tropicalathome

You don’t need to learn much to sound fine. It’s hard work, but you can do yourself a lot of favours by getting some good lessons from a good teacher (learning on your own usually sucks) and by getting some advice on buying a playable guitar. Some guitars are inherently hard to play (a.k.a. “character building”). This can discourage you so much, when you are learning, that you quit.

Play to enjoy and you will enjoy to play.

i studied Russian at adult evening class once a week for several years, but in the end I got an A grade GCSE (something 16 year old school kids get). The problem is you reach a point where you need to immerse yourself in the language and culture and speak Russian with natives everyday for like six months. I didn’t get that far. It’s very easy to forget what you have learned if you don’t use it.

I was in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people and was asked to write Streaming Media Demystified. They say writing a book changes your life and that was true for me, only the changes were a mixed blessing. On the whole, it was worth doing and I developed a taste to write more, though I don’t have a current publishing deal for other things.

Shoot from the hip.

http://www.lomography.com/

Take your camera everywhere you go, use it any time (day or night), remember that taking pictures is not something outside of your life…it’s an integral PART of your life, shoot without thinking so hard about it…be spontaneous (try NOT using the viewfinder), approach the objects of your photographic desire as close as possible, shoot what looks good and catches your eye rather than composing your shot intellectually, be fast (catch those spontaneous, candid moments that would evaporate if you held everyone still while you futzed with your camera and gear), capturing the moment matters more than technical quality, let what you captured surprise you…you don’t need to know what’s on the film or in memory before you get home, you don’t need to analyse what’s on the pictures after you get home either…how’s it look? how’s it make you feel? if you like what you see, try to catch more happy accidents like that the next time you notice one, and finally…don’t worry about the rules (including these)...follow your own aesthetic instincts. Shoot what excites your eye and emotions.

It’s easier than you think. Get in with the right bunch of people and just use your three chords until you learn some more. A good default heavy metal setting is to get yourself a Boss Heavy Metal pedal and an Echo box of some sort. Then any old guitar and amplifier will do.

What matters most is finding your own style and voice. It doesn’t matter what you play, how you play it or how polished you are, just remember that you are there to entertain. This isn’t about you, it’s about giving. The love you get in return for entertaining people is its own reward.