Your Transformation Station - 100. Music Theory

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

Piano technique innovator (Steven Jenkins) as they focus on helping others with their problems. The (piano teaching methods) that teaches others to 'adapt to the situation', and not just play piano. I will go into my experiences with playing the ukulele, and Steven will discuss some of his favorite artists and "the value of emotional music".  PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com⁠⁠ Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/apple⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/spotify⁠⁠ RSS: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/rss⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/youtube⁠⁠ SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/facebook⁠⁠ - Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/instagram⁠⁠ - TikTok: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/tiktok⁠⁠ - Twitter: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/x⁠⁠ - Pinterest: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/pinterest⁠⁠ - Linkedin: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com/linkedin⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's your definition of commitment versus obsession? I think Kanye West is upset. No, he's committed to. So I'm not hating on Kanye. I'm looking at his situation though, and, you know, he wants his wife back, which my heart goes out to him for that. But I think he's both committed and obsessed, right? That's my opinion, but not yours.

and that's commendable to a degree as long as it stays within you know, it's not a harassment situation I think this is a good question man I should come up with this obsession is sometimes like you're not doing the work

because you're obsessed with something but you're not really going to do the work to get to it. You really like it It lingers. You go back to it. And that's been me before. How can you create a transformation in others if there's no transformation in yourself? Join your host, Greg Favaza, as your voice on the hard truths of leadership, your transformation station connecting clarity to the cutting edge of leadership. As millennials, we can establish change, not only ourselves,

but through organizational change, bringing transparency that goes beyond the organization and reflects back into ourselves. Extracting, actionable advice and alternative perspectives that will take you outside of yourself. Stephen Jenkins, welcome to your transformation station. How you doing? All right, man. How you doing? Doing all right. I appreciate you waiting for me. I'm trying to get my skin. Okay. I didn't know what screen I had up. How are you doing, man?

I'm doing all right. Good morning. All right. Yeah. Good morning. Yes. I'm excited for today. I'm really excited.

Yes. Before we go right into this, are you near a piano? I am. I actually am. I got a, I got my keyboard on top of my keyboard. Hell yeah. I don't know if you saw my email. I was having problems connecting with my laptop.

So I had to make some adjustments. But yeah, yeah, I got one. Beautiful. So I like to have an authentic conversation with my guest when I have them on. And I like to throw shit at them when they least expected. So if you can play something for us, just something to really grab our attention, pull us right in. Yeah, I can do that. Are you live right now? Yes, I can put it on live right now. I want to give me a moment. Right now I'm recording it. But if you want to put it live, I can put it live.

No, I don't want you to put it live I was a, I wasn't sure if you were logging in there for a minute. So hang on, let me get myself. Beautiful. Yeah. Yes, I can. Okay. Oh, they're sleeping.

Yeah. Yeah, that's why I was like, man, I thought you went back to, you, uh, went to sleep or something like that. No, no. All right. I think I'm good. I'm kind of just waking up myself too, so just bear with me. But no, I'm good to go. Okay, beautiful.

Yeah, so we're actually recording right now. So if you want to just jump into something, whatever you feel, that'd be great. Yeah. All right. It's early morning, so let's see how we want to do this. Beautiful. Let me fix this here. Awesome.

Thank you so much for that. I wanted to. Usually when somebody, they're like a little expert on something that looks like just a little niche specific kind of skill or trade. I like to put them on the spot and see what they got going on. I feel like that's like the best time to rise to that occasion is just falling back on what you already know. And that was beautiful. Nice job. Hey, thanks, man.

Yeah. So you have a patent on control shift piano, right? Yes, sir. Beautiful. Tell us about that. Tell us about that and yourself. Give us a little snapshot. Okay, a little snapshot.

So I have a lot of experience with trying to learn piano through the years of, you know, from childhood, teenage to adult. So I've approached it at every angle. And, you know, it's been something that has been difficult for me. But found out that I was not alone because there's a lot of people that want to play piano and they struggle. with it. Oh, whoa, let me cut you right there. I'm going to take you down.

All right. Here we go. You ready? So you're monologuing. Yeah. You're monologue. We don't like the monologgers. We throw them.

