140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Copyright 2014 James Rawson

All Rights Reserved

Please - forward, post, pin, tweet, link, and talk about this book with all of your friends. But just dont mess with any of its contents. I worked hard on this book. Thanks!
-

James

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Table of Contents

Introduction
The 4 Components of the Musicians Life

35 Bullet-Proof Ways to Find Inspiration

The 5 Components of Inspiration

7 Tips on How to Consistently Find Inspiration from Your Own Life

7 Tips on How to Be Inspired by Other People
7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration from Your Work Ethic
7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration in All Forms of Art
7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration by Exploring the World Around You
Chuck the Blank Page Excuse - Because Now You Know How to Find
Inspiration Everywhere and Anywhere

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Consistently and Efficiently Practice Music
The 5 Components of Practicing Music

7 Tips on How to Use Education to Propel Your Practicing

7 Tips on How Wrangle Your Time-Management to Boost Your Practicing
7 Tips on How to Take Your Admiration for Your Musical Mentors and Turn It
into Gusto for Practicing Music
7 Tips on How to Find Relaxation and Meditation Through Practicing
7 Tips on How to have a Locomotive Sized Level of Self-Motivation
So, Yeah - You (Yes, You) Really Can Practice Like a Boss

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Write Better Songs
The 5 Components of Writing a Great Song

7 Tips for Gathering the Raw Material of a Song

7 Tips on How to Cultivate Empathy
7 Tips on How to Push Yourself to Experiment with Your Writing
7 Tips on How to be a Merciless Editor (in a Good Way)
7 Tips on How to Manage Your Expectations as a Songwriter
Writing is hard stuff, but I do it, so Come On, Of Course You can Too

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Step-Up Your Performance Chops
The 5 Components of Performing

7 Tips on How to Actually be Prepared for a Performance

7 Tips on How to Build Performing Experience
7 Tips on How to Build Up Your Confidence to the B.A Boss Level
7 Tips on How to Be an Bonafide Actor (in a Good Way) on Stage
7 Tips for Nailing Down the Pesky Logistics of Performing
You Dont have to be Lady Gaga Crazy to be an Amazing Performer - But
You Really Do have to be Compelling

Conclusion

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Introduction

I started playing music when I was twelve years old. Since then, Ive taken hundreds and
hundreds of hours in lessons, completed a college degree with an emphasis in music, and
performed in front of so many different types of people. Basically, Ive spent the majority of
my life being a musician. And over the years, Ive learned a lot. By no means have I mastered
music, but I have gained a rich supply of experiences.

The 4 Components of the Musicians Life

And from these experiences, I have seen four things stand out as the major components of
the musicians life.
These four things are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Inspiration
Practice
Composition
Performance

So, in hopes of helping my fellow friends and musicians, I want to share tips from these four
areas that I have discovered and used in my own life as a musician. These tips are my own
secret artistic sauce. Ive use them over and over again to pull myself out of creative ruts and
to push myself forward in my craft. Each one of these tips has worked for me, so I know
theyll work for you too.

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet-Proof Ways to Find

Inspiration

Inspiration is the great life force of all artists, and its as difficult to find and hold on to as a
soft kiss or a good indian restaurant. But as an artist, you obviously need inspiration, you
need a muse, you need a spark to ignite a wildfire in your imagination. But how do you find
and hold on to something as slippery as inspiration? And how in the world do you find
inspiration over and over again?

The 5 Components of Inspiration

Ive found that inspiration breaks down into five distinct parts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Life
Others
Work
Art
Exploration

Let me show how Ive learned to draw inspiration again and again from these 5 parts and
how you can too.

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Consistently Find Inspiration from

Your Own Life
Art is all about this thing we call life. For art to be art, it has to breath in life and breath out
life. So, if you need to strike a spark of inspiration, you dont have to look very far for
kindling. In your very own life, you can always find the materials to light up inspiration. But
if youre not sure how to do that -

heres 7 tips on finding inspiration just from your own life:

1. Beethoven, instead of committing suicide, used music to cope with becoming deaf.
Take life's tough times and turn them into inspiration.
2. If you can't hold a genuine conversation with someone, you'll never find inspiration.
3. Be present in every moment of your life - in the horrible ones, the sexy ones, the
boring ones. If you pay attention, inspiration is all over.
4. Inspiration comes from the torrents of true love and the wreckage of heartbreak. So,
make sure to experience both in life.
5. Instead of it being all about you, be inspired by someone else's life story like your
girlfriend's, or your father's, or Beethoven's.
6. Read at least one famous composer's biography. Those guys' life stories are messed up
and endlessly inspiring.
7. To be endlessly inspired, find spirituality - even if it's atheism.

