Exploring Creativity and Overcoming Challenges with Jim Johnson: Part 1

[00:00:00] Jenny Leigh: Welcome to YourCreativeChord Podcast, where we unlock creative flow, celebrate the artist within, and find inspiration in every moment. I'm your host, Jenny Leigh Hodgins, and the voice behind YourCreativeChord, where we blend creative living with transformation. I'm here to guide you with empowering stories, insights, and practical tips to fuel your creative life.

[00:00:29] We're in this together, from overcoming stage fright, to changing obstacles into possibilities, to finding your unique voice. Let's get started. 

Welcome to another episode of YourCreativeChord, where creativity and inspiration meet transformation. I'm your host, Jenny Leigh Hodgins. And today we have a special guest joining us, Jim Johnson, the creative force behind Grass Roots Piano and the Adults Learning Piano Facebook group. Jim's journey from California to Maine spans three decades of teaching, composing and performing music. As the founder of Grass Roots Piano, Jim bases his brand on the idea that improving music skills and having fun should go hand in hand. Jim is more than a seasoned music educator. He's a beacon of passion and creativity. He lives in the serene landscapes of Hallowell, Maine, with his family and two trusty herding dogs.

[00:01:38] Like me, music has been his refuge since childhood, supporting him through life's ups and downs. Like me, Jim is also a digital content creator. His life is a full symphony of teaching, motivating, and composing. With Grass Roots Piano, he's built a community of over 14, 000 eager learners, encouraging adults to discover and focus on the joy of music and piano playing.

[00:02:04] Jim's mentors, Bobby Bradford, which we'll talk about in the interview, and his wife, Bridget, will be joining us next. Have profoundly influenced his musical journey Bobby Bradford If you don't know is a talented artist composer and trumpeter, he not only inspired Jim's musicality, but also taught him invaluable lessons in managing life's stresses and maintaining a stress free approach to music. Jim's wife Bridget is his hero, a selfless individual whose top notch piano training and artistry make her not only an inspiring mentor but also an easy collaborator.

[00:02:41] Her unwavering support and willingness to better the lives of others continue to inspire Jim on his musical path. Jim's Grass Roots Piano YouTube based music lessons aren't just about learning notes and chords. They're about helping music learners ignite their passion for music while honing their skills.

[00:03:00] Jim's innovative video tutorials and mini courses are designed to make learning enjoyable and motivating. I love, personally, how they provide bite sized bursts of musical wisdom mixed with humor and kindness. Today, we're diving into Jim's teaching philosophy, exploring why he believes understanding music while enjoying the learning process is so important.

[00:03:24] We'll also uncover the inspiration behind his new rhythm course designed to help learners have fun while mastering rhythm basics and reading music, as well as his new adult beginner piano course. Let's learn from Jim's wealth of music and teaching experience and discover how he weaves fun into the fabric of Grass Roots Piano, keeping aspiring piano learners motivated and inspired on their musical path.

[00:03:49] Join us as we chat with Jim to learn more about his musical odyssey and explore the rhythms of inspiration that fuel his creative flow. So grab your favorite cup of tea or coffee or a soft drink settle in and let's get started. 

[00:04:03] Welcome to YourCreativeChord Podcast, Jim Johnson.

[00:04:07] Jim: Hi there, Jenny. Thank you for having me. What a beautiful intro. Thank you. You make me feel special. 

[00:04:11] Jenny Leigh: You are special. 

[00:04:13] So Jim, we were talking just briefly before we hit record. First, I want to express my gratitude for your willingness to be open and vulnerable. In your responses, you mentioned grappling with longterm mental illness and facing extreme challenges, in the past six months, particularly. Would you be comfortable discussing this aspect of your journey during our interview today? 

[00:04:36] Jim: Yeah, sure. I'll probably dance around with it, but I always like to make it an educational point.

[00:04:41] Jenny Leigh: What advice could you offer to our listeners who might be navigating some similar struggles and maybe could describe a little bit of that and how do you think listeners based on what you've learned, find strength and resilience through these difficult struggles?

[00:04:54] You mind sharing about that? 

[00:04:55] Jim: Yeah, um, I think one of the things that I have gained is from doing digital work and content creating, I've met the kindest people. And I have met very warm, welcoming people. Yeah, social media gets a bad rap, but I think it kind of depends on the groups you surround yourselves with.