No. Throw them out. Yeah. So let's just keep it real. We're just having a conversation. You and I are just, just relax and we're just talking. We don't need to rehearse from anything.

I know we fall back on that when we're trying to set ourselves forward, but that's what we like. We like the authentic conversation. So don't worry. We'll definitely get everything covered, I promise. Oh, no, I'm trying to, let me see, I'm trying to figure out where do you want me to start? What's the story of? Oh, no story for right now.

Just tell me about control shift. What, like, what is that exactly? What is it? So it's basically, basically that's the company that I kind of established around the method for making piano easier to play. Okay. So in simple language, that's what it is. It's just the name I came up with to describe the method. Beautiful.

Okay. Give us a little snapshot, snapshot about you, about what you've done in the past and what led you to hear right now on the show. Two-minute snapshot. Two-minute snapshot about me. So me, I am, I'm a creative in many ways. I'm not an artist by any means, not a natural musician, just a guy who, you know, never really had problems with school academically. I guess you could say the creative side. I come up with a lot of ideas.

So that's kind of a snapshot. I have a background in design engineering, so it's more of a technical than an artistic background. Beautiful. You know, I like to do a lot of fun stuff. And this is my latest, latest fun thing you can say. I like that. I'm just looking at you right now.

You look like a guy that has a lot of thoughts that are flowing, and you seem to catch him at the right time and act on it. I hope so. So with this control shift piano idea, this business that you put together, it's really cool from what I've seen on the YouTube video. now I don't know if you've gotten this question before but does it could you apply it say the method to hang on one second

I like that all right yeah no nope bye don't be surprised if my son walks in here he might walk in here that is my Labradoodle right there she is uh I I trained her ever since I got now the military so she's like on par ready for anything. But I'm like, no, we're not, we're cool, relax. But let's go back to that. So with this control shift piano, can you apply, say, use this as a formula slash method and apply it to mathematics?

Say, look, say for me, trying to learn pre-algebra or algebra or calculus or something. I, honestly, I don't know, but I have been asked that question a few times. I think there is definitely room to find different applications for it. Actually, I took the same methodology to some of the work I do, you know, and created a different program for one of the companies that I've worked with. So there's definitely some ways to apply the same mindset, the same thinking to other useful things. Beautiful.

That's the kind of guy. I like to learn. Not necessarily like an algorithm, but just like, yeah, I guess like an algorithm, but like a formula and try to approach it from one scenario, say, a military tactical situation to trying to learn how to play piano. If it works that way, why wouldn't it work for this way? It's all about having that right mindset. Yeah, I agree. You know, my whole mindset would coming up with this was just simplification, you know, just making something that. that was confusing and taking it and breaking it down in easier, easier elements.

So you play really well. Like have you been in any environments, like any professional environments where you were asked to play or any, I don't want to say like a recital. But. So, yeah, you know, I've done some of that stuff in the past. but, you know, I think the perception, you know, if you put me in a room with other people that play piano, what I do is not necessarily so impressive. So what I like to, and that's because there's different skill levels, you know, just like with anything else. I think the most impressive thing about what I do is helping other people to be able to do something that's, that's difficult.

So why did you choose piano in the first place? I chose piano because I think that's where I saw. started like just understanding my first introduction into music. You know, I have a grandfather used to live in, uh, uh, in the, in the country in Tyler, Texas. And, um, he had an old piano. And, you know, it's just the first instrument that I remember seeing. Um, and, you know, just hearing it connected, drew me into it. Nice. Now, I love other instruments, too. I tried to learn guitar, I tend to say a few years back, but by now it was about eight years ago because my son was right before my son was born, I tried to learn guitar. I think guitar is beautiful. So I don't know.

