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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

Summertime is well underway this year here in Oregon and there's been little rain for months. Things are very dry which makes for good outdoor activity, but not so great if you like water sports. We like our outdoor activities in the Pacific Northwest because typically it can rain for 9 months of the year. It seems to have changed in the past few years though. And while we don't look like the Mojave or Sahara Deserts, we do have some serious weather issues. The interesting correlation between physical dryness and spiritual dryness is a lack of something. Water tends to bring purification and energy to life and especially helps flora and fauna. Spiritual dryness can come from a lack of Spiritual connection to our power source: Jesus and the Holy Spirit! You're probably wondering why a musician's blog is talking about dryness? Well, it has everything to do with life, love, and inspiration. When our spiritual life is dry and we're not seeking to get it filled up, we can't be the vessels of God's love. It shows up in everything we do. Think about it for a minute: You've no doubt seen a lackluster performance of a band, comic, book reading or something that just seemed, well, boring. If it didn't hold your interest, then why were they doing it? It's the same in our spiritual lives. We need Holy Spirit power! Now I'm not recommending giving up. On the contrary, I'm urging you to get reconnected to the original power source and get back to a fulfilled life! King David in the Bible had done egregious sins when he committed adultery with Uriah the Hittite's wife Bathsheba and then had him killed. Nathan the prophet confronted David with what he'd done and David wrote in confession Psalm 51. Especially poignant are the following verses: 1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. 7 Purify me from my sins, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. You may notice that I particularly highlighted rejoice, clean heart, loyal, and joy. They naturally go together because when we have that nurturing from Holy Spirit and His power, we have these fruits in our hearts. It may take a little effort, but isn't it worth having a healthy heart in life? Of course it is and you can do it too by listening, loving and obeying God and taking Him at His word! Then you can literally enjoy walking (or surfing) on water! Bend, Oregon Old Mill Area Waterway with Surfers

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!

Well, we're now about four to five months into this global phenomenom called a pandemic and life has changed so much. For some, this has been an unprecedented time of change with added stress. For others, this has been making modest changes but yet not too out of the ordinary. That is unless you've gone to the store for something. Maybe you're like me and love to spend time in nature. There's so much to see in God's wonderful creation that it's easy to miss it. It would be helpful to all of us to slow down and soak some of its beauty in. To help me this summer, I've been attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) online. We've been studying the book of Philippians that the Apostle Paul wrote almost 2,000 years ago to encourage the first church he planted in Philippi. The blog post I wrote on Wordpress is about how we think and what we think about. As with the book of Philippians Chapter 4, verse 8, Paul encourages us in our thought life: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable." You can read my blog here: https://artists.gentlehavenmusic.com/index.php/2020/07/ My encouragement to you today is to fix your thoughts on things that will help your attitude and mental health to stay positive. Since we are bombarded by constant negative messages, we need to change our perception to keep from getting mired in the mud. And, this can and does include listening to music that is uplifting. I do have some available on my music page if you'd like a start. Blessings to you!

Dear friends, (This week I'm going to deviate a little from the topic of music. Since our world is still struggling from the effects of Covid-19, I felt it was a good time to talk about hope in trials.) My wife has been involved with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) now for several years. I was initially hesitant to join, but when BSF started offering classes online through Zoom in 2018, it struck me as something I could attend in the comfort of our home. I had had a lot of experience through my working life attending online meetings with an international audience so it was a perfect fit! Now, after two years of studying with three different studies, it has been a very worthwhile experience. Bible Study fellowship offers a different course of study each academic year and now it's expanded to short summertime classes as well. The course of study alternates between the Old and New Testament each academic term. When I first began, our study was on the people of the promised land. This involved the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, and 1st and 2nd Kings with the book of Ruth included. Our online class was one of the first to also 'pilot' a summer study in the book of Colossians. Thanks to BSF headquarters, we were given the materials and met online every other week during the summer of last year. Several of my friends asked about the makeup of my group/online class. When I told them that there were attendees from India, Nepal, Australia, Canada and the U.S., they were astounded! This year the makeup of our group has changed somewhat. We now have people from: Thailand, Haiti, Nepal (He was also in Kabul, Afghanistan for a couple months), Australia, Canada and the United States. There are many different perspectives but One Spirit guides us all! Having said all this, BSF has sent out a study on the book of James for anyone anywhere to use. This portion of our yearly study is the tailend of the study of Acts. It's been an awesome year of online fellowship and growing in God's word. I would like to offer it here to anyone who may need encouragement during these unprecedented times. Just click on the picture below to open the PDF. If you would like more information about Bible Study Fellowship or to create an account, you can do so by clicking here: Bible Study Fellowship International! May God Bless you today! *** Update - May 12th, 2020 *** I would like to share something of encouragement to you. Our church, Dallas Foursquare in beautiful Dallas, Oregon, has been livestreaming our services. We have been recording the worship time on Monday evenings and our Pastor, Darrin Hausler has been adding his sermon during the week. If you are in need of encouragement, please check it out. The most recent YouTube livestream from Mother's Day is available below.

