Mg For Every Musician The guide to motivation, self-discipline and efficiency. Pow by JACK GRA 7CONTENTS WHE OUR DYE Eos OF PRACTICING nee erets err tan tner nee EFFICIENT USE OF PRACTICE TIME............. weet eseees DETERMINING THE LENGTH OF THE PRACTICE SESSION CREATING AN INSPIRING PRACTICE AREA ACQUIRING PRACTICE MATERIALS ..............00.00.00 008 MAKING THE PRACTICE SESSION INTERESTING........ MONTHLY PRACTICE SCHEDULE....... Beek ees yscnsasess MOTIVATION ............ henner ee eee were weet ee eanneeee TECHNIQUE IMPROVEMENT............... READING IMPROVEMENT. .............00 0000 eee eee eeuee METRONOME TECHIQUES.......... Seer ese ei EAR TRAINING ... 00... eee ccc ccc cence eee eee ens TECHNIQUES WHICH IMPROVE IMPROVISATION............- PHYSICAL PUINESS ya nner teed) Peer ee rye peqniaaertshen IMENTAL SHINES) nti er er enINTRODUCTION After we subtract the amount of time we spend on musical pursuits from the total hours in our lives, we’re lucky if we have as much as 10% (2-3 hours) left to work on what may be an important goal. This small amount of time must be used WELL to achieve the maximum benefit. It’s a FACT that there is a connection between practice and accomplishment. Practicing LONG does not necessarily mean practicing WELL. What do you get done when you practice??? This book has been written to aid in the examination of and possible restructuring of your practice habits. When I decided to be a professional musician, I practiced ten hours per day for almost a year. I didn’t have much of an outside life, As I became more efficient, the time was reduced to six hours and then to four hours per day. Now I work one to three hours and get more done. I still have time left for a domestic life AND time to promote my music career. I make a constant study of how I can PRACTICE BETTER. My first formal attempt at organizing my ideas came when GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE asked me to write the POWER PRACTICING feature for their MASTER SERIES. This resulted in me giving motivational seminars at schools, music stores, and for the GIBSON GUITAR COMPANY. The response has been wonderful. There is apparently a lot of musical instruction going on, but very little on the ART OF PRACTICING! I’ve found with my own students that if they learn some simple TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS, their progress increases dramatically. JACK GRASSELTHE FOUR TYPES OF PRACTICING To remain as interested and “sharp” as possible for your entire session, vary the approach often. Change to a different musical activity each time you become bored and start to daydream. Sometimes it’s necessary to change every 10 minutes until you find something that you are excited about. Altemate these four directions each day: TYPE 1: PRACTICE OF A SPECIFIC ITEM to be perfected for performance. TYPE 2: PRACTICE OF TECHNICAL MATERIAL to improve or learn a particular skill. TYPE 3: PLAYING FOR FUN without pressure to learn anything. TYPE 4: MENTAL PRACTICE; visualization away from the instrument. TYPE 1: When PERFECTING MATERIAL, find the fingering which is both efficient and musical (good sounding). Pencil in these movements so that you will remember them tomorrow. An improved fingering may be found with practice. Play the piece slowly with the speed determined by the most difficult passage. To bring that area up to the desired tempo, follow this seven point plan: HOW TO LEARN A DIFFICULT PASSAGE: 1. Decide on the best way to play the passage. 2. Rewrite the music without any rhythms so you can focus on the pitches only. 3. Play the pitches with “dotted rhythms”: long, short, long, short, etc. 4. Reverse the pattern: short, long, short, long, etc. 5. Play the passage in triplets. Accent the first note of each group of three. 6. Repeat #5, start the triplet on the second note. 7. Repeat #5, start the triplet on the third note. By moving the accents around, the obstacles between each pair of notes are gradually removed. With dotted rhythms each pair of notes is played faster than the whole passage can be played.TYPE 2: To improve technique at the fastest rate, you need to cover as much TECHNICAL MATERIAL as possible in the shortest amount of time. How many times have you purchased a book and stayed on the first page to perfect it before moving on to the second page? After a month on the first page of a book many people usually discard it and never play any of the material in the rest of it. It is better to play the first page one or two times and than move on ahead. The next session start on the second page, etc. until the book is FINISHED. The second time through the book will take less time, and you will be a better player than if you had played the first page over and over for a month. My first time through a certain 300 page technique book took me a year. However, the second time it only took three months, the third time, two months. A friend of mine gave the same book away because he got frustrated by staying on the first few pages to perfect them before moving on. TYPE 3: Music is supposed to be FUN! That’s why we do it, remember? Many times professionals (and non-professionals) get caught up in playing music for many strange reasons. Don’t try to show off, impress or “blow away” people with your playing. It’s nice to get paid for playing music, but don’t limit yourself to only playing when