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This week’s blog installment, (Number 4 for 2018), is the follow-up to last week: Music and Math. We left off with the question: How do you, the musician, use analytical processes to get the most out of your music? To answer that, let’s use an illustration. When you’d like to buy something and don’t have the money, you typically save up enough until you do. You may keep track of the difference between what you need, call it ‘x’, versus what you have and the sum total of what you want. Music is no different. If you want to be able to play something that you’re not currently able to, then you have to invest time to be able to perform it as you’d like to. It could also be called ‘x’. I hear someone commenting as they read this: ‘I don’t want to spend all that time practicing!’ Okay, I get it. But, what values do you invest in your musicianship? Do you want a half-hearted musical performance or one that moves and inspires? Do you think that someone will really like your music if you haven’t worked on it? As has been said: “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” You may also say: ‘Some people just have natural talent and it comes easy for them.’ While the first part of that statement is true, the second part is not. No one can get around the requirement to work on their craft! It’s as natural as the day is long. Tip: Find what interests you in your musical endeavors and pursue it relentlessly. For me, learning music theory and how it correlated with my guitar playing helped me understand what I was striving to achieve so much better. The mathematical enumerations of scales and composition just fascinate me to this day! Another important aspect of working on your music is that it becomes ever more 'natural' to you. Just as walking is a learned response as a child, music is a learned art that must be repeated over and over. Eventually it will be become second-nature. So you don't want to miss that opportunity by giving up, do you? That’s all for this installment. There is a lot more that could be discussed and written on this subject, but the point of this blog is to stimulate YOUR thinking and YOUR creativity. If there's another aspect about the relationship of music and math you'd like to hear more about, drop me a line at: Info@GentleHavenMusic.com and I’ll address it in another blog. #Musicartistry #Mathematics #musicians

Hello again to all of you music aficionados. This is installment #10 for the year of this blog. I'm continuing again the discussion about music theory. Last time I left off discussing scale structures and formats. This week I would like to discuss and describe the use of intervals. Before doing that, I would love to hear some feedback from you if there is a question on something discussed here. Please let me know via email at: Info@GentleHavenMusic.com . I can answer a question via email or discuss it further on this blog. Let's move to intervals. Intervals are the joining of two different tones to makeup a harmonic tone. Most people would recognize a harmony interval when they listen to singers in a song or piece of music. The most common interval to the ear is a major third. This would be the joining of a tonic and mediant tones. For example: C to E. There are two whole steps between the two tones which classify it as a third or what we call a major third. If the E was lowered one-half step to Eb or the C was raised one-half step to C#, then it would be called a minor third. The difference being there is a half and whole or whole and half step combination. Before going any farther, it would help the reader to take their instrument and try this out. If you’re on a keyboard, find middle C, then E two whole steps above it. Play the two notes together. That is a major third. Next, lower the E one-half step to Eb or raise the C to C#, each being black keys. This is a minor third. If on a guitar, go to the second string, find the note C and play it along with the open first string. This makes a major third interval. To make a minor third, raise the C one-half step to C# and play the first string open. You've now learned something about intervals. I'm going to stop there this week because I would rather not overload anyone who's just learning on this concept. It can seem confusing at first. But I would like you to pat yourself on the back and say: Well done! Intervals art an essential part of harmony that, when used well, will enhance the musical atmosphere tremendously. Like any tool they must be used judiciously so that the audience isn't stunned or overwhelmed. I'm going to end today's blog with a humorous story. In Austria about 100 years ago, two men are trying to find Ludwig Van Beethoven 's tomb. They finally locate it and open the crypt door only to find the composer frantically erasing on manuscript. "What are you doing Beethoven?", they ask. Beethoven replies: "Isn't it obvious? I'm decomposing!" #Musicians #Theory #Music

Welcome to my blog where I offer tips for musicians. If you're following this blog, then you know that this is installment #8 for 2018. We're already into March. Whew! Where does the time go?? You've probably already realized something I'm going to focus on in this week's blog in your own life. It takes money to have a decent quality of life. In fact, it takes quite a bit of money especially in the United State to live day-to-day. The cost of living in the U.S. alone can easily exceed one's income. I heard an interesting fact the other day from Rick Warren, who teaches on numerous subjects affecting human behavior from a biblical perspective. According to him, European Countries' households typically save about 18% of their income per month. The Japanese save about 25% of their income. (I did Google some of these figures and found them to be fairly accurate according to CNBC.com and Forbes.com.) In the U.S., we spend 1% more than we make! That's astonishing but it makes sense given our national debt. So what do these figures have to do with music? Well, let me explain. A few years ago I purchased a very inexpensive mic on Amazon. It works fairly well, but I was thinking that it didn't have the resonance I was looking for. I borrowed an Audio-Technica condenser mic from a friend and was astounded how much better it sounds! Not only does it sound better, it records everything so much clearer. It's amazing. So I decided to invest in one myself. (On credit, but I get the Amazon points and have the cash.) The point of my blog this week is to try out different equipment and then invest in something that will be worth it in the long run. I've seen musicians and groups try to use outdated broken-down equipment. It's frustrating! They say to each other: "Well, we can't afford anything else. This is all we got." Baloney! Save your money! Buy something that will be worth it. There's a quote that Theodore Roosevelt once said: "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…" There's so much truth in that statement. Or ask yourself, would I like to sound mediocre or great? I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusions I have. If you have a subject you'd like me to write about in this blog for musicians, let me know. My email address is: Info@gentlehavenmusic.com. Until next time, keep going forward! #determination #Musicians #Money #musicians

