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Category Archives: Thoughts
How I beat tendonitis
At a workshop in London earlier this month I was asked if I had ever had to deal with any physical problems related to playing guitar, and specifically tendonitis. Many times over the years guitarists have asked me a similar … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Health and Well-Being, Learning, Music, Neuro-science, Psychology, Thoughts
Tagged Guitar, health and well-being, Music, performing, psychology, tendonitis
8 Comments
Let’s get bored
When I was in China last fall I watched a teenage girl on a Beijing subway say goodbye to a friend getting off at a stop. As soon as they had waved goodbye and the doors closed, the girl pulled … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health and Well-Being, Neuro-science, Psychology, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged boredom, Creativity, Culture, neuroscience, psychology, Technology, thoughts
209 Comments
Recording an instructional video project
A few weeks ago I flew to Colorado to record a video series for an internet company specialising in online guitar lessons. I had been contacted by the company about six months earlier and liked what they were offering guitar … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Learning, Music, Neuro-science, Teaching, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged Guitar, learning, Music, teaching
3 Comments
When you are doing nothing, you are doing something
When I first finish a challenging creative project, I feel a sense of relief and euphoria. That feeling may last for a little while. But eventually it wears off…and I am left feeling exhausted. The truth is, the project has … Continue reading
Posted in Art, blogging, Creativity, Guitar, Music, Photography, Psychology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged Art, blogging, Creativity, Guitar, Music, photography, psychology
15 Comments
An incredible year
I think this past year has been the biggest of my life. It was a year of creating, producing, traveling, performing, making new friends, learning, meeting challenges and growing. It was a year of “firsts” — my first album in … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Guitar, Learning, Music, Performing, Photography, Recording and producing, Teaching, Thoughts, Touring, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Guitar, learning, Music, thoughts, Travel
6 Comments
Thoughts on openness
I gave a talk at TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh recently, alongside a young guitarist from Pakistan named Usman Riaz. It was an instrumental guitar performance, but still a TEDTalk with a great (and true) story behind it. The video of … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Guitar, Learning, Music, Teaching, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged Guitar, Music, teaching, TEDGlobal
2 Comments
The anxiety of opportunity
This is an unusually big month. In addition to going into the studio several times to continue recording my next album and heading over to Ireland to play at a festival, I will be playing my first-ever hosted, internet live-on-air … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Creativity, Learning, Psychology, Thoughts
Tagged business, Creativity, learning, psychology, thoughts
9 Comments
What I learn when I teach
I taught a workshop yesterday for a theatre full of music students at a college outside of London. The workshop consisted of me performing tunes, explaining my musical approach, illustrating it with representative examples on the guitar, and fielding questions … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Music business, Teaching, Thoughts
Tagged learning, Music, teaching, workshops
8 Comments
The value of identifying your values
I was asked a few months ago by Pat Strother of Strother Communications to name my three core values as an artist, musician and composer. He was looking for a three-word distillation of the guiding principles that motivate me to … Continue reading
Posted in Composing, Creativity, Performing, Thoughts
Tagged Composing, Creativity, thoughts
10 Comments
The romance of commercial air travel
Remembering the distant sound of a single engine airplane passing overhead when I was a little boy growing up in a small town in upstate New York. It was the sound of possibility, travel, adventure and the wider world. I … Continue reading
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