[00:05:16] Jenny Leigh: Right. 

[00:05:17] Jim: I have met a lot of adults that, have struggled with mental illness or are just having a tough time, whether it's family dynamics and, They're thankful, very thankful for, in this case, piano and music. You asking me about my struggles the last six months.

[00:05:35] Yeah. Well, we're all human and, uh, I, I think I'm gonna. really bring this up. It's a double edged sword because part of my frustrations with mental illness is it's not recognized, it's not recognized like blood pressure. 

[00:05:51] Jenny Leigh: Right. 

[00:05:51] Jim: And that is a problem. 

[00:05:53] Jenny Leigh: Right.

[00:05:54] Jim: I know if you Google it, mental illness is at an all time high with humans, but in particular kids, 10 through 14, so there's a lot of struggles, and that really frustrates me-- to the point of, wait, I'm having these struggles, but I didn't pick this. I didn't pick for this trauma to happen. And so the ignorance is a bit stressful.

[00:06:16] I really like to give empathy for anyone, any age that might be struggling. For me, basically, I gave my heart out and it was workplace related. Everything's fine at work, but there was definitely some intense, unjust things. And I remained very calm and quiet and I had to watch everything play out.

[00:06:42] That's not the mental illness part of the mental illness was on how it was handled and then how the trauma got spiked because I am a PTSD survivor. 

[00:06:52] Jenny Leigh: Mmm. 

[00:06:54] Jim: I came from an unfortunate family. And I'm not mad at anyone. It's just how I came into this world. We all know if a child is not having a good time or, or fostering at home, struggles begin.

[00:07:11] And that's the point I wanna make that luckily, I have done a lot of therapy throughout my adult life. I don't know if I would be comfortable even speaking about this or even sitting here if I didn't do therapy. And so I'm kind of being gracious to myself where I'm thankful that I have wrestled with things and, anyone that's listening, thinking you should just get over it:

[00:07:36] Sometimes you can't get over something if you don't know how this is happening and you can't get over it if your brain is, going through trauma and becomes physical ailments from it. 

[00:07:49] Jenny Leigh: Right. 

[00:07:50] Jim: So what happened is major trauma. And then it spiked a lot of stuff. In fact, I have two good friends they're both doctors, psychologists.

[00:08:00] And I said, I haven't had this kind of trauma flashbacks, at least 20 years ago. So, my wife being by my side, being a hero, she also was struck with negativity. It's not like this is Jim's little world. This is the world that we live in. There is much anger. There's so much tension. So sometimes on Facebook, I will do some videos cause I like doing video creation.

[00:08:28] I'll do some humor. I'm about to do some where it's the impatient student who wants to just get from point A to point Z in seconds. And I use humor as a filter to work through my mental health. And I also use my frustrations as a filter where I will create something. And my last video, I did something where it was a lot of basic positive chords because we need that.

[00:08:53] It's not very Jim-like, but the positive chords is a good thing. Hopefully my mumbling is not messing up the flow of your questions, Jenny. 

[00:09:03] Jenny Leigh: No, no, 

[00:09:03] not at all. Not at all. It's perfect because, I mean, we're trying to be delicate about not divulging too much detail, but the gist of what you're saying is, yeah, the society is pretty ripe with negativity in the world and, especially if you've got any kind of a traumatic background and it triggers that it makes it very challenging just to do your daily stuff, basically, and it's very encouraging to hear how, you know, you spot on to the question, how can people find strength and resilience in difficult times: 

[00:09:34] You use your music. You use your humor in your videos and you've been doing some positive chords just to kind of give yourself the therapy through music. That's a great segue into everything we're about to cover today. 

[00:09:46] Jim: I think, what's really important is: People need, if they don't understand about unconditional kindness, if they don't understand about try not to judge, try to appreciate.

[00:10:00] This is the beauty. I'll be turning 53 in August and 

[00:10:03] Jenny Leigh: You're a babe! 

[00:10:04] Jim: Yeah, I'm a baby. The beauty of aging is you wrestle with things, you work things out or you try to work things out. And I think all of this comes from being a musician for years. You look within.

[00:10:17] I don't take offense, but I want to make it clear. It's not my fault that, you know, my dad made decisions that really hurt a lot of people. And it's not his fault. I didn't know this until later that he was diagnosed with major psychosis schizophrenia whatever and it's just not good to my mom and it doesn't even need to be played out like the trauma dumping doesn't need to be there.

