always rise to the top. Sometimes it seems that there is no reason why some people succeed and some don’t. There is the notion in the book that some people gain an unfair advantage by simple blind luck. Some of the people had extraordinary circumstances that allowed them to achieve what they did. He mentions timing, environment and cultural advantages among others. My favorite examples are the extraordinary number of the richest people in history born within the same 10 year period. If they had been born 5 years either way, they would have been too young or too old to take advantage of the circumstances of the time. As far as artists go I have to agree with this. I mean could Bob Dylan have been as successful at any other time as he was during the 60’s? If he emerged as an artist today, would have he had been as successful? I doubt it. The problem I have with this is the fact that most people are a result of the time that they live in. If Bob was born in the 80’s would he have been a folk singer? We’re getting into some grey areas here that probably could never be answered but the fact remains that it’s impossible to separate the people from the time they were alive. There have also been artists who were relatively unknown in their own time, to be discovered long after they died. Bach immediately comes to mind here. They say that you can’t plan on becoming an icon. These things happen without your control whether you like it or not. Some people work hard and do everything right. Some people don’t. Some people will achieve an incredible amount of success in their lives. Some people will only achieve marginal success. The question of whether it was deserved is built upon preconceived notions of right and wrong and do’s and don’t within each society. There is the notion in our society that some people deserve success more than others. We have this idea that if you play by the rules and do everything right, then you deserve some measure of success. While I hold the same ideals most of the time, it simply doesn’t work like this.

Increase the Odds

Whether someone has unfair advantages is some thing you cannot control. Whether someone deserves it is neither here nor there when it comes to your own personal success. Your definition of success is just as personal as your goals in life. Some people work their entire lives to obtain some success. Some people reach most of their goals by the time they’re 30. What you want to do is take care of business and take control of what you can. Leave the legends and the acts of God to the cosmos. You have no control over that. You have no control over how long it will take or even how much talent you were given in the first place. Art is about self expression. You can be 10 years old and express yourself like a true genius. You may write your masterpiece after only a couple of tries or it may take you a decade. The only thing you know for sure is that you’ll never know until you sit down and get to it. The genius is in the doing and not the succeeding. You never know what’s going to happen in the end but you can enjoy the process. You can spend your life creating things that only you can create. There are better ways of doing things. Learn and utilize. That’s what this blog is all about. Figure out what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. Leave the luck and the rest to the gods. They have their own agenda.

How to Be Lucky In Your Music Career

Image via Wikipedia

There is a basic idea in the music industry that a lot of your success relies on luck. Sometimes when you look at the career at some of the superstars out there, it may seem that they had a lot of luck to get where they are. This is true in some respects; success in this industry does have a lot to do with luck. But, it may not have as much influence as you may think. I looked at some of the careers of some successful musicians and found something very interesting. A lot of what I had dismissed as luck actually was as a direct result of what the musician was doing. It was a direct result of effort more than anything sort of help from some outside force.

Bad Luck

Since we're on the topic of luck, let's talk a bit about bad luck. We've all had those days where nothing seemed to go right. If something could go wrong, it would. There is no doubt that sometimes things just aren't working in your favor. Bad luck, like good luck, has a lot to do with what you do and don't do. It also has a lot to do with cause and effect. For example, if you've bought a used car and that car breaks down on you, it's not so much a situation of bad luck as it is probability. Most often when you buy something that's used, odds are that it has some defects. In fact, if you get something used and it doesn't have any major defects, you may consider yourself lucky.

An Ounce of Prevention

We've all heard the saying: 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'? Well this is true of bad luck too. How much is something bad happening as a result of prevention as it is just an accident. A lot of times, without prevention, an accident is just waiting to happen. If you have a vehicle that you don't upkeep, then it's just a matter of time before something breaks down. It has nothing to do with bad luck. Have you ever noticed some people's lives seem to be in perpetual turmoil? Things seem to break down and go wrong on a regular basis. On closer inspection you find that a lot of times they're just unorganized or simply failed to take care of something when the time was right. For example, I don't know how many times something went wrong in my life and I immediately chalked it up to bad luck. More often than not though, looking back over the sequence of events I usually find something that I could have done to have prevented the problem in the first place. There are also examples where the odds may be stacked against you and you deny the fact that they are there. If buy a house in the Midwest and you have your house destroyed from a tornado, it's not as much bad luck as it is bad planning.

