Pantene does a MUSIC Commercial?!!!!!

This MOVING STORY commercial has so deeply changed my view of marketing, ASL, love, and passion that undoubtedly - tears fell. I feel as though this could have been a movie. Despite the language barrier and having to read the subtitles, this hits home and delivers the best news: that MUSIC LIVES AND IS ALIVE IN ALL, OF US.

IGNORE EVERYBODY (from www.gapingvoid.com)

IGNORE EVERYBODY.

So you want to be more crea­tive, in art, in busi­ness, wha­te­ver. Here are some tips that have wor­ked for me over the years.]

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you sud­denly being “dis­co­ve­red” by some big shot, your plan will pro­bably fail.

5. You are res­pon­si­ble for your own expe­rience.

6. Ever­yone is born crea­tive; ever­yone is given a box of cra­yons in kin­der­gar­ten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Com­pa­nies that squelch crea­ti­vity can no lon­ger com­pete with com­pa­nies that cham­pion crea­ti­vity.

9. Every­body has their own pri­vate Mount Eve­rest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talen­ted some­body is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds alto­gether.

12. If you accept the pain, it can­not hurt you.

13. Never com­pare your inside with some­body else’s outside.

14. Dying young is ove­rra­ted.

15. The most impor­tant thing a crea­tive per­son can learn pro­fes­sio­nally is where to draw the red line that sepa­ra­tes what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is chan­ging.

17. Merit can be bought. Pas­sion can’t.

18. Avoid the Water­coo­ler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irre­le­vant.

21. Selling out is har­der than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for your­self.

23. Worr­ying about “Com­mer­cial vs. Artis­tic” is a com­plete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about fin­ding ins­pi­ra­tion. It comes even­tually.

25. You have to find your own sch­tick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get appro­val is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Wha­te­ver choice you make, The Devil gets his due even­tually.

30. The har­dest part of being crea­tive is get­ting used to it.

31. Remain fru­gal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of tur­ning hob­bies into jobs.

35. Savor obs­cu­rity while it lasts.

36. Start blog­ging.

37. Mea­ning Sca­les, Peo­ple Don’t.

37. When your dreams become rea­lity, they are no lon­ger your dreams.

Music Choice Cable Channels; What You Don't Know

Image via Wikipedia

One way to avoid spending money online and buying "iTunes downloads" or even the slightly almost out of style CD purchase - is to tune into the channels that you usually skip over on your Cable TV. 


(I so wanna sing that part in "Money For Nothing" by the Dire Straits - HAHA!)


Being a great DJ for your party can be super easy. Granted, you COULD go with that 67 year old accordionist for 20 bucks an hour for the first 5 hours, but we know how that would end. Well, the party probably wouldn't even get started. 


SO! Here's an alternative that works. Turn on your TV and see if you have the "Music Choice" service with your local cable provider. It's usually the channels you normally skip through! :o)


These select channels GIVE you your time back to actually enjoy your own party. Also, you can concentrate on being the host that everyone knows you are. When you have to "juggle" talking to each guest at your party, it helps to ICE BREAK as well about favorite types of music first. Or even what people "DON'T" like...i.e. the newest release by Britney Spears. Honestly, i can't think of the name, so i guess that's a good thing. Usually the radio stations ingrain our already information-overloaded minds with overplayed singles.


Moving onto the performer's reality: in the past, private parties that I've played for have saved by voice by having Music Choice service as a filler for the songs that weren't in my songbook. After the end of each set of songs, I'd take a break - the coversation would thicken and enrich and, some "chill music" would "volume up" in everyone's background. 


Another reason why MC is awesome is that guests will ask for requests or different songs by artists/bands playing currently on the MC play-list and you can utilize that to book more gigs and personalized set-lists for the requester. Usually people are pretty agreeable once someone chimes in with a song name the love. It's like lightning around the room. Volumes get louder, smiles stretch beyond happy and laughing commences. It's a cool sight for my eyes - to know that I'm helping people connect and have a good time.   

SIGN UP HERE FOR A MUSIC CHOICE ACCOUNT!: 


http://www.musicchoice.com/UserRegistrationConsolidation.aspx

 

Find the Melodies in Your Life.

Simply put, a melody is something musical that is beautiful to YOUR ears; it's a series of notes on any instrument (including the voice) that is arranged in such a way that it produces a pattern. This definition is the best one i can come up with from what i know. The dictionary is such a black and white world. To me, musical terms should have a label that says, "See real life and for personal experience to edify yourself and others with sound".



