Guitar

Practicing is Just Watching, That’s All

When I was a kid I loved to draw. I think I was probably into drawing and coloring before I was into music.

I noticed that I could just sit, pay attention and the drawing would draw itself. I know, this probably sounds as if I am telling you that I was a little Zen master – but I am being quite serious. There was not a notion of me doing it….honestly.

Over the last few years with my on and off relationship with web design, it has been the same…pay attention…make jillions of split second decisions and bang…creation has happened.

Lately I have been practicing the tune “Mas Que Nada” and it has also been the same – and so much fun. I will record this one for sure, and probably debut it on my gig in a few days.

I guess I am writing this to tell you what practice is and what it isn’t, at least for me.

It all started with a vision and then followed sort of like this, over the course of a few weeks:

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Wow this tune could be groovy!
I could imagine that people may want to sing along.
I want them to feel that easy Brazillian groove too, so they enjoy themselves.
Wouldn’t it be cool if I could get people dancing with just a guitar?
Hmm, what key might be good? E- will work, lots of open strings.
Let me listen to get the chords right. Ahh, it’s a little different than what I thought.
What’s the melody exactly?
The phrasing is kinda freaky – they are singing in Portugese!
I really want to get this tune so it is comfortable and I don’t have to think.
Wow, I need to separate my right hand fingers musically so the “a/ring” finger brings out the melody.
If I keep the bass rhythm consistent with my thumb, it makes this whole thing groove like a little machine.
That was what I needed to lock the groove in…cool!
I think I’ll play this until it feels really good.
Man, there is so much E-…a modulation would be nice…maybe I’ll do the 2nd verse in A-.
That sounds good, it breaks up the repetition.
After 2 times through I need a break of some sort…rhythmic, maybe use a loop pedal…hmm not sure.
Oh wow, a good ending would just be a really obvious “Ba Ba Ba!”
I’ll just practice this first in my routine every day for a week and make sure it feels good.

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So there it is. It just takes the patience to watch and wait. The world out there changes when we look at it, it’s not just a one way street of the solid world coming into our heads. “Out there” changes when “in here” changes. Pretty amazing. In fact, out there and in here are one thing, we just tend to split it in two!

The feeling of coming up with this arrangement was totally natural, not stiff. And it’s subject to change at anytime.

Now this arrangement can be anything in life, can’t it? A house, car, family, carreer, relationship…that’s what amazes me. Music is but a microcosm.

How much can I create just by envisioning & watching, and allowing things to come together – rather than forcing, being exasperated at results not showing up (which creates more of the feeling of no results) and all that.

Can I remove drama and let things be, and know that they will formulate? That’s the challenge. More to come….

The Butt Technique

By Adam Rafferty 2 Comments

Greetings friends! I am so happy….Fall finally feels like Fall here in NY.

I can’t say what an exciting time this is in my life….we truly do go through cycles. And I am actually very excited about how I am able to reach so any new fans & friends via onlie efforts (blog, youtube, etc).

I had an interesting conversation last night with a new friend “Ian” at my best friends birthday gathering…of course it was interesting to me becasue he is a new fan of my music 🙂 Seriously though, it brought up some interesting points that I’d like to share with you.

But first…..

As you know I am a fan of the Release Technique / Sedona Method and refer to it when I need to. (There are so many great personal developement aproaches out there, I find it hard to stick with one and exclude others).

You may never have heard of it – and I am not here to preach or sell anything. It’s all about letting go of limitations and allowing oneself to be, do or have anything.

I can give you an example. For years I thought it was wrong and unjazzlike to use effects pedals. Me, “Mr. Jazzboy” – with archtop endorsements, using pedals? How could I? Worse off – I imagined the double scoops of dissaproval I’d get from peers, jazz icons of yester-year, my teacher and how I’d be undoing the career I’d spent years paving.

Pretty dramatic, huh?

This may seem trivial – but at the time was my reality. (Take a second to appreciate that many of us do this all the time – maybe even you!) One day, (actually it took a lot of gumption) I got the effects out and started playing. People loved it and saw I was having fun. It just felt real,honest and fun – as if a tightness in my chest was let go.

The long and short of it was this – I dropped the limitation. Get it?

It involved “letting go” or “releasing” on the need for anyone’s approval. And, releasing on the “survival” aspect of my career.

Ironically, organist Dr. Lonnnie Smith loves what I do with the pedals. Who would have thought? Releasing actually led to one of the hippest gigs I’ve done.

I hate to use such a trite example, but can you see that our lives, our worlds are constructed out of these psychological houses of cards? It’s insane!!!!