I just picked this one and I'm sticking with it. Nice. No, I got myself a ukulele and I know a little couple songs on that and does something to do my downtime that kind of works a different muscle in my head when I'm trying to refine. But my grandmother, she actually had an organ. So I definitely understand getting influenced by our elders and then trying to go after that. And I came across one of your other interviews. I forget what the percentage was, but the amount of people that attempt to play piano and then fall short and never try again, like that makes a lot of sense when I'm reflecting

back on my plane that tried to play that organ and then yeah yeah well yeah and it's hard to believe 80% of the people that try to learn piano don't don't reach their goal and um you know i've been challenged on that that number but the way i found that percentage was from talking to people but not just that but looking in forums you know they used to have a bunch of forms before Facebook days and stuff like that. And this was discussions with piano teachers. They were going back and forth. Hey, how many of your students

stay hanging there to year two, year three? And it was just amazing that they kept coming back and saying, you know, eight out of ten of them drop out. So over time, I was like, hey, man, that's my number. 80%. And it just shows the potential

of people that want to do it. But, you know, whatever reason they're No, I definitely agree with that. Now, it says you failed piano quite a bit. Now, there's definitely a specific number that was put out was five times. So I'm thinking in my head right now, you failing five times and then getting it. I mean, you must be a super fucking genius because I've tried like over a hundred times.

And I'm like, fuck this. I'm not doing it anymore. You're funny, man. No, you know what? That's just the times I can count. You know, if I come out there and I say it's really 30, you know, because it probably is, you know, you get a whim every now and then. You're like, man, let me go buy this book. Man, let me buy this course.

This guy says, you know, what I kept finding is, you know, people approach teaching a little bit differently, but usually it comes down to the same thing. So when it finally struck me, you know, the way I was going to go, I was like, I'm not teaching that way. There's enough. There's a million ways that people can try to teach this the same way. I want to do something different. There you go. Now we're going right into the direction I wanted to go. So for me being in the military, I wanted to be the right kind of leader.

There was people that I wanted to be like and people I did not want to be like. I wanted to set the standards so that my soldiers could learn from me as the expert, knowing what to do at the right time. Now, for you being a piano teacher, you learning from different people that were teaching you, and then you define yourself on exactly how you want to be perceived by your students, what would that look like? So what it looks like to me is, it's kind of, and this is one of the reasons why I'm probably eventually, you know, leading toward being blackballed from some of these industries is because my way of teaching is more about, you know, a person finding what their goal is and accepting who they are and working with what they have. you know, it's amazing how, you know, right now we think you play piano with five fingers, but you go find somebody with four, you know, only one hand and they can play better than, you know, they can play much better than anybody or they may be blind, you know. And so in my thinking, it's what do you bring to the table?

What do you have and what is your goal? So my goal, when I quit the fifth time, it was no longer to be a conversation. concert pianist. It was just to have fun, you know, and to play some cool music, you know. So that's my stuff. You see, this is the pace that I teach at, too. I don't say, hey, hold your book up. No, sit up straight. Do that. That stuff is important because it's discipline and it has its place, but my setting is a lot more different. Okay. If that makes sense. It does. For me, being with previous experience, but for someone that doesn't understand, could you go a little deeper? Yeah, absolutely.

So the structure, yeah, because a lot of people may not know, but, you know, the structure of most piano methods are based behind cheat music. Cheap music has symbolic writing on paper. It can be very simple or it can be very complex. and the way I see it, it takes five to ten years, probably more toward the 10 year mark, to really be really good at reading sheet music and being able to perform, you know, to the level. What I say is, you know, that's going to take you five to ten years, probably ten years. If you got ten years and you're going to invest in that training, a lot of practice, recitals and things like that all good go that route.

The numbers show that most people don't. They have it in their mind that they want to play piano. So I approach it from how can I get this person, how can I help this person play piano in a short amount of time so that they won't phase out and they'll reach their goal. Okay, I like that. Now, with, so we can kind of go a little deeper with the outcome that we're looking at. Some people might hear you describing this and something might come up as,

and are you teaching somebody how to regurgitate one single song, or are you teaching someone how to look at music and adapt to the situation? So that's a great question. And to me, it's a little bit of both. And that goes back to what do you want? I've got some people that just want to learn that one song, you know, they want to learn how to play. They always wanted to learn how to play stairway to heaven or whatever, you know.

