In last week’s article, we referred to the book, "THE BIG LEAP: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level" by Gay Hendricks, in which the author referred to entering our “Zone of Genius”. This referred to…Read more
Become a Genius
Have you ever wanted to do what you really want in life? Do you feel trapped and constrained in the life you are currently living? Many of us trudge through lives trapped in unfulfilling jobs or roles in life that…Read more
New Year’s Resolutions
Do you have in mind any self-improvements for this New Year? Or have you set some resolutions and are already working on the challenges to achieving them? While there is some current buzz in the media justifying why people shouldn’t…Read more
What are you thankful for?
This week, we kick off the holiday season with Thanksgiving. While we all know what Thanksgiving is about, do we really take time to understand that this is one of the best feel-good times of the year? Thanksgiving is dedicated…Read more
Feeling better about ourselves
Self-esteem is how we stack ourselves up to the world around us. Self-esteem is important to us as guitarists and as people in general. If we have high self-esteem, we feel good about our ability to play the guitar and…Read more
Risk Taking
Last weekend here at RCGS, we had several students take a risk and perform on stage for our annual fundraiser show-ending song. This was a risk on their part. None of them had ever performed in front of an audience…Read more
Living Life to its Fullest
In the grand scheme of things, our time here on this earth occurs in the blink of an eye. Ask any of us who are older. It seems like yesterday that we were kids acting goofy running around in the…Read more
Performance and Preparation
There is an old saying, the “6 P’s” – “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” This is true in many things in life and definitely applies to us all. Without thoughtful planning and thinking ahead of what we might need…Read more
Being True to Yourself
Just what is being true to yourself? We’ve all heard that we must be true to ourselves. What does this really mean? If we play with the phrase and turn it around, it can mean “Do not lie to…Read more
Learning to Improvise
Improvisation? What does this mean to us? Well, improvisation to musicians, actors, singers, comedians, dancers, artists, photographers and many others is the process of reacting to the moment and responding to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings…Read more
Hard Work
In recent articles, we’ve spoken about goal setting, confidence, being positive, perseverance, and dedication. This article is related to being dedicated, but goes into further detail in that you’ve got to be willing to…Read more
Performing and Stage Fright
Performing in front of an audience can be a nerve wracking experience. We can become tense even just thinking about being on stage in front of people let alone when we actually have to perform on stage. This is…Read more
"Find A Way"
This week’s article was going to be more guitar specific, but with Diana Nyad’s inspiring solo swim from Cuba to Florida over this past weekend, we couldn’t help but include it in this week’s RCGS article. What she did…Read more
Dedication
This article will be our last for a little while in our series on personal development, however while it may be the last, it is no less important than the others discussed (Goal Setting, Practice, Being…Read more
Perseverance
Perseverance is sticking through a task despite obstacles and seeing the task through to completion. These obstacles could be anything: time may be a factor - the task could take days, weeks, months or even years; the task may…Read more
Confidence
Confidence is generally defined as being certain that a chosen course of action is the correct one. For example: “I’m confident that if I keep practicing, I can play Cliffs of Dover on guitar” or “I have complete confidence…Read more
Being Positive
It is no secret that when we feel positive about ourselves and our surroundings, we are happier, we are more likely to get things done and are we are typically more enjoyable to be around. When life is more…Read more
Goal Setting
In this week’s article, I’d like to address goal setting. Goal setting is not only something that is important to us as guitarists but it is also important to us as people in general. Without goals, it is hard, if…Read more
Practicing on the Guitar
"How often should I practice?" "What do I do if I don't have time to practice?" "What do you do when you don't feel like practicing?" "What if you're not feeling very good about your playing and don't feel…Read more