[00:10:43] What really needs to be there is how we as humans work through anguish, work through emotional upheaval. 

[00:10:50] Jenny Leigh: Right. 

[00:10:51] 

[00:10:51] Jenny Leigh: Let me interject to that: I don't think it's wrong to quote trauma dump because as you said mental illness is so rampant and it's starting to be talked about a little bit, but it's, it's really clamped down so much.

[00:11:04] And so I think it's so important just to be open about: this is a reality for many people, not just you and your particular family background, but, you know, we have it throughout society in so many different ways, and I love what you just said there, that a lot of people have never experienced kindness, and so they don't know how to respond with kindness, and I love how you're trying your best to, not take in other people's negativity and you're empathetic about understanding when there is negativity in the world coming at you, even though it's triggering your own traumatic, past stressors, you're still trying to use your music learning history, which is problem-solving and harmony and trying to, create beauty and kindness through your artistry, basically through what you're doing as a content creator.

[00:11:53] So I think it's very relevant. I really appreciate that. But I want to move on if you don't mind to the next question, unless you wanted to add something there. 

[00:12:01] Jim: The only thing I want to add is, whether something is bothering you and it might not seem like a big deal. And someone says, well, at least this didn't happen.

[00:12:10] No, I want to add that you need to be kind to yourself. You need to, you know, Find your senses of your anxieties and your stresses, because who's going to care about you? You're your most important commitment at the end of the day. 

[00:12:24] Jenny Leigh: Basically acknowledge you are you and you're unique to other people and don't let other people judge or let their judgment of where you are dictate how you deal with your own self care.

[00:12:34] That's what I'm hearing from that 

[00:12:37] Jim: and I think what makes our character special is not our bragging rights, but how we go through and how we deal with suffering and how our character is shaped with that.

[00:12:49] I've learned to be very quiet. I've learned to speak with strength through silence. I've learned not to play games that are not intelligent. 

[00:12:59] Jenny Leigh: Mm hmm. Right. 

[00:13:00] Jim: And I learned how to deal with myself, which is enough to 

[00:13:05] Jenny Leigh: That's a handful. Well, and you're speaking of how listeners can develop strength and resilience a hundred percent.

[00:13:11] You say you've learned to deal with things with silence and sometimes someone being quiet or silent takes a whole lot more strength than just angrily outbursting at everyone around you.

[00:13:22] That is a sign of a very insecure, weak person. And that's what we're seeing a lot of in the world. People are out of control with their own, self control. So I really appreciate that. really was a full circle there with the question how are you navigating your struggles and how can listeners navigate theirs and find strength and resilience through these difficult times?

[00:13:39] You really hit all the points there. And it goes totally in sync with YourCreativeChord podcast because it's about nurturing creativity and inspiration, and that boils down to self care and self development, self discipline, and, we have to, in order to navigate all the challenges in our world, we have to have that inner resilience and strength.

[00:14:02] We can't let the external world beat us down. So I really appreciate that. And we're very fortunate. Both of us are very fortunate. And the people in our spheres that we put around us, we're surrounded and immersed by and in music and people that love music. And that's such a boon to your self care and your mental wellness.

[00:14:21] So I'm seriously glad that we at least touched on that. Really love that conversation , because so many people experience that. 

[00:14:28] I want to move also to the fact that you yourself love composing and creating not just music, but also content, for your online platforms.

[00:14:36] And because this platform, my podcast, YourCreativeChord is all about, inspiring creativity, our listeners would likely be interested in hearing about your creative process. And it might be nice to hear, especially when you're navigating a difficult scenario, how you approach your creative process.

[00:14:54] Jenny Leigh Hodgins, YourCreativeChord Host: Just a quick break to share some exciting news. On my birthday, July 16, I'll be launching the revised paperback edition of my book, Start Piano: What You Need for Successful Learning.. This book is your trusted guide to unlocking the secrets of a successful piano learning foundation with strategies, tips for finding the right teacher and method, and setting up effective piano practice routines.

[00:15:26] It's also a perfect resource for piano educators to gift or recommend to students. Plus right now, you can get a sneak peek with our free Unlock Your Piano Potential ebook. You can download that today at YourCreativeChord. com./pianostrategies 

[00:15:49] Stay tuned for exciting updates, exclusive bonuses, straight from my book and everything you need to keep making beautiful piano music. 