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends! If you've ever visited a circus or carnival, you may have heard that expression before. It was also used by a famous band from the 1970's called: ELP or Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Their song, Karn Evil 9, from the album 'Brain Salad Surgery' uses that line to introduce the listener to the cacophony of sound that's about to take place. In the world of entertainment, that's what's known as a 'hook' to entice you to watch, listen, or get involved with what the entertainer is about to do. As I mentioned last week, there are many, many options for music these days. It can be very overwhelming to find something that one likes as well as on the converse side, to produce a product that the listener will want to consume. Unlike fifty years ago, music has proliferated through the use of digital medium to the point that some bands are releasing two to three albums per year. * Wall Street Journal Article - 3/26/2018 The question is: How does one create a music and web presence that is unique, appealing, and has value? If you can answer these three points, you're on your way. I propose taking a methodical, non-impulsive process of doing this. It may seem counterintuitive, but bare with me while I explain this. I am assuming that most readers of this blog are musicians of one level or another. When you first learned to play, you had to: Pick out an instrument Learn how it works Read or learn to read music Find music for the instrument Take Lessons Practice Similar to a flowchart, this is a process of steps that you did to achieve your goal of playing. It may work in a different order at times, but you get my drift here. Why then, would it be any different when creating, recording, promoting, and distributing your own music? It's a process that will take time, energy, patience, and persistence to achieve. The missing ingredient in so much digital music, (I've listed to a lot over the past several years), is that of Quality! There are tons and tons of digital releases out there with very little value because the quality wasn't added into the work done. There are many exceptions, but in general, the quality has been missed. So, if you REALLY want to make a go at this, you need to invest time to do it well and build something that has quality. Anyone can make a so-so product, but not everyone can build a high-quality recording. That's why when I do a recording, I go back to it numerous times and re-engineer what I didn't like or I ask someone else to listen to it and give me honest feedback. I may then tweak it or leave it until I've thought it through, but it's a process. I hope this has helped someone out there. If you need assistance, feel free to contact me at: Info@GentelHavenMusic.com and I will try to give some heartfelt feedback. Until next time, step up to the mic! #Music #Musicrecordingsoftware #Digital #determination

I've recently embarked on an adventure with a friend of mine from forty years ago. We've not been in touch for more than thirty years, but through the magic of technology, we reconnected recently. My friend Dave is a very gifted flautist, saxophone player and writer. He retired from the teaching profession a few years ago and like most musicians, is still involved in writing new songs and learning new technologies because they appear every day, practically every minute it seems! Dave is using a virtual studio done either through an App or their website called SoundTrap. SoundTrap is similar to other Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) in use including Studio One that I utilize on my desktop. The difference is that it's an online studio rather than a stand alone DAW. You can send a nudge to another musician to join you in the studio for a virtual recording session any time. At this point you're probably wondering what this has to do with the title of this post. Good question! Having worked with numerous writers and musicians over the years, I've found there are some very basic similarities. The first commonality is gifting. Every writer I've known had a gift for writing. This is what I call divine providence. God in His wisdom gives everyone gifts. This one I believe is a gift. The second commonality is a creative drive. Musicians, writers, poets, and others HAVE to create! It is in their soul to produce something creative. The third common attribute is the desire to hone their work product. It comes under the adage: If you want to do something well, it requires a little blood, sweat, and tears. Lastly, each one of these craftsmen or craftswomen never think what they created is good enough. It can always be better. Sometimes it falls under the perfectionist trap, but that's another topic for another day. This article is really a simplification of the creative process and how individuals execute it. Each person is going to go about things differently, but there are some commonalities as I've outlined. Now I'm going to encourage you to get at creating some music yourself! You may never have a vast audience of listeners as some do. However, you can still enjoy creating something you can call your own! * As a side note, there are other blog articles on this site that can help with becoming a better musician or writer.