Lester Levenson, the spiritual genius that taught many about this “letting go” concept, (Sedona & Release Technique) said that the highest level of achieving anything is “releasing” the limitations. I love this – he calls it the butt technique. Sit on your butt, release, and watch it come to you.

Whoa! Sounds good, but it is a little hard to believe!

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Back to the conversation I had at the party.

Ian, my bud, loved the new acoustic tracks and vids on you tube that I had put up and is also a Tommy Emmanuel fan (my new favorite guitarist, and the worlds fave as well).

He kept asking me “so you are here and Tommy is there. What are you going to do to get over there where he is?”

It sounded to me as if he was asking, “what will you do” or “what’s the plan” or “who will you call” to get from where I am to where I want to be.

I started to give an answer like, “well I hope I get there someday maybe people will check out the CD…” but he persisted, which I thank him for.

Finally I said to him “It’s not any one thing I need to do, as much as it is a place I need to be in my psyche and soul. When I am in that place, good things happen – people will like the music, doors will open unexpectedly.”

“And whether the doors open or not, the money and recognition comes or not – the being in that special place where the music lives, where I communicate to others, where I am free of hangups, – that is the place of spiritual success before outer success comes…that’s the place.”

“Oh and by the way – you can’t be in that place becasue you want the success. It is truly the zone of ‘the destination is the journey itself.'”

“So, if I want to be ‘there’ where he is – guess what – there is no ‘there’ where he is and ‘here’ where I am. The place to be is the zone of enjoyment and thanks, and then one is like a magnet puling in all good things.”

“I need do nothing except be in that place.” And then I realized – the butt technique was what I was describing.

And then Ian said “that was the answer I wanted to hear”.

Some Mumbo Jumbo and a Music Lesson

By Adam Rafferty 2 Comments

Last Sunday I had a nice long shmooz with my father and mentioned to him that I was keeping a blog. When he asked what it was about (he figured it was all about guitar) I told him, “well I write what’s on my mind concerning personal development, guitar, spirituality, online promotion and law of attraction.”

“Stay away from the mumbo jumbo” he said. I think he had my survival in mind and figured I’d turn people off with other quasi-spiritual banter. I think he felt that my blog should be about guitar and music so that I can sell merchandise or links and help my survival.

I suppose if I was younger I would have been vibed out by a parental disapproval incident, but with a big fat smile on my face I said “too late!”.

The most helpful info that I got from my older music teachers often had no musical content, but was psychology and spirituality. As the mind and spirit fall into the right groove, great music and an abundant career pour out into your life from a whole different angle.

I have seen it time and time again in my own life and career.

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If there is one thing that I can say to you, with every ounce of love in my heart and every molecule of compassion that I have, no matter who you are and what you do it is this: you get what you think about, whether you want it or not.

So, this is in fact a music lesson.

I hear how some musicians see others who have made a big career and say “so and so isn’t that good” – and their career is in a place that they’d like to improve. I have seen musicians repeatedly take low paying jobs or even find that they can’t survive as a musician and say “gigs don’t pay enough”.

I have also seen musicians effortlessly soar and learn at warp speed and show brilliance too! I have seen musicians arrive in NYC with a goal and accomplish it faster than veterans who have been here for years.

What do they all have in common? They are using the same force in 2 different ways – the law of attraction. Everyone is getting what they are envisioning, and more importantly – feeling.

What are some things a musician can do to get better, improve one’s career, and enjoy playing? Here’s just a few tips:

1. Appreciate Yourself

Appreciate yourself and stop beating yourself up. This is the worst poison a musician can digest. Many musicians think that a self inflicted beating is good, right and will improve their music. No. That’s wrong, take it from me.

Whose approval do you want anyway? The feeling of approval only comes from inside, so give yourself some. It’s okay, and it doesn’t cost anything. You can do it all day if you want. Can you let go of wanting approval and just be? Yummy-ness awaits you right here. Let go of wanting approval, and be on the lookout for this state of wanting.

The more faults you see in yourself, the more you get. The more good you see, the more you get, so see the good.

2. Appreciate Others

It is such a trap to criticize others, and once you do – the self criticizing happens. The 2 go hand in hand. It feels bad. It’s weird – but when I have found fault with others, within a week I find the same fault in myself. It is a downward spiral.

The more faults you see in others, the more you get for yourself. The more good you see, the more you get.

If you are in a groove of finding fault with yourself and others it may feel “phony” for you to start making the shift. Just find one thing that’s good either in yourself or someone else. Don’t try to “stop criticizing” but “start appreciating”. Like “wow, they have a great tone” or “that melody is pretty” or “I appreciate how hard so and so had to work at that” or “wow, they play great in the upper register”. Any little good you can find will nourish you.