The basic point of this is that a lot of bad luck may be the simple result of not taking the necessary actions to prevent the problem in the first place. And, in the same way, you may experience 'good luck' as a result of taking positive action. If you extend this type of thinking to other area of your life, you start to see some patterns.

The Plan

Then there are the conclusions people draw when things don't go their way or not according to plans. Sometimes when things go slightly off, people make it worse by abandoning their efforts or rebelling against the process. For example, you may miss your bus on your way to a really important meeting, dismiss it as bad luck and abandon the opportunity all together. I know that I've done this. I attempt to achieve something only to give up at the last moment because of some unforeseen circumstances or unplanned interruptions. I'll get frustrated at my 'bad luck' and drop the whole affair. Things getting in the way and not going according to plan are simply a part of life. The army, who is famous for taking on monumental tasks has a saying that says 'a plan is simply a guideline to getting started'. Meaning once you get started on a project or toward an objective, things will go 'wrong' and not according to plan. Having the plan there is simply a guideline to make sure that everybody keeps the objective in mind. Things are always going to go wrong. It's not bad luck; it's simply the way of the universe.

So when things go wrong you're simply going to have to fix the error or find another way. In keeping with the ounce of prevention theme, there are things that will go wrong no matter what precautions you've taken. This can be back luck or it can be something that was going to happen and you just didn't see the signs. Sometimes things will happen as a result of things that are beyond your control. If you've worked in the forest industry and then the bottom falls out of the industry is this bad luck? Or is it just a natural part of our changing economy?

People People

Have you ever met somebody who has no problem meeting people? They seem to attract people wherever they go and always seem to know somebody. I've known a few people like this and not only are they popular; they also seem to be very lucky. I knew a guy who seemed to be really lucky at getting things done, getting jobs and getting help from other people. I always chalked this up to good luck until I noticed how good he was with people. He was outgoing, genuine and people never had any misgivings about going out of their way for him. The funny thing is that most of the time, the people helping never asked for anything in return. In short, he had charisma. Is this guy really lucky or is it as result of a developed skill? Some people are born with great people skills but this also one area that can be improved with practice. Nowhere is this skill more important than the music industry. You'll be surprised at how many opportunities arise simply from knowing somebody. Actually it goes beyond knowing somebody; it's a result of good relationships. These like most things, need to be cultivated.

Having the ability to get to know people and develop good relationships is one of the most important skills to have as a musician. For some well known musicians, this is the secret to their success; they were simply great at meeting the right people and getting those people to help them out with their career. It's amazing how much luck you draw when you are surrounded with great people.

Hard Workers

Then there are the 'lucky' people who just seem to get a lot done. You know the type, they don't seem to do a lot yet seem to get a lot done. They seem to be lucky and have success even though they seem to have limited skills. Here the luck comes from simply playing the odds and focusing on the one thing that matters. Some people in the music industry seem to be really lucky at their career while they seem to be a mess in other areas of their life. The fact of the matter is that they make sure that they get the essentials done. There is the 80/20 rule in business where 80% of your success comes from 20% of your effort. In other words, there a couple of things that you do that accounts for 80% of your success. These people seem to have found that 80% and get that done. It's amazing how much success you can have by doing this. It may seem to other people that you don't work hard or that it comes easy for you. The fact of the matter is that once you take care of the essentials, most of the other 80% will either take care of itself or won't matter half as much as you may think.

The Right Attitude

Sometimes having good luck is simply a matter of having the right attitude. If you do consider yourself lucky, you may be more willing to do things that other people won't. You may be open to new ideas or just try things without preconceived notions. Or you may simply try again where most people would give up. Some people in the music industry got lucky simply because they 'got out there'. You may try things that others would consider too risky or daring. You may walk into situations and ask for what you want where most people would consider it too pushy. In short, you are expecting the best from situations. If you have a good attitude and are willing to try things, not take things too seriously and just get out there, you may end up with more luck than other people.

