Motivation Archives - Page 13 of 16

Design Your Room to Improve Your Guitar Playing

photo by Marco Raaphorst
The room where you spend most of your time is of great importance to your playing.

I have noticed that when I put my electric guitar in the living room I tend to play more solos, riffs and licks.

When I put my acoustic guitar in the room I will play more fingerpicking style, blues licks or try to figure out nice chord changes.

Writing songs is something I am also more likely to do on an acoustic guitar.

Our busy “need to get things done” society has such a major impact on our lives, there might be times where your guitar doesn’t see the light of day. When your guitar is not right in front of you in those busy times, it is possible that it doesn’t occur to you to play at all.

A great way to change this awful situation is to design the room you play in. Your room must breath music, inspire you, be effective and suitable and make you want to pick up that guitar every time you are there.

Here are 5 keys to make this thing work:

36 Impeccable Ways to Overcome Songwriters Block

By Klaus Crow 20 Comments

photo by Sean McGrath
Does songwriters block affect me? Yes, sometimes, but fortunately not for a long period of time. If I really get stuck it’s just for an hour or a day.

I can also have writers block over one particular song, but then I start writing on something else and the inspiration miraculously comes back.

I spent a decent amount of time on lyrics to make it work. It can take a day, a few days or a week and it is only seldom that I finish a complete song in a hour or so. When it does happen it’s mostly one of my better works.

Nice chord progressions, finger-pickings, cool licks and solos is the fun part. I can write music endlessly. Lyrics for me is the more difficult part and sometimes I can get stuck, but that is where the list comes in. This list definitely makes things go a lot smoother.

Put these 33 impeccable ways to the test yourself and experience the magic of inspiration:

1 – Ask why, how, when, where and who?
Ask yourself questions about the subject. If your song is about a suspicious old man then ask the questions: Where does he go? Where did he come from? Who is he? What is he going to do? Who are his friends? Does he have any? What are his interests? What are his dreams? Is he married? What is his history? Why does he act so strange? Ask as many questions as possible to come up with ideas.
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Indecisiveness in Lifestyle Design? 14 Ways to Help You Out.

By Klaus Crow 4 Comments

photo by Ivan Zuber
A few days ago I saw a great singer songwriter on TV. He was playing his repertoire, talking about his life and all the songs he had written over the years.

I was all ears and loved every minute of it. While listening to his wisdom and beautiful melodies something struck me.

It was one of those wake up calls when suddenly you can see things very clearly. I had a strong urge to change some things in my life again. I needed to get my priorities straight and get back to what is most important in my life. I have done so.

Sometimes with everything that life has to offer, you get lost or off track. You are distracted or tempted by things that look interesting and sound amazing at first. Before you know it you are in over your head. You taste, but end up tasting too much of it. It does not fulfill you anymore.

It does no longer match your identity. Times are changing and so are you. You grow, experience, learn many different things that can change the course of your life. You might become confused about your current situation. You might doubt your job, your lifestyle, the way you play guitar, the band you play in, the music you play, your role as a musician, what you need to practice, how you spend and manage your time, what you want in your life and what you don’t want in your life.
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The Fabulous 5 – New Year’s Guitar Resolutions

By Klaus Crow 3 Comments

photo from flickr
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.Continue Reading

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