If you can’t find any good in a situation then think back to ANYTHING that you appreciate, like a pet. Activate your psyche into appreciation mode.

Rather than racking my brain and leaving something out, here’s a little list of qualities that will either get you in the right direction or inspire you. This is from a site I found online regarding “abundance” – which does not just mean money. It means fulfillment in all areas, music being no exception – composing, playing, career and all that.

The positive quality is the first one listed, and is followed by the opposite. Check yourself to see and use “appreciation” as a tool to get yourself on the positive side. I will leave you with this today.

1. Honoring your worth and time/ Not honoring your worth and time
2. Giving and receiving freely/ Not giving or being open to receive.
3. Opening your heart/ Closing your heart.
4. Expecting the best to happen/ Worrying that the worst will happen.
5. Coming from your heart/ Getting into power struggles.
6. Doing your best/ Cutting corners.
7. Wanting everyone to succeed, cooperating/ Competing
8. Focusing on how you can serve others/ Thinking only of what others will give you.
9. Telling yourself why you can succeed/ Telling yourself why you can’t succeed.
10. Coming from your integrity/ Compromising your values and ideals.
11. Being aware and paying attention/ Operating on automatic.
12. Applauding others’ success/ Feeling threatened by others’ success.
13. Embracing your challenges/ Choosing safety and comfort over growth.
14. Releasing things easily/ Hanging on to things.
15. Believing it’s never too late, taking action on your dreams/ Thinking it’s too late, giving up.
16. Giving yourself permission to be and do what you want/ Waiting for others to give you permission
17. Believing your path is important/ Not believing in your path.
18. Doing what you love for your livelihood/ Working only for the money.
19. Detaching, surrendering to your higher good/ Feeling needy or that you must have something.
20. Giving to other’s prosperity/ Giving to other’s need.
21. Doing your higher purpose activities first/ Putting off higher purpose activities until you have more time.
22. Seeing yourself as the source of your abundance/ Viewing others as the source of your abundance.
23. Believing in abundance/ Believing in scarcity
24. Believing in yourself, self-confidence, self-love/ Worrying, fears, doubts, self-criticism.
25. Clear intent and directed will/ Vague or undefined goals.
26. Following your joy/ Forcing yourself, creating “have to’s” and “should’s”
27. Surrounding yourself with objects that reflect your aliveness/ Keeping objects that aren’t tools to express your aliveness.
28. Expressing gratitude and thanks/ Feeling the world owes you.
29. Trusting in your ability to create abundance/ Worrying over finances.
30. Following your inner guidance/ Ignoring inner guidance.
31. Looking for a winning solution for everyone/ Not caring if the other person wins.
32. Becoming your own authority/ Not believing in your inner wisdom.
33. Measuring abundance as fulfilling your purpose and happiness/ Measuring abundance only by how much money you have.
34. Enjoying the process as much as the goal/ Doing things only for the goal.
35. Clear agreements/ Unspoken or vague expectations.
36. Thinking how far you have come/ Focusing on how far you have to go.
37. Speaking of abundance/ Talking about problems and lack.
38. Remembering past successes/ Remembering past failures.
39. Thinking in expanded, unlimited ways/ Thinking in limited ways.
40. Think of how you will create money/ Thinking of how you need money.
41. Focusing on what you love and want/ Focusing only on what you don’t want.
42. Allowing yourself to have/ Feeling you don’t deserve to have.

Letting Go of Feelings

By Adam Rafferty 4 Comments

It’s official. I had taken the bait.

All my life I have added so much angst, drama and importance to my work, which has been mainly music.

It has been so much more than just music – it has been the basis of relationships with people, the needing approval from my father and father figures (usually teachers), fans – being a guitar god to the guys, being attractive to the ladies. I like ‘showing all those people’ who said I couldn’t do it that I can.

And then – the relationship with myself. I’m cool if I am playing with so and so musician, I’m cool if I have such and such a gig, I’m not cool if I have this other gig. If my chops are up, I approve of myself. If not, I beat myself up real good.

If am on tour I can say “yeah man I’m on tour” yet if I am not, I feel like a stay at home loser….

This is the biggest insane ego trip in the world, with many facets which stem back all the way to my childhood. The trip (but not the music) have made me miserable at times. The funny thing is, these are just feelings. Nothing to do with music, yet these psychic things surround the music.

As I embarked on this new acoustic guitar journey I felt the freshness of the rocket of a new desire, and I found it devoid of all this ego stuff that I associated with my experience playing jazz. The feeling was a detached playfulness – I didn’t care what anyone thought; no career was riding on these decisions, I could care less about the people in the scene…but slowly all these things descended into my reality.