Being Open

There is an element of simply being open to being lucky. If you're open to trying things, to meeting new people and learning new skills, you may find yourself getting more opportunities than most people. There is the attitude of simply trying things and getting it out there. According to Derek Sivers, some of the most successful artists on CDBaby were the ones that simply tried many things. They got things done and tried many avenues of promotion without worrying about making 'the right moves'. If you're out there, getting things done and making things happen, you may end up getting really lucky.

You, the Editor

More and more it's becoming a one (woman) man show. We now have the technology and ability to do so many things in not only creating music but also publicity and marketing. It all becomes much too easy to start thinking that you can do it all. I've written about this in the past and will comment again in later posts mostly because I think it's an important topic. One of the things that we have to do when we're creating music and recording tracks is discern between the stuff that is good and the stuff that has to be thrown out: enter the editor. When it comes to creating music and content, the role of the editor is vital. In this post we're going to talk about the role of the editor in making music and its vital importance in the music making process.

The Professional Editor

When it comes to editing I always think about newspaper editors that are portrayed on television and in film. You know the one I'm talking about: the guy with the short temper and the non-existent personality. He's the guy who rejects everything, feels the need to put people down, and will do anything to get the paper 'out on schedule'. Of course this is one of Hollywood's typical stereotypes but there is a hint of truth here. The fact is that the editor is crucial in the process of creating content. Not only does the editor make sure that the material is of a high quality but also that the material stays on track and on topic. In one aspect, you have to be ruthless sometimes about what is acceptable and making sure that things do get done.

Your Internal Editor

As mentioned above, the editor is responsible for quality control and staying on course with the program among other things. There are other things that the editor may be responsible for but we are going to focus on these two because they relate to what we're trying to accomplish the most. When you sit down to write a song, there is an editor present. It's your internal editor. It's the part of you that discerns what's good and what's bad, what's right and what's wrong. There are two definitive kinds of editors; ones that are way too lenient, and ones that are too strict. Of course there shades of grey here but most of the time, your editor will be much too hard, or not there at all. A lot of this is dependent on your personality and your self perception. In fact, it has little to do with actual reality. It's like your view of the world in general; it has to do with your perception of the world and little to do with the actual world itself. Some people are much too hard on themselves and think that their work is terrible and some people are way too generous with their opinion and think that everything that they create is a masterpiece. There are fatal flaws in both of these perspectives.

The Non-existent Editor

If you've ever see some of the reality shows like 'American Idol' you've probably seen some singers who are terrible and yet when they are told how bad they are, they react with complete disbelief. It's always good to believe in yourself and believe that you have the ability to make it in the music business. The problem occurs when you believe this so much that you shut out any sort of criticism and bad reviews and believe that these people are just jealous and are out to get you. The problem here is that these people don't have an internal editor and believe in themselves so much that they're unable to take any sort of constructive criticism or advice. If you believe that everything that you do is genius, not only do you not improve as an artist, but you lose credibility as well. There is always room for improvement at every level of being an artist. Having the ability to step back and listen to your work with a discerning ear is a crucial skill to have. Some well known producers have developed this skill to an amazing level and it shows in their work and the artists that they work with. With your own material, it's critical that you can step back and figure out what works and what doesn't.

The Critical Editor

The other side of this is the over critical editor. This is the one that decides that everything that you have done is terrible or flawed. Many well known artists and writers over the years have been overly critical of their own work even to the point where they are doing rewrites even when the work is done and has seen some success. This is a problem for a great number of artists that never seems to leave them. The fact that they are critical about their work may be the reason why their work is such a high quality in the first. This though, can be taken way too far. Some people allow that editor in too quickly in the work thereby effectively destroying the creative process. In the beginning of creation, there needs to be some level of experimentation and play. Bringing the editor in too quickly can destroy this step or bring it to a halt. There needs to be some level of trust and having an open mind to allow ideas to flow freely. Then, some people bring the over critical editor in later when reviewing their work. This is the best time for your editor to do his stuff. If fact it's essential that your internal editor is brought in. This is what assures quality control. This is when you start asking questions and making sure that you've accomplished what you've set out to do. Here again though, we don't what to be so critical that we entirely dismiss everything that we've done. Some people are so critical of their own work that it never sees the light of day, or even worse, never gets done it the first place. They get so caught up in rewrites and working on 'newer and better' material that they never release what they've created before. This can be just as worse as the non-existent editor mentioned above.

