5 most valuable things I learned from James Morrison

Over the years I have been very fortunate to work with many amazing musicians. One of these amazing musicians is world renown multi instrumentalist James Morrison. Working with James is a huge privilege and every time I have played with James I have learned something new. Today I wanted to share my top 5 lessons that I learned working with James.

1. Work hard to achieve your goals but make sure you enjoy the journey. James is a big believer that hard work gets you the results you seek. Just listen to his playing, it speaks for itself. But He also believes that without enjoyment the hard work can feel like a  chore and prevent you from achieving your goals.

2. If you want to learn multiple instruments (or variations of the same instrument) practice the change. James is an incredible instrumentalist. He says that for him to become so good at several different instruments is from practising changing between them. He would practice his main instrument until that felt good then he would swap to the new instrument until that felt good. then he would continue to switch between them until they both felt good right away. 

3. Telling an interesting story is more important that playing as high, fast or loud as possible. Coming from someone who can do all of these extremely well says how important this message is. James has incredible stage presence. The way he tells stories with his words to setup the story he tells with his music is brilliant. watch any of his live performances and its hard to not be drawn in. His music is consistently full of the right energy to tell a story.

4. Putting yourself out there is the best way to create opportunities. James often tells the story of how he and his brother John were travelling through New York, they were out of money didn't have a place to stay or any food or a way to make money to pay for either. So they went busking. While they were busking a music venue manager approached them and booked them for a gig that night! If James and John didn't go busking they wouldn't have gotten that gig. 

5. Share your gift with the next generation of musicians. From his Generations in Jazz music competition, Music Scholarship, Academy of music (university) or the countless performances with school every year. James is a big believer in sharing his gift with anyone who is eager to learn. This is vital for the future culture of music. Any musician professional or enthusiast should share their skill with others willing to learn. 

Which of these lessons I learned from James will you apply to your musical journey?

Happy Practising.