Eliminate the "No"!

The first time I saw an electric guitar up close happened while I was waiting for my mom to finish the paperwork to rent my cornet for middle school band. It was a stratocaster type knock-off, red with white pickguard and it.was.beautiful! I ran my fingers across the open strings and the slight dissonance jarred me. The man behind the counter said out loud, "Would you like to learn that one instead?" and I thought to myself, "Could I ever play that instrument?" It seemed so complicated to me, 6 strings to deal with on both hands? The small things I had learned in the first few days of band class were still foreign to me! I told him "no" and left without much concern, though my mind kept wandering back to the red electric guitar.

It would be three more years before I sat down with my grandmother's acoustic to learn to play, urged on by both a quest to find my identity and the gift of free time that comes with being young. I had a few rudimentary chord charts and a pitch-pipe, yet things seemed to fall into place. . .

I realized that the instrument was, duh!, made for the hands! But the chords did not necessarily make sense to me alone. It took organizing them in a certain order that made it sound interesting to my ears. Of course this was a tortoise-paced, roundabout way of learning harmonic progression, but I wouldn't know that until it was made clear in studies at school.

If I had only said "yes" to the question years earlier would I now be light-years ahead in my skills? One can never say for sure. However when I see my students pick up something that took me years to learn in a few week's worth of lessons, I wonder. . .

I believe that telling yourself "no" before trying them can make easy tasks seem daunting. If we just give ourselves the benefit of the doubt we often find that the task is simple and not outside our abilities. At Matt Burk Music Studio, we can provide small insights into the instrument that YOU are interested in. We offer customized, private lessons in piano, guitar, drums, bass, voice, songwriting, and audio production. Matt Burk Music Studio: Learn, Create, Perform!

Wanted: Bass Player!

 

Although I don't teach it primarily, I have played the bass for a few bands in Chicago and Dallas. There is a certain stigma that comes with the instrument and some feel that it is secondary to guitars and drums. . . This couldn't be further from the truth! Low end is a necessity in all popular forms of contemporary music!If the drums are the backbone, the bass is the thumping heart. It creates a liaison between the keyboards, guitar, and drums that rounds out the rhythm section. While there are many popular acts that don't use a bass player, I can't imagine a Led Zeppelin without John Paul Jones or the Beatles without Paul. Where would the jazz world be today without Charlie Mingus? Would the Red Hot Chili Peppers made it without Flea? What I'm getting at is that the musical world always needs bass players. Good players are high in demand and great players can be seen on tour or in the studio being paid for session work. At Matt Burk Music Studio, we offer private bass lessons that will demonstrate the art form and fun that playing the bass can bring about, whether you're young, old, experienced or novice. We tailor our lessons to the student and set reachable goals that can be measured.  Perhaps you agree with me  but the bass just isn't your instrument? We also offer private piano, guitar, drum, voice, songwriting, and audio production lessons! Matt Burk Music Studio: Learn, Create, Perform!

Creativity and the "Outside" Perspective

There is nothing quite like writing music with others that gets the creative "juices" flowing. Sometimes we as composers and performers can get stuck in a writing rut, playing the same chord progressions, repeating the same rhythms, hearing the same melodies! We have to escape "the box" and one of the best ways to do so is to get an outside perspective. Remember, even the Beatles had Brian Epstein to help them write and record some of the most popular songs worldwide! We here at Matt Burk Music Studio can help you do the same! Whether it is vocal coaching, songwriting, learning "killer licks", awesome beats, bringing the low end, or how to "tickle the ivory"; we can give you the positive reinforcement and help you to advance to the next level with your musicianship!