Marathon prepping and living the dream

I have been working on a big summer project which is to learn 27 new songs. It involves writing out a lead sheet chart for each one. I started back in early June and most of the new songs are doing pretty well. Being a musician is a lot like being an athlete.  There is a lot of physical work/practice to be done each day for my hands to stay strong and in shape. Mentally,  I have to have good concentration to keep the music in my head. Cause if I can't hear the tune in my head, I usually don't play it well. It involves learning to prioritize my time in order to be sure I am keeping up old repertoire as well as learning new songs. It is a lot like preparing to run in a big marathon. Each day of long practice and work.

Like an athlete, I  struggle with injuries and such from playing long hours and schlepping equipment. Sometimes when I make extra money, I have to  put that into getting a massage or other body work in order to help smooth out the kinks. 

The new repertoire I am working on is mostly for a wedding I have in Sept. Some of the songs I'm working on are, "You've Made Me So Very Happy," 'What the World Needs Now," "Baby, Now That I've Found You," Light My Fire," etc. They are mostly from when I was growing up (that is the age group of my audience) so it has been a lot of fun to play music from the soundtrack of my life!

There are so many new songs though, that i had to make and excel spreadsheet practice log to be sure I am keeping up on all of the songs. There's a picture of my practice log above but not sure if you can see it well. Many people do not realize how much music is required to fill one hour. All my new 27 songs only time in at 35 minutes. I will add in some jazz ballads and classical, and original repertoire to fill out the hour.

I am "living the dream" as another musician friend is fond of saying. I am enjoying the challenge and having new songs to connect with people. How's your summer projects going? What are they?