What Country Music Can Teach You About Trading Patterns

Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” broke the all-time record for the longest-running No. 1 song in the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s 68-year history, spending 23 consecutive weeks at the top!

I’ve been diving into Ella’s song and country music the past few days, and it’s got some great reminders for your trading. 

The Presence of Patterns

A lot of us get into trading and don’t necessarily think we are pattern readers, but if you listen to music, you ARE a pattern reader.

Play almost any song, pop or country, and you’ll generally notice the following pattern: 

musical intro, verse, chorus, new verse, same chorus → bridge, chorus, chorus. 

The end.

It’s funny how predictable it becomes. You even know on a new song when that bridge is about to hit if you’ve listened to enough of a certain genre.

I’m sure there’s some kind of marketing formula to this and maybe something to do with how it lands in our ear, but now I want to bring this to your trading.

Your charts are moving and unraveling with patterns that have variations. That’s why it’s not as simple as buying or selling at the same prices or times over and over. 

The progression with which the market moves has a rhythm. I get deep into this in my Missing Trends eBook, and this results in patterns that can help you understand if the trend is going to continue OR if it’s going to reverse.

So whatever you trade, let’s say you’re a specialist and you have one market you focus on, start paying attention to the movement.

Especially if you’re intraday trading, see how that market moves over a set period of time, whether it’s the first hour of the day, the last hour of the day, or anything in between.

Again, I’m not saying this is going to reveal some magic formula to buy at a certain time and sell at a certain time every day. But you will start to get the rhythm.

For example, in the ES futures that I trade, there’s generally a shift in the market action around 10:00 a.m. Eastern. There are also other shifts at certain times, and shifts driven by certain economic data.

So look at your market and start to see what patterns you can uncover beyond the price action alone, which of course I can help you with in my Gann Trading Patterns System.

Execute The Process

Ella Langley has been performing for about 9 years. And her record-breaking mega-hit song didn’t enter the top 10 until January of this year.

I’m not saying it’s going to take you that long to get consistent trading results. You just have to keep in mind that your job is to execute, and the results will come when they come. You never know when you’re going to have a big hit. 

Now when I say big hit, I don’t mean a singular winning trade. I mean finding that strategy, approach, technique, tool, or combination of those that works best for you, that you can just execute in a way that almost becomes effortless.

So I’ll let you know how my deeper exploration of country music goes. I’m serious, I’m embracing it.

I’ve lived in Texas for five years, I figure it’s time, and so far I’m enjoying what I’m finding, like Morgan Wallen!

Explore your trading the way a musician explores their range.

And always make sure to be careful and protect your capital, even when you find your #1 hit. 🙂

👉 Trader Check-In

One of the ideas I talked about above was learning to recognize the patterns and rhythm of the market you trade.

So I’m curious:

What’s ONE pattern, setup, or market behavior you’re working on getting better at recognizing right now?

Comment below, I’d love to hear what you’re working on.