The 30 Day Music Challenge you're going to do
February 22, 2018 -Why
Sometimes a cheesy random challenge helps can help you get out of your rut and start something new. I propose we do exactly that. All of you who play/sing music: record yourself playing every day for 30 days. Put the videos on Instagram. The time limit Instagram imposes (max 1 minute) will help to make this doable since you can't spend the afternoon trying to get a whole song perfect on camera.
I don't care what instrument you use or how good you are. Sing, strum, blow, whatever you've got.
The point of this is to get over mental barriers to recording. So if you record and publish, you win. This isn't about getting the perfect take or having the best ever recording quality, this is about showing up. I figure if you do this every day, your recordings will improve on their own even if you don't put a ton of concious effort into it.
What
Here are some examples to clarify further:
This isn't full speed and I mess up a little bit. I may have even forgotten a bit of the fill. This counts. You can do it. Bonus points though if you can see sweet bikes in the background of your videos (not really).
This one is way slower than it should be and missing effects because I like how my guitar sounds clean. Still counts!
This one isn't even a song. It's me tooling around with a looper pedal because I don't entirely understand how soloing works. This also counts! If you were a super pro artist who could pull amazing-sounding full songs out of your butt every day, you'd be hopefully busy making money playing music and being amazing.
When
This challeng starts March 17. Why so far in advance? Because I'm traveling and it's convenient. This is also convenient for you as it gives you time to dust off your equipment, replace your strings and such if needed, and maybe even make a list of the things you want to work on. Challenges are doomed to fail if you don't first take care of the logistics. Make sure you have plectrums, make sure your setup is ok, make sure you have a decent reed (if you play a woodwind). Make sure you have a way to record: your phone on a stand or your laptop is fine, better is nice too if you can work it out quick. Get ready so we can party in March! I will be making a web page devoted to the challenge so we can all listen to and celebrate our peers as we all defeat a challenge together.
How
To participate, simply send me a link to your posts via twitter @samuelgoodwin or email at samuel@roundwallsoftware.com.