Beware of the Gatekeepers

This one tackles the idea of gatekeepers. We all have varying levels (and maybe kinds) of insecurities about wether we're doing things the right way. It's pretty easy to find confident people out there that will tell you "this is definitely the right way to play music and those people are wrong!" But music is pretty complicated and these kinds of things are not so cut and dry.

Basically, I want to encourage each and every one of my Patrons to play music and write music and not to be too concerned with the people who tell you "if you're not doing X, you're not a real musician."

On the flip side, if you have the urge to find someone to tell you:

 "this is definitely what music is and these people over here are definitely not making music," 

I'd like you to know that this urge is pretty normal, pretty human and - to some extent - unavoidable at least in some sense. I mean, your preferences are a big part of what makes you you. In other words, it's definitely OK to have preferences, but to define one kind of music as "the only true music," would be comparable to saying that 1500's English or 1200's English is "the only true English."

Music is nuanced and interesting and if you're always worried about doing it right or wrong, you might be missing the point that it's about you doing it the way you like.