blog posts:

Learn how to strum in under 7 min! 

LEARN HOW TO STRUM IN UNDER 7 MIN!

CLICK HERE to watch the FULL 7 min video on YouTube!

I just recorded & edited one of the most IMPORTANT videos a beginning guitarist can possibly watch. It is how to strum CORRECTLY in under 7 min. In creating this video and teaching for the past 15 years (playing guitar for 30 yrs), I've watched A LOT of videos of teachers teaching strumming the wrong way. It's no wonder so many people are so confused about the CORRECT way to strum. It's really not rocket science as I've seen the proof of the way I teach strumming to kids in action.

Currently, I have a 7-year old student who I started with him at 4 on the ukulele and now he's playing the guitar at 7, which totally blows my mind! I also teach a 10-year old girl who is playing the ukulele and singing at the same time. One of the last lessons she said she started a new song that day and she played the ukulele and sang the entire song. I also teach a 6-year old who is playing the ukulele and singing at the same time one the song, "Million Reasons," by Lady Gaga. I'm currently teaching him to play, "Hallelujah" by the Pentatonix and it's also in 6/8 time, which generally I teach a few 4/4 time songs first, but I think he can handle doing 6/8!

My point in telling you this is that if explained in the simplest way anyone can learn to strum, count & understand music no matter what age.

 

Here is more info on strumming I posted on my MUSIC ADVICE page on my website: 

Learn to strum FIRST! (Beginners) -- I've noticed over the years that most teachers show how to fret chords first and when they try to learn a song, they have NO RHYTHM at all. If you learn how to strum with your right hand FIRST and just mute the strings with your left hand you can do. It's very difficult to explain this without showing someone in person, but I'm going to give it a shot! 

***IMPORTANT***: Make sure you keep your RIGHT hand moving the entire time when strumming no matter what rhythm you are playing! Your right hand is basically like your metronome and is like a pendulum because it should NEVER stop moving!*** 

Here are the strumming patterns written out that I use all the time when I teach that explains it more visually: 

NOTE: 
D = DOWN STROKE 
U = UP STROKE 
"+"= AND 
(+) = NO HIT (still strum the down stroke just don't hit the strings) 
(Right-click this chart and DOWNLOAD it to your computer) 

**(In order to find the quarter note in the song just listen to the drums as the snare drum (in 4/4 time) is almost always on beats 2 &4!)** 

            A. Quarter note rhythm (1/4): Count "1 (+) 2 (+) 3 (+) 4 (+)" for this rhythm. All you are really doing is "1 (+)" 4 times if you really think about it. Do a down stroke (1) and on the second down stroke, which is the &, do NOT hit the strings, but still count the "+" OUTLOUD. So it's basically 2 down strokes and you count "1 +" and you only hit the first down stroke. Think of it like this: 2 down strokes, but you're thinking HIT on the 1st down stroke, then NO HIT on the 2nd down stroke. So basically you're only hitting the strings on the NUMBERS 1, 2, 3, 4. 

IMPORTANT: keep your right handing moving at ALL times even when you're not hitting the strings! 

           B. Eighth note rhythm (1/8): Also Count "1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +" for this rhythm. All you are really doing is "1 +" 4 times. Do a down stroke (1) and on the second down stroke (which is the +), you HIT the strings this time. So it's basically 2 down strokes and you count "1 +" and you hit the strings on both down strokes. 

          C. Sixteenth note rhythm (1/16): Count this "1e+a, 2e+a, 3e+a, 4e+a" for this rhythm. All you are really doing is "1 e+a" 4 times. The ONLY difference between this rhythm and eighth note is that you will be hitting the UP STROKES too! If you notice you're still counting the "1 +", but now after the 1 you have to come back up right? Well, that's the "e". So here it is broken down: 

1-down 
e-up 
+-down 
a-up 

Once you get those rhythms down and pretty comfortable learn a few chord shapes (Em, D, C are the easiest) and try to do 4 beats for each chord with each rhythm separately. The KEY to strumming is keeping your RIGHT HAND moving at ALL times, even if you totally screw up the chord! Your left hand will eventually follow your right hand (strumming hand), but most importantly you will have a much better sense and feel for the rhythm! 