It did not take long to bring my old mindset to this new music. It’s the idea that no matter where you move, you bring your baggage with you.

When I saw that these old feelings were here with the new career idea / music direction, something was in fact different than the last time I felt all these feelings. The last time, I thought it was the world doing it to me, the drama, the struggle and so on. Now I am seeing – wait a minute – these feelings are my creation, because they were not here before. I am responsible.

This is not a “beating myself up” in assuming responsibility. This is really hopeful – because if I can see a way out of these miserable feelings, I can move ahead in life.

I sat down to take a time out yesterday (and I will be doing this more) and really wanted to unlock these “tight” constrictive feelings. In the Sedona Method / Release technique there are ways to pose questions to yourself and stir up feelings, and then techniques to deal with those feelings.

I asked myself “Can I live without this music career? No more gigs, recordings, approval from others, tours, websites and all that. Can I let it all go?”

Upon asking, I had this feeling of letting go as if the weight of the world were lifted off my shoulders. I felt like “wow, it’s just me & the universe all over again”, and I could be right there in the moment, hearing traffic out my window, breathing in and out – happily. I felt like a kid. In my gut, I shifted from resistance to allowing things to just be as they are. Peace.

It’s not that I planned on quitting anything, but wanted to let go of these negative emotions. I was able to continue the work on my guitar website without the angst, importance and stress I was previously feeling. The Sedona Method and Release Technique go way further than what I have described, but part of their goal is to let go of the negative feelings so that the natural well-being of a situation can flow, unimpeded.

Now it’s clear to me. My goal in life is this – to be clear and happy. From this clarity, happiness, and serenity well-being and abundance will flow in whatever I do. Always has, always will. Whenever I have been in the right psycho / spiritual place, the world out there falls into place. And whenever I have had turmoil inside, I get turmoil outside.

(exhale….quiet).

Rock vs. Jazz, Part 1

By Adam Rafferty 1 Comment

Rock and pop musicians can learn a lot from jazz musicians. Jazz musicians can learn a lot from rock musicians though – and this is what I find more interesting!

The rockers can learn about harmony, melody, rhythm, counterpoint, form, technique, practicing, swing, and great tunes of years past. I have taught many rock / blues / folk guitarists who soaked up this new knowledge and are amazed that it even exists.

Jazz musicians can learn about this though – that rock / pop musicians have to take responsibility for getting a following, having a mailing list and putting butts in the seats at gigs. Ok, the big jazz names like George Benson draw a crowd, but for the most part this is a foreign idea to jazzers.

What I am talking about is that even local rock bands & performers have to live with the reality of bringing an audience to a gig whereas jazz musicians usually don’t.

Many local jazz musicians are hired to play background music. Even if it is a jazz club, it is in a sense background music. Patrons go expecting to hear a great band, and maybe go because they are familiar with the band. Even at a jazz festival where bigger names play, the audience is built in, and attendance is not the performers problem. Big companies fund the festivals and record companies get their acts on as promo.

This situation allows many jazz performers to play music that may not be 100% appealing to people, since pleasing the audience is “not their problem” nor is a return crowd. They didn’t necesarily get the gig because of crowd appeal. There is the possibility for a disconnect here between “getting the gig”, “playing the gig” and “drawing / pleasing the audience”.

Ok – this is NOT true for all jazz performers. Some musicians learned in an environment where energy and entertainment value was supremely important.

What I am saying is this: for many jazz performers, even the highly entertaining ones, drawing an audience is an afterthought, whereas for a rock / pop musician it is everything.

It’s easy for a jazz musician to defend and say “my job is to play music – it’s the venue’s job to get the people”. And while I know nothing of promoters yet, I am talking about the nitty-gritty hands on, “getting people to a gig” work that musicians in other genres need to do.

I need to enter this realm of the butts in the seat being my responsibility. This is a rude awakening. Ouch. Is this fun? Am I looking forward to it? Is it my problem?

Frankly, I see this as a really cool challenge. Because once I have a following (in the acoustic world) nobody can take that away from me. I’m not thrilled with the busy work of mailing lists, phone calls and “it being my problem” – but in sheer dollars and cents, if I can draw a crowd – that makes me more desirable. Gigs can get bigger and better, and more people will want to hire me.

There is just a mercenary honesty to this that somehow appeals to me. An executive can’t flick an off switch and turn your following “off”.

When one considers the idea that CD’s are on the way out, (who knows what kind of pirating with Mp3’s will go on) – the concentration on live show, and the merchandise sold there is more important than ever.