SCHOOL OF MUSIC - SIMPLE IS INFLUENCE

SCHOOL OF MUSIC::: SIMPLE IS INFLUENCE

There's an interesting story about a man called Naaman, he had leprosy and had spent so much money but couldn't get healing. One day his maid told him about Prohpet Elisha and he decided to try Elisha out.

His king sent a letter to the King of Israel that the man was coming to be cured of his disease and when the King of Israel read the letter, he was angry and tore his clothes. Then Elisha heard the news and asked that Naaman be brought to him now so that he would know that there's a prophet in Israel. Wow! He didn't say the man will know there's a God in Israel but Prophet in Israel. That's pride abi? Lol calm down and follow me.

Naaman finally arrived Elisha's house and Elisha sent his servent to go meet the man at the door and tell him to go wash in river Jordan 7 times and be healed. Now this is another pride here. How come Elisha refused to come out to see someone who traveled all the way from a far country to see him. Lol.

There's so much i would love to share from this story for you but for this post I want to focus on something that will help your music, which is basically about PATTERN and SIMPLICITY.

Immediately the man Naaman received the message from Elisha's servant to go and wash in river Jordan, he was offended and got angry immediately. He even started going back to his country. Then he said something serious. Pay attention to this. He said he was expecting Elisha to come out and lay hands on him and pray to his God and heal him. Wow! That right there is the problem with pattern. The man wanted Elisha to follow pattern but he forgot that what he really wanted was not the Patten but the result.

Today in music, a lot of people are following PATTERN. You want to sound like what is reigning, do what everybody thinks is the way. I am always in music studios and with music producers and one thing I constantly see most gospel Artistes do when they want to record is to tell the producer that they want the song to sound like NARA, JESUS, WAYMAKER, MADE A WAY etc. These may not be the particular songs but the point is they always have a song they want to sound like because they think it is pattern that will bring the Influence. 

Result is not necessarily in patterns. Doing what everybody is doing will kill your shine. As at November 2019, survey showed that over 40,000 songs are released daily in the world. I am sure the number would have risen to 60,000 by now. Tell me how can your song gain Influence if it's sounding like the 59,000 it's competing with? Stay with your originality. Do you, sound you, be you. The world doesn't need another Sinach when Sinach is still here and active. The world needs YOU to bring all that's in you to bless your generation. Patterns will kill YOU because it won't let the world discover you. Understand that following someone's pattern will not give you their results. The truth is that the world fight what's new, what they don't know, what's different at first, but when you are consistent, they come to love your uniqueness. Stay consistent to doing You.

Second lesson from this story is the lesson of simplicity. When NAAMAN got angry at Elisha's instruction and started going back home, the maid said to him; If the man of God had asked you to do something more difficult, wouldn't you have done it? Why not obey and try this one that's so simple? Thank God Naaman listened, washed in Jordan and got totally cleansed.

You see just like naaman, most Artistes especially gospel Artistes think that until they sound technical and complex, they will not blow. Most of you want to show that you know music so now you write songs that will take a choir 5 rehearsals to learn. The magic is in SIMPLICITY. Keep it simple. Some of you are not recording yet because you want your backup to be better than RKelly's backup. Most hit songs in the world don't even have backups. The question is, "do you want to show the world that you can sing better or your want to connect with them through your song"?

Can I honestly tell you this? Your audience don't really care about what you know in music, all they want is to be able to connect with you by singing and owning your songs. When next you see a SINACH, Mercy chinwo, Eben or Frank Edwards concert, look at the faces of people in the audience singing to the popular songs of these Artistes. That's all your audience want: To be able to sing your songs effortlessly with joy in their faces as though they own the songs. That's how they connect with you, not your sofa knowledge of music. They honestly don't care.

If you want to write and release songs that will gain you Influence fast, avoid unnecessary pattern and enusre to keep it simple. People relate with simplicity because simple is easily known and I told you earlier that Known is a point of Connection.

Amachree Ikijana Alex (AIA)

Celebrity Music Coach

Music Content, Influence and Business Coach