Needlepoint Music

The most important paradigm shift that I have become a proponent of when teaching students and artists of all ages, is the reframing of mistakes and failures as the exact goalposts we are seeking to reach in the course of our personal development.

In most work and social environments today, it is undoubtedly true that we fear the possibility of foible in our future. We have an avoidant relationship towards even the instantiation of failure. We react viscerally to the threat of failure and because of this, we avoid any conditions which might even allow for this deplorable experience. And so we find ourselves stunted, both creatively and productively, unable to find acceptable terra firma anywhere that we might consider valuable or challenging or inspiring.

We are all familiar with these “fear-of-failure environments”, which seem to be devoid of inner comfort yet rife with judgement and counterproductive self-talk. Unfortunately, we also know that progress towards anything of measure or importance is born only out of innumerate failures and discomforts. We can see that these “fear-of-failure environments” rely on a denial of this inherent truth. And thereby, we can see that our problem is our solution.

When coaching artists or students, I portend that mistakes can are actually logically understood to be the only pathway to progress. I find that within this paradigm, every mistake presents as an opportunity to correctly reinterpret a course to our goal, a goal that we know is only a fleeting moment in time before which we scud onward to the next “goal".

With young kids there is less to untangle. When they fall to the ground while teetering, we can choose to laugh. We can rejoice in the reminder to lift our feet and chuckle at the idea that walking could be done any other way. There, we see that failure is simply a fact of life.

With older humans we know that they’ve had more time to engrain both the idealism of a life without failure (and thereby without fear) and the affirmation that avoidance equals safety. Except, that is, if this person were to imagine that anything about their life could be different from the way it is: safe, inoffensive, and stagnant.

Fortunately for us educators, there are other forces at play that a good coach can harness on the path towards change. Namely, there is Purpose and, to a lesser extent, Desire. When it comes to Desire, a simple equation arises: when Desire exceeds fear, change is put in motion.

Purpose is, importantly, much more vague. Purpose lives deep inside of an impossibly small place that thinking mind cannot fold itself into. This is a feature not a bug, because Purpose is the best way to bypass the thinking mind’s fear of failure. Desire is not the terra firma we’re after, because Desire is a finite resource and is just as fleeting as the idea that anything will change once a goal is reached. It is only Purpose that offers a coach the sufficient gigawatt-hours of output per student.

Purpose is so powerful that it can be unrelated to the end-goal entirely, and still be harnessed as an atomic energy source for change and progress. Purpose offers a cyclical reminder that only through the application of this inherent energy within us, can we remind ourselves of our own vitality. And when we point this energy towards failure, we can view it as a change of state rather than an affront to our being, because Purpose reminds us why we began this journey in the first place.

Purpose can supercharges the very simple proposition that I put forward to my students and artists: Failure isn’t just a part of the journey towards your destination. Failure is the journey and the destination rolled into one.

Awesome students have awesome teachers 😎

Free: New Student Consultation - Needlepoint Music New and prospective students or are invited to book a free 20-minute lesson to chart a course towards your musical goals.During an hour-long session with Simon, you'll take a deep dive into the nature of sound and music.Needlepoint Music accepts all ages and skill levels who'd like to focus on a

It's that time of year again...

The school-year schedule shake-up has begun! Book music lessons conveniently online and on your schedule and reintroduce yourself (or your young student) to the art and craft of music making with lessons from Needlepoint Music.

Book your first lesson for FREE here:

https://calendly.com/needlepointmusic/consultation

Returning students (you know the drill!):

https://www.needlepointmusic.com/lessons

Join our mailing list for quarterly, cancel-anytime reminders to dust off that instrument and go create!

https://mailchi.mp/f862f8006292/needlepoint-music-lessons

Free: New Student Consultation - Needlepoint Music New and prospective students or are invited to book a free 20-minute lesson to chart a course towards your musical goals.During an hour-long session with Simon, you'll take a deep dive into the nature of sound and music.Needlepoint Music accepts all ages and skill levels who'd like to focus on a

https://boldjourney.com/news/meet-simon-needle/

A collection of Simon's personal thoughts on education, inspiration and finding a space for yourself in the music industry.

Meet Simon Needle - Bold Journey Magazine We recently connected with Simon Needle and have shared our conversation below. Hi Simon, thanks

calendly.com/needlepointmusic is the new home for online, at-home music lessons!

Thank you for the kind words, Jason!

Rangr | Ansley Music Studio Eternal student of all things noise // Enjoys making sounds on Guitar, Keys, Ukulele, Bass, and CPU

A little write-up about the business ethics of the studio and my business philosophy in general.

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-simon-needle/

Short answer: be good to your people, and they will be good to you!

Visit: www.rangr.org/ansleymusic and join the club!

Meet Simon Needle We're excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Simon Needle. We hope you'll enjoy our conversation with Simon below. Simon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges...

My latest publication with Eastman's Intégral Journal... A little Hip-Hop Analysis!

https://www.esm.rochester.edu/integral/35-2022/wadsworth-and-needle/

There is so much tension and emotional manipulation happening in Hip-Hop music. Whether we see it or not, we certainly feel it!

Shout out to Kung-fu Kenny!

Rhyme, Metrical Tension, and Formal Ambiguity in Kendrick Lamar’s Flow - Intégral Benjamin K. Wadsworth and Simon Needle Abstract The flow of Kendrick Lamar veers between old-school, metrically rigid and new-school, prose-like rhymes. Through manipulating rhymes within $$4\atop4$$ time, Lamar increases and decreases affective tension, suggests formal ambiguity, and highlights cha...

Digging into the business of music!

Meet Simon Needle | Music Educator, Multi-instrumentalist & Vocal Producer We had the good fortune of connecting with Simon Needle and we've shared our conversation below. Hi Simon, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business? I knew from a young age that I wanted to do music as a career, but what I didn't know was that, because of this decisi

Scrolling through Oxford Academic, as one does and stumbled upon the Spring issue of Music Theory Spectrum. Would you look at that!

https://academic.oup.com/mts/issue/43/1

Immeasurably proud of the publication of my first nationally distributed academic paper.

I share the majority of this honor to my former professors Dr.Jeff Yunek and Dr.Ben Wadsworth.

I guess this makes me an independent academic now?

Join me in this lifelong journey with music!

Volume 43 Issue 1 | Music Theory Spectrum | Oxford Academic Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

Here's a bit on me, your neighborhood music fanatic!

Meet Simon Needle of Ansley Guitar Studio in Midtown Atlanta - Voyage ATL Magazine | ATL City Guide Today we’d like to introduce you to Simon Needle. Simon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. My work with other musicians began when I decided to grab a Yamaha acoustic guitar and get my ass kicked learning it. I was […]