***TRY THIS***:  Put the song <strong>"Slow Dancing in a Burning Room"</strong> by John Mayer OR <strong>"Simple Man"</strong> by Lynyrd Skynyrd on and mute the strings and try to play along with the song using all 3 rhythms. It's a slower song so it's a good one to start out with and the cool thing about this exercise is that you can do it to any song you want and your rhythm will get REALLY good! 

ALWAYS COUNT OUT LOUD: Our job as musicians is to create pleasing sound to the ear from within ourselves and the more we can get used to externalizing by counting out loud the quicker it teaches our brains what we are doing. At first it is a little more difficult, but to really FULLY understand and be able to have COMMAND of any rhythm or song it's HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to count out loud, especially if you want to play and instrument and sing at the same time.

CLICK HERE to watch the FULL 7 min video on YouTube!

I am a performing musician, singer/songwriter, guitarist, live looping solo/duo performing musician in the vein of Dave Matthews, Clapton & Hendrix.. I have also been teaching music for the past 15 years and everything I teach is everything I use that has enabled me to make music my living. I've had the honor of teaching several hundred if not over 1,000 students ranging from music rock camps, to private lessons, and teaching at Musicology Performance Center, in Smithtown, NY. 

I've played 500+ shows in the past 10 years and I always invite my students up on stage to perform with me when I feel they are ready as it’s GREAT experience to perform in front of people at ANY age! Music is my life and it has become my BEST therapy, especially since my father’s passing Feb. 15, 2008. I do my best to share the gift of music to help spread as much joy & happiness as possible.

For private lessons (guitar, vocals, ukulele, or beginner/intermediate piano):

E-mail me @: Archs21@aol.com

 

CAGED System Explained w/ COLORS|MAJOR Pentatonic|Pt. 2 

CAGED System Explained w/ COLORS|MAJOR Pentatonic|Pt. 2

Part 2 of the CAGED System with the MAJOR Pentatonic shapes up on Youtube. Learn how to incorporate the CAGED System with color coded yellow, orange, and green to find your target tones in the Pentatonic shapes. After watching this video you will DEFINITELY have a MUCH better understanding of the CAGED System and how helpful it really is while soloing in order to improve your lead playing! 

Here is the video:

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel and leave a comment if you found this video helpful! Thanks so much and hope you have a GREAT day!

Sincerely,

Steven Archdeacon

www.ArchdeaconMusic.com

www.Youtube.com/ArchdeaconMusic

 

CAGED System Explained w/ COLORS|minor Pentatonic|Pt. 1 

CAGED System Explained w/ COLORS|minor Pentatonic|Pt. 1

I've created a NEW YouTube video explaining how to use the CAGED system with the 5 minor Pentatonic shapes and I will be uploading it on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. Here is the video:

Also, here is the NEW sheet with colors to find the 1 3 5 of each CAGED shape in the minor & Major Pentatonic shapes:

Any questions feel free to leave a comment and I will reply to your question. Hope this helps in some way as it can get pretty confusing at times...

 

Sincerely,

Steven Archdeacon

 

BEST Acoustic Guitar Solo with Crybaby Wah Pedal | MUST SEE! 

BEST Acoustic Guitar Solo with Crybaby Wah Pedal | MUST SEE!

Do you like guitar solos played on an acoustic guitar that sounds like a Les Paul electric guitar? If you like original music and you are a guitarist this is a MUST SEE video! This might be the BEST acoustic solo you'll ever hear in your life! Click below to find out:

This song is entitled, “Frame of Mind,” about finding the peace within ourselves no matter what is going on around us in the world. Amazing acoustic guitar solos and one with a crybaby wah pedal and Ibanez tube screamer TS808 that sounds like an electric guitar. Acoustic rock in the vein of Dave Matthews meets Clapton and Hendrix.

CLICK TO TWEET THIS VIDEO: https://ctt.ac/d7zdV

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel, like, and comment on the video too! 

Thanks for visiting my website and if there's anything I can do to help you in your musical journey please let me know!