[00:15:59] Until book launch day, July 16, my birthday, keep nurturing your creativity and listen each Tuesday for a deeper dive into making confident piano progress. Let's get back to the show. 

[00:16:14] Jenny Leigh: because this platform, my podcast, YourCreativeChord is all about, inspiring creativity, our listeners would likely be interested in hearing about your creative process. And it might be nice to hear, especially when you're navigating a difficult scenario, how you approach your creative process. When I asked you what inspires your creative flow, you said "stream of consciousness." So talk about that... 

[00:16:37] Jim: I think my stream of consciousness has been thinking about the audience, so one of them is, what fuels their passion and fire.

[00:16:49] My last three videos, I am getting a lot of interaction and a lot of, views and I think, my stream of consciousness is like, wow, a lot of people like to dance with arpeggios on the piano.

[00:17:03] I think, Why would an adult like this? This sound is not epic, but has a little emotional passion to it with some basic minor chords, the major, and the way I'm using the inversion chords, and I make it accessible for the newer learner, which is really important for me. It's not about, not that I'm at that advanced level, but even if I was, my insight would be not to show off because that's not what my audience wants.

[00:17:31] There's enough of that. So going back to my stream of consciousness, just basically thinking about how I can get their passions going and they mean the audience and what they'll like. And then I just dance around with some ideas for a few days.

[00:17:47] Then I'll record and put the chords or whatever on the screen. The other one is more internal where when I have time, I also, and I got this from one of my audience members is I'll do very small content where it's just more humor based and that's just who I am. I sometimes 

[00:18:04] Jenny Leigh: say more humor based 

[00:18:05] Jim: humor.

[00:18:06] Yeah that's how I am. I have this

[00:18:09] Jenny Leigh: that's your personality. 

[00:18:11] Jim: Yeah. 

[00:18:11] Jenny Leigh: It's interesting to me because I, specifically asked about your creative process and your creative flow, particularly when you're dealing with these difficulties and you immediately went to, how can I serve others with this?

[00:18:24] And your whole approach is. Your brand is serving adults learning music and piano and your whole approach even to creating stuff is, how can I help people? How can I help this become more accessible to people? That is an incredible gift to be able to do that, to distill your own creative process into a message to help other people.

[00:18:46] That's why I like you. That's why I'm keeping up. 

[00:18:49] Jim: The other insight I try to do and educate is, we can enjoy the art of learning and the art of beauty. My Facebook group, probably a year ago, I played these open chords and some people chimed in who I haven't seen for months. "Oh, that was so beautiful. How'd you do that?" And , the lesson was not only is it beautiful, but it's really simple Sometimes I think we get too worried about levels and we get too worried about we're not sounding good.

[00:19:18] Jenny Leigh: People judge themselves so harshly. Yeah. 

[00:19:21] Jim: Yeah. Art is to find the passion and interweave through your progress. it's not about a light switch of like, well, I did this book, so now I should be able to play this.

[00:19:33] Jenny Leigh: I see that too, and I studied a very traditional classical approach, but I have no interest in "What level are you" or "what exam are you?" I mean, I think it's good to a point because some people need structure where they have a specific exam or a specific level goal to work towards for themselves to push themselves to grow in skill.

[00:19:55] And that's fine if that's motivating for you. But as far as, being focused on it, I'm, a hundred percent resonating with what you say. It's, it's about, yeah as you do, it's about the enjoyment and it's about your own personal expression of it, where you are, it doesn't matter what level, you know, music is there for everybody.

[00:20:13] That's what I like about your approach. I really resonate with that, I know that through your extensive music education, teaching, composing and performing of music in over the 30 years , that all of those experiences inform your philosophy that we're talking about at Grass Roots Piano, but specifically, can you tell me how do the lessons learned from your personal background align with the core principles of your brand that we're just talking about?

[00:20:40] Emphasizing the integration of enjoyment and skill development in music learning. How did you get there through your background? 

[00:20:48] Jim: I think I got there because, when I was out in California, I was doing a lot of practicing, on percussion mallet instruments as well as piano. I was dedicating a very simple life in graduate school of just hours and hours of practice.

