play me i’m yours

No such thing as girls like that

A Secret to My Success

by Bob Baker

Would you like to know one of the secrets to my success?

I learned long ago that positive, successful, empowered people do certain things a little differently than the majority of people. One of these things I started doing years ago, before I even knew it was a secret to success. I just naturally (and accidentally) gravitated toward doing it.

It’s a powerful thing. In fact, I believe it is one of the biggest reasons I’ve accomplished so many cool things in my life: becoming a published author, releasing three independent music releases, publishing a music magazine, becoming recognized as a top source for indie music marketing ideas, and more.

So … what’s the secret?

It’s simple, and something you can start doing right now to empower yourself. Here it is: Regularly feed your mind with positive messages, useful information and mind-expanding ideas.

I told you it was simple, but doing it makes all the difference in the world. Let me explain …

Our brains need constant stimulation to stay flexible and focused on reaching our goals. Think of it as a fitness program for your mind. You need to exercise regularly to keep your body in shape, right? The same thing applies to your brain, soul and spirit.

But there’s one more secret …

One way to feed your mind is with books, and I hope you do that (whether you read my books or anyone else’s). But the best way I’ve found to keep mentally fit is to soak up a lot of this great info with your ears. That’s why over the years I’ve built a growing personal library of audio programs covering everything from marketing, sales and publicity to health, wealth and spirituality.

By regularly feeding my mind with these ideas, I get energized and stay on top of the things I want to accomplish.

And best yet … audio is one of the most convenient ways to absorb great ideas. I listen a lot while I drive, turning my car into an intensive workshop on wheels. I also listen at home while exercising or working around the house or before going to bed at night.

I encourage you to do the same thing!

So, where do you start? What are the best titles to add to your personal success library? Only you can answer that question with certainty. But here are some titles that have inspired me that I suggest you consider:

• Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
• How To Be A No-Limit Person by Wayne Dyer
• Lead The Field by Earl Nightingale
• Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life by Shakti Gawain
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Goals: Setting And Achieving Them On Schedule by Zig Ziglar

I’m so sold on the audio format, I’ve made a vow to release more of my own material in this format. I’m kicking myself for not doing more of this sooner. I think more music people should benefit from this “secret to success.” Therefore, I also recommend you take a look at (and listen to) these new titles:

• What Every Musician Should Know About Self-Promotion
• Guerrilla Music Marketing LIVE: The Independent Path to a Successful Music Career

Your ears are powerful. They not only enable you to hear and enjoy music and voice and the sounds of nature. They also serve as an entry point for great ideas that can inspire you to greater heights and achievements.

Bob Baker is the author of “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,” “Unleash the Artist Within” and “Branding Yourself Online.” He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site and e-zine that deliver marketing tips, self-promotion ideas and other empowering messages to music people of all kinds. Get your FREE subscription to Bob’s e-zine by visiting The BuzzFactor today.

Myth buster

If you’re tired of the ’starving artist’ stereotype, check out this No more starving artists blog post.

Writer’s block

Q. I’m a guitar player. All my songs seem to be in the same few keys: G, C and E. And there isn’t much variety in my chord progressions either. How do I get unstuck?

A. I sometimes run into the same problem. Our fingers get accustomed to certain movements, like familiar chord changes and that limit our songwriting.

Here’s an exercise I use when my songs start sounding the same, especially when my guitar chords seem to all sound the same. I put the guitar away and write. I just walk around and work out some lyrics and a melody in my head. Sometimes my footsteps provide the beat.

When you break it down, the essence of a song is melody. The melody is what people remember. So if you have a good melody and lyrics that support it, you already have a good song. You can make it better by using creative chords, but the meat is the melody (unless you’re vegetarian and then the tofu is the melody).

I was amazed the first time I tried this. I came up with a melody and words. I was driving so there was no way I could use my guitar. When I later tried to put chords to it, I was surprised that the melody called for a chord sequence I would have never thought of, and one my fingers weren’t familiar with.

The guitar (even if you’re a real virtuoso and a creative hotshot) can limit you. Any instrument has its limits and you can stay within the instrument’s limitations or you can transcend them by writing without any instrument. So give your guitar a rest. I highly recommend it.

Another tool is to switch instruments. If you play piano, try writing on it instead of the guitar for awhile. In the end you may perform your new song on guitar, but the song will benefit from having been written on a different instrument. It doesn’t matter if you’re a weak pianist, because it’s only being used as a tool to break out of your old habits.

Guitar-playing songwriters love this one: try a different tuning, even something as simple as dropped D or DADGAD. Alternate tunings will put your fingers in unfamiliar territory. This is an easy way to get a whole new sound out of your guitar and to inspire different type of chords, melodies and lyrics. It’s so easy, it feels like cheating.

United breaks guitars

See the full story of how United broke Dave’s Taylor.

More on creativity in the twilight state

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. — Thomas Edison

Edison had a unique way of getting brilliant ideas. He would nap during the day in a chair or on a sofa. He knew that if he could get into that “twilight state” between wake and sleep, he could access the pure creative genius of his subconscious mind.

To prevent himself from falling into deep sleep, he would nap with his hand propped up on his elbow while he clutched a handful of ball-bearings. Then he would just drift off to sleep, knowing that his subconscious mind would take up the challenge of his problem and provide a solution. As soon as he went into too deep a sleep, his hand would drop and the ball-bearings would spill noisily on the floor, waking him up again. He’d then write down whatever was in his mind.

Surely, this method can work for artists as well as creative scientists.

Pop classics get classical treatment

If you’ve followed the career of Susan Werner, you know she is able to write well-crafted folk and pop melodies just as easily as songs in the style of Cole Porter and George Gershwin. She also has a first rate album of original gospel songs (from an agnostic perspective). You get the impression she has something completely different and inventive to reveal with every new CD. What else does she have up her sleeve?

Now she has released a new CD of classic pop covers, each arranged for chamber ensemble (think string quartet). For example, imagine Bob Marley’s Waiting in Vain done in the style of Erik Satie or a Bach treatment of Cat Steven’s The Wind. She gives the chamber music treatment to Stevie Wonder (a la Chopin), Marvin Gaye, Paul McCartney, the Animals, Paul Simon, Pete Seeger, the Beach Boys and more.

You’ll be amazed at how well these songs adapt. Or was it already in their DNA, just waiting to be revealed? This is how they’d have sounded if they had been written before the electric guitar era.

Listen to the NPR interview where she dicsusses the project. I love the quote about Paul McCartney and the powdered wig. Can you imagine Maybe I’m Amazed as a classical piece?

I first met Susan at NewSong Academy, where she taught a songwriting workshop. I tried to absorb what she taught and I bought all her CDs to study.

Noodling in the twilight state

Songwriters say they discover cool licks, chords and melodies from mindless noodling.

Try this when you’re too tired for a serious songwriting session or otherwise disinclined. Just relax, let your mind go blank and noodle on your instrument. Stay awake, but just barely. And make sure you have a recorder running to capture everything.

It’s in this in-between state that you can access some deep sub-conscious part of your mind or universal mind.

While this may not be considered the proper way to write a song, it’s one of those tricks that come in handy from time to time.

Young at heart