At the beginning of 2023, I vowed to get serious about learning the piano. I started a routine of thirty minutes of piano practice at eight every morning. I did this near one-hundred percent of the time, with the exception of the times I did not have a piano or keyboard around.
It is a big accomplishment for me to spend a year on a routine. It is my belief that if I had to take a pill every day to live, it would not take long for me to forget to take it.
The goal of the piano practice, is to work on tiny things and not think about progress. At the end of thirty minutes, I just walk away and go about my day. I might practice or play more, but at 8am, I practice small things for thirty minutes. It might be lifting and dropping my pinky for ten of those minutes and other things that small. It might just be a certain four notes over and over.
I have really enjoyed this process. It has kept me from being over-whelmed with what I can and cannot play. It is as much of a meditation as it is a practice.
I wish I had learned this approach in my youth, but I probably would not have been ready to absorb it. In my fifties though, I am ready. I am always very slow to learn a lesson, but I am grateful for it when I do.
I wanted to extend this idea to other things. This is where I typically go wrong, get cocky and try to go too far, too fast.
A new habit I decided on was a create day. Saturdays are my create day. I wake, do my forty-five minute morning routine and then I do not have my phone in the room for six hours and I create. Whether it be writing or music. I do not try to cram a bunch in. I might just sit during some of this time and think, but I will not look at a phone, I will not be on the internet and I will not watch anything. It is as scary as you might think it is.
This goal, as you might have guessed, has been slow to gain steam. I started this on May thirteenth of twenty twenty-three, but I have only done this seven or eight Saturdays since.
The first Saturday I did this, was terrible. I sat at the piano trying to write a song the entire six hours. I could not write anything. I thought that maybe I just no longer had anything to say. As the six hours were coming to a close, I tried to fight that feeling. I hit a chord on the piano and quickly fumbled for words. The words that fell out of my mouth were, “I can’t hold you accountable for my own feelings” and I kind of like that. In order to not lose it, I recorded the idea at the end of the six hours.
Here is that recording I did on 5/13/23.
A few mornings ago, almost ten months later, I decided to record a snapshot of where the song is at this time. I have not been working on this song all this time, but there was a time when I did work on it quite a bit. I imagine I will get around to working on it some more.
It is usually hard to hit record and listen back, but I am really loving the process of things just being what they are in that moment, knowing the moment changes every time I play. It keeps me out of my own head most of the time.
Here is the recording I did on 3/7/24.
From twenty-twenty through twenty-twenty-two it felt selfish and meaningless for me to write songs or play out. I felt that people had enough on their plates and did not really need some old white guy singing about his feelings. I still feel that way a bit, but this process is not about that. This process is about the process. Its’ purpose is to find joy again in the process of creating something. Where it goes from there and who listens is not something to concern myself with.
I am working my way to a new album. I am trying to make that happen this year, but I am not going to tie myself too tightly to that goal. It happens when it happens. There is something to be said for having goals and deadlines, but there is as much or more to be said for just showing up every day and putting in the time.
I play my second show this year in a few days. It feels scary and good. I am grateful for the people who offer me a space to do so and I am grateful for the people who come to hear me. I am not always good at showing my gratitude. I am aware of that or at least I am aware that I feel that way. I am always trying to be better at accepting kind words and projecting them back. Thank you again to my friend Lindsey for thinking of me and adding me to this wonderful bill.
The show is during SXSW at our printshop and put on by Dear Life Records and the New New Sincerity. Below is the flyer before any updates. I imagine it now goes til eight or so. I am not sure what time I am playing, but it is going to be a real hang with lots of great music. Stop by if you get a chance to enjoy whoever is playing during the time you can be there.
Thank you for listening and subscribing. I appreciate you being here and I try hard to be concise, entertaining and respectful of your time.
Also, i’m going to try and stop in next week. 🤞🤞
It was so good to run into you this afternoon!