On Thanksgiving Day, my Dad went home to be with Jesus. I'd like to honor his memory by posting his obituary here. I will miss you Dad! John A. Goolsby – September 13, 1934 - November 25, 2021 Beloved Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather John Goolsby passed away peacefully into the arms of the Lord on November 25, 2021, of a short-term illness. John was born on September 13, 1934, in Stillwater, Oklahoma and later moved to San Bernardino, California with his parents, Omar and Ruth Goolsby and four siblings. He met and dated the love of his life, Carolyn Rae Morgan, while she was a senior in high school in San Bernardino. John was accepted into the United States Naval Academy in 1954. He traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, to begin his military service and education, and competed on the Navy tennis team throughout his four-year program. A few hours after John’s graduation, he and Carolyn were married at the Naval Academy on June 4, 1958. John’s first assignment took them to San Diego, California and their two children were born in the Navy hospital at Coronado. John’s early assignments included serving aboard the transport ship USS Lenawee and the light cruiser USS Helena. The family moved to Ventura County in 1962 when he went to work at the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station missile target programs. John was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1973 but continued his career in service working at Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station and in national defense programs until he fully retired in 2011. John and Carolyn moved to Camarillo in 1970 and spent the rest of their lives there. They loved their neighbors, friends, church, and Camarillo’s beautiful weather. They also loved to travel and enjoyed cruising and land tours all around the world. Their favorite trips were to Australia and New Zealand, and cruises around the Hawaiian Islands. John cherished his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Carolyn in February 2021. His survivors include son Matt and Carolyn Goolsby of Dallas, Oregon; daughter Lisa and Ed Ekers of Red Bluff, California; grandsons Tyler and Jonathan Goolsby, great-granddaughter Hennessy Morgan, and brother Lloyd David Goolsby of Yucaipa, California. Graveside services with military honors will be held on Monday, December 20th at 2:00 pm at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo, California with a reception to follow locally at their church, Trinity Presbyterian at 3 pm.

Hi folks, I hope this post finds you well. If you're counting, this is post #7 of the year. Today's subject is a paradox of sorts. You may be wondering what inspiration and perspiration have in common? Well, as a matter of fact, they have a lot in common! If you've been watching the Olympics lately, you may know that after doing so many are inspired to give a shot at one of the sports. Usually though, most people find that without adequate training, time, and effort, they fizzle out on their inspiration. I recently had a reader suggest that I add some more up-to-date information on this article. They provided some more recent Olympic stats since the games in Tokyo (2021) have occurred, so I thought I would fit them into the middle of this. You may ask, what do an athlete, musician, police officer or anyone else have in common that keeps them going? The best answer is: perspiration. I associate it with the noun: determination. The two go hand-in-hand. Let me give you a great example. When I graduated from college with my Bachelor's Degree, there was a woman who was in her sixties. She had obviously not been able to finish it earlier in life so she stayed with it and finished off when most people are looking at retirement. It was very inspiring to me as I was in my early twenties. In fact, I've carried that memory all of my life as inspiration to stay with my endeavors. When I've wanted to stop playing guitar, (and yes, it does happen), I've thought of people like this women who didn't quit. She stayed with it. Inspiration and perspiration won the day! So what does this have to do with you and your music? Everything! Music can be a very trying art. I've spent hours working on it and sweating at the end of a practice session because I was hot, tired, and exhausted. But I didn't give up. My musical abilities through much practice, have opened up numerous opportunities that I wouldn't have had. If I had quit, I can't even imagine all of the people's lives and events I wouldn't have been part of. I wouldn't have been able to play at weddings, parties, outdoor festivals, churches, camps, etc. You get the point. My point through this post is that you need to find what your inspiration is and stick with it, literally! You never know that something you're doing could be very encouraging and inspirational to someone else. You wouldn't want to miss that would you? #Musicartistry #artistry #determination #inspiration

Hello and welcome to my blog! Since this is the first post of 2021, I’ve taken quite some time to think about what I would write. By now many of us have fatigue from the last year of staying home and seeing so many with masks on. This post won’t touch on any of that. No, this post is meant to encourage your inner artist to experiment and create. Last year a friend of mine introduced me to a new amplifier. I don’t endorse products though so I won’t mention the manufacturer or name. But, I will say that it’s a practice-sized amp with a multitude of effects. What‘s exciting is that it can be easily used at most any venue. It’s lightweight, only about 15 pounds and comes with both Google Android or Apple IOS apps. I had been waiting to see if our church was going to be able to meet in person again before I bought one, but that hadn’t happened. You see, I wasn’t totally satisfied with sound I was getting on the ‘livestream’ we were recording once a week. My current guitar effects were giving me this sort of sound: But, what I really wanted was this: Well, there was a solution! Now that I’ve got the new amp, I can practice ‘coloring’ with more vivid effect. I can also add riffs in between singing, bridges, choruses and the like. This is where the artistry comes in. The best way to see how your musical coloring sounds is to record it. Utilizing an inexpensive midi computer interface to a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is the quickest and easiest way to hear how you sound. You can even take an audio file stripped of different parts as they demonstrate on YouTube and add your own parts. You can also go to sites like the Free Music Library and download prerecorded tracks to play along with. Now, this is where you have to be motivated to get out there and start improving your sound. After all, you do want to be the best you can be, right? A little sweat and some ‘wood shedding’ with your ax should get you there! I will chat again soon with you. Let all glory go to God!

