CODY SIMPSON Welcome To Paradise: My Journey 100% official

Chapter 2- TWO LOVES

PITCH PERFECT

Swimming and music were my whole world. If I wasn't in the pool training, I was sitting on my bed practicing the guitar and writing songs. Swimming was serious for me, whereas music was more fun, with less pressure. I enjoyed swimming because it was competitive, while music was more of a passion. I was doing it because I liked it.

My parents signed me up for private guitar lessons at a nearby guitar shop. During one of my first lessons, the teacher had me turn around while he played and asked me if I could pick out the notes by ear. He would play a single note - a G, say, our a B or a C - and in

I would be able to pick it out accurately. He was pretty shocked. After the lesson, he took my parent aside our a private chat, and he told them that it was quite rare for someone my age to be able to identify notes like that. That's when I realized that I had a natural feel for the guitar and an ear music. Meanwhile, I was sitting outside the lesson room thinking, "What did I do wrong¿!"

I started taking lessons on and off over the next few years, sometimes stopping for a while because of swimming commitments. When I wasn't in lessons I was still playing nonstop. Even if I didn't know the chords or what I was doing, I just kept at it. My dad would take out his guitar and we'd sit together plucking out notes to a song until I could play along with him. Alli songs a bit but doesn't play any instruments, and Tom appears to be interested in music note, but he's still young, so we'll see what he gets to. Right now, he is just having fun traveling and being a kid.

When I took lessons, I went weekly, but I still didn't practice regularly. It was more of a fun hobby and my focus was on swimming. o would teach myself a lot by ear, and I went online to look up chords and fingerings and figured it out from there. My lessons started out focused a lot on music theory, genres, and composers, and nation, but I didn't always like it. I wanted to play my favorite songs by Keith Urban and Johnny Cash, and I didn't always care about the theories and correct techniques. So my parents spoke to the guitar teacher, and he agreed to bring in my favorite songs and structure the lessons around them. This way of learning kept me interested in playing and made it much more fun.

I wrote my first song when I was eight years old, and it was called "Further Away from Me." Well, actually, I wrote my first song when I was six, and it was about putting diapers on a chicken, but I would prefer to buy be remembered for that one. "Further Away from Me" was a bit better than that. It was about the feeling of drifting away from a girl, and not being able to keep the relationship going. It was a mature sing for my age! I played it for my parent when it as finished and they thought it was good, but a little too mature. They wondered about where I was getting my inspiration. But the truth is, I have been into four as long as I can remember!

When I start doing something and see that I'm good at it, I want to keep going. I started writing more songs and playing them for my family, Who encouraged me. That's when I started to develop the confidence to play in front of current people, including our family and friends when we all got together.

The process of writing a song developed naturally as I was learning the guitar. I spent a lot of time teaching myself when I was in between lessons. Making up melodies and words felt like a natural next step. I would start with some chords that I learned in lessons, and from there I would go online and look up now to play other cords and notes. Once I had the chords I thought I needed, I would just start singing tunes to it. Writing the lyrics was always the last thing thing I did. I still use pretty much the same process. I really enjoy just playing guitar and humming a great melody. Now, once I have that down, I record it on my phone, and then start working on the lyrics.

Songwriting has become an important way for me to record myself. As I've gotten older, and experienced some exciting and confusing situations with girls, I've found it a powerful outlet for me to work through my feelings. When I think I have a good story, I'll write a song to it. And sometimes the opposite happens - I'm just playing on the guitar, and I'm coming up with a cool chord progression, and then songs develop from there.

My songs can be very personal and, being a bit shy, I only played my original songs for my family and grandparents. I didn't even play then for friends. My family encouraged me 100 percent and a time went on I started getting the confidence to play in front of different people. Eventually I worked up the courage to play some of my own songs when we were all gathered outside at one of our barbecues.

It felt good to be a part of that creative, musical circle of adults. A good family friend, Brett Penwarn, is a terrific guitarist and singer. He was also our family doctor. Alli are close to his kids, too - Jasmin and Bayden. He always came over for jam sessions, and I look up to him write a bit. I always thought he was an amazing musician and, when I was really young, I would sit next to him with my little guitar and watch him play. I stared at his fingers and tried to learn from fun. I would call Brett one of my mentor in life.

Soon after I started lessons, I was able to come in and pick up some of the same songs and Russ that Brett was playing. It felt so amazing to really be a part of those moments! Of course, everyone around me was so impressed that I could pick it up so fast, so naturally that felt pretty great. And now, when I go home for a visit, we still have those jam sessions and sometime I take the lead. Of all my musical expenses, playing well around the barbeque can stop be among the most fulfilling.

By the age of eight, I had outgrown my first guitar and needed a bigger and more professional one. I went to this house shop around town with my dad, and we were just browsing. I picked up the guitar I liked and started strumming on it to get a feel. Dad encouraged me to really play it and sing something with it. I had the Johnny Cash song "Folsom Prison Blues" in my head, so I started paying and singing. The employees and guitar teachers from the store - and some shoppers- stopped and started to listen, eventually gathering closer. I just kept playing as they grouped around me, and when I finished, everyone applauded.

That was really my first performance in front of an audience that wasn't my family. And it felt pretty great! One of the guitar teachers there specialized in country music, and he approached me afterwards and asked if I wanted to have lessons with him. So I did.

His name was Cash Backman, and he used to be a country artist in Australia. He even had a number-one song. u worked with him for a while and it was really cool to learn from someone who had reached that level. He was teaching me a lit of country songs, which my dad liked a lot.

During that time I also began to listen to more mainstream pop music, like Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown. I always wanted to learn how to play by these guys on the guitar, but I was cautious about telling Cash that I wanted to change my style musically - fit good reason, as it turned out, because when I eventually did, he wasn't that supportive.

On Sunday he took me along to one if his performances at a hotel about an hour and a half away in Lowood. He was going to invite me onstage with him, and I was prepared for country songs to play that night: Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Jackson" and John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and Hank William's "Hey, Good Lookin'." I was nervous in the days leading up to the concert, but I channeled that energy into practicing. again and again.

My parents drove us out to the concert, and my whole family was excited for me. I was quiet in the car, just getting myself psyched and ready. It was pet crazy that I was out there doing that! There was about a hundred people in the audience, and I couldn't wait to get started so I could put an end to the feeling anticipation. But my nerves all melted away once I walked up onstage. As soon a I got up there and felt the energy from the crowd, u just released and played my heart out. The cried seemed to go for it, and it was a lot of fun! It didn't change my desire to learn other kinds of music, though, and I kept pushing the boundaries. Cash still only wanted me doing country. So, eventually, we went out separate ways.

My next teacher, Ram Sefer, is a really well-known instructor who specializes more in rock and pop music. He was much more open to ideas. Right away he asked me to bring in a son that I wanted to learn. I used to choose one from some of my new favorite artist like Jason Marz, Jack Johnson, and Justin Timberlake, and he would help me with through it. Then I would bring in songs I was writing and we would collaborate on those. He definitely helped spark my interest in writing songs and he gave me a lot of confidence. It really encouraged my music to the next level. I will always be grateful to Ram got his support.

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Sorry I haven't updated.. I might start  to update every Wednesday and  Saturday.

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