And so for those folks, you can go through my method and you can learn it very quickly. Then there's other people that look at it and they start seeing the patterns because piano is really, just like most intraments, it's patterns. To me, that's the way I interpreted. So they start seeing the patterns. They don't need my assistance anymore after a while because they feel more. comfortable with it and it just kind of floats. So again, it just goes back to what do you want out of it? That's usually one of my first questions because I want to take, I want to put people on

the right path. If you want to be a concert pianist, then this is not that. This might wet your beak a little bit, you know, it might get you interested. But if you just casually want to play piano, there you go. Beautiful. No, I like that. What is your current feelings on the teaching system of music today? I honestly, I think that it is still the same as it was probably 100 years ago with a few tweets.

There's some really good teachers. Just like with mathematics, you know, it's still taught the same way. But people are opening up more to understand that, hey, they calculate differently in China or Japan than they do in the United States and they still get the same accuracy you know so I think people are opening up more their minds to new concepts but I think primarily music is still taught the same way it was one or 200 years ago okay yeah with math from my experience they they had one way and then they develop a new way I think it's called common core or something like that and it's weird let me trying to hear my stepdaughter explain it to me.

It's like, what? Right. How does that work? I got it. But like, what is your thought process on playing effectively and playing well? What, like, what is your idea of playing well? So my idea of playing well is meeting your own needs out of music, you know, as a musician. So self-knowledge knowing what are you trying to be?

What do you want to be? And then taking the stepping stones to get there. So if I'm comparing myself to Elton John, you know, or somebody, you know, who's been playing for years, Stevie Wonder, you know. And if that's my goal, where am I at on that trajectory, you know? Or if I'm just comparing myself to me, which is usually what I try to help people to do. where were you at before you started and what can you do now? And what I'm trying to do is give people a quick win and help them to see that music doesn't have to be as complicated as what we make it.

It can be as easy as ABC and one, two, three, slowly just coaxing people into understanding things a little bit simpler. Okay. So when you, with the fifth time, you finally were able to just let go of everything, I'm imagining you kind of just separating your mind from your body and just being there in the moment and just feeling it. Like just doing what you're there to do and then moving on like, I don't give a fuck, you know. Like I'm going to play. Like if I suck, I suck.

If I do great, I do great. I don't care. That's kind of what I'm saying. You know, our criteria of what's good and what's bad, we're always comparing ourselves to somebody else. and we're putting ourselves down and well this is me why can't I do what my brother can do why can't I do?

I've been at this for since I was a kid and I'm still struggling so yeah the mindset of the transformation if you want to say is me shedding all the things that I thought I had to do and allowing myself

to be open and say no man I got a blank slate I can do this how I want to like with that blank cap canvas and I think that's really how it came about you know because I was looking around trying to say has anybody else done this you know before you go grab a patent investment you got to do that research and dowering around trying to find it and I was like oh wait a minute you know so but yeah it's really just opening up myself and saying I don't have to do it that way and then committing

to to to that openness I guess you could say I like that you You mentioned a lot of interesting musicians. Which one that's kind of like your idol? So it's so varied in that sense because my musical range is varied. Oh man, you got some Starbucks. Yeah, I need it. Now I'm jealous, man. I didn't have no coffee.

But anyway, yeah, you know, I really like vocals too. so, and I like a lot of obscure musicians. So I've been talking about David Ryan Harris. He's one of my favorite musicians. He's not well known per se, but he has the vocals and he plays guitar actually. Jeff Buckley is a beautiful musician. He's no longer, you know, he's no longer alive. But then you got Prince, DeAngelo.

you know my even garth you know I I go through phases you know what I mean I love the rascal flats I like emotional music you know what I mean stuff that touches my heart I definitely like that I'm the same way like I'll go through different genres of music by the season and sometimes by just emotional feelings inside

you know I'll be feeling great one day but I want to put on some hip-hop next day. I'm like, man, fuck this shit. I don't put on some fucking country. Yeah. I mean, that's the beauty of music. Like you mentioned, hip-hop,

and I haven't talked about that much, but a lot of my life, that was it, you know. And it just depends on what you need. I mean, music is there for, it's really there for you. It can take you back. It can bring back memories. Yes.

