The Dan Plan – Proving the 10,000 Hours Theory
I ran across an article about the Dan Plan today, and I think every musician (or want-to-be musician) should read it.
Dan is your average guy who is doing a slightly phenomenal thing: His plan is to become a pro golfer in six years through hardHe decided he wanted to prove the 10,000 hour theory. (Wait, you’re familiar with Malcom Gladwell‘s theory that one can become amazingly great at something if they put in 10,000 hours of practice, right? Cool.) So that’s what Dan’s doing. He quit his job as a commercial photographer and hits the golf course every day for six hours. He’s doing this for six years, and blogging, posting on Twitter, updating on Facebook during the experience.
Here’s the catch: He’s never really golfed before this self-created challenge.
Can Dan turn from beginner to pro in six years? It’s a long shot, but I’m not following him on Twitter or Facebook to only find out that answer (even though how cool would it be to see him in the PGA!). No, I’m reading for a reminder to be courageous and dedicated. As a musician, I’m finding Dan’s plan completely inspiring, a powerful reminder to stop saying, “Oh, I wish I could have…but I never started when I was younger and it’s too late now.” A powerful reminder to try that inner wish we’ve only imagined.
I think this guy knows what I’m talking about.
What if every person who had an itch to try playing a musical instrument just did it? We’d have new pockets of communities being strengthened. Neighbors would become jam partners. More bars and coffee house would host open mics. More campfires would be filled with music.
Maybe the Dan Plan will help inspire some new plans for future musicians. We don’t have to quit our jobs to do it (well, some of us might have to), but we do need to quit coming up with excuses and recognize hours of practice can be a deeply rewarding experience. Especially when you can finally play that favorite song with your own hands.
Juggling a Cover Song List = Plate Spinning
Lately, I have been ignoring a growing problem: The more cover gigs I book, the more cover songs I learn, the harder it gets to maintain my growing book of songs. In fact, it was starting to feel impossible.
I was forced to acknowledge this problem while playing at Stout in Brighton last weekend. Paul, a returning patron who drove all the way from Ypsilanti to catch my gig, struck-up a conversation with me during my break. “Mike, that’s quite a book of covers! How do you keep them all fresh in your head?” he asked.
This is what my brain is becoming!
“Well, honestly, I don’t!” I replied. “I trust quite a bit of muscle memory.” He laughed and said he had some homework to assign me, requesting I add some Life House tunes to my set.
This struck me. I used to know “Hanging by a Moment,” two summers ago, but had long forgotten it. In fact, most of my rehearsing for cover gigs had been so one-sided, only focused on only learning new songs, that I was making simple mistakes in songs I should know like the back-of-my-hand. “Drift Away,” “Ohio,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”–I was forgetting a lyric here and a chord there in tunes I rely on too much.
I needed to face it: I was having trouble keeping 200+ songs fresh while finding the time to learn new songs.
Last week, I decided to find an answer to a difficult question: How can I balance my rehearsal time between “old songs” (songs I already play) and “new songs” (songs I’ve just learned) and still put on an energetic performance? I needed to view my cover song list like a plate-spinning juggler does his plates. So I found my plates, by dividing my master cover list into four sections.
Picture doing this juggling act with songs!
This week I’ll be blogging about each section in more detail and how I’m targeting my juggling act to reach these goals:
1. Continuing to add new songs to my cover list
2. Fixing the problem of neglecting my regular cover songs
3. Feeling better prepared each week
Songwriting tip: Symbolic cities can be a person
“Sweet Home Alabama,” “New York State of Mind,” “Ventura Highway”–these are three memorable songs that capture themes about a place we all can share. Writing about a city is a helpful tool for the songwriter to make lyrics memorable.
Oh my Kalamazoo, how I miss you!
Sometimes a song not only needs a setting, but a symbolic city. Places are the landscapes around the people we know–or knew–there, and using a metaphorical city to represent a person can add depth to a static tune. I borrowed this strategy when writing “Kalamazoo.” The last verse invokes the memory of walking on that herringbone bricked street found at Kalamazoo Mall years after I had graduated from WMU. Revisiting my college town was like revisiting the steps of my past. Even though most of the people I knew there had moved too, the memories of those people came rushing back to me.
Let’s consider another song with a symbolic city, Ryan Adam’s hit “New York, New York.” The song became an anthem for NYC after 9-11 because of the chorus’s optimism: “I still love you New York!” However, the song is really addressing lost love, a girl associated with the city. I love how the verses nostalgically walk through the memory of the unnamed person as much as the memory of the named city, with such odd lines that only Ryan Adam could find.
