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Back to Basics

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                            photo from Istockphotoguitar man
As a musician there are so many things that will distract you from making music. We get caught up in all the stuff we can use to enhance our music… or so we like to think.

A better guitar, a more powerful amp, more and more effects, the best sequencer, the latest plugins, always looking for updates and upgrades. I admit I’m guilty as charged. I always thought: “If I only could have that plugin, sequencer or this effect, life would be much better”. I’ve been there, done that, but I’ve come clean. I realized it took my eyes off the ball and I lost a lot of precious time because of it. Now I’m back to basics.

I focus on playing guitar. Practicing and writing. That’s my main goal. Why? Because I love it. I also try to be basic in my lifestyle. Although I’ve got stuff like everyone else, I get rid of the things I don’t need. When you go basic, you automatically create more time for your music and social life. The more basic you get, the more time you have left.

What do I do apart from practicing and writing?Continue Reading

Musicians Contemplate

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                             photo from Istockphotocontemplating
We all have busy lives nowadays. A lot of people aren’t content or living their dreamlife while they should be.

In order to create a life where you can spend all the time you like on music, family, friends and other things you love most, you need to sit down and relax.

Stop being busy. Stop running around. Stop everything for a moment.

It’s good that you read about the things you enjoy and the dreams you want to be inspired by, but you also have to let your own mind inspire you. The best way to do this is to do nothing. Just sit on a couch undistracted. Find a place where you have a little peace and quiet. Try a bench in the park.
Once a month or once a week take some time to do nothing and just observe….

Here are some ways to take one step back and many steps forward:
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3 Ways to Improve Your Skills

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May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                                                           photo from Istockphotodobroguitar
Here are the three best ways to improve your skills beyond your wildest dreams:

#1 – Practice

#2 – Practice

And last, but certainly not least:

#3 – Practice

No, I am not kidding. As the ancient saying goes: “Practice makes perfect”. If you’re still not satisfied… practice some more. It’s okay to break a sweat! As with everything in life, if you want to accomplish something you got to work on it. But it’s also important that you enjoy your work. In fact that is the key to become a great guitar player.
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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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