With my new updated 2020 playlists loaded with tracks of creative musicians half my age and who have none of my presuppositions, musical hang-ups, or history I'm going for a walk. A long walk, in a safe place, deeply listening to the tracks.

Benefits:

1. Exercise and mental health
   
2. Learn some new sounds
   
3. Affirm to myself the creative arts are in good hands going forward
   
4. Dream of incorporating some new ideas in my own playing 

David 

​Ten things you might consider:
​

1. Don't become a ghost. Stay in touch with your tribe of musicians. This is a great time to reach out to a new tribe as well, musicians you've not played with before. 
2. Keep your website active. Inactive websites are dead websites. Post lots of valuable positive content. 
3. Keep practicing. Address your short comings, come back stronger and better. Not, rusty and tired.
4. Keep working out, stay in shape, be ready. 
5. Curate carefully what you give your attention to. Reading doom and gloom all day, or upbeat and positive? We are what we attend to. A simple truism for the ages. 
6. Sort out your music library. This is a good time to rediscover some forgotten treasures.
7. I'm upgrading my gear, selling the old stuff, and welcoming the new. 
8. Start a program of deep listening to newer music and musicians. This will open your mind to new possibilities and help stave off old fart syndrome and aging blowhard disorder. 
9. Call a master musician and book some lessons. 
10. Keep practicing, stay healthy, follow legitimate health authority recommendation, and be patient. This is bigger than anyone of us. 

David Story

Being internally driven when sitting at home takes some extra effort. Idleness, loneliness, cramped spaces, financial stress; it adds up. 

I've made a short list for musicians of positive qualities that may help us focus our efforts, deal with reality, be creative, and get on with it. 

1. Professional pride, that's a good start. Most of us are decades into this, we have standards to maintain for our self-respect.
2. Imaginative thinking to take charge of, and responsibility for, what happens next. 

The short hokey video below is a good reminder that fitness, appearance, and conduct go a long way to preparing us what is to come. Combine this with professional pride and imaginative thinking will, I believe, move us forward. 
​
Good luck, 

David

For more on this subject I suggest checking out this peer reviewed article: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-intrinsic-motivation-2795385
​

What is a good attitude in the midst of a pandemic?

Good question.

I. Stay in touch with others. Especially musicians who are still practicing, staying sober, practicing safe practices. This has really helped me: Jamming with social distancing in safe spaces.
2. Stay physically active. Keep the endorphins up. A challenge for sure. I'm drinking way for much coffee.
3. Taking lessons gives us another reason to stay musically fit. I take weekly classes on drums. For piano classes twice a month plus an online teaching course here and there.
4. Explore alternative routes for your career. I'm exploring drum teaching. This is a creative industry, let's get creative, we have no choice. As someone wiser than me said, "you got your war". This is our moment. 

David 
​
An external link: 

​https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

Berklee Credo

“Flexibility, improvisation, practicality, and the ability to recognize and respond to changing environments”

This is a good time to revisit these thoughts from my old alma mater. We all understand the disruption of the pandemic. Now what lies ahead for musicians? Public performances are out until an effective vaccine appears. And, is widely adopted by the population. In this “age of the crazy” that may be wishful thinking.

For established performers it may be time to consider alternative career paths. This is the path I took 20 years ago in response to the SARS pandemic. As the songs says, “you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them”.

For younger musicians though it is a whole new opportunity to reinvent the arts. The established crowd is hoping for a miracle, the younger crowd got one. The status quo is not likely to return. And, anyhow the young will not wait. They are filling the void with viable alternatives. The leviathan of public arts support will need to be reimagined and reallocated post Covid-19

I hope I live long enough to be a witness; it is going to be good.

​David   
 
 

Louis Armstrong is reported to have remarked, "musicians don't retire, people just stop calling". Then we move into community groups of various sorts. Rarely do we hang up the horn completely. 

Over the last decade, as a both pianist and drummer, I have played in:

1. community concert bands
2. community big bands
3. community trad bands
4. avant-garde improvisation groups large and small
5. pub pop trios
6. weekend warrior recording sessions 
7. basement bands of all sorts
8. community jazz jams in pubs around the world, including a few famous jazz haunts
9. oodles of online recordings
10. an occasional "arts" concert
11. classical duos
12. jammed trad Scottish music in Scotland
13. community blues band
14. solo in my basement
15. jazz duos

In these settings I have met countless career musicians. Long after the roar of the crowd has dimmed, we are still at it: playing, jamming, practicing, and swapping tall tales.

We the musicians. 

Cheers, 

David

 Three months of reflection during isolation has yielded valuable insights. 

1. I understand what I value as a musician.
2. I understand whose company I treasure and whose I do not.
3. I understand my value in the musical marketplace.
   

I am sure you have gone through a similar experience.

So, I am still practicing. I also have sought out younger musicians to learn from as well. I am working out safe jamming practices/spaces for piano and guitar trios to meet.

The cinematic noise trio Fade/Dissolve will continue to produce work and post it online. Our newest work drops soon.

I will be taking a live online class in adult education next month. I am reading, creating, dreaming, and scheming.

It is going to be ok, but it is going to be different.

What's the coolest thing that could happen to your musical life in the next five years? I've answered this question, have you?

Stay well.

David