Arts & Entertainment, Music

Continuing Your Transformation

Carlos Santana

Lesson time 09:57 min

To wrap up his MasterClass, Carlos encourages you to make the transition from part-time musician to full-time artist.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Be a Full-Time Everything

Preview

Life to me is not a downer, it's an upper. So whatever I play, even though it might be the blues, it still has to have a sense of like getting over yourself, and like a snake, peel that skin. That's important to me no matter what kind of music that I'm playing. I want to show you in front of you I can strip myself from something that is not good for me. And by me doing it, it will inspire you to say, "Hey, he inspired me to get rid of some stuff that is not me no more." That's a good thing for a musician to do. The conclusion of "Black Magic Woman" going into "Gypsy Queen" is an exultation thing of like, for example, the relationship that I have in my life-- I'm 71. I bless what happened and I only remember the beauty and the elegance of it. I don't have time for thinking negative, I should have done, I should have been. I feel like I did the best with who I was at the time, and I hope you forgive me. I know I forgive myself. And I forgive you, too. Let's move on. So that part is like-- [PLAYING GUITAR] When you get to that part, you're home free. You've blessed the experience. And you blessed the whole episode that happened. And you bless the person. You bless the-- it's kind of taking about, you know, in Broadway after when the curtain call. And everybody congratulates. "Oh, you played a really great role. I really believe your role. You were a bad person, but I believe you." And so it's important with music, like in relationships, celebrate and honor what happened. Don't be bitter about it. Be better about it. And take a bow and say, "Hey, that was-- you played a good role being my wife. I believed you," kind of thing. So it's the same thing. [PLAYING MUSIC] It's that. It means. Now I am free again. And next time, I'm going to be better. So the whole vocabulary is about always redemption, always about transformation and just being bestest, better, best, better, bestest. That's what it's about. [MUSIC PLAYING] I'm a little hesitant to tell people what they need, who to be, what to do, or how to do it. I do invite people to say, if you want to and you aspire to make music the way you navigate this life, with joy, then you probably do need to-- this part is a little delicate. Crystallize your existence. What does that mean? It means that once and for all, make up your mind to be 100%, no 1,000% out of 100 musician, not a weekend musician. I used to be a weekend musician. And that was because I needed to help my mom and dad. I would wash dishes from Monday to Friday. And Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, I played music. I was a weekend musician. And that wasn't working for me. And it wasn't working because I could see other musicians that were better than me, not necessarily better than me, but they had something that I didn't have, which is like they are this 24 hours a day. That's where they are. In 1966, '67, I was working Tick Tock's. I was bussing dishes and cleaning dishes and cleaning the parking l...

About the Instructor

With 10 Grammys and almost 50 years on stage, Carlos Santana teaches you how to play guitar in his spiritual style. Learn how he weaves emotion, artistic expression, and musical genres from across the world to create a sound that transcends classifications and connects with audiences. Join Carlos in his studio as he breaks down his process note by note—so you can discover the soul of your sound.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana teaches you how he creates a distinct, soulful guitar sound that moves the hearts of audiences.

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