Three best things I learned at the Rally

[aldicicco]

1. Good is not great. There were some phenom songwriters in attendance. Can something be humbling and uplifting at the same time? That's how I felt.2. Find my niche. I get excited about all types of music, but I have a limited number of strengths. I need to focus on these.3. Taxi is (and its members are) the real deal. Anyone in attendance knows this.Al

[homeslyze]

I did a lot of classroom hopping this year. The main things I heard repeatedly...1. To help your melody stand out, do something interesting rhythmically to it2. Set realistic goals for yourself on a timeline, then take several small steps to acheive them3. Keep on writing and never give up

[nomiyah]

1. Listen and a song will tell you what it needs, like a blank wall in your house will tell you what it needs. (Ron harris)2. Songwriting is the only business where you can bore someone in less than 3 minutes. (Steve Seskin)3. There are American Idol spin-offs in dozens of countries that need original songs. If they don't want it in English, they'll provide a translation. The translator will be a part co-writer for that version only, not the original English version. (Jason Blume)4. Not enough people know about West Coast Songwriters. (Sherrill Blackman)Ran over 3 best things and still leaving out so much. The best part was getting to know so many of you. Nomi

[mazz]

Here's the three best things I learned at the Road Rally 2008:1. This is a relationship business.2. This is a relationship business.3. This is a relationship business.I'm not trying to be flip or diminish anything else anyone else has learned, but, for me this year, it finally sunk in at a deeper level. I've heard this for years and I'm finally starting to "get it". TAXI can open the doors and provide (as Chuck says) a favorable introduction, but after that, it's up to me to develop and nourish those relationships.Always learning!!Mazz

[allisonsharp]

1) As an artist/songwriter, I'm not the best but by far, I'm not the worst. Keep learning and growing and write EVERY DAY.2) Collaborate and co-write. 3) Get on the Taxi forum. And well....here I am.Hope to make some new connections here. Allison Sharpwww.allisonsharp.com

[weapon]

3 Things,1. It costs 20 bucks for a glass of wine and an amaretto sour.2. Steak and mushroom sandwiches from the internet cafe are like swallowing poison.3. The Triple steak burrito from taco bell causes triple the digestive pain.I'm just not going to eat or drink anything next year, other than the food I chose I thought the rally was fantastic.

[sgs4u]

If you look back to the top of this thread, I was lucky enough to be the first person to respond, when Jimi started it. I'll quote myself to show y'all what an egotistical dweeb I can be. Nov 13, 2007, 1:28pm, sgs4u wrote:How important Jimi is.That I am pathetically unable to walk up to someone I don't know, and hand them a CD, when they're surrounded by a swarm of other people like me.That my progress is uniquely my own, and I'm doing fabulously. After this year's Rally, I now know that my 3 top things, have been completely reinforced, and remain the same!Jimi now refers to me as "Trouble." Jimi is still incredibly important, for many reasons I wasn't previously aware of. I let people walk up to me now, instead of me trying to plead for someone else's attention (and that feels way better). As a result of joining Taxi, and THIS FORUM, my progress, is has been fantastic. By maintaining my uniqueness, I am able to make a guess that by this time next year, I will have made a lot of people incredibly wealthy. If you are open-minded enough to learn, Taxi and this place can teach you ANYTHING. Get to know people on here, really well, because relationships matter more than anything else. Yee-Haw

[ragani]

Nov 14, 2008, 2:31pm, weapon wrote:I'm just not going to eat or drink anything next year...LOL! That's hilarious! I'll have to sneak you some hard boiled eggs from the hotel. Hahaha! Nov 14, 2008, 12:21pm, allisonsharp wrote:3) Get on the Taxi forum. And well....here I am.Hope to make some new connections here. Welcome, Allison! You'll find plenty of friends and colleagues here for your co-writes. It's a great community-- glad to have you on board! Nov 14, 2008, 2:57pm, sgs4u wrote:I let people walk up to me now, instead of me trying to plead for someone else's attention (and that feels way better).Aw, if I had known that I would have walked up to you a lot more! My three things learned at the Rally this year are:1) I can ask mentors or instructors for a private (paid) consultation-- I don't know why this didn't occur to me in the past. I asked two mentors I had never met before for consults at this Rally, and I got them both! WOW, am I glad I did that!! Something I'll be repeating for sure!! (And neither of them would accept any payment )2) (same as Nomi): the "Idol" show takes place in lots of other countries and they need hit songs too! And they can be in English!3) I CAN SING!!! And there is nothing wrong with my voice!!! Thank you, Dave Stroud.

[che]

Not sure that things I learned where in the cirriculum necessarily, but were either AH HA moments or realizations about things I should have known, but didn't want to accept or take on.1) We are not islands! We need people other than those we work with daily. Because there is a rather large group of us that work together, it's easy to get consumed and not network and reach out to others. Being part of this forum helped me talk to way more people than any previous year. It also boosted my confidence when talking to industry people. I didn't not feel "Less Than" or nervous at all this year.2) Confirmation and somewhat a realization that our group of family and friends do really have something special, the rest of the world just doesn't know it yet!!!! -) It's easy to doubt yourself a bit when your're sitting in a non-musically productive city and when you're not getting you music heard enough by others.3) "The harder you work, the Luckier you get" was a quote I heard that stuck with me. I am going to HAVE TO work really hard at getting our music heard by as many people as possible if I expect anything to come from it. Just because I don't live in a music city....it's not an excuse. And, because we think what we do is really good...it will not ever matter if it just sits here in the studio and no one hears it!!!!!

[allends]

1) A Taxi rally is NOT a once-in-a-lifetime event... it's something to do every year! 2) The competition is getting better all the time! 3) It's easy to love people who love music.