Success

Stevie Wonder Gives the Thumbs Up on the Guitar Arrangements!

Wow!

Gang, I just got some amazing news….just in time for the launch of the Volume II “How to Play Stevie Wonder Fingerstyle Guitar DVD”…

What I am about to tell you is making me grin ear to ear right now! I can’t believe it.

A friend and DVD student of mine – guitarist Shaun Hopper was at the L.A. NAMM show and performed solo guitar on the “All Star Guitar Night”.

He had purchased the Vol I of my “Stevie Wonder” DVD series and plays all the material from the DVD. (Shaun is a killer player by the way!)

He performed some of the Stevie Wonder guitar arrangements at NAMM and guess what?

Stevie Wonder himself was there at NAMM, and got word of the solo guitar arrangements!

Stevie and Shaun met – and Stevie loved the arrangements of his music for fingerstyle guitar. Shaun kindly told Stevie about me & the DVD instruction.

It just don’t get any cooler than that! Here’s the email & pic….

Hey buddy! Wanted you to know I played the All Star Guitar night in LA. at the NAMM show and stole the show with a standing O!! Thanks to you!!!

I gave you complete credit on the mic in front of 1300 people for teaching the style of Stevie Wonder on the guitar and because of that Stevie had his people come find me today and he wanted to hear more.

I got to play for him and HE LOVED IT!! I told him I learned from you! Channeling your style made me a one of a kind player at NAMM!! You’re amazing, Adam.

Update – Vol I & II of the Stevie Wonder fingerstyle guirar DVDS are now available as a bundle – Click Here

Shaun Hopper and Stevie Wonder at NAMM 2012

What You Can Learn from the Joshua Bell Story

By Adam Rafferty 14 Comments

There’s an urban legend about a world class violinist named Joshua Bell who played his solo violin concert program of J.S. Bach on a 3.5 million dollar instrument in the Washington Metro at rush hour.

Riders walked past, no one “listened” except for snippets – and he earned about 32 bucks.

The writer’s slant on the story is this:

“If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

I disagree COMPLETELY with is idea.

Joshua Bell demonstrated an “unsuccessful gig” in the midst of his “successful gigs” and showed all musicians that presentation counts – since the music was a “constant” in the equation. Do’h!!!

It’s NOT on the audience to learn how to be appreciative.
It’s UP to US musicians to learn how to present ourselves properly. (Joshua of course knows how – and was doing an experiment.)

Holding the public accountable for “not noticing us” is a victim mentality, and is very disempowering for musicians.

Whether we see ourselves as concert hall worthy, restaurant gig worthy or street worthy – we will end up playing places that are in accordance with our beliefs.

We are 100% responsible for our vision of where we want to be – even if it is not yet manifest. That starts inside, not outside.

How can I say this utterly blunt stuff?

For years I saw myself as the restaurant guitar guy – which is fine, and not a criticism of anyone playing gigs like that. My self image kept me there, but I realized I wanted more.

Only when I changed the self image (not easy) to being a concert and festival player….life changed around me – as if by magic.

If I did it, you can do it too.

Let me ask you….

Have you ever noticed GREAT musicians who seem to be unappreciated?
Have you ever seen “bla” musicians who have GREAT performance opportunities?

To the victim this seems really unfair, as if evil is winning over good.

To the empowered musician, it makes 100% perfect sense and is totally fair.

It’s all obeying the Law of Attraction.

We all create our worlds in accordance with our beliefs.

The Empowered Take Away Idea:

Even if your music is absolutely world class…you now know, from the subway story, that the “public” needs more than your music alone.

If you want to reach your audience, then this matters too:

How You Dress
How Your Materials Look
Your Punctuality
Where You Choose To Play
Under What Conditions You Choose To Play

I’m making a new moral of the story:

“If we do not have a moment to think about how we present ourselves and our best musical efforts, how many gig opportunities are we missing?”