CLICK HERE if you're interested in private guitar lessons over Zoom

Behind the Scenes: Recording an album 

"Behind the Scenes": Recording a Studio Album

NEW VIDEOS from the studio takes of, "Frame of Mind," Album!:

CLICK HERE to watch the NEW videos on my Youtube Channel & be sure to SUBSCRIBE! :)

I'm proud to announce I've been hard at work editing the video footage, which is about 500 GB of video & pics, from the recording of my newest album entitled, "Frame of Mind." I believe it is so appropriate to get these songs out to the world, especially now during the Covid-19 pandemic, as they are inspiring songs that give people hope in such a dark time. Last Monday I uploaded the 1st song appropriately titled, "Resilience." It's an instrumental featuring Bryan Mandracchia (my guitar teacher since I was 16 yrs old) on lead guitar and it's an upbeat song with GREAT guitar work and a KILLER solo at the end. Guitar players will DEFINITELY appreciate Bryan's playing! CLICK HERE to watch the NEW video, "Resilience!"

The 2nd song entitled, "Livin' the Dream," is being released today, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020 and I'm REALLY excited to see people's response to the video! It is AMAZINGLY time consuming to put these videos together as I need to search for all the actual takes from the studio that we used for each instrument, then line them all up to the FINAL mastered song, and then I even did pic in pic in the video so you can see multiple instruments playing at the same time. This video has an AMAZING guitar solo by Bryan Mandracchia that he played in 1 FULL TAKE (of many improv takes he did). It shows how the recording process works and a little bit of what is involved. I'm also planning on putting some funny moments & possibly outtakes from the studio at the very end of the next few videos too! CLICK HERE to watch the NEW video, "Livin' the Dream!"

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube Channel, like the video, and comment on it the video too!

NEW videos released EVERY Monday at 11 AM! 3 more FULL videos from the studio in the upcoming weeks too! 

Hope you are staying safe as I have A LOT of plans to build my YouTube channel in the next year with performing videos as well as teaching videos too! 

STAY TUNED!

Sincerely,

Steven Archdeacon

Being a musician during Covid19 

So we are all experiencing Covid19 and it has heavily disrupted our lives like no other time I can remember being alive. Being a musician I've had all my gigs the last 2 months cancelled and I started looking to livestreaming in order to connect with people and to make a little extra money in the process. As a musician that makes a living from performing & teaching I rely on both so I can eat and continue to entertain as well as write my own music. It's definitely an interesting time to be alive, but it's up to us to determine what we focus our attention on. Over the past year it's been one of the toughest years personally for me and I've had to really look within myself to be ok. I express myself through my music mostly and I need to dig deep within in order to write about my experiences because I know that if I'm feeling a certain way about some of my experiences that many others are as well. Life has a way to throw us curve balls and really disrupt the way we see our lives, but it's all just a challenge and a learning experience in order to better ourselves. 

Being a musician I've started to livestream on TWITCH and it's been an interesting experience so far. I've learned a lot in setting up my Twitch account. I even bought a course on how to do that called, "Twitch for Musicians," which definitely fast-tracked my learning for sure! I've had to learn OBS (Open Broadcast Software), which is a FREE software that enables you to livestream to FB, Twitch, Youtube, etc... It's a great software that enables you to get the best audio possible as all those platforms compresses the audio you send to them directly and it allows you to put overlays (text, pic in pic, animations, etc) on top of your video feed like a professional TV Station. I'm also a videographer for over 20 years and even though I picked it OBS very quickly I had to use all my knowledge I've learned over the years in video and computers to do what I needed it to do. 

Also, since everything is online only right now I've had to learn to give lessons online through Zoom as well. Just the other day I figured out how to broadcast from OBS to Zoom so I could get both camera angles (PIP) and the audio signal into Zoom. It's definitely a process to learn new things in order to adjust to the changes, but again it's up to us to find ways we can connect with people and affect the world in a positive way.

I'm starting the writing process again in sorting through what I want to write about and it's not an easy process, but I know I'm the happiest when I'm creating and expressing myself through my music. I'm going to use this blog at least once a week to document this entire process. I will share my experiences with you in order to let you into my world and hopefully to inspire other artists along their own journey in music & life.