JAMES RAWSON

140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Be Inspired by Other People

We all have our artistic rock stars. For some, its painters or writers or actual rock stars. It
doesnt matter who they there or what their art is. You may know them personally or may
have only seen them through the glare of your television. An artistic mentor is always a
source of inspiration. But if youre not sure how to channel your love of The Beatles or of
Ernest Hemingway -

heres 7 tips on how to transform admiration into inspiration:

1. Don't be a mediocre fan. Get that box set. Watch that documentary. Really dig in, and
really get inspired from your favorite artist.
2. Watch a concert film of your favorite musician and try not to be inspired.
3. Move heaven and earth to see your favorite musician live. Nothing inspires like the
once in a lifetime event of a concert.
4. Listen to all genres of music. If you do, you'll find a million new sounds and a million
new inspirations.
5. If you stay humble enough to listen to any band at least once, you won't have a
problem finding inspiration.
6. Your favorite artist hasn't always been famous, so if they can do it, you can too. Be
inspired by their success - not intimidated.
7. Learn how your favorite artist became famous, and never stop being inspired by
whatever circumstances they've come out of.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration from Your Work

Ethic
Hard-work is the essence of every great story. Hard-work is slaying the dragon or catching
the killer. Hard-work is an adversary. Its a challenger. And everybody loves seeing the
underdog win in the end. So -

heres 7 tips on how to find inspiration through challenge, through hard-work:

1. Instead of being paralyzed with fear, be inspired by how back-breaking it is to be a
great musician. Wear the adversity like a Purple Heart.
2. Rarely will you still feel inspired after writing the first verse. So pace yourself.
Writing a song is like marriage - not a one-night-stand.
3. Remembering inspiration the day after it smacks you in the face is what's hard.
Getting a journal, notebook, or photographic memory helps.
4. If youre inspired, then stop everything else - stop your entire world - and for god's
sake, write it down.
5. Beethoven made hundreds of revisions before a piece was done. A hundred years later
- we're still talking about him. Be inspired by hard work.
6. Don't fight the rules, find inspiration in them. The great musicians can make you
weep and they can follow the sonata form.
7. Be inspired by challenges, because nothing's more challenging than turning that
melody stuck in your head into a song.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration in All Forms of

Art
Artists are stereotyped as being these spontaneous, open-minded people. In real life though,
artists are just as prejudiced as everyone else. But if you can break through these walls of
basis, you can find inspiration. I believe anyone who calls themselves an artist should
immerse themselves in all forms of art. I know that thats a tall order, but I also know it can
be done. And if you need help in finding inspiration in other art forms -

heres 7 tips on how to find inspiration from an art other than your own:
1. For inspiration, do more than just music everyday: paint landscapes, write poetry, or
read comic books.
2. Go to an art museum. There's no way you can escape inspiration there.
3. Want to be inspired? Have as big of a book collection as you do music collection.
4. Look at a famous painting for more than 5 minutes. Trust me, you'll find at least one
inspiring thing on that canvas.
5. Walk through downtown Chicago and be overshadowed by gargantuan architecture
and inspiration.
6. Take a literature class, then you'll know how to be inspired by both a "The
Metamorphosis" and "The Old Man and The Sea."
7. Learn to create with your hands (like with cooking or woodworking) to profoundly
find inspiration to create with your mind.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Find Inspiration by Exploring the

