The 10,000th Hour

That is the minimum number of hours you need to spend in order to be successful in anything you do. Be it music, arts, sports or technical work. Anything that requires hours of practices to be perfect, yea, that's the requirement to be a professional.

I wished someone told me this earlier and the how to. But its ok. Never too late to start now!

Just downloaded a new app to assist me in reaching this goal. Its called iGoal (its free!)

From my calculations, 4hrs/day would take me 7 years to reach this goal. So, either I maintain this or up it to 5hours a day to take 5.5years. I think I better work out a programme asap!

Rhythm Section...

Thank you KJ Wong for sharing this:

An Excerpt from the rhythm section workshop by steve houghton.

CLARITY AND DEFERENCE

Next to groove, clarity and deference are the two most important words for rhythm sections. Clarity is essential. Never tolerate a rhythm section that muddies the sound of the ensemble. Here are some factors that can affect clarity: playing at the wrong volume, playing too much, playing inappropriately,, playing too many sustained chords, playing with a poor sense of time and groove.

Deference implies that a player will yield (or defer) to someone else by leaving space in his or her own part. The space that one player leaves highlights the beautiful idea in someone else's part. So you see, deference is a key element in achieving clarity.

TIME IS A WEIGHT
Although it is the rhythm section's job to play with excellent time, it is not the rhythm section's sole responsibility to do so. Think of time as a weight, perhaps a steel plate weighing 500lbs. If we lower that plate onto the ensemble, and ask everyone to raise their arms up to hold it, they will find the weight quite manageable. It seems to float in the air. But, if we instruct everyone except the drummer to let go, all will be crushed by the weight. The same is true with time. It floats in effortless fashion when each ensemble member holds up his or her little piece of it.

 

 

http://vicfirth.com/education/jazz-rhythm-section101.php

 

Tell me again what the cost are...

You probably shouldn't pursue music

July 16, 2012

There's a lot of risk in trying to follow your dreams of being a musician. You should probably play it safe and pursue something more comfortable.
There's a chance things things might not work out the way you planned or thought they would. Maybe you should save your time and not even give it a shot.
Saying no to hanging with friends so you can spend hours a day perfecting your craft is a drag. Maybe you should just work only as hard as everyone else and coast for a bit.
You'll definitely have to go through times of not making a lot of money. If you get a stable job, you'll be able to buy that T.V. you were looking at. (don't even get me started
about the crappy car you may have to drive)
Right now being successful in music, or even functioning, means probably having to travel on the road and being away from your friends and significant other for a bit. That sucks, it's probably not worth it.
Most careers have a clear path that if you follow it (certain amount of schooling, intern and work your way up) you'll find success. Music IS NOT one of these. That means uncertainty, and you probably don't want to deal with that.

...or maybe you're one of the few willing to take the risk, recognize the cost and follow your dreams.

robMORGAN

In a Emotional Mood

Tiffany's Birthday - Celebration with Thai Sone.

SNSD's 5th debut Anniversary - Message from Sooyoung and Tiffany.

Dato Lee Chong Wei's silver medal - Men do shed tears.

These 3 events mentioned above is making me quite emotional. Fany is so nice to accept the birthday celebration that the Thai Sones had prepared for her while she was filming a commercial in Thailand. And after they sang her the birthday song she asked if they wanted to have a photo with them. What a lovely lady she is!

SNSD's 5th Anniversary, all the memories put together on Youtube can make me wanna cry man. Seeing them 'grow up' and the messages they post just show how much they love their fans. I have yet to come across an idol group so huge in fame showing so much love to their fans. Makes me proud to be a Sone!

And last but not least, Dato Lee Chong Wei, after being defeated by Lin Dan, shed tears because he didnt managed to clinch the gold medal for this country. You know those tears were not only personal, but one that was shed on behalf of a nation. A burden that he carried for a nation, whose hopes for a Gold Medal was pined. Yet he wasnt a sore loser, he accepted defeat, hugged his rival and took home the silver medal. Those tears in his eyes showed just how apologetic he was about not being able to win home a gold. But Dato Lee Chong Wei is still the only Malaysian to have won 2 silver medals at the Olympics.

Love, Hope, Faith, Respect.

先苦后甜

Mock. Laugh. Say whatever you want. But I'm not going to take offense, I'll continue to be nice. Why? Cause I dont need to react to your actions. I can stand to be wrong, take the longer way. Be the noob forever in your eyes, but I wont do anything that I would not want you to do to me.
(This is my outlet for letting things out, so no count)

I knew this was gonna happen, but I took the risk anyway. Oh well, no one to blame, nothing to be angry or sad about. Just gotta readjust my life and have a plan that hopefully works.

Ah, having a taste of my own medicine I thought I would never take. Yes, it sure is bitter.

But as the chinese proverbs says: 先苦后甜. I hope that it'll be as the saying goes...
(I know its out of context, but yea... haha!)

A quarter of a Century

So 2 days back I hit the "Quarter of a Century Old" mark. Was going to reflect and post something but as usual, laziness got the better of me.

This year things seem to have become quieter. In the sense that I usually get a word from God for my life at each birthday. But this year I've not heard anything. I'm not sure if its because I have not been close to Him or been sensitive towards Him. But I know He speaks when He wants to, not dependent on how close am I or what not.

Yes, I have not been regularly attending church, or reading the bible or praying or doing the healthy disciplines of a Christian. But that does not mean I do not care about God or that there is zero interaction between us. I merely am not giving as much time as I love to have with Him.

Well the main thing I wanna write today is not so much about my birthday or about my relationship with God. I wanna write about people and life in general.

You know I love my friends and I hate to be doing things alone. I would sacrifice some of the things I would love to do and go along with their plans. But recently I have been experiencing something that I almost never have felt or experienced before.

I have now moved into a new place with a college mate. He is my senior and with another junior, 3 of us share an apartment. Living here is fine, but I finally guess now I know what my previous housemate must have felt when C and I went out often without him. Being left of your friend's plan is possibly the most "sian" thing to feel.

It wouldn't be that bad if we were just housemate or we just met. It hit me quite badly cause last semester we hung out so much and honestly I really think he is a good friend. Its just that this semester things start to change. Firstly he would have plans without telling me. Then his actions or what he does feels sly-ish. Like go out when I am sleeping or showering. I mean, just tell me la. If you dont want me to follow or what just say. I rather you tell me than to have me second guess your action or sense what you are up to.

I am thankful for the birthday dinner he planned and got some friends together. But day to day, I feel used because now he would only find me if he needs my help. I mean, I can act and smile all the time but I think some self reflection is needed here. Everyone can be selfish and do what works for themselves but that would be so sad. A society that is so inward looking.

If any of you reading this fully understand the meaning of this post, I would gladly appreciate that you keep it to yourself. I'm letting it out here cause I want to maintain this friendship. Not for any gains but I truly am grateful for a friend like him. Just that there are some issues that I need to let it go and this is my outlet.

Now as I type this, I am thinking; should I from now on just be selfish and do what I wanna do or continue to be friendly and keep going on like nothing has happened. I dont know. I think I have ranted enough and I'll see what happens next. Maybe things would get better, maybe there would be a last straw. Who knows? Just wait and see.

Favour

Increased anointing increases favor. Increased favor increases demands. And increased demands always take us away from community. That's why fellowship is called a sacrifice in Hebrews 13:16. This sacrifice MUST remain a priority for us to end well. - Bill Johnson