Guest Post: Wisdom from the PianoGuys

I am so very happy to have a message from Rebecca J Carlson to share with you girls today. Some of you may have read her awesome posts here on MMW before. If not visit the archives, but not before you read today's message.


Wisdom from the PianoGuys

A couple of weeks ago the PianoGuys came to Laie, Hawaii to do a concert and shoot footage for a new music video. If you don't know already, the PianoGuys are these amazingly talented people from St. George who make inspiring music videos for YouTube. I had a chance to meet the two performers, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson, in person as they came to "talk story" with the BYU-Hawaii Ohana the morning before the concert.

After they played a song or two for us, they took questions. Someone asked, "What advice do you have to an aspiring musician who wants to be successful like you?"

Jon and Steve glanced at each other, as if not sure what to say. "We really don't know how this happened to us," they said. "All we can tell you is that you've got to put your life in the Lord's hands. He will lead you to meet the right people, be in the right places, and have everything come together for you. We never imagined we'd be doing this, but God built this path for us and all we had to do was follow it."

They told us that they pray over every detail. They pray before they begin composing an arrangement. They pray before they start a recording session. They pray before they go on a video shoot. They said we should never feel foolish about asking the Lord for help with anything. Then the miracles will come.

They emphasized how essential it is to interact with other musicians. Working together with others creates something better than anyone could do alone. And I would add that this is just as important for writers as it is for musicians. Even though writing itself can be a solitary process, I know my stories work best if I first brainstorm out loud with my husband and children throwing in their own wonderful ideas.

Last of all, the PianoGuys told us to always remember to write for the audience. We can't just write for ourselves or for people like us. We need to create things that will bring joy to as many of our brothers and sisters as we can.

I'd like to close by sharing this music video that the PianoGuys filmed while they were here in Hawaii, just so you can see what it looks like where I live:



Aloha everyone!

Rebecca J. Carlson