you get paid. You can call up some friends and get together and just play for fun, just like you would play tennis with someone. NEVER FORGET TO HAVE FUN PLAYING. During your practice session play some pieces that require little thought and simple technique. Enjoy the feeling and the sound of the music. Try to carry this feeling with you whenever you play. TYPE 4: You can practice anytime, anyplace, with MENTAL PRACTICE. I hurt a finger playing football once which resulted in it being in a splint for a month. It then required a year to totally heal. I couldn’t practice much for a whole year!! I had heard a story of a P.O.W. (prisoner of war) who got through three years of solitary confinement by visualizing golf courses and then playing them. After release he was a pretty good golfer even though he had never before played golf. My wife suggested that I practice my usual amount of practice time in my head. I did, and at the end of the year, after a few weeks of getting my technique back, I noticed that I had really improved. I have developed a whole new way and place to practice where I have no technical or physical limitations. These dream sessions surface in whole or part in the real world in amazing forms.EFFICIENT USE OF PRACTICE TIME ‘There are four requirements that must be met when performing any task: 1. DETERMINE YOUR GOAL 2. HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL 3. DEFINE THE OBSTACLES 4, REMOVE THE OBSTACLES DETERMINE YOUR GOAL: You must clearly define your goal to achieve maximum success. Is your goal realistic and attainable? Are you willing to persist until you attain your reward? By having many SHORT RANGE GOALS (one day to one year) you can feel good each time you reach one. If your short range goals are in line with your LONG RANGE GOAL (two to five years) you will inevitably gain success. HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL: Find musicians and teachers with objectives similar to yours. ASK FOR ADVICE! A good teacher can save you a lot of time and make things easier. Discuss your goals with your teacher. Study with many instructors since each one has a unique view of music. DEFINE THE OBSTACLES: An obstacle is anything that hinders your progress. Immediately upon identification, the effectiveness of the obstacle is reduced. This may not be easy however. Some musicians nurture an obstacle because it enables them to be lazy. I didn’t realize what a hindrance my televison was until it broke and was being repaired for two weeks. All of a sudden I was practicing an extra hour per day and listening to my stereo. Some musicians get into SABOTAGE. It is easier to put the blame elsewhere instead of accepting the responsibility for poor performance. “I didn’t play well last night because that beer made me sick.” “I didn’t learn those songs for the gig because I accidentally slammed my hand in the door and couldn’t practice.” REMOVING THE OBSTACLES: If you are serious about music you will be willing to make some lifestyle changes,) Really great players work hard and live in a manner which helps them reach-their goals. Remind yourself daily of your goal so you can make choices which support your direction.I’ve discussed obstacles with many musicians. One problem that surfaces often is the inability of the musician’s family to understand PRACTICING. It’s better to calmly discuss your needs ahead of time instead of exploding when you are interrupted. 1. Most people may think that if you are “playing” music it is not serious work. State your intentions. You must make it clear that you are trying to learn a new skill and need the right enviroment. Ask them for their help. 2. Before your practice session, tell everyone how long you will be busy. You can return phone calls when finished. Of course, if there is an emergency (World War III) they may interrupt you. 3. Locate your practice area away from the noise and traffic patterns of your house. 4. Always have your instrument out of the case and ready for action if there are extra minutes to practice. At the beginning of the session, decide what you will work on and what you hope to accomplish with the time you have, If after a few minutes you lose interest in the material, be flexible and change your goal for that session. You can increase the amount of time you have for practicing by becoming more efficient in your non-music activities. Get an appointment book. Every Sunday plan the following week. Consolidate errand trips. Phone ahead. Every night make a list of possible things to do the next day (be realistic). If “it” seems too big to comprehend, break it into pieces, study each piece, then put it back together. To speed up learning, impose a limitation, work within it, change it often. You can turn any situation into a learning tool.DETERMING THE LENGTH OF THE PRACTICE SESSION : Practice needs vary from person to person. A professional musician might practice longer and/or differently than a person playing music as a hobby. However, in every case, SHORT SESSIONS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN LONG SESSIONS. Try two or three per day. I practice three times a day, first thing in the morning, early afternoon, and last thing before I go to bed. One to one and a half hour sessions. A hobbyist might try one or two twenty minute sessions. Play only the amount of time you need to keep from losing your