World Around You
Out of all the ways to find inspiration, exploration is my favorite. I love to explore. Whether
its new bands, new restaurants, or new combinations at Starbucks, I love finding the
undiscovered. And every time I find something new, I also find inspiration. Maybe youre not
that adventurous. Maybe you like routine (which isnt a bad thing). Maybe youve order the
same drink at Starbucks for the last three years. But if you want to find inspiration, youve
got to go into the uncharted, and if youre not sure how to do that -

heres 7 tips on how to break out of your shell to find inspiration in exploration:
1. Like a great explorer, always hunt for your new favorite artist. Finding the
undiscovered is always inspiring.
2. Be brave and venture back into the most emotional moments of your life. In those
places, you'll always find inspiration.
3. Be open minded. It makes it a lot easier to be inspired.
4. Write a song on an instrument you don't normally play. New timbres always inspire.
5. Physically go somewhere you never been, whether it's Chicago or the Mississippi
River. Adventure always leads to inspiration.
6. Even if you never done it before, mediate: close your eyes, clamp yourself down, and
explore. Inspiration always lurks within solitude.
7. Read a new book, watch a new movie, try a new restaurant. Even mundane adventure
can lead to profound inspiration.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Chuck the Blank Page Excuse Because Now You Know How to Find
Inspiration Everywhere and Anywhere

Maintaining and nourishing inspiration is an essential task an artist must master. And now
youve got a leg up. Now, you can find inspiration from your own life, from others, from
hard work, from all art, and from the wide world around you.
However, I know that inspiration is a deeply personal experience. Thus I know that what
inspires me may not inspire you, so I know these tips arent exactly universal. However, the
spirit of these tips are. If you disagree with one of these inspiration tips, thats A-OK. If that
happens, just use them as a springboard. Use them as the starting point for your own
personal list of inspiration tips.
Please, by all means - go beyond my small advice, and discover what specifically inspires you.
As an artist, its your job to again and again find what inspires you. So, go do your job.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Consistently

and Efficiently Practice Music

Practicing is by far the most grueling and anti-fun aspect of being a musician. Yet, it is a
necessary evil. For a musician, practicing is what training is to an athlete. It is laborious,
tiresome, and unavoidable.
But practicing doesnt have to be all that bad. In fact, at best, it can be calming, inspiring, and
transformational. Yes, it really can be. I know this because Ive experienced it.
Every musician has to come to terms with practicing in order to actually be a musician.
Musicians who dont regular practice arent musicians. Theyre hobbyists.

The 5 Components of Practicing Music

So, to help you establish solid practicing habits and to help you use your practicing to the
fullest, Ive compiled 35 of my best tips. Ive broken them up into 5 categories:
1. Education
2. Time-Management
3. Mentors
4. Meditation
5. Self-Motivation

You can read through each category, or you can jump to the one you find the most useful at
this moment. Every musician goes through practicing slumps, so use these tips to propel you
right now and to keep you going for the long-haul.
So, heres 35 of my best tips when it comes to practicing your music.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Use Education to Propel Your

Practicing
Some people out there actually love going to school. Most of us however dont. But formal
schooling is the foundation and starting point for any serious musician. It is a necessary evil.
Now that doesnt mean you have to drop everything and go out and enrol in a college music
degree this second, but you need to at least take some lessons at a college, studio, or friends
basement.

Heres 7 tips on how to use education to boost your practicing.

1. Take lessons
2. Study music: as in get a textbook, take a class. Become not just a musician (those are a
dime a dozen) but an educated musician.
3. Dont look down on your backyard. Enroll in community college music classes.
4. Dont make money your excuse. Google free [your instrument] lessons.
5. Want to save money? Dont want to go to class? Buy used music textbooks and read
them.
6. Find a musician whos better than you and simply ask them for lessons (they might
even do it for free since youre so good at flattery).
7. Dont make time your excuse. Enrol in an online music class on Coursera.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How Wrangle Your Time-Management to

Boost Your Practicing
Here it comes, the awful T word. Time-management. That word oozes business jargon. It
sounds so corporate. Youre a musician, not a corporate monkey. However, there is one thing
that business people do that all musicians should learn. They get stuff done. They are not
scatter-minded. They are organized, efficient, and effective. Practicing is all about effectively
getting from where you are to where you want to go. If you practice when you feel like it or
whenever you have time, you wont move an inch. So, take a breath, grit your teeth, and get
organized.

Heres 7 tips on how to actually make time to practice your music:

1. Set aside a specific time, every day to practice.
2. Cities are built brick by brick. Practice for just 5 minutes everyday (youll be
astounded by how much youll get done in a week).
3. Try practicing at different times of the day to find which is the best for you and your
daily schedule like 3pm or 4am.
4. Don't keep your instrument in a case. Keep it where you can see it. In sight, in mind,
tells you, oh yeah you should be practicing right now.
5. Set a daily calendar alarm on your phone to remind you to practice.
6. Seriously, you only need to practice for a FOCUSED (meaning only doing one thing) 5
minutes.
7. Let the other members of your household know when your daily practice time is and
then politely and firmly ask them to not bother you for those 5 minutes.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Take Your Admiration for Your

Musical Mentors and Turn It into Gusto for
Practicing Music
Every musician has a short list of their favorite musicians. However, not every musician takes
their enthusiasm to the practicing level. Dont just buy every single piece of record music
that your favorite band has ever made. Take a step back, and dont just listen but learn from
your favorite artist.

