Released: Wednesday - July 2, 2008 10:05 PM EST

The Power of the Mind...

It's important to understand that all we do in, not only our musical lives but our everyday lives, is a result of our state of mind.  Our mind controls what, how, and when do a certain thing.  Now granted there are external forces that work to influence what we do, but if your mind is set on doing something, all of the distractions are just temporary setbacks.  So what does that mean for us in our musical endeavors?

"So as a man thinketh, so is he..." - Proverbs 23:7

The very fabric of our lives is guided by the state of our minds.  If you are truly determined to increase your musical ability, YOU WILL and there are no distractions that will change that.  It is important; however, to create goals for yourself that are realistic so that you never loose sight of them.  An example of a realistic goal may be to be able to play all of the Major Scales flawlessly in a month.  Or it could be to play all of the diatonic chords in the key of Eb by the end of the week.  You set your own goals to work with your own pace.  Once you've set the goal, then you come up with a plan to meet that goal.  Once the plan is set, you have to stick to it.  Continuing to create manageable tasks for yourself will allow you to accomplish tasks which will give you the feeling that you are achieving your goals.

One more thing...Don't be in a hurry to do anything.  If a spot has opened up in church for a piano player and you put the pressure on yourself to become this virtuoso player before the church administration has time to find another musician, you will more than likely get discouraged.  I have heard from many that do this to themselves and it is very counter productive.  Believe me, I have been in enough churches to know that musicians usually don't retire at a church, so the chances are good that the spot will open up again.  However, the question is...Will you be ready for it?  If you have ever seen the movie Shawshank Redemption starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, then you understand the power of time.  Take your time and pace yourself.  Set small goals as I have stated before and ACCOMPLISH THEM.  A good exercise would be to tape yourself playing anything at all.  A song, some chord progressions, or just some runs.  Practice for a year by setting small accomplishable goals and then tape yourself again.  Observe the improvement in your playing and get ready for the next year.

Stay encouraged and Practice! Practice! Practice!

Letron Brantley (CEO & Founder)
GospelSkillz.com

Lesson excerpt from my friend Jamal Hartwell
Urban & Contemporary Worship - Play By Ear DVD : The Ultimate Beginners DVD!!
 

Is Your Anointing More Important than Mine?

Me being primarily a saxophone player (20 years), I want to use this blog opportunity to touch on a subject that has been on my mine for a while. I had a friend tell me a couple of weeks ago that the most important instruments in the church were the Organ and Keyboard. His argument was that EVEN without Bass Guitar and/or Drums, an organist or keyboardist can carry a service by themselves and the others can’t. Now this statement was not something that was a shock to me. Any musician who’s played at a church, for money or not, knows who the MVPs (Most Valuable Players) are, typically. I was just surprised to hear someone put it out in the open like that. With that said, am I to believe that my anointing is less valuable than the equally anointed keyboardist or organist?

Psalm 150:1-6

“1) Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power. 2) Praise him for his might acts: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3) Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: Praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4) Praise him with the timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5) Praise him upon the loud cymbals: Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6) Let everything that hath breath praise ye the Lord.

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