It should sound as pleasant to your ears as this Harp might. And by the way, this is a children's harp but I'm thinking about investing in one to learn the intervals of the notes.

We all listen to our favorite songs daily. Whether it's on the radio at work or from a friend that hands you some speakers or ear buds for a quick listen of a new band, there are melodies that are ingrained into the structure of each song. Guitarists sometimes call melodies "RIFFS" or "LICKS". Riff is more descriptive of rock songs and lick is more to do with blues and jazz.

Finding melody is easy. It's changing the scales that we play on our guitars in such a way that it makes a lasting semi-permanent impression. For instance, have you ever caught yourself humming a song and you don't know the words, but.... YOU REMEMBER THE PART YOUR HUMMING?

THAT, is what I'm taking about!!!!!!


That's what songwriters are after. The next unforgettable melody. Think Queen's -"Bohemian Rhapsody", Taylor Swift's - "Teardrops on My Guitar", Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow", think of The Temptations - "My Girl", and think... No Doubt - "Don't Speak".

Imagine the classic Walt Disney movies - the sing-along ones but without the annoying bouncing ball on the words in perfect timing. Your melody should be something that you can sing. And if you're not singing, then you need to be, if you're can't sing at work because you're in a certain customer service type job where it might be considered weird or school, where it might be distracting to others...you can always whistle!!!!

Seriously, if you want to succeed with music and more specifically, with guitar, you NEED to be at least whistling. Or kind of like you read the words of my blog silently in your own mind, you need to be doing the same with melodies constantly.

This is actually what i do to prepare before I sing the first note. Try this: audibly sing the lowest note your voice can hit. Don't worry if it sounds "rumble-like" or you can't keep a "clean solid note" at that point. The purpose of this exercise is to find the bottom of your vocal chords. In the future, you'll be able to "STRETCH" this "CUSHION" area a few notes/tones/pitches lower. And now do this at the top part of your natural voice. Think about this trick like your mimicking a police siren or more specifically (if you need the mental picture) an old World War 2 - air raid siren.

Next blog, we'll be discussing the Falsetto region of your vocal chords and enabling your singing to use this vital area of notes. The same concept that we used to "find" your "lower cushion" and Chest Voice - we'll be using to find your UPPER CUSHION!

Keep internalizing and digesting this info! I know it seems like you're trying to drink out of a fire hydrant, LOL, but soon it'll be like riding a bike. Just common knowledge you can grab out of your brain anytime you need it. :o)

PASSION! ----When does It Start & Where Does It Come From?

You know, we're asked all our lives as children and then young adults in High School, "What Do You Want to Be, When You Grow Up?" and for some - its logical. It's safe. It's a chess game. It's structured. That's not wrong or bad at all. Because, to me, you can have all that stuff...   AND... have your "dream job".

So each of these guitars pictured above is like each of us. We're so unique, even the one's that are the same color or brand. But God made us each from exactly the consciousness that we have and think with, right now. Either we can use  our minds and bodies to achieve greatness, or we can trade our spurs in for the worthless money that we "need". Sometimes, we even trade in our dreams or guitars for something that seems SECURE, but it's so backwards. Sometimes, i wish our "fun selves" could help our "play it safe sometimes, current selves" and get the understanding of life and love and passion that we had when we were born. I learn more and more about this as my son Zeke grows.



SO, Having chased PASSION down in my life and other people's lives, this is what I've found after candidly interviewing with a select few that "have it" to include, John 5, longtime guitarist for Marilyn Manson.

His first musical memory was, "Heehaw". Pretty honest and warm answer, right? :o) He's learned Travis Picking, Folk music, and practical can emulate ANY other genre of music known to man. He's a great lead guitarist to and in our private Guitar Center clinic in late 2008, he showed us his PASSION.


It's like "they" say, "Either you HAVE IT - or, you DON'T". I'm not talking about this natural talent that people speak of when they see someone doing what they love to do, and all the while never letting the curve of their smile drop. I'm talking about LOVE.

LOVE! It's the key to the world. We have to give it out first, then people that are unsure b/c of the heartache they've felt in the past goes away. It doesn't matter if it's a business deal or your second grade teacher. EVERYONE, needs to feel loved. And what better way to get love than to give it unconditionally.

It's reminds me of a quote, "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care of gets the credit."

So GET THE PASSION, MUSTERED DEEP INSIDE YOU, THEN GIVE THE LOVE, AND WATCH DOORS START TO OPEN.  

PEOPLE SOMETIMES MISUNDERSTAND US...
...WE LIVE OUR PASSIONS!