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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.

Welcome to my blog and Happy 2020 to you! I may be older than you, but I remember watching the movie 2001: A space odyssey in the theater and thought, "it's a long way until that date." Here we are, almost 20 years past that time. Amazing how time flies! My topic today isn't about time, but involves spending time with your instrument. I'd like to especially focus on guitar today since that is my specialty, but any instrumentalist could apply the concepts that I'm going to recommend here. Before I start, I would like to acknowledge the fine artists at Unsplash.com who upload high-quality photos that I and others use. They all do a wonderful job! For those of you who I'm speaking to today, you may fall into one of the following categories: Novice Amateur Professional Somewhere in between All of these categories have something in common - It's a journey. It's a journey because we all are on a journey in life. Some people have been on the journey longer than others, but we all have different experiences and personalities that color our perceptions of music as much as anything else. You're probably like me when you hear a song you heard at some point in life, perhaps when you were very young. All of a sudden, memories flood back as if you were there again. That's why music is such an individual and subjective experience for each of us. Let's take a look at the first category I mentioned. For the novice guitar player, you may be satisfied where you are with your playing. Since most people would like to improve, I'll offer a few tips to help. Spend some time experimenting with your guitar. Knowing the open chords C, D, and G are good, but you want to try other things too. Try doing some open tuning with your guitar. Open tuning is when you tune it to a full open chord when you play it. Common open tunings are D, G, and E. Other tunings are also popular including open A. Here's an article with videos to show how to do this from Guitarworld.com if you're unsure. One added suggestion they mention is to use an electronic tuner to ensure you can re-tune your instrument to a standard tuning when finished. For the amateur, perhaps you've tried some of these tunings and found them useful or even challenging. Experimenting with different methods on your instrument is very helpful to make you a well-rounded musician. You also want to try them out to see where they 'fit' in your repertoire. The professional musicians who read this are probably thinking: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know." If that's you, please remember that everyone is on a journey and that these tips may be useful for you as a reminder of how far you've come. Another suggestion I have for all of these categories is to play with as many different instrumentalists you can and in as many genres of music that you're willing to. I say willing because there are some musical varieties that are unappealing to each individual. That's something you need to decide for yourself. There's something very cool about doing music with other instrumentalists. And for guitar, saxophone is one of the best! Here's one of the best uses of saxophone with guitar that I've found with Gerry Rafferty on an old song called "Baker Street." Listen to songs through the years where the saxophone doubles as a guitar. Candy Dulfer is an alto sax player who has guitarists in her band. They've found a way to blend the two together that works very well. In the case of larger brass sections, the band Chicago has taken arrangements to another level where multiple instrumentalists are concerned. What I'm really suggesting is to experiment! There's nothing wrong with something not working out as you thought it would. After all, you didn't learn to walk on the first try! Give yourself some grace and remember, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! I've outlined a few things you can do to enhance your playing of guitar and would love to hear if you've tried or will try some of these. You can post a comment below or send an email to the address listed at the bottom of the page. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! #LearningGuitar #Improving #Instrumentalist

Merry Christmas to you! Yes, it's that time of year again when we spend time with loved ones doing things like: eating, shopping, and listening to music! It's also a wonderful time to spend with family and friends looking for a special tree to display or some new ornaments to hang on it. This is also one of my favorite times of the year for music. So many grand pieces of music have been written for this season over the centuries. You may like Classical Music as I do. The Bach Christmas Oratorio and Handel's Messiah are two that come to mind. Or, you may like some of the older Christmas hymns. Hark the herald Angels sing, Joy to the World, and It came upon a midnight clear are a few that my family has sung for years. You may also enjoy newer versions of traditional songs by Artists like Harry Connick Jr, Mariah Carey or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. (You may even listen to some singalong tunes with Mitch Miller in the closet where no one can hear you!) Whatever you enjoy, I've recorded some new music and released it onto this website. It's a combination of two old classics - Away in a manger and Silent Night. I've also re-released some older Christmas music that I did a few years ago. It was fun to do and hard work at the same time. I started working on the new track in the Spring of this year and finished it late in October. Until I started to do home recording, I never really knew how much time and energy it took to make a decent track. Feel free to share this with your friends or family and download it if you'd like to. It's my gift to you. It's the least I can do since the Savior who gave me new life, Jesus is His name, freely gave it for me and for you. Blessings this season and always, Matt Goolsby #Christmas #Music #Holidays

