In my post last Friday, I reported that after returning from Japan, my big question to myself is “what do I want to do most in music?” I’ve continued to think about this. I still don’t have a comprehensive answer, but here’s what I do know:
- I want to write/compose some music. Maybe someday an album, but for now I’d settle for a song or two. I must stop day dreaming about this, and really get to work. Otherwise, it will never happen. I need to understand and fully accept this.
- Awhile back in my “Mississippi Hot Dog, Most Sublime” post, I wrote about Louis Armstrong. I could just as well have written about any music world giant, because what I was trying to get at was that every musician starts somewhere. Actually, there’s something else: every musician who decides to write music or improvise it can only work with what they know at the time. The more exotic “advanced” stuff is always around the corner. (And of course musicians stumble upon the more exotic stuff when working with what they know. I suppose that’s one way one advances technically). I need to understand and fully accept this.
- I too only know what I know technically. I have a lot of holes and things I hear about but don’t yet understand (something like 9th chords, for example) but so what? I’ll always have these, no matter how much I study. I need to understand and fully accept this.
- I must always take the time to write out short, medium, and long term goals. I’ve always considered myself a right-brained, creative person. However I need my logical left-brain to take over as the “business manager”. The right brain will be much happier if it can get some concrete help in turning dreams into reality. I need to understand and fully accept this.
- Music lesson-wise: I need to take more responsibility for what’s going on in these. I have decent teachers, but they’re just going to continue spoon feeding me the “music piece du jour” unless I can tell them what my goals really are. I have a sense that I want to be working on a single piece at a time that challenges me, mainly technically. I want to then “rip-off” ideas from the piece to give me more tools I can use in improvising and songwriting. I need to understand and fully accept this.
- I’ve GOT to develop a feasible constant practice schedule, and it’s got to be a steady one. No more piece-meal. No more scattered and irregular stuff. Even if I promise myself just 15 minutes a day… I want this, and it’s very important. I need to understand and fully accept this.
Expect more soon. I’m not convinced this is a finished manifesto.
Cool!