Heres 7 tips on how to be so inspired by your musical heroes that you're actually practice
your music:
1. Learn your favorite artists songs to where you can play them from memory: lyrics,
chords, and all. If you internalize, you truly learned.
2. Work with other musicians: people better than you will keep you humble and people
worse than you will boost your confidence.
3. Question your favorite artist to no end. Why did they use those chords? Why did
they put the lyrics in that order? Why did they use that instrumentation?
4. Write your own song that sounds just like your favorite artist. Mimikry will help
reveal the inner workings of what makes their music great.
5. Read as many interviews with your favorite artist as you can. Like a lecture, let them
teach you with their words, not just their music.
6. Make a list of why you love a certain artists music, and then cultivate in your music
the traits you love in theirs.
7. Take your favorite songs and come up with as many different cover versions as
possible. It will teach you how to fully expand one idea.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Find Relaxation and Meditation

Through Practicing
A lot of practicing stretches the limits of your brain, but a lot of it also calms your brain. If
you can teach yourself how to make practicing enjoyable, then youll actually do it. Teaching
yourself how to make practicing enjoyable is probably the hardest part of learning how to
practice, but trust me, it can be done.

Heres 7 tips how to take the laborious task of practicing music and make it peaceful:
1. Once youve memorized the finger pattern on your instrument, scales are just muscle
memory. So, close your eyes, let your body take over, and relax.
2. Realize that practicing music takes many forms, so break up your practicing time.
Never get bored. Play scales, arpeggios, chords, learn a song, write a song, listen to a
song, etc.
3. Let your metronome take you to zen. Let your body take over and just focus on
getting locked in with the beat.
4. Take rabbit trails. If a sound, chord, or melody sparks your imagination, stop
practicing and follow your inspiration.
5. Have fun with your practice time by writing as much as possible or by playing as loud
as possible or by listening as much as possible etc.
6. When practicing, realize you are utterly alone. No one in the world can hear your
mistakes. So relax. Dont let perfectionism rob you blind.
7. If youve found a melody or chord progression that you love, dont be ashamed to
practice it over and over and over and over again.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to have a Locomotive Sized Level of

Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is the essence of an artist. Without self-motivation an artist is not an artist.

Beyond kindling inspiration, self-motivation is what builds an artists style and skill. It is what
pushes you to practice, to get better, to not be content where you are. Of course though,
self-motivation is one of the most difficult things to cultivate and hold on to.

Heres 7 tips on how to push yourself to shut up and practice:

1. Treat practicing like a gym routine. If you stop practicing, you will lose muscle mass.
2. With practicing, think of yourself as an athlete. Look at how much effort, enthusiasm,
and efficiency an olympian uses to gain a gold, then copy everything they do (just
with music).
3. Dont be arrogant. If youve never been to the gym in your life, do you really think
you could bench 350lbs your first time? Start with practicing 5 minutes everyday, and
then build up from there.
4. Never be content. Always be practicing a piece that challenges the heck out of you.
5. Dont burn up. Challenge yourself, but take a break. Missing the transition in Bachs
Fugue in G Minor is nothing to punch the wall over.
6. The more difficult the practicing the grandeur the result. Never forget that. Creating
great art is a painful process. Creating cheap art is care-free.
7. Stop whining. No one likes to practice, but if other musicians can practice till they
become masters and live to tell about it, so can you.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

So, Yeah - You (Yes, You) Really Can

Practice Like a Boss
Practicing is the necessary evil within a musicians life. No one likes it, but everyone has to
do it. Moreover, that means others have gone before you. In fact, there have been amazing
musicians throughout the vast years of our culture, and somehow - they got through and
came to terms with this evil of practicing.
So take heart. You (yes you) can set a daily habit, stick to it, and refine your art until it
glistens. But if you happen to get off track or lose faith, read back over these tips, and get
back to the musical grindstone.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Write Better

Songs

Out of all the aspects of a musicians life, my favorite is composition. From pop songs to
string quartets, I truly love writing music. I write because I have too. Writing pours out of
me. I am always, always creating. As soon as Im done with an album, Im writing the next
one. Once Im done writing songs, I write orchestral pieces. If I dont have an instrument
handy, Ill write poetry. My hands never stop moving.