I’m not posting this to add to the lump of online “how to get gigs” articles.

I am posting this because the victim mentality is poisionous to musicians, and the “take 100% responsibility” mentality is healthy, empowering and leads to greater happiness.

What’s in it For Them?

By Adam Rafferty 5 Comments

You’re a stone cold musician. You love playing your instrument, (or singing) practicing, writing, doing gigs…it fills your soul and it’s your life’s purpose.

(That’s kind of how I have felt since I was a kid…)

Maybe you even go to music school and get a degree. You work hard and make a CD and now you are ready to tackle the world.

After that, the “great scroll of your life’s plan” does NOT come down from the heavens to present you with a step by step fairty tale of a music career. Now what?

The work starts…the “hustle” – finding gigs, making contacts, paying the rent, maybe teaching a little, playing gigs here and there – restaurants, maybe a wedding…who knows…

I’ve been there.

As musicians, we all need to ask ourselves “what’s in it for them?” Answering this simple question changes everything.

We all want to do “our thing” but to get paid and have a happy, joyous musical existence – we must provide value. Someone must benefit from what we do.

If you are trying to “make it” (I love putting that in quotes) you can’t just indulge in “your thing” and hope that things will magically work out….you have to:

Give your listeners a great experience (musically, visually, socially)
Give the venue / club / promoter a reason to hire you – i.e. they need to sell something like tickets, drinks, food, merchandise – in order to justify paying you.

I always find it funny how musicians balk at the idea of playing weddings, parties, and also giving music lessons.

In both of those cases – it’s so clear! You are providing value and getting paid for it. It is worth noting that when you provide value, you get paid! That’s worthy of a celebration in my book.

Remember – even much of Bach’s music served a purpose (church gigs, weddings and teaching.)

I see so many musicians out there struggling because they completely overlook how they can “give value” to their customers.

For example:

Joe Music Man spends 99% of his time down the rabbit hole of musical study and expression, writing, recording & cd pressing (which is great). It costs money and time…

Then when the rent is due, Joe Music Man spends 1% of the time dealing with his business model – and says “it’s hard, unfair and criminal that I have no gigs – and furthermore that musical retard Ms. So-and-So does…”

Chances are that if Ms. So-and-So is “making it” – she is providing value with their music to the person paying them, moreso that Joe Music Man. Like it or not, it’s probably true.

This is not to say she’s more talented. She’s providing more value (probably by getting more people down to her gigs.)

Czech it out! It’s GOT to be an exchange – you give value and get something in return.

Always ask yourself “what’s in it for them?”

The “Tweezer Technique” for Fingerstyle Guitar

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

Hi Gang!

Wow, it’s been a helluva travel time here…I am now back in NYC after 9 weeks on the road in Germany, Austria Belgium and Holland – and Niagra Falls.

Many loyal fans took video at gigs. When I saw this, I thought I’d finally share this “secret” technique with you.

I call it the Tweezer Technique.

Normally I don’t show this kind of stuff casually, as it took years and years to develop. But, I’ve decided it’s time to make this public – and spread the knowledge and joy to all players, and not keep this a secret any longer.

Enjoy! The Tweezer Technique can be seen at about 3:04 – but it can only be appreciated if you watch from the beginning and see “musical context” that it is in.

Feel free to use it in your own guitar playing.

[youtube=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbDENaqJY-0″]

Thanks again! keep on picking….

Adam

P.S. The Stevie Wonder Vol II Arrangements for Fingerstyle Guitar DVD will launch in about a month…so stay tuned! 🙂

7 Tips for Dealing With Stage Fright and Nerves

By Adam Rafferty 55 Comments

Greets from the road!

I’d like to address an issue many guitarists and other musicians face, and that’s the issue of stage fright and nervousness.

This came up with friends last night as we were hanging out after my gig. So, even though I am a touring pro, I still get nervous sometimes.

Here’s some advice based on my real-life experience playing solo concerts.

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