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Writing a Song When the Pressure Is On!

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                             photo from Istockphotowaveform
A while ago the bass player of my band called me on the phone. He told me he wasn’t quite satisfied with the repertoire for the upcoming festival. He thought it still needed one ass-kicking rock song. I totally agreed. It was not a surprise, since it was part of the discussion for the last two weeks.

The only problem was that we didn’t have enough time to write and rehearse a new song. But I also couldn’t live with it, not having that extra rock song. It just didn’t feel good to leave it at this.

So I said to our bass player “I’m gonna write us a song today, record the demo with drums, guitars and vocals and send it to each of you by tomorrow morning”. By that way we could rehearsal it the same evening and play it at the gig in the same week.

O gosh, did i regret my promise after a few hours. I wrote like my life depended on it. It certainly felt that way. My stress level was enormous, but I learned a great deal out of it. The thing is….because you are limited in your time, you need to make decisions quickly. You are not going to sit around thinking a hundred times over a melody or that one word, “Is it deep enough?”, “Can’t I put it some other way?”, “Doesn’t this riff sound to familiar?”, “Don’t I have to make it more complicated, sophisticated?”. Nope: you don’t have the time!

Instead what you get is a great honest rock song to the bone.
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Don’t Be a Performer but Be The Music

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March 29, 2021 by Klaus Crow

performance
Yesterday I played a gig with my band. We played our own songs and some covers as well.
It was a great night and we had a blast. The crowd was really enthoustiastic and particularly about our own songs that they’ve never heard before.

When we play covers, we only play the ones we really like and hope the audience feels the same way. The great thing about playing your own music and covers you really really like is that it doesn’t feel like you’re standing on a stage performing.
You can totally lose yourself.
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50 Reasons Why You Should Play Guitar (and Not Any Other Instrument )

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                                                              photo from Istockphotoperforming
So why should you play guitar?

Well, I can tell you a 100 reasons why it will improve your life, but I think 50 will do. First let’s start with a few reasons why you shouldn’t play any other instrument:

– 1 Have you ever hung around on the beach with your friends around a nice little campfire while you were playing your bass guitar to entertain everyone?…

– 2 Did you ever take a piano with you, carrying it on your bike on the way to your girlfriend to perform a serenade?…

– 3 Did you ever play a drum kit so everyone could sing along?…

My fellow musicians I’m just messing around :-)

Now let me give you some good reasons why you should pick up that guitar and treat it as your holy grail. Here we go!

Guitar playing is a great way to:
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Where do I Find the Time to Practice?

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March 26, 2021 by Klaus Crow

photo from Istockphotoguitartime1
One of the most common problems of today is our lack of time. We all live these busy lives. We are running around doing all the things that have to be done every single day.

It almost feels impossible to find time to do the things we love most, things we are so passionate about, things that really matter.

I few years ago I changed my lifestyle and the way I handled my time. I started setting priorities, keeping things simple, to a minimal and only doing things that were essential.

This not only improved my guitar playing but it changed everything else in my life too. I now have all the time to spend time with my family and friends, write and record songs, write a blog, work out and enjoy life a lot more.

So lets give you the tools to create more time to play and practice:

Here we go:

1 – Wake up earlier.
Wake up 15 minutes earlier than usual and enjoy that precious extra time first thing in the morning.

It’s great because it’s still quiet in the house and there is no one to interrupt or distract you. Enjoy the beautiful morning sunrise while you practice your chords and scales. Waking up earlier gives you a head start and it feels great that you already have accomplished something.

Make sure you have a reason to wake up earlier. Write down the things that make you want to jump out of bed. A delicious breakfast, sunrise, private time, going to work without feeling stressed (a zen-feeling), feeling of accomplishment, etc.

You can play guitar very quietly if you need to. You don’t want to wake up the neighbors or maybe you do :) Just strum or pick your strings really soft with your thumb or play an electric guitar (unamplified). I recommend 15 or 30 minutes guitar practice in the morning. If you’ll make it a morning routine you’ll get hooked on it. I’ll promise you. Try it for a week. If it’s not your thing, you’ve at least gave it a shot. It’s worth the try.

Need some tips on how to wake up early, check out: 8 Tips How to Wake up Early That Do Work

2 – Take your guitar with you.
Take your guitar to work, school, friends, holiday, wherever you go. I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but there are a lot of jobs out there where you have the freedom to play guitar during lunch or coffee breaks.

Maybe there are times when you have to wait for someone at work or school. There you go! Guitar time! Continue Reading