There’s something to be said about small beginnings. Doingsomething small for a small audience is a good place to start.But, starting anything new is always difficult. Performers needto test the water, to break the ice. We all need to getexperience somehow but not at the risk of making ourselves lookbad or worse, disappointing your audience. Audiences will onlybe as forgiving as their level of expectation. The secret isnever to promise too much. After learning to finger pick my first guitar chord, I wrote agritty, poetic one chord song and performed it on stage for asmall crowd at a downtown...

What happens when young people discover their identity isnothing short of apocalyptic and reason enough to change. Likeit or not, as the spirit rises, the soul collides with the mindand all that is known is challenged. Every generation grows upwith a vision of how they want their world to be. They fix whatneeds fixing and change what needs changing. America was living in a bubble in the 1950’s. Everyone in theworld knew that : everyone, that is, except Americans. It shouldhave come as no surprise when young people started questioningthe absolute authority of adults living in an unforgiving...

You’ve written a few good songs, made a dollar or two jammingwith a few bands or busking on the corner. Now, you’re no longersatisfied: dreaming of stardom, you’re hungry for the big time.The worst thing to do is to hold out for the big break thatnever happens: Better to play for the love of music. With nofalse hopes and no illusions, start from zero. Somewhere,there’s an audience for you. Let someone hear you – mother,daughter, friend, lover – and listen to what they have to say.Drink in the encouragement and consider their criticism. It’sall good. Just...

The biggest thing you have to worry about is that there are somany – too many – groups trying to climb the ladder. What youneed is exposure. Promotion and publicity comes at a premium.There’s a storm on the street. We’re caught in a blizzard ofentertainment. The closer you get to the center, the nearer youget to the top, the less will see or been seen. It’s like awhite out in winter. The place where most people give up. Ah,but, the winners live in the eye of the hurricane where it’scalm and quiet. The ones who are centered are safe. The ones whoknow their way...

Here is a free acoustic guitar lesson to help you improveyour guitar playing skills quickly.This guitar learning techique will teach you how to fingerpickfolk-style, but in a Latin rhythm in the key of A. This Latinrhythm has eight quick beats to the measure, and is accented onthe first, the fourth, and the seventh beats.Your free acoustic guitar lesson will focus on using yourright hand, and your thumb will play the accented beats. Yourfingers will follow. Finger number one, the index finger, is topluck the third string on beats two, five, and eight, andfingers two and three will pluck the second...

What makes a great love song? The truth is, a songwriter didn’tcompose a great love song, a singer didn’t sing a great lovesong, but the ones who listen to it make it great, especiallywhen two twine together as one – a romance. We, therefore, arethe ones who pick it one in “Top 10 love songs” or “Best lovesongs ever.” Even my ex-boyfriend and I used to have that as oursong – “Lover, I don’t have to love” by Bright Eyes. It seemedfoolish because its song title, lyrics, and even melody arebittersweet and melancholy. We didn’t...