The 5 Components of Writing a Great Song

For me, writing breaks down to five aspects:
1. Gathering
2. Empathy
3. Experimentation
4. Editing
5. Expectations

Now, lets dig into each one of these components. Lets look at how to get enough material
together to start writing, how to make your writing relatable to other people, and how to
refine your writing into a true masterpiece.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips for Gathering the Raw Material of a Song

Being a writer is like being an explorer. Great explorers seek new lands because the old ones
are stale and used up. In other words, explorers hunt for resources. To write anything, we
need raw material, and the only way to get that material is to go find it. Of course, this
material is only an abstract concept, so how in the world do you seek out something thats
intangible?

Heres 7 tips on how to get enough material to start writing a song:

1. Travel into your memories. Pick a specific moment and write about it.
2. However, dont write just after an emotional event. Give time to process, then you can
write the exact emotion you felt - not just a messy collage.
3. Be arbitrary. Make a list of themes, subjects, ideas and write about each one.
4. Borrow (steal) from other writers. Honor (copy) their work in your writing.
5. Be a sponge. Absorb ideas from art, movies, books, LPs, crowds, buildings, cafes, etc.
6. Use form to build the content. Pick a specific form like ballad or blues or rap, and just
let the writing take shape.
7. Sleep on it. The light of dawn untangles the ideas you tried to force out yesterday.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Cultivate Empathy

To write something great, you have to not only crawl into your own head but into someone
elses too. To be a great writer, you have to master empathy. Yes, even for musicians, you
need to be able to fully wrap your mind around someone elses feelings because empathy
takes your messy emotions and transforms them into something relatable. Just spewing on
the page doesnt make it relatable. Empathy shapes your experiences into something
universal and profound. Now, how the heck do you get a grip on empathy?
Heres 7 tips on how to be a more understanding person to improve your songwriting:
1. Read articles, watch documentaries, and listen to talk shows that are completely
opposite of your politics. Then practice understanding and appreciating their point of
view.
2. Study religions. Learn why someone would be an atheist and another a
transcendentalist.
3. Travel so far from home that you are the one who has an accent.
4. Listen to the founders of different music genres to understand why rap, western,
classical, jazz, and pop are so friggin good.
5. Simply ask, Why? Why did that person chose to do that for a living, marry that
person, vote for that guy. etc.
6. Read biographies. Beethovens is a great one.
7. The fundamental of empathy is realizing that other people have experienced exactly
the same emotions as you, just in a different situation.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Push Yourself to Experiment with

Your Writing
Experimenting is my favorite part of writing. Whether its trying out new soundscapes, lyric
styles, or live presentations, I always experiment. Lots of times, my tinkering doesnt pan out,
but often it does branch out into a another idea, and eventually, my trail of ideas leads to one
thats actually really good. As a writer, if you dont experiment, if you dont push yourself,
than your art will be dead boring.
Heres 7 ways to step off boldly with your songwriting:
1. Get over yourself. Who cares if you try out something new and it fails. In the safety
of your practice space, no one else can hear you.
2. Repeat this: Its A-OK if your experiment fails. Honestly, most of them will. Learn to
shake off the dust and keep moving forward.
3. Just like in a grand physics theory, it takes lots of tiny experiments to reach a
discovery in music. So, relax and be patient and dont give up.
4. You dont have to reach Lady Gaga craziness to be experimental. You just have to
make sure you never get too comfortable (lazy). Thats all.
5. Study. Learn music theory or poetry analysis and then just experiment by putting into
practice what youve learned. Its really that simple.
6. Instead of reinventing the wheel, just cover a song in a genre way outside of your
own. Trust me, that will push you out of any musical complacency.
7. Experiment with just one musical fundamental at a time. For example, mess around
with just the rhythm or melody or key or timbre of the song.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to be a Merciless Editor (in a Good

