No Lesson This Week. Here's What I Did Instead.

A small experiment, and I could really use your help testing it

Author

Dan White
August 24, 2026

Hey friends,

I'm writing this one right after a gig for a local non-profit group here in Omaha tonight. It was a weekend full of music and I'm simultaneously wired & tired. Thankfully all the gear has been lugged back down to the basement, and I'm in my favorite green chair, a little sweaty and my feet are tired. No complaints, but a simple confession tonight:

I didn't have time to put together a lesson this weekend. Between sending in an audition for a fun little thing I'm trying out for (first time I've done that in a LONG time) and prepping for a couple upcoming gigs, I just ran out of time to make it happen. But, I still wanted to send something out that was useful. Plus I truly do want to stay consistent here, but what I've been thinking about is something I could honestly use your help with...

I've been building something, a simple way to sit down and reset from the day with music. My goal for this idea is to give you a few quiet minutes with your instrument, nothing else attached. Here's what I'd like you to try. This can be done with a piano, guitar, cello, voice, or something else non-musical, but still artistic:

Set a timer for 10 minutes.
Then find your place at your instrument of choice.
Now, breathe.
Four counts in, four counts out.
With your hands in your lap.
Do this once more.

Before we play anything, I'd like you to say one honest
And positive thing about yourself.
If you can say it out loud, even better.
It can be something small but true, like
"I don't have to be the best to enjoy this."

Now, place your hands on your instrument
And play a slow scale, any scale you like.
No goal but putting your hands on your instrument again.
Take the scale up and back down - slowly.
Do this once more.
It might feel a little strange to play it slowly.
Rather than judging your playing,
Enjoy listening to the notes.
Focus on the sound, not so much on producing a perfect scale.

When you're done warming up, play any song you enjoy
Or already know by heart.
Take your time - don’t race to finish.
There's a strong chance the timer will go off while you're playing through your song.
Stop when it goes off, even if you're mid-phrase.

And that's it for today. Not a lesson, just a practice of being present in your music. In your art.

Now, if you're not a musician but you draw, write, paint, sculpt, or whatever your thing is that connects you to creativity, you can do this too. Here's the format we followed - breathe, one honest sentence, a simple warm-up (ex: a few lines of tracing, one sentence from a favorite poem), then one small step of your own (ex: start your own sketch, draft your first line of a story), then stop at 10 minutes regardless of how far you got or how much you created.

My one ask of you all and I'd be so grateful if you'd do this - hit reply and tell me, in even a sentence, how that practice felt. Did anything feel different when you were done? I'm not looking for anything dramatic, I'm genuinely curious what this did (or didn't do) for you. And you'd be helping me out more than you know.

Thanks for reading tonight, or today, or whenever this reaches you. And also, I don't always say it, but thank you for letting me take up a little space in your inbox. It’s not something I take lightly.

One more thing before I go, here's a little preview of what I've got for you in our ongoing Left Hand series... it's actually something for your Right Hand. Next week's lesson is one I've been excited about for a while. It's a shortcut for finding (and writing) great melodies using just five notes. The same five you'd land on messing around on nothing but the black keys. I'm going to explain much more next week - can't wait to show you this!

Thanks and hoping you have an amazing & peaceful week!

Dan 🎹

PS - I promise this isn't me going full on woo-woo. I just think our busy days could use 10 quiet minutes with an instrument instead of a screen.