We're moving into the Holiday Season for 2019 and I must admit: I'm not ready - Yikes! If you're honest with yourself, you may not be ready either. In fact, the first Christmas commercial I've seen was displayed yesterday - November 3rd. We've barely gotten past Halloween and now we're assaulted with gift buying and Black Friday. Sheesh! Can we slow this down and celebrate Thanksgiving first? For those of you over the age of 50, you understand what I mean. There was a time when Thanksgiving was a major holiday. Halloween was relegated to a more sedate celebration with candy and treats. There were no such events as: Trunk and Treats, Harvest Festivals, and City sponsored 'block treating'. Now, I'm not criticizing these events, I'm only pointing out that times have changed. What used to be a small, fun celebration in neighborhoods has been marketed into a multi-billion dollar holiday that only runs second to Christmas in sales. For those of you under the age of 50, I hope that you had fun with your family. It's good to spend time together and that in itself makes it good. My message here this week is to point out that we all need to slow down a bit and enjoy where we are. Let's celebrate Thanksgiving and the wonderful traditions it brings. One of the best ways to celebrate Thanksgiving is to ask yourself what giving thanks means. Let's take a look at what we can give thanks for: For those of us who live in what are termed 'developed' countries, our life expectancy is upwards of 80 years. In less 'developed' countries, the life expectancy is as low as 43 and up to 57 years. Most of us who have been or are in the workforce have made more money in 1 year than many people who live in some countries will make in a lifetime. In fact, many 'developing' nations' workforces make $1 to $2 a day. Many countries have oppressive and corrupt governments that treat their people as commodities to be used and thrown away. In spite of our current political climate, most of us live in a free country that has a constitutional republic. The majority of us in the United States don't have to worry about what we're going to eat or drink. There is food aplenty here. But, for those who live in 'developing' countries, they often go without food or clean water on a daily basis. (Some of this data was taken from: https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/population-human-wellbeing.htm) With all of that said, we all have much to be thankful for. My challenge for you is to find something to be thankful for and think about that for the entire month. That way, you'll have a thankfulness footprint in your heart and mind that won't easily go away. I also want you to know that I give thanks for you! I give thanks that you've come to this website and spent some time reading my writings and hopefully getting some encouragement and inspiration. I'd also like to mention that I've arranged and recorded some new music to be released soon. But, not until we all give thanks! #Holidays #Thanksgiving #blessings

Today I'd like to discuss the multi-faceted aspects of creativity. You see, we just returned from an overseas trip to jolly olde England. It was phenomenal for our first trip across the 'pond'. Planning with prayer definitely provided the framework we needed to see as much as we could in the limited time we had. One of my wife's favorite activities was seeing Windsor Castle, the weekend home of Queen Elizabeth II. Granted, none of us have ever lived as Kings or Queens, but the amount of creativity architects and artisans put into the castles and fortresses during the middle ages is astounding! We really miss so much beauty in life when we don't take the time to stop and smell the roses or to enjoy the handiwork of God. What can you do today to stop and enjoy the creativity that God has sprinkled throughout all creation? In fact, King David inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote of God's creativity thousands of years ago in Psalms 19:1-6: For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5  It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6  It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. Talk about inspiring! If like me and friends of mine you've spent time in nature just to relax and reflect, you understand what David was saying in this song. You also know how important it is to get some quiet time alone. You see, I believe creativity needs reflection before being put into action. Without quieting our minds and hearts, the noise of the world really crowds out our ability to create. Here are a few more examples of creativity that we saw in London and Windsor. I hope this has encouraged and inspired you today. Now the question is: What can you do or participate in today to enjoy some creative time? As the saying in Latin says: Carpe Diem Blessings to you! #Travel #inspiration #Creativity #God

** 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