Are any of you tired yet of being stuck in the house? Well, I for one am. However, and let me repeat that, however, it has been an awesome time to spend precious fellowship with Jesus! It's also been a good time to finish off a track that I've been working on for a while: Amazing Grace by John Newton. If you've never heard of John Newton, you can read more on Wikipedia about his life, but I would like to reference his epitaph since he wrote it himself for his tomb: "JOHN NEWTON. Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine a servant of slaves in Africa was by the rich mercy of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy. Near 16 years as Curate of this parish and 28 years as Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth." You see, John Newton was a very wicked man at one time who worked on a slave trading ship. Similar to the Apostle Paul, John had a radical transformation by a loving God that changed his life forever. He had a huge change of heart and a reversal in his priorities with people. Since we've all had more time to think about our priorities in life in light of recent events, now's a good opportunity to ponder over where your life is and how you can spend time with a God who loves you! Many people think this is a very ethereal exercise that only some can practice. I'm here to dispel that thought by saying that all people have a spiritual nature that was created by an eternal and all-powerful Creator. To deny that is to deny reality. Men and women throughout the ages have spent time alone with God through prayer, reading the bible, and meditation. Not in trying to empty oneself as some eastern religions believe, but to fill oneself up with God who is Spirit. Perhaps this scripture will help: "For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” https://www.bible.com/bible/116/JHN.4.24.NLT Or this one: "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." https://www.bible.com/bible/116/2CO.3.17.NLT One Pastor from the Seattle area who I listened to recently online said that this is the 'Season of the Global Monastery.' I like that because it sums up what all of us are having to do right now. We're sequestered in the monastery of our own homes. We can't spend time in social or group gatherings like we did just a couple of weeks ago. We can though still worship our creator and sing hymns and worship songs to Him during this time. In fact, He may have allowed this time to have us spend more time with Him. If you think about it for a minute, a passionate and loving Father would want to spend time with His children. He wouldn't make something bad happen, but He would use it to draw those He loves to Him and teach them more about Himself. Let's enjoy some Amazing Grace together. And, you can download my new song to enjoy it with!

The really cool thing about using Wix.com for your hosting is that now you can create your own videos and share them wherever you’d like. I'm going to post a short video I made on this article and explain how I did it. For those of you who would like to make a video but the cost of the software or time is too much, it's much easier than you think! This was a fairly easy video to make. But, don't be fooled! They take time. The first thing you have to is decide what photos you'd like to use. Easier said than done! The way to decide is by determining what your message is. In the movies they call it a 'Storyboard'. This is where you map out your story. That in itself can take a long time to refine and ultimately decide what and what not to include. In some ways, what not to include can be more important than what to. Once you've decided what to include, you need to next outline what order to put it into. This is also easier said than done. In the case of this video, I wanted to highlight what details my personal story entails. Granted, there are many less details than I could include, but again, it's very important to remember what NOT to include. Now that we've got the purpose of the story and what to include to tell it with, finally one needs to decide what kind of music fits best. Another 'Easier said than done' moment. I would suggest trying numerous different loops to see what works. One safety tip: You may absolutely love a looped track in your video, but do your viewers? Have an objective third party view it and give you honest feedback. It's well worth it. Finally, put your story together and give it a whirl on various social media platforms; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube especially. Then you'll see how the effort pays off.

** Update ** (There is supplemental information I'm adding to this post as it's being cited by: Beginner Guitar HQ. - https://beginnerguitarhq.com/best-guitar-albums/) Welcome to you and to a new school year for those who've started back. Many years ago, I was getting ready one summer to audition for music school. There was a lot of preparation, perspiration, and trepidation about getting in. I made it in and then the real work began! You see, I was a little bit out of my element. I was in a classical guitar program but really had cut my teeth on folk, rock, and jazz. It was time to add some other skills to my repertoire. Fortunately, I had a very good teacher who had studied with Andres Segovia in Spain. The work was hard but I still use many of the techniques I learned then to this day. This begs the question to any guitarist or instrumentalist: How well do you want to play? There's only so much that a teacher can impart to a student. I've taught numerous students. Some were serious, some were not. But those that were and committed to learning have done well to this day. You may ask: What sets apart someone who's very good and someone who's not? Well, the good news is that what sets the good musicians apart is that they're dedicated and committed to lifelong learning. They also thrive on improving. Yes, improving! Don't for a minute think that artists are ever totally satisfied with their craft. The good ones are in the mode of continuous improvement. In fact, that's what I try to teach the band I play in - Wrecknciled. I really stress with the members of the band the need for wood-shedding at home before rehearsal. Then during rehearsal, we fine-tune everything we're going to do during our performance. We then may spend some time in self-reflection about what we could do better next time after the gig. It takes self-discipline, but if you've ever played in front of people, it pays off! You want to sound good and not make obvious mistakes because people won't want to listen to you if you don't. Here's a little interesting factoid that most people don't know - in music school, students typically practice their instrument 5 to 6 hours a day! I'm not saying or recommending that you spend that much time in the woodshed working on your craft. But, I am saying to get better, you need to spend time getting to know your instrument better and the only way to do that is to play it. There are also numerous videos, webinars, conferences and tutorials for playing well online for sale. If I were to make a recommendation, try to find a seasoned musician who you trust and let them help guide you. You wouldn't go to McDonald's for filet mignon, so don't settle for fly-by-night instruction that will only leave you frustrated. That's about all for this installment. I'm going to leave you with a good video a friend of mine sent me from Josh Smith about learning how to play rhythm well. For further research, the URL I listed above at: https://beginnerguitarhq.com/ has an interesting comprehensive guide on the 100 best guitar albums of all time, Check it out! - https://beginnerguitarhq.com/best-guitar-albums/ One other tip: Don't just take my word for it! Ask around. And if you see that what I'm telling you is good advice, come back and look at some of the other blog postings I've written. Keep shredding that ax! #Practice #rehearsal #performance #Rhythm