Stimulating the Editor

One of the best ways to stimulate the internal editor is to start asking yourself some questions. It's usually good to not let the tough minded editor in too early in the creation process and generally it's a good idea to let the ideas flow initially without too much resistance. Once you've gotten somewhere along in the song, it's time to let the hard ass editor in and start asking yourself some questions. Depending on what you're working on and what stage in the process you're in, these questions are going to be a bit different. If you're at the song writing stage you will want to focus on the lyrics, the harmony and rhythm. Are the lyrics working? Is there an easier more effective way to put the message across? Is it memorable? Is the melody memorable? Do you need to make it more elaborate or less? Is it heading in the right direction? If you're writing for someone else is it developing into a good song for them? You get the idea. There are a ton of things that you may want to go over. The hardest part is being honest with yourself. Can you write something better?

The Rewrite

Sometimes songs get stuck simply because the writer is having a hard time with the rewrite and nothing good is coming. The problem with rewriting is that the further along you are into a piece of music, the fewer choices you have. When you first start writing a song, the palette is virtually clean. The further along a song is, you may have fewer options for things to fit into the framework on the song. You no longer have a million choices but you are looking for that one idea that will fit. Many artists have a problem with rewrites because of this. The other problem you may run across is that fact that you may have fallen in love with your original idea even though it may not have been the best idea. Sometimes the more times you hear a song, the harder it becomes to do the rewrite because you've become accustomed to the old choice and nothing else will 'fit'. In this case you may want to try a bunch of ideas and just 'stick them in there' for now. Once you stuck some ideas in something that you've heard a million times, your ears will once again become accustomed to the new sound. If you've tried a couple of different ideas and then listened to them a couple of times at a later date, your ears may become used to the new sound or at least you may be open to new ideas.

Criticism

One of the problems that some people come across is when they get criticism from other people about their work and don't know how to use that criticism. Either they completely dismiss the criticism, take it too hard and see it as a personal attack, or just try to ignore it like it never happened. Whenever you create a piece of art, there is going to a reaction to that art; good and bad. If you are in the business of making music, there is going to be a situation where you going to have to accept some criticism from somebody in the business. The problem occurs when you don't make the best use of the criticism. It's important that you take advantage of this situation when it occurs.

Taking Advantage

If you've gone out of your way to get your music to a professional in the business and got some criticism about your work, it's an opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes your music will get rejected because it's not right for the artist or it's not what they may be looking for at the time. But, if you've submitted something and there's a remark about it being too simple, bad production (or worst…outdated production!), then you should really take advantage of the situation. Thank them for their opinion and see if you can more info. Can they suggest things to do or to make the track better? Would they accept it if changes were made? Keep in mind I'm talking about a professional and somebody that knows what they're talking about. Sometimes people can be less than helpful (even though they don't mean to be) when they really don't know what they're talking about. I've played some material for 'other musicians' before and got less than great responses. Some people aren't happy when they see that you've created something great. Then there's the opposite side of the spectrum where it's family and friends who are really supportive and have nothing but great things to say about your work. Even though this may be a great boost for your ego, it doesn't help your craft that much. Effective criticism helps you grow as and artist and allows you to think and see things in a new way. Most of all it gets you out of the misconception that makes you think that everything you do is great and that sometimes you do need to do a rewrite.

Working on Your Editor

Being subjective about your own work is a critical skill to have. You have to have the ability to let the ideas flow initially without getting in the way. Once you've got something going, you're going to have to step back and assess what you've done. This is where the editor comes in. Did you accomplish what you set out to do? Is your message getting across? It's the ability to look at all of these things and know what you have to change. You have to discern what's working and what's not and know what to do about it. This part of the process may be the hardest for some writers out there because it's the time when you may not be too inspired and may have to work at it a bit until you have something you like. Your editor is like all of the other processes in music though; the more you work at it, the better you will get. Above all, there is no art without flaws. Sometimes it's these little flaws that make it great in the first place.