I hope you are doing well & staying safe through this interesting time in history. Have a great day and don't forget to smile and spread LOVE with everything you do! :)

CLICK HERE to go to my Twitch Channel as I Livestream every Mon & Wed @ 7:30 PM.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sincerely, 

Steven Archdeacon

3D Preview of NEW album "Frame of Mind" 

So I just sent my new album to replication the other day and when I was going through the process I came across the 3D Preview as it's a new feature with Discmakers. You can see what the album looks like and see it in 3D. Here's the link to see it:

https://www.discmakers.com/AVLFlashViewer/?p=bi7ic24LEdOBZJi1uhPO2A%3D%3D#.W0fjcNVKj9R

I'm really excited with this album as I've been working on it for over 15 months. I think the message of this album is very important to everyone as we are all trying to find our right frame of mind in this crazy world we live in and through music I hope to spread love and happiness to as many people as I possibly can. Thanks for all the support and be good to one another! :)

Sincerely,

Steven Archdeacon 

TOP 10 SONGWRITING TIPS! 

1. There are no shortcuts to songwriting! You just have to do it! The more you do it, especially consistently, the better you will get at it! 

2. You MUST BELIEVE you CAN write a song! 

3. Try starting with a song title--there are many ways to write a song and you have to find the right fit for you, but starting with a song title (or even a TENTATIVE title so you have an idea of what you are writing about) is a great place to start. 

4. Be able to describe what the intended message of the song is about in 1 sentence. 

5. Have something to say, BELIEVE you can find the words, and put your emotions and personal experiences into the song. Chances are that if you are experiencing something than many other people are probably experiencing the same thing or something similar. 

6. Ask yourself better questions, empowering questions. If you ask yourself questions like, "What CAN I write about?" or "How CAN I say what I'm trying to say?" your brain will come up with answers to those types of questions and it will benefit you in making progress in writing whatever song you are working on. 

7. Realize out of every 10 song ideas you have that you might like 2-3 song ideas you come up with. Take those ideas you actually like and start working on them. Discard the rest and also realize for every idea you may not like it's bringing you one step closer to coming up with an idea you DO actually like. 

8. It's like being a Major League baseball player. Did you know that a MLB player who averages .300 is considered an EXCELLENT hitter and is most likely considered for the Hall of Fame? Did you know that in order to average .300 that means they are failing 70% of the time??? Failure is a part of learning and is the gateway to SUCCESS! Something to think about... 

9. Realize that when you are learning something new it takes time to find your way of doing it. You will NOT use 100% of everything you read, rather you will take what YOU consider useful for YOURSELF and discard the rest. (It's the BRUCE LEE philosophy--take what you think you can use in your present situation and discard all the useless info). 

10. Every one of us learns things in our own way. You have to learn how YOU learn things in your own way!

UPDATE: "Frame of Mind" album almost complete!  

Hey, just wanted to post an update on the progress of my album as I wouldn't be able to be where I am today with my album if it weren't for all my fans like you helping me make this album a reality! I should have it completely recorded and mixed by the end of Feb. Then it's onto mastering the album, finishing up the artwork, and then replication w/ digital distribution. I should have the album in hand by the first 2 weeks of April! :) 

It's been a long process and I've been documenting every studio session with my video camera as well as my still photography camera. It's the most I've ever recorded lead guitar and I'm happy with the outcome of what has been recorded so far. All I need to do is have my old guitar teacher, Bryan, who played on my other album NO TURNING BACK, come into the studio Feb. 21st and record the 3 songs I'm having him play on. Then record a couple more things on the song I wrote for my mom, MY ANGEL, then mix those 4 songs and then go over them once more to make sure everything is exactly as I want the song to be. 

Here is a playlist of 5 short videos of recording in the studio for the album: 

Anyway, thank you so much for supporting me and helping to make this album a reality! There are absolutely no words that could EVER show you how much I appreciate your support and I look forward to sharing this album with you when it is complete. 

Hope you are having a great day! CARPE DIEM! 

Sincerely, 

Steven Archdeacon 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.-- It's been a roller coaster of emotions, especially lately, as in 3 days (Feb. 15) it will be the 10th anniversary of my father's passing. To be honest, it's been a little tough for me lately, but sometimes you just gotta let yourself feel the pain instead of masking it in order to deal with the pain in the most effective way. My last album NO TURNING BACK was literally my therapy for dealing with my father's passing and in recording this album it does bring back a lot of those emotions. One of the most important songs I think I've ever written, which is on this new album, is entitled "A New Chapter" as that's exactly what this album is to me personally and professionally. Thanks so much for being a part of my musical journey as this is just the beginning! :)

"Behind the Scenes" short video of the making of "Frame of Mind" album... 

