As a marketer, every year I have to write a marketing strategy complete with tactics and measurable goals. I’ve been in this field for 25+ years so these have become my modus operandi. So much so that without thinking about it, I used the same strategy when beginning A Tune A Week. I started back … More Setting SMART goals in music
Recently, I’ve been attending a local session on Wednesday nights. There is really nothing like a session to not only keep you on your toes but to introduce you to new tunes, and force you to practice old ones. A session is not just about playing the latest tune you learned, it’s also about listening … More Listen, learn, play
A few weeks ago my band and I were practicing for a gig. While we were practicing a particular tune-set, I kept messing up the notes and stopping in the middle of the tune. Instead of stopping with me, the band played on. Which was the right thing to do. When first learning a tune, … More And the band plays on…
Playing a tune slow can often prove to be harder than playing it fast. Learn more. #tunetuesday #atuneawaeek … More Going slow
Fiddlers love the keys of D and G but not so much the key of F. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because D and G are some of the first scales we learn early so we train our fingers and it sticks with us. Or maybe it’s because we just don’t like those damn … More What the F?
This week I embarked on taking a finger-picking class on my ukelele. Monday night was the first class of three. Mostly what I know on the uke are songs I learned from Youtube, so taking a class from a real live teacher is pretty cool and is also forcing me to practice instead of just … More What I learned about my fiddle from playing the uke
Sometimes thinking gets in the way of playing. At some point you just have to trust yourself to know what to do. #tunetuesday #atuneaweek … More Think less, play more
Fall is the perfect time to renew your commitment to your instrument. … More On practicing
Lately my band and I have been practicing for an upcoming wedding gig. Every Wednesday we’ve been getting together to hash out a set list, revisit old tune sets and come up with some new ones. Because of the pandemic we haven’t played a gig together in almost 2 years. So it took a few … More Getting your groove back
Setting up a practice schedule is easy. Sticking to it is the hard part. Back in December I decided to embark on learning a tune a week for a year. I figured it would not only add 52 tunes to my repertoire but it would keep me on task with my practicing. And it has … More Keeping on task
Session Obsession 