Are you super busy and it seems like you have no time to make music? Me too, which is why I’m sharing with you my top 5 tips that will help you (and me!) create more music in 2018.
- Play Music Every Day
- Schedule or make time every day to play or create music
- Even 5 minutes will help establish a routine – perhaps plays a cover of one of your favourite songs?
- The more you play, the more you will want to play
- Look at what you currently do now that you could replace with music – TV? Video Games?
- Schedule time with yourself – block out time in your calendar for music
- Need motivation? Set up a Soundcloud, FaceBook page or YouTube channel to share your sessions
- Check out my FaceBook page at http://fb.me/PeteJohnsMusic for ideas
- Capture Your Ideas
- Use a notebook, the voice memo app on your phone or a dedicated system like Music Memos or GarageBand – whatever works for you
- Clearly label, tag or categorise your ideas so you can find them again next time
- Set up your smartphone camera and record a playing session so you don’t miss any of those gems
- If you’re looking to record a demo or a song idea, GarageBand on iPad/iPhone is a great option
- Check out my video where I record a singer/songwriter demo in GarageBand using just my iPad and a pair of headphones here: https://youtu.be/FiFerT4ULUw
- Finish Your Songs
- At the start of 2017 I had a whole heap of quarter, half and three quarter finished songs
- Do you know how hard it is to release half a song? Pretty darn hard
- When you are writing a song, try carrying it all the way through including all your lyrics, chord progressions, and arrangements
- If it’s not perfect – that’s okay! When you record it you’ll likely tweak and re-arrange parts, change words and even remove whole sections
- When I recorded my recent single “There’s No Such Thing as College”, I removed the entire intro just two days before I released it
- Take a look at my video series where I record the whole song here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8Xg_23Wa54JbyH9esoa9Vx-8iM1y5rZ
- Listen to the finished song here: https://youtu.be/wKWLUKnS-Ro
- Release Your Songs
- Share your music – whether it’s through Soundcloud, FaceBook, YouTube or distributing to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music – get your music out there!
- A theory made popular by author Seth Godin is that art is only art once you “ship it”, meaning sharing it with others
- This can be scary! Others will not always love everything you do, and this is 100% okay – do you love every genre, artist and song?
- Share with people you trust and whose opinion you value – try to filter out the unnecessary negative comments, but listen to the constructive feedback
- For example, when I shared my song “Anxiety”, I got a lot of positive and constructive feedback, but one person commented that a song about anxiety should be heavier – their opinion is worth noting, but I didn’t add rock guitars to my track based on this one coment
- Consider releasing your tracks professionally to iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and all streaming platform – this ensures you truly “finish” your songs, as there’s no going back to change once released
- It is easier than ever to release music yourself using services like Distrokid – check our my video where I show how I release my song “Anxiety” here: https://youtu.be/sj4r3-vGQOM
- Listen to the finished song here: https://youtu.be/sKzqBRut0Zw
- Connect With a Community
- Get involved in your local music scene by going to gigs, meeting other musicians and making contacts
- Don’t have a vibrant music scene nearby – there are plenty of great communities online
- There are Facebook groups, forums and YouTube channels where you can connect and chat with other users
- Share your music and listen to other people’s music – you’ll learn something new every day
- Be careful that you don’t JUST do this – watching tutorial videos and discussing concepts with other people is great, but no substitute for creating your own music
- Check out my favourite community on FaceBook – the GarageBand Users group at http://studiolivetoday.com/gbu
Conclusion
- I hope this gave you some ideas and motivation that will help you create more great music in 2018
- Once you’ve spent some time writing that next amazing song, feel free to check out all my videos and tutorials by heading over to http://studiolivetoday.com
Subscribe to my new show at: http://watch.twodollarlooker.com
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