So I'm currently in the studio recording my 2nd album entitled, "Frame of Mind" and I'm documenting the entire process with video as well as pictures. Here's a video with parts of 2 songs, "A New Chapter" (drums, bass, vocals) and "Be the Change" (drums only--using the audio recorded into the board). Here's the video (2:38):

TIPS on learning a song in the most EFFICIENT way! 

These are the BEST TIPS I've come up with, in the 26 years I've been playing guitar, to learn a new song that I use ALL THE TIME:

1. COUNT THE SONG OUT LOUD!: If you can't count the song you won't have an understanding of the beat and you won't be able to strum the guitar in time with the song.

**NOTE**: by counting OUT LOUD you are getting used to externalizing sound and the more we as musicians can externalize the sound that we hear inside our heads with using our voice it becomes much easier to "hear" the notes and chords to a song. 

2. MUTE THE STRINGS AND PLAY AN 1/8 NOTE RHYTHM: by doing this you immediately get the "feel" of the song within the first 5-10 seconds of hearing a brand new song even if you've never heard the song before in your life.

3. WHILE STRUMMING THE MUTED STRINGS (1/8 note rhythm) LISTEN FOR THE BASS NOTES TO DETERMINE HOW MANY BEATS PER CHORDevery song has at least a verse and a chorus part so separate each section in your mind and see if you can hear how many beats each chord is.

4. WHILE CONTINUING TO STRUM THE MUTED STRINGS (1/8 note rhythm) LISTEN FOR WHAT BEATS THE CHORD PROGRESSION IS ACCENTING: music is all about what is being accented otherwise the entire song would sound very boring. So by listening to what is being accented (maybe it's the 1, the "and" of 2, then 4) you can already play the rhythm of the song without even knowing the chords yet.

5. LISTEN FOR THE BASS NOTES FROM THE BASS GUITAR AND TRY TO HUM THE NOTES: this technique is MUCH easier if you can sing, but even if you don't it can be learned in time as you can develop your ear and you'll be able to sing a note and find it on the guitar. 

6. IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH #5 YOU CAN ALWAYS LOOK UP THE CHORDS TO EACH SECTION (VERSE & CHORUS, or any other sections of the song)if you are not efficient with tip #5 or if you are teaching a 30 minute lesson and want to make the most of the lesson time you can always download a program like "Guitar Tabs HD" (for ipad), which I use sometimes, or "Guitar Tabs PRO" to help maximize the teaching time for the student.

7. AFTER YOU KNOW THE CHORDS YOU CAN DETERMINE WHAT KEY THE SONG IS IN: by knowing the chords to any song you can determine what key the song is in and why they chose those certain chords for the song, but we'll leave that for another discussion. 


I have students all the time asking me to teach them a song I've never heard before in my life and this is the exact method I use as it sometimes will take just a couple of minutes to learn the song. If you'd like to read more about strumming patterns and basic music theory (1 3 5 + Major Chord) click this link: 

https://archdeaconmusic.com/home/blog/guitar-playing-advice

If you found this article helpful please feel free to share it with anyone that you think would also find it useful. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and hope it helps you with your journey in music!

Sincerely,


Steven Archdeacon

BEST way to conquer ACID REFLUX: especially if you are a singer!  

I am a performing musician and I play about 60 shows a year and have been singing for about 20 years, but within the past year I was finding it more and more difficult to sing and play 3-4 hour shows. I was also dealing with really bad shortness of breath from time to time and on more than one occasion while playing a gig I even got light-headed in the middle of a song to the point where I almost felt like I was going to pass out. Now if you sing you know about 80% of singing is how you utilize your breath so it's immeasurably important to be able to breath freely and easily. At first I was asking myself questions like, "Is my voice changing that much over time to the point it's getting worse?" or things like, "Is my voice on the decline?" as I'm only 39 yrs. old. Here are the symptoms I had:

-Shortness of breathe
-Difficulty swallowing
-Lump like sensation in the back of the throat
-Constantly clearing my throat
-Hoarseness
-Bad cough for about 3-6 months
-Hard to really open up my throat fully while singing

It's a scary thing dealing with your voice not being able to really open up and project and hit the high notes you know you can hit whenever you want especially when you make a living doing that. So I went to my primary care Dr. and she said I most likely have ACID REFLUX. She gave me some medication to try, but it seemed to only temporarily mask the underlying issue. Now, mind you I've always been a very healthy person and when something is wrong with my body it's usually gone within a few days or a couple of weeks at most, but this kept lingering for several months and it seemed to be getting worse. At one point last summer I had a REALLY bad cough and had to play 2 gigs where I literally could not project my voice without coughing really hard. So I picked songs that I knew were easy to sing where I didn't need to really project my voice very much at all and I turned up the volume of my microphone to let the microphone do a lot of the work. Another time I was singing the National Anthem at an MMA event in Queens and right before I sang it I had REALLY bad shortness of breathe where I was almost weezing.