No, I definitely agree. Now, I mentioned just in the beginning, with trying to utilize your method with mathematics, but I didn't get to ask you, did you try utilizing this method towards playing a different instrument? Thought is there. You know, I've seen, I've been looking around to see how people are helping other people learn to drum or to play guitar. And I've seen some things out there that are kind of neat.

I haven't, I haven't ventured out there because I got so much. stuff to do with this. You know what I mean? Yeah. But I'm also making a lot of connections with people that I think will lead to to seeing where this can go. Excellent. Now, we have a lot of people that are interested in leadership that listen to this podcast, organizational leadership. What's some good advice for those leaders out there that you could share with them on what you've seen in your practice, what you've experienced on a healthy mentor and an unhealthy mentor or an individual that's leading a team, anything that kind of sticks out.

What would you tell them? Yeah, I think I have been both, you know, a healthy mentor and an unhealthy mentor. I, in my professional life, that's what I'm a point of reference is. And I think I definitely lean more towards healthy now because I'm learning more about myself and the way I interact with people and the impact that it can have positive or negative. And what I mean by that is just understanding that everybody is not like me. So if I'm going to connect to other people, and you see this in my videos too, you know, if I'm going to connect to other people, I have to try to first make that connection. And I have to meet them where they are as I am now. And if I want them, for example, my team that I've led to productivity,

like if I'm trying to increase productivity or quality, I'm more trying to understand why their quality is not what it needs to be rather than just looking at them and saying, hey, get your quality up. You know, work fast. I've been that person before in the past and it doesn't work. So really this journey that I've been going through with Control Ship piano has helped me as a person, I believe, because I'm trying to connect with people as individuals rather than just a big crowd of people. I really like that. Tell us more. Can you go deeper? Yeah. I certainly can. So if I talk about the darker side of me or the less, I don't want to say heroid, because there's no heroism.

But that has been me in the past, because I, especially from a secular perspective, professional perspective, I have high standards for the people that I work with because the product has to be what the customer wants. And I'm driven by that in so many ways. And it, but in the past, that's been, it's kind of tunnel vision, you know what I'm saying? Because I kind of drive, hey, do it, Come on, you can do it. I believe in you do it, do it, do it. More so now, I'm trying to get to know this person. What is it, what's impacting you right now?

Why, when I add up two plus two, it equals four, but you're getting the wrong number. So tell me more about that, you know. It's just more of a human connection. And we still, what I found is the goal. Like, we reached the goal either way, because, but it's a much, it's a much more, I can't think of the word.

It's just better. You feel better about it. The other person feels better about it. And it's more consistent. Because if you have to constantly drive people, something's wrong. Yes. You know what I mean?

It's like when you walk away, are they still going to be at that same exact momentum that they were when you left them? No, because they're relying on you. And that's only short term. And then what you're explaining to me, this is a long-term relationship development. I mean, that's beautiful. That's well put.

Now, let's see. What are some, no, I don't want to go to that one. Tell me about your routine. Like, I think routines are fascinating, like a morning routine. Like, I was on it. I was hooked and I love it. But now I haven't been on it and I'm like, I'm sad. I'm trying to get back on it.

I really am. Tell me about yours. What stuck out? what what did it look like I wish I had my paperwork next to me but basically without a prioritized list

I am nothing and that's because I get a bright idea shiny object syndrome yes that's me you know what I mean working on my piano project it really

didn't take off until I started prioritizing because when you're trying to initiate a business of any sort, there's a million things to do. And if you want to do them all perfectly by yourself, you will never, you won't launch. And that happened to me for a few years. But, I mean, that's really my biggest productivity hack, if you would. It's just making a daily list. And I get a thrill out of just marking it off, you know, as I go down the list.

I like that. Now, if somebody were to ask you, what was that, what was that, that pivotal shift that allowed your business to take off? It was probably just that, well, you know, it's, I think it's staying true, to be honest, I want to say it's, it's, it's focusing. But I think it's been staying true to what I'm here for because I've had, you know, opportunities, um, working with coaches. And I love coaches and things like that. And they want to approach it this way. And they say, hey, if you do this, then it'll do that. And I'm like, but you know what? That doesn't improve the experience of the person who needs this.

