Success

10 Tips for Healthy Guitar Practicing

I’m gonna give you some straight talk about practicing guitar and taking good care of your body and hands.

This is especially relevant today since so many people are self taught from videos and don’t have a real life teacher for feedback.

The “He / She Never Stops Practicing” Myth – Debunked!

One of the favorite “myths” that fans and students hold in mind is that “great musicians practice 24 hours a day, to the exclusion of everything else and that’s why they are so good!”

People always ask me how “many hours a day I practice” and I see that they are living exactly this fantasy of “wow you are a dedicated artist who practices all the time!”

[Read more…]

The Day I Got My Butt Kicked in Harlem

By Adam Rafferty 6 Comments

He showed up for his first music lesson with the master, with his saxophone case in hand.

As they chatted for the first time, he told the teacher “I think I am one of the best sax players in town.”

The teacher answered “It would be nice if someone else thought that as well.”

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That’s a true story that one of my teachers, Mike Longo told me. It just goes to show, that when we are in our own little world, we think we’re pretty good.

Commitment vs Flirtation

By Adam Rafferty 2 Comments

Hi Gang! I am back in NYC for a short breather between tours…

On the road recently someone came up to me and said “man, I worked on your version of Superstition for like 5 months and still couldn’t get it perfect.”

My reply was “only 5 months?”

I explained to him that he needs to dive in with a full ongoing commitment and not watch the clock or calendar.

Like this:

I’m gonna play this arrangement no matter how long it takes to learn and practice. If I can play one note, then I can play two. I’ll play those 2 until they sound good, then I’ll add note 3.

I’ll do a little every day and it will surely build. I’ll sand the edges, work on the groove, listen hard, and allow improvements to reveal themselves with time.

I’ll be mindful that my hands feel good and my whole body feels the groove as I play. One day it will sound good.

I’ve been “hammering” at all my guitar arrangements for the past 6 years – and there’s no end in sight.

The real issue is not about guitar….it’s about “commitment” vs “flirtation”.

I can feel in me when I “flirt” with something vs when I totally “commit.”

Things like playing chess, fooling around with electric bass or drums – and even figuring out other guitarists riffs – these are fun things that add richness to my life – but it’s flirtation.

Playing slow scales, practicing my arrangements (and now learning easy Bach Preludes on the piano) and 30 minutes a day of meditation are “commitments”.

Because they are “commitments” I can relax and breathe as I do the work.

I don’t try to practice everything in a day. I am mindful of relaxation in my hands, neck, shoulders and I don’t “overdo”. The fact that I plan to spend the rest of my life on this stuff helps me chill out!

(Please note – I am not saying you have to be a pro and spend hours a day. You can be a hobby player and commit to practicing a piece of music in the way that I am saying.)

Only after a good long period of time do results show. There’s a sweetness to knowing and feeling that I’ve (you’ve) accomplished just a little something by coming back to it again and again.

The moral of the story is….hobbies are ok, flirtation with stuff is fun and ok – but committing is also ok too.

The opposite of immediate gratification is one of the sweetest satisfactions in life! Don’t miss out.

Know where you stand – and if there something you early really want, put it in your focus and never look away! The “out projecting” of your vision will in fact, create the “thing” or experience in real life.

If Paul McCartney Can’t Read Music, Why Should I?

By Adam Rafferty 7 Comments

I hear this often from students and guitar fans.

And I am into a 2nd Venti at Starbucks.

I am Venti-ing.

I get very disturbed when a young student tries to “shirk” away from the work because one of his or her heroes can’t read music.

Often, accomplished musicians who can’t read music will “put down” musicians who can read – and bolster their own position of illiteracy with the voodoo of…

I know something’ because I don’t know nuthin…and if I learn too much, I might lose the sumthin’ I gots….

I have played with many great musicians who thought their illiteracy made them special.

It’s their musicality that made them special – not their inability to read!!!

Let’s review the options…. [Read more…] about If Paul McCartney Can’t Read Music, Why Should I?

My Formula for Musical Audience Connection “C + Y = R”

By Adam Rafferty 25 Comments

I know I am making a very bold statement here about “musical success” but I am speaking to you 100% earnestly and from life experience.

If you are in search of a wider audience, greater appreciation with your current audience, and maybe even a better “way” to make a living as a musician, this will interest you.

I am about to help you remove a HUGE block and change your life….yes that’s right.

As they say, “if the show fits, wear it.”

I am going to teach you about my formula…

“C + Y = R”

But first…the proof.

In the last 6 years I’ve increased my joy, my feeling of aliveness, number and quality gigs and overall lifestyle due to this formula.

I’ll present you with the info, and then you decide.

I hope that by the end of this post, you’ll have a new understanding about connecting emotionally with your audience.

When you “connect” emotionally to people with your music this is the start of all good things for them and for you.

Gig bookings, more students, more connection to your loved ones and yes (gulp) more money, can come to you from doing what you love – playing music.