So, that was the breaking point for me where I realized I was at the point where I really needed to do something about my vocal issues because it was starting to affect my livelihood. It's important to also note that I do the one-man band thing and have been doing that for almost every show I have played in the past 3 years. So I was thinking that maybe my voice was getting tired singing that much because years ago I would play full band shows where I wasn't the only singer and it is A LOT easier when you don't have to sing every song. Last April I got the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at MetLife Stadium for Monster Jam in front of about 50,000 people, which is BY FAR, the most amount of people I've EVER sung in front of in my life, and this was the time where I was going through all of these vocal problems. I knew I would be ok to sing the Anthem even though I literally only had 1 day to prepare not only my mind, but more importantly at that time my body because I knew something was just not right with my voice. It was almost as if every time I sang I was doing vocal gymnastics just to hit the notes I know I can hit easily and it literally took all my 20 years of singing to just get by doing that. I didn't really want to even practice singing either as even speaking and teaching music gave me shortness of breath. I ended up singing the Anthem fine, but in my opinion I have sung it better, but now I know WHY! Here is the performance if you want to check it out:

It's my ultimate goal to sing the National Anthem at MetLife Stadium for a NY Football GIANTS game in dedication to my father who passed and WHEN I do I know I'm going to sing it even better now that my voice is almost back to 100%!


REMEDIES I HAVE PERSONALLY DONE THAT HELP CONQUER ACID REFLUX:

First, I decided to go to a nutritionist because not only was I dealing with vocal problems I was also gaining some weight too (which I've never had to deal with weight problems in my entire life), which I came to find out was directly related to Acid Reflux. I was also referred by a friend to the book entitled, "Killing me softly from Inside: The Mysteries & Dangers of ACID REFLUX" written by Dr. Jonathan Aviv. Here's a picture of the book as I HIGHLY suggest you read it as it has helped me immensely!:
So, I went to the nutritionist for 1 month while reading this entire book in the meantime and I even made an appointment to see Dr. Aviv this past Sept. 14, 2016 too. In that month I lost about 12 lbs, then I went into NYC to see Dr. Aviv in person. From reading his book I self-diagnosed myself with THROATBURN REFLUX w/ slight vocal chord dysfunction (VCD). After he examined me and did a Transnasal Esophagoscopy (TNE),
which is a way to examine the esophagus in an office-based, unsedated manner by passing an ultra-thin scope with a camera on the end of it through the nose I asked him if my self-diagnosis was correct and he said yes. The procedure isn't too bad, but it's a little uncomfortable, but if it helps in diagnosing my problem then it's worth it. After putting the scope down my nose and into my esophagus he was able to show me a video of my actual vocal chords as they were inflamed due to Acid Reflux damage. He told me that I was doing everything right and sent me to a speech pathologist for something called "Respiratory retraining." Basically, it's retraining the vocal chords as when we speak the vocal chords are open and then they are supposed to stay open when you stop speaking. My vocal chords were inflamed and would close and cause the shortness of breath. His big thing is using ORGANIC food as medicine for our bodies and he tells you what foods to stay away from that actually trigger ACID REFLUX. Here are foods to avoid: 

-Garlic
-Onions
-Tomatoes
-Soda
-Coffee
-Red & yellow bell peppers
-Candy, cookies, and high fructose corn syrup
-Smoking (of any kind)