It just kind of, you know, I love being open to feedback. I don't want to make it seem like I'm not. But I think staying true to the core of what I'm trying to do here has the most value. I now that definitely that resonates with me I was talking with one guest who was on comedy central he was he created this show and uh I can't think of the name of the show but he recommended some really good advice when you have professionals that are telling you to alter your your creative content or the way of doing things there's certain things that you should alter but there's definitely certain things that you shouldn't just keeping that often to that the content that you created because that's original. That's from the heart. Once you alter it, it's no longer, you no longer recognize it anymore. And then you start to be somebody else.

And then that ripples out. And then next thing you know, you're, you don't even know who the fuck you are. You're just roaming the streets at night and wondering, what the hell am I? Yeah, you become somebody different. And that's why, like, if your goal is to monetize, that's okay. but if that's at the forefront of everything you do, then you're not being authentic. Or maybe you are, and you're just in it for money.

And I've gone through different faith. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody else yet. I want to make some money. But anytime now when I see something else getting in front of that, it's just taken away more than it's building up. Now, personal question for me, like I definitely want to monetize that's going to happen I mean I got a seven month baby I got a house I'm got to pay for I mean we all got to eat so when approaching something new and then putting a price tag on

that there's a lot of difficulty like how do you for me like I want everybody to have everything for free and to get it right now and not have to wait two days like fucking prime says you have to I want you to get it instantly. So like how do you approach that where you're, you feel like you're giving the value. They are getting the value that you wanted them to get, but also they're applying to what you made and they're learning. Right.

Well, I think historically, you know, the value, there has to be a value of everything. If we say something's free, it's not really free. I mean, it's not free to the person that made it. And if we make it free where somebody just clicks a button, then they don't value it as much. So I think there is a place for free,

but there's also, like we do have to value, you're taken out of your time, not so much just your time, but also your energy in creating something that you feel is very valuable. And that has a price that goes with it. So it is very, difficult to get that, get to that dollar number.

I do agree. But it has to be done. Yes. It has to be done. Because I'm looking at it, like, if somebody were to compare your products, I'll just go on YouTube how to play. And it's like, okay, but there you go. Now you're only just regurgentating one song

and you're not actually getting real value out of what you could have gotten if you would have just paid that and received. the product. Yeah, I mean, that's very true. And I encourage that, too. I mean, you know, I want people to get it, get it how you can, you know. It's just that for many people looking at a YouTube video in itself, it still doesn't. Some people, yeah, that's, that's all they need. They just need to see somebody else do it. Other people can use a little bit extra help. Many can. And that's where my piano templates come in, Andy. I like that. what is what is some good advice to take away and some bad advice to avoid just general whatever comes in mind

for in applying to to to what aspect anything okay well my my best advice is probably you know it goes back to being who you are um and understanding uh what you want and how to how much are you committed to get there? You know, because I think that assessment, if I had done that front, you know, I probably couldn't have done it as a child. I don't think I could have. My mind was probably all over the place.

As an adult, I could have saved myself a lot of time because I know at a certain point. I'm not going to practice piano three hours a week. I knew that when I signed up for the class. You know what I mean? Something in my mind, though, my desire to play piano was still there. And then, you know, I didn't practice.

So if I would have known what my goal was and what I was willing to do, then I could have easily, you know, shave that out. The bad way to go about it is to forge on a head, not having a solid plan and just landing wherever you land. You know, it's like being, being, being, I imagine like going to outer space and just being out of control. You know, you don't have a seatbelt. You're not strapped down.

Gravity is not there anymore. You just pretty much you go as the wind goes. And I've been there before. So I just like having a solid understanding of what I want to do, how I'm going to get there obstacles in the way, and then I can plot my course around it. I like that. You have this determined look when you speak about it.