[00:21:04] And it became like maybe an unhealthy obsession, I realized that the finish line isn't graduating from graduate school in this case, and it's, it's a launching pad, the finish line will never be there, and one of my mentors, and this was after graduate school, the jazz trumpet player, composer Bobby Bradford, I went to see him and take a class with him in a junior college.

[00:21:30] So here I am with two college degrees, and I want to go to a junior college to hang out with this guy. It was his sense of energy. After all these years of education, I was always afraid that the phrase or the right note wouldn't be good in a rehearsal or in a performance and he kind of just 'De-layered' my insecurities and I remember he would just have a very old school saying, "just hang with it."

[00:21:56] Something about his energy really stuck with me. So I would use humor. I've had tons of different students and the tons of different students all learn differently. So I will approach things in a laid back manner because some people will understand rhythm better than others. So I would just bring things to a light of.

[00:22:18] not just kindness, but making things easy, like hence "grassroots". It's kind of a foundation. It's kind of basic and enjoying where you are. 

[00:22:28] Jenny Leigh: As you are. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:22:30] Tell us a little bit about Grass Roots Piano and what's the real driving purpose behind it? 

[00:22:36] Jim: The driving purpose kind of happened by kind of mistake I didn't really know anything about digital content and I did this YouTube thing and I was learning by doing and I ended up getting some comments on my first YouTube channel And it would really resonate with me and it was uh adults and "oh, thank you for slowing it down," "Thank you for counting this out,"

[00:22:57] "thank you for playing one hand at a time, I can't do two hands at once." and it made me resonate like these adults are so appreciative to have music in their life, and one of them I've become good friends with they're a doctor and they've said, I wish I studied music from the get go because I would probably be a better doctor. 

[00:23:17] Our brains have gone through a lot and we've matured a lot.

[00:23:20] And now we're very thankful for, Emotional intelligence. Music is something you can't touch. It's something you feel and I've just found so much gratefulness with adults. So that being the case, I really wanted to create a grassroots YouTube channel that is adult related. And a lot of my videos if you look at the age group It's 65 plus. 

[00:23:41] Jenny Leigh: Yeah. It struck me too, that they're very common, they're all the same struggles that I've experienced with any new or returning learner as in my 30 years of piano teaching.

[00:23:51] They're the same issues, they all experience the same hiccups, or the same challenges, and your material, you know, full on addresses those. You create things in very short, sweet, chunked, segments so that it's not overwhelming for a new person.

[00:24:06] And I think these older people that are coming to it, older adults that are just coming back to it or getting to it for the first time, that is super relevant for them because they immediately feel through the practice with your educational videos, they feel supported and they feel like they're accomplishing with those things.

[00:24:22] Jenny Leigh Hodgins, YourCreativeChord Host: Thanks for watching. Remember on my birthday, July 16, my new book, Start Piano: What You Need for Successful Learning., launches in paperback on Amazon. Mark your calendars. And thank you for making this launch so special. In the meantime, don't miss out on the free 'Unlock Your Piano Potential' ebook available right now at YourCreativeChord.com/pianostrategies 

[00:24:50] It's packed with valuable insights to kickstart your piano momentum. To learn about the paperback and purchase from July 16, visit yourcreativechord.com/books 

[00:25:05] Jenny Leigh: Today we've witnessed the intersection of courage, creativity, and transformation. With Jim Johnson, founder of Grass Roots Piano. From openly sharing his journey through challenges like mental illness and PTSD to pi1ering adult beginner, piano education Jim's resilience really shines through. In Part 1, we've explored Jim's down to earth insights into music and life shaped by his experiences. Join us next week for Part 2, when Jim will continue to inspire with his teaching philosophy and innovative methods, fostering enjoyment and humor in piano learning, stay tuned to YourCreativeChord, where creativity and inspiration meet transformation.

[00:25:53] Thank you for joining us today on YourCreativeChord, where creativity and inspiration meet transformation. We hope you've enjoyed today's episode featuring Jim Johnson and his inspiring journey with Grass Roots Piano. Don't forget to visit your creative core.com forward slash piano strategies. To download our free Unlocking Your Piano Potential ebook. Packed with valuable insights to kickstart your piano journey. And stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where Jim will share his teaching philosophy and more of his innovative methods. Thank you again for listening. Stay inspired with YourCreativeChord. 

[00:26:33] Talk with you soon.