guitarhabits

photo from Istockphoto
Web 2.0 and cloud computing are hot. It’s the future and it is rapidly evolving.

Whether you want to be a better guitar player, be more efficient or want to promote yourself as a musician, Internet is the place to be and it just keeps getting better.

These days you don’t need to spend a lot of money anymore to promote your band or to create a fan base. What you do need is hard work, dedication and persistence.

But what does “hard work” really mean when it is your passion, right? When you pursue your passion you don’t feel like you are working. You’re just having fun. So have as much fun as you can.

The more you connect and interact with your fans/potential customers on social media (see below), the bigger your fan base will become.

Social media works. Period! If you are willing to spend time and energy you can sell your music online or create a business using social media if you like. It’s all there!

If you want to be more efficient in learning, teaching, playing and communicating with your band members, students or colleague musicians there are a lot of productivity tools for you to benefit from. It can make life a whole lot easier.

Personally I strive to eliminate everything that causes work for work’s sake. Endless returning tasks, things that have to be done over and over again I try to automate or eliminate. This way I waste less time and can do more fun things like playing guitar, improving the quality and creativity of my business and spend more time with my wife and daughter. It’s all about being creative with the tools you’ve got. Read More »

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We have a new year ahead of us so this is a perfect time to set new goals. Goals will give you something great to look forward to. They give you a positive feeling, improve your skills and can change your life as long as you stick to ‘m.

There are a lot of people that fail to continue their new year’s resolutions whenever life gets in the way. And there are people who get obsessed by their goals. Neither ways are a good solution. You need to strike a balance to hold on to your dreams (see below in a minute).

My 4 resolutions for this year relating to the guitar lifestyle are:

1. Practicing on a regular basis every week. (Improving my improvisation skills)

2. Improving my guitar business offline and online. Read More »

photo from Istockphoto
Everybody needs to make a living and so do musicians.
For a lot of musicians the ultimate goal is to write and perform their own music and get paid for it.

This is an awesome goal, but success takes a while. In the meantime you need to pay the bills. Luckily as a musician there are a lot of creative ways to make good money.

We can’t live without music anymore. Music is needed everywhere and for everything. It’s a global language that we all understand and people all over the world come together to listen to it. We need music to feel good, get excited, be inspired, relieve stress, go crazy, to connect and to feel we belong to something or someone.

We are surrounded with music everywhere. Just to name a few: CDs, DVDs, Radio, TV programs, ads, movies, Internet, games, jingles, concerts, festivals, bars, coffee houses, restaurants, malls, weddings, ceremonies, etc. So there is a huge market for you as a musician to benefit from. You don’t need to be a professional. You become one while doing it. It’s possible for everyone. All you need is dedication, motivation and persistence to make it happen.

Here are 5 ways to make money while loving what you do:
Read More »

photo from Istockphoto
Many years ago I bought a guitar exercise book written by Al Di Meola. The first two things he pointed out in the book was the importance of creating good habits and taking care of your health. I never forgot those two golden rules, although taking care of my health was something I had to learn the hard way. It took me a while to learn the major benefits of living a healthy life.

Body work outs, healthy foods, stress release, finger warm up exercises, taking care of your hearing, stretching, relaxation, etcetera are all part of the journey in becoming and staying a good guitar player. I know we don’t always have the time to work out and we all get into a slump once in a while. That’s okay. It’s part of life and it’s good to have a break now and then, but that’s no excuse to ignore that little voice in the back of your mind who knows what is best for you when you haven’t taken care of yourself the last couple of months or worse. So let’s pick it up where you left of. You know you’ll be a lot happier once you start working out. We are talking about your health here. It’s the most important thing!

Being fit will make you feel good about yourself. It gives you a more overall positive attitude. You will be more motivated to practice and more focused to achieve your musical goals. A good physical condition will also improve your performance on stage and in the studio when you’re recording.

So here are some tips to get you in good shape and stay motivated at all times:
Read More »

photo from Flickr
Blues is one of the most important things to learn when you want to become a rock - jazz - metal - country - all round guitar player All these genres are related to or arisen from the blues. There is also a lot of blues in the songs you hear on the radio without even realizing it.

It’s hard to be a great rock n’ roll guitar player without learning the blues first. Okay maybe you can, but you will probably sound like crap. :-) Blues is what makes your guitar cry, shiver and scream. It’s got anything you need to express your feelings. Besides that there are so many cool blues songs, progressions, licks and tricks out there that will ensure you have a great time practicing and will really improve your playing a lot. So sit down, read through these essentials, get your guitar amp all cranked up, plug in your favorite blues guitar and let’s get down to serious business.

Here are the 6 essentials to master the blues. Check it out:
Read More »

photo from Istockphoto
“The best way to predict the future is to create it” - Peter Drucker

A lot of people are not aware of their daily habits. They just go through life without a plan or compass and don’t have a clue how to achieve their dream goal. If you want to make a change in your situation you need to interweave it into your daily habits. Your daily guitar habits determine your ultimate future.

If you want to play in a band you need to create a daily habit that is going to lead you to this path. If you want to become a songwriter we have to get you a writing habit plan to get you to from a to b to z.
It doesn’t matter what your dream is. Maybe you want to build a guitar repertoire so you can play in front of an audience. Wouldn’t it be great if you could play some tunes without the need of sheet music? Do you want to add a new style to your playing? Anything is possible. You have multiple dreams? Great! You need to customize your daily habits to your wishes.

What you do today is what you want for your future. Read More »