Way)
Artists do surgery all the time. We just call it editing. To be a superb artist, you have to be
filled to the brim with inspiration. You have to practice for hundreds and hundreds of hours.
And then you have to cut up your masterpiece to remove all of the imperfections. Human
error and laziness spread through art like cancer. Generic chords, stale metaphors, and flat
melodies will kill your music, if you don't kill them first.
Here's 7 tips on how to save your art through editing.
1. Pace yourself. Get a rough draft of your song then add, edit, add, edit for weeks,
months, years. Take the long road. Your art will thank you.
2. Ask someone you trust, like your friend or your wife, what parts of your song they
like and what ones they don't. And then listen to them. Editing can be that simple.
3. Don't write one melody. Write one hundred and then pick the best one. That's real
editing.
4. Don't listen to all of the criticism you'll get. Be open minded. Search for the grain of
truth. But stick to your guns, man.
5. Never get so attached to a song that you cant kill it. Art is always supposed to be
edited - always.
6. Dont chase your tail. Walk away. Your brain can only handle so much. Editing
shouldnt suck up your soul.
7. Be disciplined enough to stop editing. A perfectionist is someone too cowardly to
actually publish and perform their work.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Manage Your Expectations as a

Songwriter
I have met musicians who are so scared to play their songs that they are always perfecting
their music. Ive also met musicians who put up a BandCamp page with their just their
basement-janky recordings. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, as a writer, you have
to manage your expectations. You have to be brave enough to actually play your songs, and
you have to be modest enough to actually practice your songs. Managing your expectations,
your self-concept of your music is strenuous.
Heres 7 tips on how to set realistic expectations with your songwriting :
1. Set realistic goals with each piece. Is this song an experiment, just practice, or the
keystone of your next album?
2. Don't expect every song to be spectacular. Some you'll just have to throw away.
3. Ask yourself, "is this song really, really important." If so, edit that sucker until it
glistens. If no, then lick your wounds and move on.
4. Don't fear failure. Embrace it. Failure always leads to innovation, if you stick to it long
enough.
5. Be honest about where you are in your craft. If youve only written five songs in your
life, dont be that upset if a new song doesnt turn out well. Just keep moving forward.
6. Dont be lazy. Just because youve written five full length albums doesnt mean your
new song is golden. Always edit and experiment like your life depended on it.
7. If you write at all, that means you have a passion. So trust yourself. You are talented.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Writing is hard stuff, but I do it, so

Come On, Of Course You can Too

From me to you, from one writer to another, I know the hard road of artistic creation. I know
how hard it is to gather up enough material to start writing and how hard it is to take
yourself out of your own head to see from another persons perspective. I have carried the
load of the writer, and I am still standing. And Im still writing.
I hope these tips help and encourage you. I hope you never give up on your craft or yourself.
I know that sounds like super cheese, but I really do. I want you to succeed and to never lose
faith - never.
From one writer to another, good luck out there.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

35 Bullet Proof Ways to Step-Up Your

Performance Chops

Performing is one of the cornerstones of a musicians life. Typically, when people picture
being a musician and performing, they think of being a rock star and playing to stadium
sized crowds. In the real world however, musicians perform to coffee house crowds or to
recital crowds. For example, a college music major doesnt perform for MTV. They perform
for academic juries, college concerts, private recitals, and school tours. A busking musician
doesnt play for Saturday Night Live. They perform to people walking down the street or to
label producers looking for a new act. Trust me, performing isnt glamorous. Its a lot of
friggin work.

The 5 Components of Performing

Ive played on a church stage, college stage, recital stage, cafe stage, garage stage, basement
stage, bedroom stage, studio stage, and club stage. Ive played in front of five people and in
front five hundred people, and Ive found that performing comes down to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Preparation
Experience
Confidence
Acting
Logistics

So, let me walk you through each one of these pillars of performing and give you tips from
my own hard fought lessons.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Actually be Prepared for a

Performance
Performing is a vast illusion. A great musician tricks you into thinking that performing is
effortless. In reality - it is back breaking work. So how do they do it? How do they make it
look so easy? They prepare like theres no tomorrow. Seriously, it takes hours upon hours of
preparation to make just one concert look effortless. So how do you prep like a pro?

