Every year I'm witness to the following scenario. Junior is in the last year of high school and the question comes up. "what do you want to do for the rest of your life?" or something similar. 

Wow! Anxious parents and terrified teenagers seeking a path that will guide junior through life with the least resistance, pain, or notice. Grand plans are shelved and little plans are hatched. 

The truth?
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Life is going to hurt. Tough decisions will have to be made, consequences will be severe. No one is spared. Cowering will not help. Wishful or magical thinking won't help.

My take: demonstrate courage, creativity, resilience, and grace to your children through your actions. 

Maybe this is the antidote for aging musicians too.

David

Ari Hoenig, jazz drummer

1. "I'm getting better, and very soon I will be better and completely at the top of my game".
2. "How do you get confidence? Be good, dammit. You know what I mean? But that is not easy to do."

Nick Ruffini, Drummer's Resource 

1. "Confidence comes from keeping your promises to yourself. "

Five ways to improve your musical confidence. 

1. Get a teacher. Our heroes are free and sitting at home. Reach out, they need love, we need help.
2. Set and keep a practice schedule. This damn pandemic will soon be over. Be ready. 
3. Get off the couch and out the door. Walk, bike, workout in a safe manner to stay upright and sharp. 
4. Make a dream list of musical experiences you'd like to have in the next decade. 
5. Get a good night's sleep. If you have been putting off getting a cpap machine, suck it up, reach out and get one. It will change your life. 

David

It arrived, I've read it, I've tried it out for 90 days. My first quarter as recommended in his book is up.  So... what happened?

Wow is what happened. His ideas allowed me time to go deeper on fewer things. 

• My time is much better.
• I've learned a new grip.
• I've finally memorized the last of the more obscure rudiments. 
• I can wail through a few Wilcoxon etudes with some panache. 
• My studios are organized.

 David

Above was my 1st quarter plan. Below is my 2nd quarter plan. 

We live large in the catastrophic click bait age. It's only going to get worse. Count on it. Louder and shriller.

So, how do we turn off without turning inward?

I haven't the friggin' foggiest idea. 

​David

An ever-present danger. Giving up, settling early. This past year has been unprecedented. Most people have been inconvenienced. Some though have been deeply affected by job loss, illness, or death.

Assuming you are in the first group and not the second how do we proceed and stay engaged in a world of imagination and action?

1. Take steps to stay healthy. You know the drill. Find an accountability partner. Mine is my wife.
2. Practice your instrument, address shortcomings during this lull. I meet twice monthly with my classical piano coach. Prior to that with a jazz coach.
3. Take some online classes with a younger musician. Engage with another perspective. I meet my drum coach twice weekly. It’s been fantastic. A reason to practice and stay sharp. Embarrassing myself in front of a musician half my age is unthinkable.
4. Network like crazy, this won’t last forever. I believe that the post-pandemic world will explode in creative activity and opportunities. It is time to prepare. I recently played piano for an online big band performance. It will be posted soon.
5. Complete a new certification if your area of music provides those opportunities. I’m completing my online teaching certification with the Royal Conservatory of Music here in Canada.
6. Create projects that work online. I’ve had the privilege of working on new works with Fade/Dissolve cinematic noise trio. What a blast.
7. Dream of a musical future and prepare to meet it head on. 

David

Ultracrepidarianism is the giving of opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge. 

​A real danger in aging. 

Closely followed by the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from people's inability to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their level of competence. From Wikipedia

Given the above, what can one be sure about? Not much. On the other hand, quite a bit we remember the shoemaker folly. 

I know how to:

1. Find gigs/clients/students.
2. I understand how to keep myself fed/clothed/housed. 
3. Play the piano. I'm also aware on where I sit relative to my peers.
4. Play the drums. Ditto, I know where I sit. 
5. Make friends.
6. Compose music.
7. Learn new things that interest me.
8. Take responsibility for my actions. 

What's on your "I know how to" list?

David

"Someday soon bands, choirs, and orchestras will gather together again. the conductor will signal for the first note to sound, and musicians will remember it's hard to read music with tears in their eyes." Anonymous internet meme

Forty five years ago Linda, my girlfriend, and I travelled from North Bay to Toronto to take in the spectacle. This past week I was teaching a 5 year old how to play along on the drums. 
​Life is exciting. 

David

​It arrived, I've read it, I'm about to try it out for 90 days and see what happens to my drumming. 
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Benny outlines the rationale of organized practice is a humorous and unique way. The preamble until you get to his EPM systems chapters is good sense and common knowledge among professional musicians. But it gets interesting with his practice system.

Let's start at the beginning.

Organizing your practice space. He recommends imagining the setup of your perfect space, then assess your situation and arrange you space as close as you can to this ideal.  I can now say my space looks different. I'm up and running now with 3 flicks of switches, boot my DAW, load the preset and Bingo, I'm ready to go. Books are in place, pencil and journal are ready. Up next a kitchen timer, I'm going to use an old iPhone for this purpose.  Benny Greb has some true insights into learning. 

Next...
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1. Quickly name your favorite musicians of your instrument.
2. Now note what you admire about each of them.
3. Now consider your top 3 choices.
4. Now rate yourself 1 to 10 on your skill with the qualities you admire in their playing. Do not give yourself a 5.
5. Now when you practice, practice those to improve those qualities.
6. Buy his book.

Stayed tuned for the results of his 90-day practice regime. 
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​David Story