He also says that in the "healing phase" (1st month) of eating it's very important to eat food that is pH 5 and above in order to alkalize the body and promote healing. In the book he even has an "Acid Watcher's Diet" that he has created for the "healing phase" as well as the "maintenance phase" too. The main reason to choose ORGANIC food is because of all the GMO's in the processed foods we have grown up eating and thinking that it's ok to eat, not realizing that all the chemicals and preservatives that are put in the foods we eat are slowly killing us. Not to mention that if we keep eating all these foods that cause ACID REFLUX it can lead to Barrett's Esophagus (from having GERD) or worse Esophageal Cancer, which is the fastest growing cancer in the world today. There is so much information in this book and if you're battling vocal problems and have a lot of the symptoms I listed above then I HIGHLY suggest you buy this book and read it! Also, note that by eating organic and a balanced diet you will not only treat your Acid Reflux, but you are much more likely to stave off diseases like cancer. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to die of cancer as I want to give myself the best chance to live as long as possible because we only have one life and it's up to us to make the best of it! It's a learning process like anything else and the more we focus on it the better we will get at it. I'm still learning more and more every day and I'm currently reading his 2nd book entitled, "The Acid Watcher Diet." Here's a picture of the front cover as I HIGHLY recommend reading this book too!:

In summary, if you think you might have ACID REFLUX go to your primary care Dr. and get checked out. If you've been dealing with it for several months or even years with little to no relief I'd not only buy these books, but I'd make an appointment to see Dr. Aviv in NYC. It is a little expensive for the appointment, but they will work with you on the price especially if you pay that day in cash. But if you think about it especially if you are a vocalist wouldn't you want to go to a specialist to get the best possible care in order to heal what is ailing you so you can not only feel better, but sing better?

Since I've gone to the nutritionist, read his 1st book (currently reading his 2nd book), started eating mostly organic food (about 95% organic), and saw Dr. Aviv I've literally lost 20 lbs and I feel so much better overall, but more importantly for me my voice is almost back to 100%! I know this sounds like a damn infomercial testimonial, but it's the truth. I think it's important to state that I am not making any profit off of any sales whatsoever of these books so if you do decide to buy them it will only benefit you in the long run. Anyone who truly knows me knows that I am honest and if something works I'll back it 110% and let others know it has helped me!

This info that I provided is literally just scratching the surface as there's so much more to divulge and learn, but I honestly wanted to put this out there to help especially those people that sing and use their voice to make a living. I hope in some way this helps you in your journey as I know it has helped me IMMENSELY in mine. God Bless and have a great day! :)

--Steven Archdeacon


 

National Anthem at MetLife Stadium 4/23/16 

It was an honor to sing the National Anthem at MetLife Stadium yesterday and it was a GREAT experience! My ULTIMATE goal is to sing the anthem at this Stadium for a NY GIANTS football game in dedication to my father! This is one step closer to accomplishing that goal as I can't wait for that day to come as I truly BELIEVE with all my heart that one day it will happen! Thanks so much for all your support. Here's the video of the National Anthem:

NEW VIDEO--"Frame of Mind" 6 camera HD Shoot! 

I just finished putting together the recording for the title track to my next album, "Frame of Mind." Here's the video:


Hope you like it as I recorded it in Canada while visiting my good friend and fellow musician, Thorn Simon.


 

Repetition is the mother of skill... 

I recently came across this post and I thought it was perfect to share as I teach music and a lot of my students will try to do something they are learning and when they get it once or twice they start to speed it up and then they mess up and wonder why. It's MUCH better to learn something SLOWLY and play it perfect than it is to play it fast and very sloppy. This pretty much says it all:

Just something to keep in mind whenever you are learning something, whether it be music or anything else for that matter...


 

TEACHING MUSIC & MAKING A DIFFERENCE... 

This is what I have hanging in my apt. as a reminder to me of the positive effect I try my best to have with everyone I teach music! Thanks to everyone who has ever written me as I appreciate it VERY much! This is one of the things that keeps me going as we all try to make a positive difference in other people's lives and to know that you have made a positive difference in someone else's life makes it all worth while! Just wanted to share my experience in teaching music. Hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and I look forward to what 2016 will bring! Here are some of the notes my students and parents wrote to me. Thanks to Maria (Beyond Rock), Robyn (Alec's Mom), Bea (Frank's Mom), Jeanne (Chris's wife), my sisters Carrie & Vickie, my brother Guy, Inger, and last but certainly not least by any means, my Mom!
Thanks for all the kind words and support with my music it means the world to me!