technique if you are in a “slump” and don’t feel like practicing. Sometimes a good recording or inspirational concert can get you back on track in a hurry. When you are ready to start working hard again add “learning time” to the “maintenance time”. During the “slump time”, the unused practice time can be used to take care of your domestic needs. One or more times per week (performance schedule permitting), artificially create performance conditions. Play music that is as physically and mentally demanding as a performance and for the same length of time. Build your endurance so you don’t tire during a gig. On performance days, play “easy material” for a short amount of time. “Warm up” for the performance. Don’t bum yourself out. If you experience minor pain while practicing, slow down, play less demanding music, take a break, shake your hands, stretch, etc. If the pain doesn’t go away, you may have long term pain from muscle strain from over-playing. Stop practicing for a few days, or as long as a week. During this period, play the instrument slowly for only ten minutes a day just to remind the hands of the touch of the instrument. When you begin your practice schedule it will seem like you hardly stopped if you substitute “mental” practice for “physical” practice until your body heals. For chronic conditions see a specialist in musician’s problems. A stop watch is useful to maintain an accurate account of practice time for avoiding injury, increasing endurance or maintaining continuity. You can decide how long you need to practice in a day and “log” the short segments to add up to the required amount. If you are interrupted, eat lunch or go to the bathroom, you won't lose track of your practice time. “IF YOU MISS ONE DAY OF PRACTICE, YOU NOTICE IT, TWO DAYS, OTHER MUSICIANS NOTICE IT, THREE DAYS, THE AUDIENCE NOTICES.” 710. lL. 12. 13. CREATING AN INSPIRING PRACTICE AREA This should be the place you usually practice. When you are in this room everyone should know you mean business, Have all the “tools” you need: A good heavy music stand set at eye level can hold much of the material you are working on. Face a window so you can glance outside occasionally to give your eyes a break. Use incandescent lights. Full spectrum bulbs which have the same wavelengths as the sun are best. Flourescent lights cause eye strain, headaches, and “hum” between B and B flat. Get two or more metronomes each with a unique sound for variety. One of them should be an electronic unit with settings faster than the usual 208. Drum machines with pre-programmed patterns make fun and interesting metronomes since they create different “fecls” or “grooves” to play with. It’s enjoyable to practice otherwise boring, etudes with different rhythms. Mount a large mirror on the wall to watch your movements while playing, Use a consumer friendly recorder to hear what you sound like at regular intervals. Have a stereo in your room. Use it to play music for transcription and for inspiration. A supply of “music minus one” recordings are helpful if you aren't performing regularly, Hang pictures or posters of inspirational musicians or scenes. Use a cork board to post practice shedules, music to work on, etc. A stand for your instrument next to your music stand so itis always readily available. Good posture is important for endurance. If you sit when you play, your back should be straight. 1. A “Scandinavian back” chair is ideal for most musicians. It puts you in a kneeling position with the knees lower than the hips so that the spine is straight. 2. A padded “wedge” can be put on a traditional chair so that the front of the seat area is four to six inches lower that the rear resulting in a similar posture to the “back chair” except the legs and feet are available. Use shelves or a filing cabinet stocked with many practice books to provide a source of practice material. Get anything else you need to create a healthy learning environment you will want to spend time in.ACQUIRING PRACTICE MATERIALS The knowledge contained in music books can open many musical doors for you. There’s a lot available especially if you don’t limit yourself to just those books written for your instrument. For example, a bass player may play a trombone book, a double bass player could play a cello book. Guitar players find flute, clarinet, sax, and trumpet books challenging. If you have many books on hand, there are many other choices if you become bored with the book you are practicing. Go to a sheet music store and look through ALL the bins. Get a wide variety of material by different authors. Buy some books that are easy and fun to play also. Ask musicians, students, and teachers to recommend books that they have found helpful. Other students may share with you the notes they received from their teachers, Discuss practice routines with anyone who plays music. Perhaps you will get some information that will improve your own performance. Create your own exercises and practice materials. This is especially valuable if you are having trouble finding items that go in your unique direction. Sometimes you have to TEACH YOURSELF. You may know well what your weak and strong points are. Only you know what you play like in your dreams. Start a “note” book of your musical ideas which may be anything from a short phrase to an entire page etude. You can develop the better ideas into