update – Plan M: Finding Joy in Music Blog

INTRODUCTION

It’s been a surprisingly busy three months at Plan M Music Blog. I’ve totally revamped the site with new slicker navigation and improved categories. Hopefully you’ve found it easier to find the posts that suit your musical skill level and personal interests.

I’ve also spent time setting social media sites like Pinterest, Twitter, & Tumbler to help drive traffic to the site. I haven’t seen much effect on my site stats yet from it, but perhaps that will come with time.

HOBBY POSTS

My primary mission is still to help adults connect with musical hobbies that suite their needs and busy life style. I’ve posted 12 new posts in this area.

Hobby #1: Don’t Start a Band – Part 1

Hobby #2: Start a Band

Hobby #3: Reinvent the Concept of a Band – Hobbies You Should Try Instead of Starting a Band

Hobby #4: Create a Fake Band

Hobby #5: Listen for a Cause: Support Ukraine – #Music4Ukraine

Hobby #6: A Call to Action

Hobby #7: New Goblin Ears Images Created by Artificial Intelligence

Hobby #8: Active Listening

Hobby #16: Kill Your Radio Club

Hobby #27: Write Song Parodies

Hobby #97: Conduct Historical Research – Part 2 – 5 Ways Researching Your Favorite Music Can Bring You Joy

Epic Protest Songs – A Playlist

HASTY MUSIC REVIEW SERIES

I’ve also launched a new series that I call Hasty Music Reviews. I examine and describe songs I’ve never heard before and recommend them to fans of other similar bands. This series is my humble attempt to help drive listeners toward Ukrainian musicians. Hopefully this will help them to earn a living from streams and online sales while Russia’s invasion continues.

Thus far there have been, 7 new posts in this area.

“Pisces” by Jinjer – A Hasty Music Review to Support the People of Ukraine #Music4Ukraine

“Hydronaut” by Shiva the Destructor

“Picnic in Tchernobyl” – By Yom: A Hasty Music Review for Folks Trying to Support #Music4Ukraine

“Kurs Valüt” by Kurs Valüt: Another Hasty Music Review for People Supporting #Music4Ukraine

“Da Cao” by La Horsa Bianca: Another Hasty Music Review to Support Musicians in Ukraine #Music4Ukraine

“I’m the Mountain” By Stoned Jesus – A Hasty Music Review to Support Ukrainian Musicians #Music4Ukraine

“Up In the Sky” by Somali Yacht Club – A Hasty Music Review to Support Ukrainian Musicians #Music4Ukraine

I’ve also published a playlist to help you find your own favorite Ukrainian artists. I hope you’ll join the cause and post similar content. If you do, please be sure to Pingback to me and I’ll share your work with my audience.

TRAVEL SERIES- MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD

I was fortunate enough to travel a bit this quarter. Like most people, I’ve collected plenty of great content from my travels. Much of it is music-related, and is great for this blog. Some of it has nothing to do with music, but I just want to share it anyway. It’s my site, so I’ll do what I want. I hope you’ll forgive my divergence from my mission and enjoy the content in my Travel Series anyway.

PPAC CHALLENGE

Marsha Ingrao at Always Write encourages bloggers to post artwork that they’ve enjoyed in free, public settings. This is known as the PPAC Challenge. I’ve found this endeavor to be quite worthwhile because I’ve casually been collecting photos of artwork that I enjoy and I’ve always just horded them to myself. Her series has provided a fun outlet. Thanks Marsha!

Sculpture Outside Kilkenny Castle

Pink Predator Sculpture #DublinInk

“Art” at Guinness Open Gate Brewery

BJ’s Bar Fredonia, NY

Eric Schultz Reconnecting

“Full of Beans” Moxy Hotel, Dublin

A Missed Opportunity

Cleere’s Bar and Theater, Kilkenny, Ireland

REPOSTS FROM OTHER BLOGGERS

I’ve made it a focus to share the work of other authors on my site, particularly those that align with my mission to inspire adults to make more of their musical hobbies.

I hate knowing that I might be driving you away from my content, but I’m hopeful that you’ll return. Either way, if another author’s content helps you find more joy from music, then I’m proud to help you connect with them.

CONCLUSIONS

WordPress provides lots of useful statistics to help quantify success. I wont bore you with many, but this is my 31st consecutive day posting (my longest run). It is also my 100th post.