-Steve


 

Music & Photography 

So all of you know that MUSIC is my MAIN passion in my life, but as an artist I also branch out into videography and photography as well. I just recently delved into photography since my girlfriend Laura bought me the CANON EOS 70D for Christmas. Since I got the camera til about May I literally researched photography EVERY DAY for hours and now I understand how the settings of the camera work and how to manipulate the settings to get the desired results in manual mode. I've always liked taking pics, but if someone said to me "rule of thirds" before Christmas I would have looked at them like they had 3 heads....lol. Anyway, just wanted to share with you the BEST pics I've taken since Christmas as it's a lot of fun capturing a moment in time that will never be exactly the same ever again. Also, on Sept. 14th I'll be doing a photo shoot with my friend Jen Parente, who is an AMAZING photographer. So I can't wait to post the pics from that shoot!

Here are my 6 favorite pics and the link to my BEST 24 pics I've taken so far. My next pic I REALLY want to get is a good "star trails" shot and hopefully I can do that when I visit my friend Thorn, who lives in Canada, in a couple of weeks:

and FINALLY all we need is:
Hope you enjoyed checking out my pics. Here's the link if you want to see the rest of the BEST pics I've taken so far.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenarchdeacon/
Feel free to leave some comments on what you think. Have a GREAT day and remember: CARPE DIEM! (Seize the Day).
"Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don't see it yourself."

--Edmund Lee



 

Performing at the Vineyards & SMP (July 2015) 

So back in Feb. (2015) I decided it was finally time to hit up the Vineyards to see if I could get some gigs as I was thinking I would be a PERFECT fit for playing live music at the Vineyards. It turns out I was right! Since May, I've already played at PALMER VINEYARD 7 times, as well as JAMESPORT VINEYARD & JASON'S VINEYARD one time each. I've gotten such a positive response from every Vineyard I've played at and the crowds have been so appreciative and attentive it amazes me every time! A couple weeks ago this family was at Palmer Vineyard and this guy bought 2 of my albums and is also going to have me perform at a Golf outing in late Sept and is going to buy 100 of my albums, which is going to help me out tremendously in ordering another 1,000 albums of NO TURNING BACK + that means another $200 goes to help the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) as 20% of the sale of my album goes to the WWP!

But the main reason I'm writing this post and the thing that impresses me the most is that I feel very fortunate that I get to spread happiness and love to others through my music. I always say when I perform if anyone wants to get up and sing with me that's totally cool as I have lyrics and another microphone because as long as we all have fun I don't care what happens! For me music is MY THERAPY, especially after the passing of my father! I've had people come up to me after a show and thank me for playing and this one lady said I literally changed her life. As a musician and artist it's stories like that that keep you going and striving to affect people's lives in a positive way through your music. I think I can speak for every musician in saying it's our goal to touch as many people lives in a positive way as humanly possible. I look forward to the many years ahead of me in performing, writing, recording, and most of all touching as many people's lives as possible. Here are some pics from recent shows this month:

From Jamesport Vineyard 7/5/15 as these people were part of a party bus and we were all dancing and having fun!

A couple (Mary & Dan) who came out to Palmer Vineyard 7/26/15, enjoyed the show, and bought 2 t-shirts as well.     Thanks for the support!

This couple (Jorge & Janise) came out to Palmer Vineyard 7/19/15 after I finished playing and I ended up playing a couple songs just acoustic guitar/vocals (no PA System) for them after the show. We sat down with them for about 20 min and had a great conversation with them. They ended up buying my album and tipping me $10 as well, but the thing I appreciate the most is the human connection and great conversation!

This was taken while playing at Sunken Meadow Park on 7/1/15 while I was taking a solo...

I took this picture of the sunset at Sunken Meadow Park one night as I've been getting into photography. This is our view of the beach when we play at SMP as it's beautiful!!!

Getting the crowd involved at a SMP gig 7/1/15 and giving people a chance to actually solo on the guitar themselves. It's fun to do!

Picture with some friends (Sebastian, Melissa, Olivier, my gf Laura, guitar student Frank and his gf) at SMP 7/1/15

Music is the most powerful thing in the world and it can change people's lives. I know this because it has changed my life for the better!

Just wanted to share some stories and experiences I've had in the past month. Thanks so much for the support as it really does mean the world to me! I look forward to what the future holds!

Sincerely,

Steven Archdeacon