Heres 7 tips on how to be the Prince of prep:

1. Practice. Practice your scales, chords, lyrics, etc. for hours and hours and hours.
What...? Umm, no...theres no magic bullet to replace practicing (not even on Craigs
List).
2. Not knowing what the stage is physically like will cause you to fret, so just mentally
visualize the stage. Its weird, but it really does help you feel more comfortable by
making the unknow at least partially known.
3. You should NEVER need sheet music or a lyric sheet or a written set list. You should
always have your music down cold. Paper is a crutch.
4. Prep in building blocks. Practice your musicianship (scales-chords-etc), then your
songs, and then your entire setlist. Its like a stone arch; if one block is missing, the
whole thing falls apart.
5. Get out of the house. Go to open mics or sign up for recitals. You cant prep for a
crowd if youve never been in front of one.
6. After youve played a show, RIGHT AWAY, make a list of what worked and what
didnt. Then, adjust accordingly for the next show. Yeah, concert prep is that simple
sometimes.
7. Do a dress rehearsal in your living room. Set up your entire rig (speakers and all)
and pretend youre playing to a crowd. Just like mentally visualizing the stage, this
will help prep you for the vast difference between your living room and a rock club.
JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Build Performing Experience

Getting over your stage fright is not the hardest part of performing - getting experience is.
Finding good venues is time-consuming. Convincing those venues to actually let you play is
ridiculously difficult, and making a good enough impression to be able to play again at that
venue is strenuous to say the least. However, it is possible to overcome these obstacles. Its
just hard work.

Heres 7 tips on how to get more performing experience:

1. You have 30 seconds to form an impression. Once those seconds evaporate, you will
never - never - get them back. If you want a venue to book you or to call you back,
take your image, music, and presentation seriously, or stay home.
2. Never be late for a gig - unless you dont ever want to play there again.
3. If you want to get booked or called back, get the venue to actually like you, as a
person. So, ALWAYS be nice and polite.
4. Be a realist but be relentless. Just assume that out of the one hundred emails you sent
to venues - two will respond. One will say, Nah - Your musics not my thing. And
the other one will say, Sure, you can play on the 12th or the 22nd.
5. Never play unprepared. You will never be called back after a sloppy performance, so
if you want to gain experience - you better practice like your life depends on it.
6. Be humble. Play at that open mic, college talent show, or dinky cafe because
experience is like precious water. You should cherish every drop and seek it out
wherever you can find it.
7. Join an ensemble like a college jazz band or church worship team to gain experience.
These established ensembles dont have a problem getting gigs, so you get to get on
stage without all the hard work of convincing a booking agent that youre actually
worth your salt.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Build Up Your Confidence to the

B.A Boss Level
Being a musician isnt all about music. To be a great performer, of course you have to hone
your musical chops, but you also have to be a confident person. I know confidence is hard to
build up and even harder to hold on to, but you just have to have it in order to be worth
your salt as a musician. But dont fret

Heres 7 tips on how to gain confidence and how to hold on to it:

1. Believe in self-fulfilling prophecies. Just tell yourself, youre great, and eventually you will be. In other words, bluff it until its true.
2. Surround yourself with encouraging friends - not pessimistic ones. Good friends will
see your ambition and will support you and will help you build your confidence.
Thats what my friends have done for me.
3. To build confidence: stop caring about what you think the crowd is thinking about
you. Go to zen. Lose yourself in your songs. And say, screw you.
4. Confident people arent perfectionists. Stop getting hung up on your failures.
Instead, just play your darn songs.
5. To displace your fear and bolster your confidence just remind yourself: that you just
spent 8hrs a day for three weeks practicing your music. You know your stuff, so shut
up and play.
6. Confidence is NEVER cockiness. Confidence is beating down your inner fear - not
beating down those around you. So, stop using the excuse that being confident =
being a jerk to stop your from boldly taking the stage.
7. Practice, practice, practice to dispel your inner fears. Im the most un-confident when
Im the most unprepared.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips on How to Be an Bonafide Actor (in a Good

Way) on Stage
Do you act EXACTLY the same at home and at a heavy metal concert - at work and at an art
museum? No, of course not! So be genuine, but please dont act like you're at home when
you're at McDonalds. More to the point, when you step on the stage, you are filling a very,
very different social role. Youre being an entertainer. So, for gods sake dont act like your
normal boring self.