When I started this blog I didn’t know if I would stick with it. Im happy to say this has been a more enjoyable endeavor than I expected and that’s largely due to the interactions I’m having with other bloggers. Thanks for making blogging a new fun hobby for me!

What Has This Blog Achieved in Three Months?

On February 6, 2022, I aimlessly published my first blog post. It was on a different platform, and eventually I moved my material to WordPress.com – but that was just the beginning of what has become a very meaningful endeavor for me.

When I started posting, I thought I was going to record an album. I was going to use the blog as means to document my work and hopefully use it as an artifact to hold myself accountable for making progress. I had written a bunch of tunes during the covid lockdown and bought so much new gear. I just had to find a way to put it all to use. I still do, and hopefully one day I still will.

More important than the equipment I acquired and the catalog of songs I had written, was the perspective I had gained during that. I spend a lot of time reflecting about my priorities, my experience, and what really makes me happy. This new perspective gave birth to a new mission.

I realized that I have something to say about the value of music in society, and my perspective seemed to be different than what the commercial world has been trying to sell me. I’m too old to cling to the dream of being a rockstar and I’m not even certain they exist anymore anyway. I came to terms with that a long time ago.

Although I don’t rehearse/write two nights a week with a band and gig on the weekends anymore, I have found a way to keep music an important part of my life and a key aspect of my happiness well into my forties. I’m not the only person who has managed this, but I’ve watched my peers fall off the musical map over the years. A few became professional musicians, that’s something very different than what I’m writing about – I’m focusing on those that used their fallback plan and got “real jobs.” Most of those folks stopped making music shortly after college.

We all have different priorities in life, and as such we make different choices. Some of my friends chose to have kids young, some focused on their careers instead. Some have become wealthy, while others have struggled to make ends meet. Some are healthy, while others cope with illness and injury, and more than a few are no longer with us. This is a tough fact of life that we all do our best to cope with.

It’s my opinion that music is one of the best elixirs available to cope with these challenges, as well as to celebrate the wins. That’s why it saddens me to see so many of my friends with immense musical talent let their instruments collect dust in a closet and forgo the healing that comes from playing them, even if only recreationally.

In the two decades since I graduated music school, I’ve tried many musical hobbies. I want to share what worked, what didn’t, and even educate you how things have changed over the years. For instance, when I graduated college, recording an album cost thousands of dollars and you had to do it in a professional studio. Now many computers come standard with recording software right out of the box. You can learn to use this equipment for free online. For a modest monetary investment and some serious intellectual sweat equity, you could record that album you always wanted to make. (I’m not promising that it will sound good, that depends on your skill level. I’m just saying you can do it and since this is a hobby, which may be enough.) If you gave up your interest in music in the 1990s, it may not even be clear how this is even possible unless you’ve really been keeping up on recording technology. And it may not be clear how to get started again. Luckily, I’m here to help.

I’ve only begun to scratch the surface in my first three months blogging on the topic and I haven’t quite been able to connect with an audience yet, although I’m convinced there are others out there who want this knowledge and some who need it. If you have someone in your life that would be happier if they were making music, you should consider sharing this with blog with them.

I believe that sharing this information can put more happiness into the world than the album I was planning ever could. That’s why I shifted gears to start sharing different musical hobbies for people of all ages and skill levels, not in the hopes that you’ll use the info to get famous, but rather that you’ll have fun and enrich your life with it.

So far, I’ve posted 8 articles to that effect and 16 total. I’ve got about ten posts in various draft stages and ideas for dozens more. Some of these posts are relevant to various readers so I’ve categorized them accordingly. Here is an archive of my posts categorized by musical skill level in case you missed any.

Ways that People with LITTLE OR NO Musical Skill Can Make More of Their Lives with Music

Ways that People with SOME Musical Skill Can Make More of Their Lives with Music

Ways that People WHO CAN SHRED Can Make More of Their Lives with Music

General Articles About Making Music

I started out by publishing a few posts a month, but eventually I got up to publishing weekly. My goal is to continue to publish weekly during in the next quarter. I also started reposting one blog a week from other sources. I’m excited to repost articles that are consistent with my mission of encouraging others to find happiness with music. Please be sure to check them out. One that I highly recommend- Three Reasons Why Hobbies are Great For Your Mental Health.

I’m very excited to be working on my “Don’t Start a Band” series that will provide several ideas about how scratch that performance itch without all the effort of starting a band. Please be sure to follow me and check back often!

Tag: update

Quarterly Digest – Q3 2022

Quarterly Digest – Quarter 2, 2022