First of all, if you haven't been on my website before, welcome! And for those of you returning, welcome back! In the last 11 months, our lives have changed dramatically. What seemed commonplace just last year is now ever-changing. This causes disruptions in things we used to do on a routine basis and expectations that we had of life are continually in flux. Now though, I'd like you to take a minute and look at the picture here on the right or above on a Smartphone. What do you see there? You may be having thoughts about other things that need to get done right away or you may be struggling with a decision that you have to make. But God is calling us to something better. He's reaching out His hand to offer us life to the fullest. As Jesus said in Matthew, Chapter 28 verse 11: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." I've been reading a book by a Christian Author named John Eldredge. The book is titled: Get your life back: Everyday practices for a world gone mad. In addition to the book, he developed something for smartphones called the One Minute Pause app. It may seem ironic that a Christian counselor and author who's struggling with personal space and boundaries would develop yet another time consuming app. But if you think about it, since technology is consuming so much of our waking time, using it to help remind us that we need to put margin back in our lives makes some sense. After all, according to research John did, he states that we consume an average of 10 hours daily of media. Imagine that, 10 hours! This amount of consumption causes so many problems for our inner peace and ability to just process information normally. It affects our sleeping patterns and daily routines and causes us to be like Pavlov dogs whenever we hear a familiar 'ping' or 'chime'. Just to be clear, I'm not endorsing any of John Eldredge's work. I am recommending that we all get back to our lives without getting drug into the daily drama of this rattled, tattered world we live in. How you do that may look completely different, and that's good! As I was contemplating what to write on this blog posting and I was feeling nudged by the Holy Spirit to write it, I realized that being a musician has many similar parallels to life that could help demonstrate how to do this. If you're a musician or just a lover of it, you can understand this. Every piece of music that I enjoy has a similar format: an introduction, verses, a chorus, perhaps a bridge, maybe an instrumental solo, and an ending. A well constructed piece of music also has different dynamic highs and lows as well as varying rhythms. Isn't this like your typical day? You probably have a typical quiet waking time, then a pattern or rhythm of getting into your day, a couple of pauses or breaks, another perhaps intense time, then a letting down of your hair, and finally a closing time. At least, this is probably what it USED to look like! It may be very erratic and fluctuating now, but guess what, you can get into a regular rhythm with God's help! Here's the hard part - it's going to take some effort! You're going to have to deliberately decide that you want to change some ingrained habits. One of the ways I do this is by deliberately choosing to put aside the iPad, the iPhone or the computer and spend quiet time. It's incredibly freeing! By the way, I'm not saying this will be easy. It is possible though with a little effort. It also means changing some of our belief systems that may be saying: "That text is probably very important." or "What if I miss that important stream?" Do you see how that can trap us into believing in false hope? It can be very draining. What you can do is what I've been doing - enjoy God's creation! Even if you can't get away from your desk, you can take a few moments to look at something beautiful. God created so much beauty around us and we constantly miss it. With a little effort though, we can start seeing it again. You'll be surprised how your heart and mind will start to react when you do this. I was so surprised that I wrote a poem that I'm sharing at the end of this post. Please be encouraged today that God loves you and He wants the best for you. He also wants you to experience the joy of His creation every day! My pause I paused and watched the clouds today; They blew gently in the gray skies. Three birds flew over, hearkening to each other, Come, let's go this way. As I watched and listened, I heard God softly whisper: "I love you" in the swaying of the birch leaves. How easy it is to miss such simple things - the falling rain, the gentle breeze. He makes creation anew each day. Let's stop, pause, and say: I love you too!

The short answer is: YES! Anyone with a mind, heart and a bit of creativity can write music. It's that simple. Let me state the obvious caveat: It takes time and effort! I'm going to be posting a step-by-step process blog of how to compose, write, and record a song. I've created a video introducing the song to generate excitement on my about page, but you can also see it below: I won't yet mention the title of the song, but had an inspiration several months ago that's finally coming to fruition. There are several different software tools I'll be using to produce and edit this original, so stay tuned as I unravel the creative process. Many blessings to you and stay tuned! Update 11/5/2020 - I'm just getting back to working on the new song. I have it roughly mapped out and I captured it on video, but it has a ways to go. Please check back as I will continue to post updates as it progresses. Lord Bless you!