exercises at a later date, Try to build up a large repertoire of “original” things to practice to support your quest for a personal sound. Trade your exercises with someone else who is also writing their own. Swap the books you no longer use for books no longer needed by other musicians. Some instruments have magazines devoted to the study of that instrument. Get a subscription, check the library, borrow them from others. Copy articles about certain techniques you might want to learn. Organize the information in folders labeled according to topics. ‘As you improve, gradually replace the materials that are no longer helpful with items that are more useful.MAKING THE PRACTICE SESSION INTERESTING For maximum growth, there should be a balance between the four types of practicing: 1. perfecting performance material, 2. technical improvement, 3. playing for fun, 4. mental practice. If you play performance material only, you are limited by the music. If you only play technical exercises, you lose the ability to perform. I find it most productive to alternate the first three types throughout the session. I remain “sharp” by being confronted with “fresh” ideas every 10 to 15 minutes. During the rest of the day when away from the instrument, I enjoy having short mental practice interludes. The practice schedule should be flexible enough to allow you to live in the world, have relationships, and take care of domestic needs without compromising your musical growth. You need not practice huge amounts of time if you are practicing WELL. It’s important to keep the continuity going by touching on all the music that relates to your goal within a reasonable amount of time (perhaps a week). If you didn’t finish everything you had planned on during a session, “enlarge” the session to span two to three days. Start tomorrow where you left off today, instead of getting frustrated. Keep many items on your music stand. Each session should begin with different music. Remember, repetition creates boredom! The same “warm up” every day can dampen your enthusiasm by the time you get to serious practicing. Start right away with the important concepts, just move gently and slowly until your hands are ready for rigorous movement. Whenever you feel you are ready for a change in direction, pick a book from the bunch on your stand. After a brief workout on that book, put it in the back of the pile on the stand. Than play in the next book, or jam on a tune, play for fun, etc. Whenever a book is retired to the back of the stand, leave it open to where you left off. Start in that spot when it reappears in the front. Upon finishing a book in your “stand rotation” decide if you wish to keep it there or replace it with a book on the top of the “pile rotation” next to your stand. This flexible type of session planning makes the time go by quickly because you are having fun and growing quickly. All the material in your rotations should lead you in the direction of your short or long range goals. If you have a “deadline” for a performance, the music must obviously be played often. Each time you play it, try a different approach, tempo, or setting on the drum machine. Play small sections which need extra work in a new order. Do anything you can think of to make it fun. Make copies of the grid on the following page; post it in your area. Change it often as you reach every one of your short range goals. 10PRACTICE SCHEDULE: LONG RANGE GOAL _________—_ SHORT RANGE GOAL ¢ least once per week. Check the day each item was worked on. List items to be practiced. Play everything a the long range goal. Change list regularly. ‘All material should relate to —— J 1234 5678 9 10111213 1415 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31MOTIVATION A question frequently asked at my seminars is “How can I make myself practice when I don’t feel like it?” REPETITION CREATES BOREDOM BOREDOM DECREASES MOTIVATION If you enjoy practicing you will want to do it! One way is to constantly vary the practice routine. Work on a wide variety of items, in a changing order, in different places, different times of the day, etc. I had a student who was practicing a lot and making little progress, I asked what her routine was. She felt she had to play all the scales in all the keys every day as a warm up. This took a half hour. When the “warm up” was finished, she was so bored that the rest of the session bore little fruit. The first half hour is when you are mentally fresh. It’s a good time to get some work done. A warm up can be almost anything as long as your hands are not pushed to do things they are not ready for. Make your initial contact with the instrument each day interesting by starting with exciting material. Just play gently and slowly. At the beginning of each practice period state one small goal you hope to reach during that time. Have a purpose. If a goal is too big to comprehend, work on a small part today and another part tomorrow. Nothing decreases motivation more than trying to play a poor instrument. Get the best you can afford. Keep it well maintained. Use an Affirmation! State your goal. Post it on the wall. Say it everyday. Change it as you grow. You will believe what you tell yourself. You will become what you believe. Say positive things.TECHNIQUE IMPROVEMENT List all of the techniques required to play the entire reptoire of music played on your