Art Techniques

If you thought music theory was dull, think again! With the right guidance, it can be woven into every practice – and you'll see astounding results straight away. Playing by ear will get you a long way – it certainly worked for Jimi Hendrix. But the world will only ever know one Hendrix… and for every inspirational story you’ve heard about a famous guitarist who knows nothing of music theory, there’s a whole host of other stories about musicians who do – they’re just not the ones who make the headlines.

Based on a far-reaching study of thousands of individuals, Finding Flow contends that we often walk through our days unaware of and out of touch with our emotional lives. Our inattention makes us constantly bounce between two extremes: During much of the day, we live filled with the anxiety and pressures of our work and obligations, and during our leisure moments, we tend to live in passive boredom.

Best-selling author, artist, and illustrator Lisa Congdon brings her expertise to this guide to the process of artistic self-discovery. Featuring advice from Congdon herself and interviews with a roster of established artists, illustrators, and creatives, this one-of-a-kind book will show listeners how to identify and nurture their own visual identity, navigate the influence of artists they admire, push through fear and insecurity, and appreciate the value of their personal journey.

Part narrative, part practical, this adventure takes you to the foothills of Ethiopia and the ‘town of runners’; to the training grounds of world-record-holding marathon runners in Kenya; racing across the Arctic Circle and the mountains of Europe, through the sweltering sands of the Sahara and the hostility of a winter traverse of the Pennine Way, to witness the incredible natural movement of runners in these environments.

Esper worked closely with Meisner for 17 years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare.

Despite the ups and downs of his personal life and professional career—even in the face of deafness—Beethoven remained remarkably consistent in his most basic convictions about his art. This inner consistency, writes the music historian Mark Evan Bonds, provides the key to understanding the composer's life and works. Discarding tired myths about the composer, Bonds proposes a new way of listening to Beethoven by hearing his music as an expression of his entire self, not just his scowling self.

Do you struggle with public speaking or communication in your workplace or personal relations? Have you tried other solutions but find yourself slipping back into old, anxiety-ridden habits? Are you tired of feeling like a wallflower, overlooked or misunderstood when you do speak up? Many individuals struggle with social anxiety, leading to missed opportunities both personally and professionally. But what if you could transform your communication skills, master small talk, and command the room while remaining authentic to who you are?

Uncover the many benefits of Tai Chi to discover how it will help your mind, body, and soul. Have you heard of Tai Chi, but don’t know where to begin? Do you want to find out why people who practice Tai Chi are living their best life? Do you want to transform your mindset and fitness levels using Tai Chi? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you have come to the right place.

Veteran script consultant Jill Chamberlain discovered in her work that an astounding 99 percent of first-time screenwriters don't know how to tell a story. What the 99 percent do instead is present a situation. In order to explain the difference, Chamberlain created the nutshell technique, a method whereby writers identify eight dynamic, interconnected elements that are required to successfully tell a story.

The forces of persuasion are all around us. What you might often consider a free choice is quite often the result of persuasion from one or any number of forces. Persuasion influences people to make decisions about what they buy, where they live, who they vote for, and who they love. Persuasion can change our views, change our acts, change our personality, and change our world.

You would be surprised to learn how many of the world’s most famous CEOs are psychopaths. Their power and manipulative effect lies in their ability to hide. With this book, you will delve deep into the nature of the human mind, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You will come out on the other side stronger, sharper, and ready to take on just about any challenge that comes your way!

Is struggling to remember things something you find difficult? Often find yourself thinking that nothing can help? Or maybe you’re just constantly fed up of using prescription drugs and so called miracle cures. If this sounds all too familiar, then keep reading. We understand that memory loss and memory improvement are probably somewhat of a sensitive subject that you probably don’t like discussing with others. Looking for ways to help can be difficult and challenging and often leads to confusion when it comes down to what actually works and what doesn’t.

On Christmas Eve, 1818, in a small Austrian village, a local Catholic priest and a church organist composed a Christmas carol that changed the course of holiday music forever. Exactly two hundred years later, it’s not the holiday season until you’ve heard “Silent Night” in the car, at the store and on TV – all in the same day.

In Jingle Bell Pop, John Seabrook, acclaimed author of The Song Machine, takes us deep inside the holiday music business. We go behind the scenes to meet some of the producers, songwriters and recording artists responsible for the timeless tunes we hear on repeat between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.

This audiobook is for you if you want to: Start drum circles in your school, corporation, community, music store, band, or even your home; share your musical talent with others in a way that reaches beyond performing; and much more.

Powerful techniques to influence decisions, Learn exactly what to say and convince people to get what you want do you struggle dealing with people to trigger desired action? Do you think you lack effective communication skills to convince people? Do people ignore or reject your offer and life seems unfair to you? Do you often dream about getting a magic wand that you show to people and get what you want from them? If answer to any or all of the above answers is yes, then you are on the right place now.

The focus of this book is music practice, but these techniques and mindsets can be applied to any skill you want to improve. The Practice of Practice covers essential practice strategies and mindsets you won't find in any other book. You'll learn what research tells us about practice, but more importantly, you'll learn how great musicians in many genres of music think about practice, and you'll learn the strategies and techniques they use to improve.

If you want to learn the art of mental manipulation, improve your persuasion skills, learn the best methods, so that people get your ideas, and know the magic words to get out of any problematic situation: Persuasion skills can get you anything you want in this world. Persuasion Techniques: The Art of Mental Manipulation Through A Practical Guide to Influence and Improve the Mental Control of People and Increase Your Conversation Capacity opens the door to a whole new world of techniques and steps to take when you want to shift the opinions of people.

Have you wanted to be the one in control for a change? Are you often the one that is seen as expendable, or easily controlled? If you are ready to live your life in control of yourself and how those around you see you once and for all, keep reading. Despite this fact that many manipulators are simply born that way, you too can learn the skills utilized by the dark manipulators in the world. By opening your world to dark psychology, you begin to understand the actions of those around you and how they can be used to better yourself for a change.

I created this audiobook to offer a process that you can implement, regardless of changes in tools and technology. I want this audiobook to be as relevant in 25 years as when I wrote it. Although there will be some technical jargon, my goal is to break things down in simple English. I never liked user manuals much, and I don't want this book to read like one. This should feel more like a friend having a normal conversation with you. I am not that different from you, and I wasn't born with any natural gift in music making.

Just about every human being knows how to listen to music, but what does it take to make music? Is musicality something we are born with? Or a skill that anyone can develop at any time? If you don't start piano at the age of six, is there any hope? Is skill learning best left to children or can anyone reinvent him-or herself at any time?