Skip to main content

A Little Bit of Resolve

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm The Wonderfish!

A new year is here! That's right, it's 2019 and I know you're all feeling the weight of those resolutions on your shoulders. For the first time, my resolution is based on music and I kind of, accidentally, on purpose, turned one idea into three... And I thought if I wrote about them here on The Music Bowl, it would amp up my determination.

My 2019 resolution was inspired by a post from this very blog. Heard wrote about listening journals and I cannot believe that in all my years working on music, I've never kept a journal for listening. Well, this is the year! I'll even share my first album with you - here's the opening track:




100 albums is the goal, but I won't be disappointed if I don't quite reach it, and I'll even be a little surprised if I manage to keep track of all the music. Just having the resolve to attempt this kind of record keeping caused me to dig in with my own practicing as well. I just finished a four month break from regular practice sessions due to new work and new school schedules. My guitar was not completely neglected, but I was nowhere near where I wanted to be in terms of keeping my chops up. In addition to the listening journal, I am resolving to work on guitar theory and improvisation this year through goal-oriented practicing, as opposed to just blocking off 30 minutes a day to play my guitar. I haven't gone too crazy with this, because I don't want to get carried away with plans only to find myself unable to fit everything in. I'm taking it four weeks at a time, so I have four goal sets for the month of January. I'm working on the first set this week and once the end of the month arrives, I'll be able to see what I've accomplished and adjust accordingly for February.

Fellow music fans, what are you working on in 2019? We'd love to hear from you.

Cheers to the New Year! Shark's in the water! See you next time.

Post inspired by Foo Fighters song of the same name:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Introduction From The Wonderfish

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm the Wonderfish. This is our first week posting, so some introductions are in order. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Our story begins on a street called State. Heard set sail from Europe when he was just a wee lad. His family settled in the small village of Dolgeville, which is in upstate New York in the USA. As luck would have it, and unbeknownst to Heard, his family moved into a house on State Street, an infamously musical street in the town. Historically, quite a few residents from State Street used their musical abilities to make a living, but that is a post for another day. Heard's new neighbors happened to be one of those families. Enter the Wonderfish. That's me, I'm a Wonderfish! My younger sister and I were raised in a musical family. I knew from an early age that I would learn how to play musical instruments. I had my first drum set at age 4 (thanks, Dad). I also knew that someday I would be a writer because I ...

A Man of Many Hats

Ahoy! From the first day I started playing bass in high school I knew I wanted to be a musician. Not everyone around me was as excited about this life choice as I was. For the past 20 or so years I have been asked what it is I do for a living. I've shared on this blog the different ways I have labeled myself over the years, in particular, that I am a self-employed musician, not an unemployed musician. I have made my living wages from music endeavors for years now. There have certainly been times when I've had day jobs, but only as a short term fix while my music life was in flux. Today I want to share yet another way of expressing yourself to those pesky relatives when they complain that you “need to get a real job.” Today's advice is simple: You are a musician. That's it. You don't have to label yourself as a teacher, performer, youtuber, and anything else that comes with your daily life. Being a musician means you are all these things and probably man...

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Ahoy! Time for another edition of Fin Mail, Heard style. One of my favorite musicians of all time is Dave Matthews. On Wednesday of this week, January 9th, he celebrated his 52nd. In honor of him and what his music has meant to me over the years you’ll find my letter of appreciation along with a few links to help get you familiar with his music if you’re not, and will give you an inside look into my favorite tracks of his if you are. Who are you inspired by? Leave us a comment or shoot us an email and let us know! Dear Dave, Happy Birthday! I hope you got to spend your day relaxing with family and not on the road travelling to another show. You music has been one of the largest inspirational forces in my life both as a musician, and as a human. I remember countless hours as a teenager lying on the floor of my room blasting Under the Table and Dreaming , Crash and Before These Crowded Streets. No matter what was happening in my life your music always fit as the perfect b...