A Note From the Author
Welcome to the 4th edition of The Art of Daily Practice. I’m glad you’re here.
Researching and writing The Art of Daily Practice has changed my life for the better. Along the way, I’ve learned amazing things from Renaissance-era writing teachers and from modern neuroscientists. Most importantly, I’ve learned how to effectively learn the skills of songwriting by forming good habits of daily practice. I’m happy to share with you absolutely everything I’ve learned from these far-flung sources.
Your access to The Art of Daily Practice has no set expiration date, so feel free to return to this material as often as you like.
What Brings You Here?
You can apply what you learn in The Art of Daily Practice to your instrument of choice, or to any genre of music (or blend of genres). You can use what you learn here to teach yourself music composition, lyric writing, or performance skills. You can even use it to learn recording and sound production.
It’s worth pausing to reflect on why you signed up for this course. How are you going to put this material (and its instructor) to work for you?
- Maybe you have an ambitious project in mind, like recording an album of original songs someday.
- Maybe you feel like you’re in a creative rut, and you need to start making progress again.
- Maybe you know you need to practice more, but you just can’t seem to get started.
- Maybe you’ve had a hard time making the practice habit stick (it’s probably not your fault, as we’ll see).
- Maybe you do practice regularly, but you’d like to make your practice time more structured and efficient.
- Maybe you’re the competitive type, and you want to be the best damn lyricist, composer, singer, guitarist, pianist, or ukelele virtuoso in town.
- Maybe you just have a sense that you’ve got untapped potential, and you want to see what you’re capable of.
Let’s talk about you
To get the best possible experience from this course, I invite you to send me an email letting me know what you came here to do.
- Do you play an instrument, write lyrics, sing, or perform live?
- Does a particular genre of music interest you? Let me know. I listen to everything from mainstream pop to obscure ambient music and metal.
- Are you currently working on any projects, like an original song or an album?
This is your course, and while I do have a curriculum planned, your individual needs will help shape it.
You don’t have to email your responses to me, but I do encourage you to answer the questions above in writing, even if just for yourself. It’ll help set the right tone for the course to come.
What’s New in the 4th Edition
Thanks to feedback from previous sessions, I’ve made some improvements to this edition.
- All-new audio recordings of each session. I no longer sound like I’m talking to you live from the bottom of a tin can.
- Mobile-responsive: the course now displays nicely on screens of all sizes, from desktop computers all the way down to smartphones.
- Later sections now include lots more ground-level advice for the challenges of forming a new practice habit that really sticks.
- Later sections now pay more attention to helping you effectively learn challenging material and difficult techniques.
- A new appendix will include quick-application guides that help you do everything from memorizing lyrics to learning from your own live performances.