Maybe you are student and money doesn’t matter, but the RELATIONSHIP to your listeners still does. This post is all about emotion and connection….money is just a potentially nice side effect.

Your audience can be your husband, wife, kids, friends, neighbors church group or even a club or concert audience. This applies to you whether you are a hobby player or pro player!

This “C + Y = R” formula was (and still is) used by artists and bands like:

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Michael Jackson
Prince
Led Zeppelin
Chet Atkins
Tommy Emmanuel
Adele
and more…

Let me paint you a picture of how life was before “C + Y = R”

Years ago I played every little gig I could. I taught relentlessly, and it was as if my dreams of being a concert and festival performer just refused to become a reality.

I could hardly pay my rent! What was I doing wrong?

Then, I learned solo pop arrangement (my first Youtube Video was “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder) and a “flood” of activity started.

Later, I’d find that even on a small gig I could get the room’s attention and sell a ton of CD’s by playing “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5.

As if by magic, a whole audience of talkers would fall into silence and then applaud wildly after the song , as if it were some sacred ceremony sprinkled with gold fairy dust.

Why on earth did these little “ditties” turn heads, get people to shut up…when I could spin out endless jazz standards that only served to be “background music?”

I’m not dissing jazz. I am calling out musicians who overlook the all-important connection to the audience. Jazz can and should have that, and in it’s heyday – it did.

Back to the Stevie & Jackson 5 tunes….

I knew I stumbled on something deep after years of toiling away. Why did these tunes make life better?

Here’s my formula.

C + Y = R

Cover Song + You = Relationship

By playing a well known song, you access something ALREADY existing in your listeners mind, rather than teach them something new.

It’s like telling a little kid a bedtime story they already know…it provides a degree of security & comfort.

Rather than “confront” with new information – you give them the “warm fuzzies” by accessing a “corresponding” reality that they already know. As a result…

THEY FEEL GOOD and become open to YOU!

Very Important – and the Catch 22

In order to do this properly, you must be VERY honest with yourself because your “cover” songs must be infused with true love and dedication.

You have to let these ideas “sneak up” on you – otherwise they will feel “hollow” and “loveless” to you & your audience.

I know this because I have learned tunes that did not “vibe” with me. As a result, I basically never want to play them.

Use your head and your heart together when learning cover songs.

If you infuse the song with your love, your dedication, your touch, and your sound – it becomes an easy vehicle for you to connect with your audience.

They get to feel the love, warmth and passion that you have put in over hours, weeks maybe years.

They react to the “human-ness” you give them….

By doing this you build “R” – relationship.

By making it easy for them, you are communicating to them that YOU want a RELATIONSHIP and are taking the first warm friendly step towards them.

What About Original Songs?

Of course you should play your own music too.

Once your RELATIONSHIP is “activated” with C + Y = R your audiences will be open to your original music or more obscure tunes. Once you have bridged the gap, almost anything can go!

On the surface level it sounds like I am saying “play cover tunes”, and yes every wedding band does that.

I’m saying something deeper because it’s based on giving and not taking.

Make the RELATIONSHIP the priority in your performances.

For example – if I play for school kids, I’ll play a popular tune like “Billie Jean” so they feel “hey this guitar player guy is cool” and they’ll then feel open to my offerings.

Were I to barge into a school and play all originals – how long could I keep the attention of high schoolers?

The point is this…3 or 4 songs deep – everyone feels groovy and THEN I can say “Hey gang, here’s one of my tunes.”

Imagine for instance you have never heard my tune “Ciao Bella”.

If I come out and play1. Billie Jean2. Superstition3. I’ll Be There4. Ciao Bella

You’d likely be MUCH more receptive than if I played 3 originals, and then a 4th. (I speak of the general public.)

For some this would seem “un artistic”, but for me this allows greater possibilities to have a hungry audience for my own music and compose more music.

But Rock Stars Don’t Play Covers…Why Should I?

Actually they do if you think about it.

And – The Beatles and Stones started as blues bands covering Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry tunes…and slowly brought their tunes in…

Big rock groups are expected to play their “hits” in concert before they launch into the new album material.

Could You Imagine:

a Bon Jovi concert without “Livin on a Prayer?”
a Led Zeppelin Concert without “Stairway to Heaven?”
a Stevie Wonder concert without “Superstition” and “Isn’t She Lovely?”

Of course not.

Pull your audience in with well loved songs FIRST, and then anything can happen.

You are still free to play what you want…only you are in a better position to do so.

I bet you’ll be closer to being a flourishing and successful musician if you use C + Y = R.

“Try it, you’ll like it!”

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P.S. The All-New Volume II “How To Play Stevie Wonder for Fingerstyle Guitar DVD” launches tomorrow June 27, 2012.

If you want to try out your C + Y = R with 4 great new Stevie tunes (Isn’t She Lovely, Higher Ground, Cherie Amour, You Are the Sunshine of my Life), I’ve laid them all out or you in video lessons and written guitar tabs!

Coming June 27, 2012…

For More Info Visit adamrafferty.com