Symbolic cities help us to add depth to a song and give us a palate of details to use. If you get stuck during the Noreastr 24 Hour Song Challenge, revisit a place from your life and a person you knew there.
“New York, New York”
Well, I shuffled through the city on the 4th of July
I had a firecracker waiting to blow
Breakin’ like a rocket who makin’ its way
To the cities of Mexico
Lived in an apartment out on Avenue A
I had a tar-hut on the corner of 10th
Had myself a lover who was finer than gold
But I’ve broken up and busted up since
Chorus
And love don’t play any games with me
Anymore like she did before
The world won’t wait, so I better shake
That thing right out there through the door
Hell, I still love you, New York
Found myself a picture that would fit in the folds
Of my wallet and it stayed pretty good
Still amazed I didn’t lose it on the roof of the place
When I was drunk and I was thinking of you
Every day the children they were singing their tune
Out on the streets and you could hear from inside
Used to take the subway up to Houston and 3rd
I would wait for you and I’d try to hide
And love won’t play any games with me
Anymore if you don’t want it to
The world won’t wait and I watched you shake
But honey, I don’t blame you
Hell, I still love you, New York
Hell, I still love you, New York
New York
I remember Christmas in the blistering cold
In a church on the upper west side
Babe, I stood their singing, I was holding your arm
You were holding my trust like a child
Found a lot of trouble out on Avenue B
But I tried to keep the overhead low
Farewell to the city and the love of my life
At least we left before we had to go
And love won’t play any games with you
Anymore if you want ’em to
So we better shake this old thing out the door
I’ll always be thinkin’ of you
I’ll always love you though New York
I’ll always love you though New York, New York, New York
Adams, Ryan. “New York, New York.” Gold. Lost Highway, 2001.
(If you just asked, “What is the Noreastr Festival?” read this blog and check out their website.)
Breaking news! I just pitched an idea and the board liked it, so I will be hosting the first ever 24 Hour Songwriting Challenge during the Noreastr Festival in June. Best of all, it’s free for festival attendees to participate!
Here’s how it works. On Saturday (probably around 11 AM), I’ll be hosting a songwriting challenge workshop. Particpants will be assigned three words, and they will have 24 hours to write a song using those three words. The only rules for the competition is the lyrics must use those three words in some way (not only in the title).
Then, on Sunday participants will meet up for an “in-the-round” songwriting circle to share their creations. Prizes will be awarded for winners, but the main goal is to inspire creation and community. Also, I’ll be featuring regular blogs with songwriting tips each week leading up to Noreastr Festival (June 10-12).
* * *
I must give credit where credit is due: My idea was inspired from my participation in last year’s Ypsilanti Songwriting Festival‘s at the Ypsilanti District Library. Here’s a video of me playing at the YSF10.
June 10-12 – Noreastr Festival
1889 Caldwell Rd
Mio, Michigan
Noreastr Festival is, hands down, my favorite music event in Michigan. I’ve performed at it years past, and have been attending it for the last three years as a concert-goer. I encourage you to join us for a fun weekend of music, food, and community!
20 reasons I love to attend this festival:
- Excellent roots music line-up, blending Michigan musicians and national acts
- Small enough to be apart of the music, large enough to be an event (roughly 1000 attendees)
- Close enough to drive in an afternoon for Michigan residents, but still feels like an adventure
- Camping where the musicians camp too
- The gorgeous, scenic Michigan setting
- Free workshops about songwriting, guitar playing, mandolins, etc.
- Larry’s “Gobs n’ Knobs” workshop about PA set-up tips!
- Multiple chances to see an act from the main stag or the parlor room
- Campfire guitar circles late into the night!
- Rootstand’s informal drum circle sing-alongs at the bonfire
- Annie Capps’s enthusiastic MC presence!
- Seeing an act for the first time, and becoming an immediate fan (Last year fav: Caravan of Thieves)
- Checking out the vendors selling crafts, hand-made drums, metal work, art, etc.
- Buying food for affordable prices
- The Blue Water Rambler’s late-night/early morning jam sessions
- Meeting new people at the campsites
- Being interviewed by A3 Radio who broadcasts live from the festival
- Affordable ticket prices
- Seeing impressive guitar playing on stage (like Jason Dennie!)
- Easy to find, easy to park, easy to depart
Noreastr Festival is about community. You get to know the people at the festival, and you’ll see them again if you continue going to local shows like Carrick’s House Concerts in Clarkston, a Seth Bernard show at the Blind Pig, a Step ‘in It show at the Green Door, or Blissfest. This is a place where friendships form, where musicians rub elbows, where you will be introduced to new roots music.
I encourage you to join us!