Heres 7 tips on how to be an actor on stage and not be fake:

1. Yup, everyone is watching you when youre on stage, so be conscious of that and
dont act like a dufus. Know the difference between your living room and the concert
stage.
2. Please - for the love of god - dress for the stage. You should look like you belong on
that stage and not like the announcer said, Hey you - yeah, you over there. Wanna
play a few songs? The real bands stuck in traffic.
3. Just because youre in Stage Mode doesnt mean you cant be funny or casual, but
you have to guard your image (aka Brand) with your life, so dont do anything your
Brand will regret in the morning.
4. You are walking marketing. How you dress, smile, shake hands, and greet fans at the
merch table all reflect your Brand. So you better make sure that you actually act
like your Brand.
5. To figure out how to act on stage, think of what you admire in other performers:
angst? gravitas? soft-spokenness? Then just figure out how you can copy them.
6. Always play with unbridled passion. To do that: go subconscious. Stop thinking of
marketing, acting, or anxiety and just be a musician - a person who plays music.
7. To give a dramatic performance, dig in. Remember what inspired your song and the
emotions behind it.
JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

7 Tips for Nailing Down the Pesky Logistics of

Performing

Gremlins - are real. Or at least they sure seem real when youre performing, and when
something technical goes wrong, it shakes me to my core. Im so thrown off balance after
that that my performance always suffers, so in order to give a killer show, you have to
mercilessly exterminate those scheming gremlins.
Heres 7 tips on how to be a concert logistics master (and gremlin Terminator):
1. Write an itemized list of the equipment you need to play a concert - like: 2 guitars. 5
speaker cables. etc. Then check that list (and check it again and again) when you load
up and when you load out.
2. Get luggage just for your show supplies. I use a specific back-pack just for my cables
and microphone. And always pack your supplies in this luggage so you dont scatter
and lose them between last months show and the one you have next week.
3. Figure out a packing pattern for your supplies and your vehicle. I have a specific way I
pack everything in my car to: 1. make sure everything fits and 2. make sure I never
lose/forget anything.
4. Run loading drills. Practice packing up your supplies and unpacking them, then when
it comes time for your real concert - you wont be anxious because you know
EXACTLY where and how your supplies fit together.
5. ALWAYS - double check with the venue about your load in time, and then - show up
15mins before it.
6. ALWAYS - make sure you know preciously the directions to the venue, and then
factor in a generous amount of extra travel time for 1. tolls 2. construction 3. traffic 4.
gas and 5. your smartphone dying and you losing your Google Maps.
7. ALWAYS - know (by first and last name) your point-man at the venue: the person
who knows youre coming, can tell you where to park, and will pay you at the end of
the night.
JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

You Dont have to be Lady Gaga Crazy

to be an Amazing Performer - But You
Really Do have to be Compelling

Performing is one of the most back-breaking tasks a musician has to undertake. But, no
matter what type of musician you are, you have to conquer performing, otherwise your
career wont move an inch. For example, an instrumentalist has to conquer performing in
front of a orchestra. A conductor has to conquer performing in front of a concert hall. An
undergraduate has to conquer performing in front of her professors. An indie rocker has to
conquer performing in front of a empty coffee house.
But if you thoroughly prepare for your concert, if you build up performance experience, if
you bolster your inner confidence by beating back your inner fears, if you learn how to act
on stage and off, and if you nail down the numerous logistics of putting on a concert - youll
do just fine out there in the wide wild world of the stage.
Trust me.

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Conclusion

Being a musician isnt for the faint of heart, but if youre reading this than you already know
that. You already know how back-breaking and how heart-wrenching it is. But I hope you
know the other side too.
I hope you know that you do what normal people cant. You play music. And I sure hope
you know how spiritual, transdent, therapeutic, thought-provoking, and calming music can
be. See, as an artist, you rise above the average to hand down something divine. In some
ways, being a musician and being a prophet are similar. Youre not normal and youre bent to
always be in front of a crowd.
I really do want to extend my hand to you though. This whole book is just me saying, Hey I know its tough to play music, but heres whats helped me. Now, please - help your
friends too. Make your own list of tips and give it to your friends. Or (more to the spirit side
of things) just be kind and supportive to your fellow musicians.
Being a prophet - I mean musician - is a weird calling. We need all the help we can get.

Sincerely,
James

JAMES RAWSON

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140 Bullet Proof Ways to Thrive in the Musician's Life

Copyright 2014 James Rawson

All Rights Reserved

JAMES RAWSON

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