Links And Stuff From All Over The Place
Welcome new subscribers!
For new (and newer) subscribers, Michael Acoustic sort of builds on itself, and we’ve covered a lot of ground over the last year and a half. A few months ago I posted a series of “Retrospectives” - several collections of links to where we started and how far we’ve come that made it a little easier to see and utilize the beginnings of this newsletter as we’ve built upon topics like guitar basics, music theory, songwriting, “the business” and more. Find them (and everything else!) at The Archive. Scroll down to the August 2022 posts to find the “Retrospective” indexes, and thanks for joining us!
First, from American Songwriter:
Successful Artists At Any Age This link doesn’t appear to be behind the member’s only paywall (as opposed to the the Don Henley “members only” article below - which is great, but also behind a paywall).
Next, from Mr. Griff Hamlin at Blues Guitar Unleashed
"Boxes" To Chords relates the notes of the pentatonic and blues scale boxes to chords. Just like the title says….
From Mr. Graham English, who promotes his Speed Songwriting courses, but also offers a lot of good advice, a topic a lot of us probably spend too much time on (worrying about stuff) and not enough time actually doing. Pretty good advice here, and within the paragraphs below is a bit of linkception via a link to a much more in-depth article. Both good reads:
“How To Overcome Your Inner Critic and Love Songwriting Again+++
Just in case you’ve got a voice inside your head saying…
“I can’t do it.”
“I don’t have enough time.”
“I’m not good enough.””
Read this:
How to overcome your inner critic and love songwriting again
Just in case you’re anything like me, and your inner critic likes to hold you back…
Here’s what I know for sure:
Writing is the cure.
You can overcome that voice inside your head that says, “you’re not good enough.”
It only takes practice to get into the flow.
And when you learn how to do that, and keep doing it…
You’ll find your inner critic becomes a huge fan instead!” Credit: Mr. Graham English, SpeedSongwriting
From Mr. Ian Temple at Soundfly comes an excerpt from emails I receive from these folks. They’re selling their courses, but they are also an example of a company that sends interesting stuff with their promotional material:
“Creating productive habits is easier said than done, but according to the research, there are a few ways to do it that increase your chances of success:
Take it in small steps. Don't try to reinvent your entire life overnight. 10 min of piano practice a day, one new lesson a day, etc.
Tie it to an existing habit. Eli's habit of playing piano before picking up his phone is great because you know he is going to pick up his phone eventually. It's tied to something he already does.
Reduce friction. Make it as easy as possible to take the action you want. Have your practice space set up already, or outline your specific activities in advance.
Reward yourself. When you follow your habits successfully, give yourself a cookie! Or whatever other reward will create a positive feedback loop for your brain.
Use social pressure. Friends and allies can also help you stick to a new habit.” Credit: Soundfly
I almost hate to include these links, but since one of my goals in writing this was to help make music, songwriting and especially acoustic guitar playing less intimidating and more attractive for older folks (yes, like me…sigh) who may be just starting their journey or maybe have been playing for awhile but want to try something new as well. Anyway, these may be helpful…
And (this is from a hearing aid manufacturer’s “blog” but it does list other brands. I have no idea about any of them, but best to be as informed as possible before you go shopping…):
Finally, I included this because it’s really good, but it’s also behind the paywall at American Songwriter. If you’re already a member, check it out, if not, you may find it worth it (I’m a member, but receive no promotional or other consideration from AS or anyone else, so not an endorsement, beyond the fact that there is a lot of good stuff for songwriters there). It’s admittedly a kinda long article with Don Henley of Eagles fame but with some ground truths:
Regular post tomorrow!
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic