Which came first the chicken or the egg? Answer, the dinosaur.

Often we get into a state of circular thinking where one situation is linked to another and vice versa, one perpetuating another or even precluding another; you are unable to move on without breaking the circle.
In such situations the answer lies outside of that loop as in the case of the chicken and the egg, whose answer if you go back far enough was the dinosaur but it is also a lateral thinking answer as well.
An example of one of these loops is the belief that someone is not musical and therefore they are not able to develop their abilities because they are not musical. How do you get good at playing a musical instrument if you first do not believe that you are able to become good enough? The fact is that EVERYOONE is musical and when I say musical and do not mean being able to play the guitar like someone else because that is mimicry. We can all speak but we do not all impersonate other people like a Rory Bremner or a John Sessions.
The deeper that one studies thought the stranger it becomes especially when you factor in hypnotic language patterns in the media which are influencing you, as well as the strange effect played by food and drink on your mind; the research into funguses and bacteria really make you wonder who is doing the thinking (I will return to this another time).
Breaking circular thinking requires us to hold an idea outside of the loop which is why lateral thinking can be effective as we are made to stand outside of the circle and look in.
There is a Buddhist quote about thoughts being clouds floating across the sky of the mind. If you take that analogy further clouds are formed by things that are not clouds, sea, wind, thermal currents, water vapour, heat etc. SO, our thoughts might be ‘created’ by forces outside of our own minds? When you change your belief patterning you become open to other influences creating new thermals and weather patterns to create new clouds of consciousness. For us the trick is to nudge these in the direction of travel that we desire.
Pattern breaking is what makes a great artist, Picasso, Hendrix, Miles Davis and Paganini where not great because they copied others they were great because they were different, something not encouraged in education where conformity is the pattern.
Be yourself. Break circular patterns that do not help you and remember that music in one form or another was here before the dinosaurs. Oh very deep.
Vic

check out www.bluescampuk.co.uk
Have a look at the pictures of this years rock stars, you could do that next year. Special deals available contact me for details through the site

You are only a few steps away….

At Bluescampuk this year we had a number of guests visit and jam with the campers
Chas Hodges came down on the Friday as did a good friend and session bass player Chis Dagger.
Chas played through lots of old rock and roll material with the attendees and also played through some of his hits finishing with London Girls. Chris Dagger came down so he could jam with Chas as he has been a fan of Chas and Dave for years.
Chris is currently working with Lianne La Havas and had just returned from a tour of America before playing at Glastonbury. After Bluescampuk Chris went home and we received a text saying ‘got in and Lianne is on the phone to Prince as he is in town.’
One of the things that we like to get across to the campers is that you are so close to what you believe is impossible you just have to change your beliefs and the world will change. By getting close to others and then making connections we then bring their connections closer, this is the principle of the Six degrees of separation that Milgram proposed back in the 60’s where you are only six connections away from anyone.
Maybe this is due to the choices we make or maybe because we have different filters set up we then see new opportunities to achieve what we now believe is possible just by changing your ideas and then asking and making contacts.
Later in the evening Chris sent another text saying ‘Just borrowed and jacket and shoes from a stranger and managed to get into a private club. Just chillin with Prince.’ So maybe borrowing clothing may be good as well.
Vic

Check out the website
www.bluescampuk.co.uk

Making money from teaching and playing

Want to earn money from playing and teaching maybe you want to earn more?

Now is your chance!

 

Making money from teaching and playing

Sunday 20^th October Hadlow in Kent. 10 till 4

Over thirty five years of experience in music and running my own teaching practice. Now I am going to show you how to make money from music.  In that time I have taught thousands of people,  I exam here and abroad, I write books and promote my musical interests. I have learnt many things in that time that are not found in books, the tricks of the trade if you will. They are the communication skills, the marketing ideas the business techniques that make the difference between it being a hobby and making money.

This has been motivated in part by the economic climate because a few of my pupils have asked me so they can make money and I thought it was time that I put this information out.

You might be thinking to yourself ‘ I could go and buy a book about this’, and you could but I does not get to the real facts and points that I cover in the seminar 'making money from teaching and playing' because a book can only go so far. In this seminar I cut to the chase and pack the information for you not only that you will become part of a network so you can share ideas and ask questions.

My other fascination apart from music is that of business and marketing and I have read literally hundreds of books and listened to hours and hours of talks on business and marketing. I have interviewed successful businessman and then written a book on the subject.

For me running a successful business as a musician is down to the business and not the music because you could be the best but if no one knows you or you are a bad communicator you will not succeed.

You may know many great bedroom musicians, you may be one yourself but I want you to go out into the outside world and make money!

Now the economic climate is tough also means paradoxically that you have an opportunity to start or develop your business and because you have to think about pricing and value you will have a stronger business for it.

For those of you already earning money from music this seminar will be able to help you lock your musical skills together to make money. This is a skill that I am good at because I had to be and I learnt the hard way so take the opportunity to learn from the thousands of pounds of my investment and get yourself increasing your income.

We will cover these and many other points…

How to set up as a teaching

What you need

How to get into teaching at schools.

Do I need a teaching diploma?

Book keeping and tax information

How to advertise ... For free

How to increase 'share of wallet'

Lesson Ideas, making them inspiring and original.

Writing reports.

Getting gigs to pay in more ways

How performing and teaching can develop one another and increase your cash flow

How to think as a business person not a hobbyist

How to price your product

Set up courses

Sell online

Teach on the Internet .. And much more

 

I have over the years invested £1000's in training and study and all your investment will be is £50 in something that will generate increased income.

A free copy of 'the art of creativity' on CD

 

Contact me to book your place. 07976405561 or vichyland@msn.com

 

 

 

 

Time for change

Socrates was sitting outside the gates of Athens when a man comes up to him. The man says ‘I am thinking of moving to Athens; what is it like living here?’ Socrates looks up and asks him ‘I would gladly tell you but answer me one question; what is it like where you live now?
The man replied ‘Terrible! The people are back stabbers and thieves, I will be leaving no friends behind me only enemies’ Socrates frowned ‘Well you had best be on your way because you will only find the same thing here in Athens.’
Later a second man approached who was considering moving to Athens. Once again the philosopher asked him of his previous experience of his home town. The man smiled and said ‘Where I come from the people all work together and help each other. Kindness is everywhere and you are always treated with respect. ‘Welcome to Athens’, smiled Socrates, ‘you will find the same thing here.’
How we see the world and the people around us is all to do with our programming and our beliefs. When people come to me to learn music I often reach a point where they meet themselves on the road and that is their biggest obstacle. Their beliefs are the only thing holding them back. What people believe about their abilities and failings are the things that need to be looked at and the more education someone gets the worse they are.
These programmes that run are put in by others, family, teachers, friends and then the outside world think about it they were not even your own thoughts! Maybe it is time to get the programming you deserve; yours.
So start by changing what you believe; if it is negative and you find it ‘truthful’, remember all hypnotic programming seems truthful BECAUSE is it hypnotic; fake it and then give it time and see what happens, trust me things will change.
It is time to take control and let the rock star out.

Vic

check out www.bluecampuk.co.uk

Sorrow and grief are like the compost of change, plant the seed of love in the compost.- Satish Kumar

Be the change you want in the world. - Ghandi

Focus on the change that you want, focus on what you want in the music that you are producing, and remember that all music comes from the fact that there is silence. We have love because there is hate, we see them as different but in fact they are the same thing but just different aspects, different polarities.

Day and night are both parts of the day; this brings us to the ridiculousness of continued economic growth as this is not natural. The politicians need to get to the basics of the nature of things and make sure that we start to flow with the way that is more holistic.

There will be periods of growth and periods of decline and if we are aware of these things then all the better, however the political system is not set up for this, what it is set up for is the few possessing the most with the many possessing the little; this is unsustainable and in time will change.

 Over the last few years there has been a recurring theme of the rich feathering their nests at the expense of the others and this is not going unnoticed with movements like the ‘Occupy Movement’. Again this is not new and there has to be poverty in the world just for the reasons that I have outlined above but there has to be change and balance not stagnation. 

We are entering a new phase of change and it can be the most creative time for the arts, think back to the decades of the 60’s and 70’s and of the way that music developed in those times of unrest.

Best that we work this out in the arts!

Vic 

 

 

The daily grind

I am a shaman, come in guise of a comic, in order to heal perception by using stories and jokes, and always the voice of reason…..

If comedy is an escape from anything it is an escape from illusions. The comic, by using the voice of reason, reminds us of our True Reality, and in that moment of recognition, we laugh, and the reality of the daily grind is shown for what it really is – unreal – a joke. - Bill Hicks

Back in the 1960’s music was a force for change and it was again in the 1970’s with Punk and Two Tone. Today it seems that most people are rather tranced-out and things seem to be going along with no one seeing what is happening. More and more things are being taken away from ordinary people and being placed in the hands of big business and the authorities.

Take schooling for instance; they are now more like businesses than places to learn, with some schools running several others like some form of corporate takeover. This is bloody ridiculous but no one seems to think it is, surely schooling has some aspect of locality to it so how can a school from a different area take over and know the aspects of that school.

It seems that any comment made that would have been fine down the pub in a matter of fact way now being delivered on the internet can result in the authorities moving in, well I am suspicious of them as well. I have NEVER believed in the well-meaning nature of the police or the ruling class and this is from a white guy; I just wonder how I would have felt if I was black and I had lived in Brixton in my early years.

I think that music and humour still has and maybe has even more a role a play to prick the bubble of pomposity of the authorities of this country, the USA and Europe as they are not only manipulating and corrupt but also inept.

So Bill as in all things the true nature of things shows itself in time and the daily grind is still grinding on.

Vic