So now for somebody that is in the process of thinking about starting piano or any kind of instrument or some specific habit, what is like a little tidbit that you could offer them on teaching them how to stay focus? And if they share their idea or they encounter somebody that they want to kind of the individual might try to push them off course or maybe say, Oh, you don't need to do that. You can be plying your time someplace else. What would you tell them? So that's a really good question. I say, why are you doing this? You know, a lot of people out there, they say,

connect to your why, keep your why, your reason. Why are we up this morning, you know, so early without coffee? Some of us, there's a reason for it. Yeah, man, I'm mad at you. But, you know, why do we do these crazy things? and if it's not a strong enough reason, then maybe the choice, the better choice, would be to not do it.

You know what I mean? But to be honest, when it comes to instruments, I'm going to try to pick this piano up. Oh, you know. Hell yeah. If you want to learn piano, learn the piano.

That's what I say. When I realized I was reading all those books, I didn't even look at the piano, you know? And the answers were right there in front of me. So sometimes it's just a free form. Like, just touch the keys. Don't worry about messing up. Just like you said at the very beginning, you know,

some of those piano keys you're going to hit and you're going to like the way they sound. And some of them you won't. And the next time you do it again, don't hit the ones you don't want to hit. You know, it's just don't make it so academic. Look at the piano, look at the guitar, ukulele, and just see what you can learn just through touching it

and looking at it and listening to it. I like that. What's your definition of commitment versus obsession? I think Kanye West is upset. No, he's committed to. So I'm not hating on Kanye. I'm looking at his situation, though, and he wants his wife back,

which my heart goes out to him for that. but I think he's both committed and obsessed, right? That's my opinion, not yours. And that's commendable to a degree, as long as it stays within, you know, it's not a harassment situation. I think this is a good question, man. How do you come up with this?

Obsession is sometimes like you're not doing the work because you're obsessed with something, but you're not really going to do the work to get to it. You really like it. It lingers. You go back to it. And that's been me before. Commitment, I think, is there's some similarities.

You know, commitment. Maybe you're a little bit obsessed about it, and that helps you be committed. But you can be committed and not be obsessed. You can be committed and not even like something. Yeah. You know, that's what I'm saying, man. You ask a good question on that one.

Like find yourself in the wrong relationship. Yeah, exactly. I'm sticking to my Kanye West answer, my first answer. No, I like that little outlook that you have there. I think that's really good. Now, is teaching piano slash playing piano, is that your main career? Do you have any side gigs going on that we're not aware of?

What does that look like if you do? I do, yeah. This is the main thing that I am focused on launching, but I do work. Like I said, my background is in design engineering. I've been in before, man, I'm a old guy. 20 years. And I like it.

I like a lot about it. And like I said earlier, a lot of what I applied to control shit piano, I also applied in that industry. And it's been phenomenal the developments I've been able to help with. Okay. Beautiful. If you can just say that,

sentence, say that first part. What industry was that? Could you cut out on me? Design engineering. Thank you. Okay. That's what I thought you said. It cut out for a second.

I want to make sure I got everything there. Beautiful. All right. Now, comparing your failures to who you are now, what does that look like inside? How do you feel about that? I really feel great about it because I think the failures, I don't like to discount them.

Like, they made me part of who I am. Like, my father, the one that gave me birth, you know, or brought me into this world. He wasn't a great person, but I'm sure, well, I'll say socially, he wasn't a great person. He's no longer alive. But there's parts of him that are in me. I mean, it's just the way it is genetically, right? And the experiences, the crummy experiences I went through as a child dealing with him. somewhat we learn from that you know we learn who we want to be and who we don't want to be

you know what I mean so the failures I experienced with piano brought me to hear and now I'm able to help other people that face the same challenges oh okay now we got to go down this little rabbit hole I'm curious so with social upbringing trauma or trauma within the social upbringing. Did you experience anything like that I did personally? And I had to come to turns with that after I was no longer focused on work, but actually stopping and start listening to what my body was telling me. Did you experience something like that before? Absolutely. Yeah. And have to revisit it in my mind sometimes just to remind me of who I am and why I'm who I am. You know, there's amazing, you know, the human

composition, the way we're made, that we are very durable when you think about what people go through. And sometimes we need help. You know, I've learned there's nothing wrong with asking for help, seeking help. And yeah, but the bad times, I mean, how many, how many,

the greatest songs are written from, the worst times, I believe. And there's a reason for that. I like that. Now, asking for help. I mean, I'm an introvert at early stages of life for me. I was like afraid to even voice there was a problem. Like if anybody asked me, like, is everything good?

Like my teacher? Oh, no. Yeah, we're good. We're good. I'm fucked, man. I don't know what to do. Like, like, when did you realize you were actually able to fully express like, yeah, I'm fucked right now. excuse me, I don't know what I'm doing. Please come over here. I'm a handicap. I really need your help. Please help me.

Well, yeah, I think really, I think it's more of a recent thing for me. When I say recent, I mean like last eight years or so because I have, when you talk about childhood trauma and things like that, I've always had people who had it worse than me, whether it's a brother or a cousin or, you know, my mother. So, imagine somebody having it worse than you and all the focus goes to that person, including your focus, right? But you're not addressing your own personal issues because you're, you know, you're rightly so. You're focused on somebody else's issues. So I think it's more in the last 10 years that I came to say, you know, what makes me who I am? Why am I this way? And I don't like to be a person that's set in my ways, though I may be, you know, I like to be open. to learning.

I like that. Now, for me, I've experienced a lot of anxiety. I have a lot of anxiety. I still get it to this very moment when I step up to the mic just right before our conversation. I get real comfortable. Then next thing you know, you don't know what the fucking do. Like, God, I can't do this. I need to leave.

But I've done this over a hundred times. Like, what's the problem with that? It happens. But once you get past that little hump, it's gone. Like, do you experience? experience that? And when was the first time you finally realize that you are able to get past it? Yeah, it's the pressure of performing sometimes for some people. But like, go back to the start of our conversation. You said, hey, Steve, let's cut out the scripted talk. Let's just talk. Yeah. That's what's

important. You know, being our true self, I think, and when we're reminded, like if there's somebody that's going to perform. Imagine going up after Brian McKnight, you know, trying to play piano or you know, you know, Ray Charles or somebody like that. Hell yeah. Then you're next. And your mind is the pressure of

man, what am I going to do? You know? But in reality, you know, don't compare somebody else. If it's not a healthy thing. If it's something healthy that gives you something to aspire to and great.

Other than that, just be yourself. I like that. And I mean, plus the fact that you're after Ray Charles, I mean, you're fucking, you're good, dude. Like, you got to be. You might just leave the building, you know. No, I like that, Stephen. I really do. Okay.

So tell us, tell our audience where they can learn more about. your product. What is your product exactly? You have the floor to throw that out there and explain it a little bit. So thank you. So the best thing to do is probably to go to my website, control shift pm.com. Product is really, there's more behind it. It's really the method behind it. As we've talked through our discussion, you know, it's the mindset. You can see the pace is different. The expectation is different. Everything is different about this. and it's really just to help simplify piano so that more people

can enjoy it. So, I mean, that's all it's about. And that's how you can get it. YouTube is also a good resource. Just YouTube Control Shift Piano and just check it out. Beautiful. I will link that in the show notes. Do you have like a contact method

if they want to reach out to you or they have any questions? Yeah, you can email me, Steve at control shiftpiano.com. Beautiful. I've gotten a lot of emails. I love emails and, you know, it's a good way to communicate these days. Hell yeah.

Definitely. So do you have anything else that you like to share before I let you go? Sometimes I need to ask you. Well, you did a great job covering most aspects, but I guess, you know, it just really all comes down to just knowing what we want out of life. Life is is priceless that you couldn't put a price on life. And if you can find something that gives you more enjoyment out of life, that doesn't hurt other people, and go for it. So, and this is my way of helping. I think it will lead to other things. And I'm here for the ride, and I hope you come along to. Hell yeah. I'll

go anywhere with you, Stephen. Come on. Let's do it, man. Stephen Jenkins, everybody. Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much for coming on to your transformation station. Love it. You've been listening to your transformation station, your voice on the hard truths of leadership. We hope you've enjoyed the show. We hope you've gotten some useful and practical information. Make sure to like, rate and review the show. Remember, your transformation station is on all major platforms. including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube, and visit the website. Till next time.

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