instrument. Eliminate areas you are not interested in or not employed to play. Example: A classical violinist may or may not be working on technique required in “blue grass fiddling”. When you have your list focused, acquire the materials needed to perfect each technique. Ask for help from friends, music stores, and teachers. There are subtle nuances present in music. Listen to plenty of recordings of the techniques you are working on. You need technique (ability) to express yourself through music and/or to play music to generate money. My teacher said: “To be succesful, be technically over. prepared for what you intend to play. You will then play well in a stressful situation.” In the case of the improvising musician, you must KNOW YOUR LIMITS well and play within them. Find the most efficient (and musical) way to play music on your instrument. Use small parts of your body to do small things. Large parts to do big things. You may not need to move your whole arm or chest to make a sound requiring only a movement of part of your finger. Watch yourself in a mirror and videotape yourself. A different condition exists in the mind and body when playing a fast tempo than at a slow tempo. You must train yourself to PLAY WELL AT ANY TEMPO. Practice a song or technical exercise repeatedly starting at a very slow speed with a metronome. With each repetition, increase the speed one notch until you arrive at the speed at which you tense up and/or make mistakes. Instead of stopping there, continue the repetitions, slowing the metronome one notch each time until reaching the starting speed. At the slow speeds, watch your fingers and move them as little as possible. Try to create the condition mentally and physically at the slow speed that you have at the fast speed. Observe your relaxed condition at the slow speed, retain it as you accelerate. Make sure your instrument isn’t holding you back. Always have a great instrument to play which is adjusted every 6-12 months by a professional for optimum playing ease. Is there a limit to the amount of emotion a person can feel? If technique enables you to express feeling, the more technique you have, the wider the scope of feeling you can express. You will also enjoy playing a wide scope of music. Just make sure that the acquisition of technique is not the goal. The performance of music through the use of technique is a better objective. We should strive for a performance where we can enjoy the music without worry 13READING IMPROVEMEN A musician can learn to read music as well as he or she can read words. The basic skills are identical. Start with simple material and gradually work in more complex items. There are only 12 pitches. There are only 26 letters in this language. “SIGHT READING? is really the ability to RECOGNIZE notes and rhythms you have learned before when they appear in different settings. Read as much music as possible. The main objective of reading practice is not to increase technique. It’s more important to play through huge amounts of music than to perfect any of it. Play each page once, go onto the next page. Leave the book open to where you stopped so that you can start at that point next session. When you finish the book, put it on the bottom of the READING BOOK pile. When it gets back to the top and onto your stand it will seem fresh. If you are at the beginner’s stage and cannot read notes, copy notes from printed music onto blank staff paper. As you print each note, write it’s name beneath it. Do not label notes on music you play. You will probably look at the label instead of the notes and never learn to read well. As in reading language, it is important to develop the skill of “looking ahead.” The process is: . Look at the note. n . Recognize the pitch. = Recognize the rhythm. 4. Locate the pitch on the instrument. 5. Play the sound. 6. Place the note rhythmically correct within the time frame. 7. Immediately upon striking the note, look ahead to the next note, and repeat the process. 8. If there is enough time (whole notes or rests) look several measures ahead to be aware of trouble spots. To develop this technique, write some whole notes with random pitches on a piece of staff paper. Slowly play the notes with a metronome. Practice counting. Look at the next note while sustaining the one just played. When ready, gradually speed up the metronome. The next step is to treat the pitches as half notes, then quarter notes. You can use any piece of music for this exercise. Just pretend all the note values are four beats. 14METRONOME TECHNIQUES Human beings don’t have a perfect internal clock. Musicians must lear to keep steady time in spite of their hearts and minds fluctuating constantly. Daily metronome practice can help you work towards feeling comfortable with any style of music at any speed. Have a few metronomes, alternate them regularly for sound variety. Electronic “nomes” are the most steady. Mechanical units have moving parts and tend to make annoying sounds with age. Some have settings up to 240 which are handy for fast passages. “Wind up” machines are inaccurate and tend to go “tick, tock”, Drum machines are marvelous time keepers. Reading or improvising can be practiced to all the interesting rhythms stored as presets. For playing unusual time signatures, you can program your own “groove”. Use the metronome to simulate the “fee!” of a rhythm section: 1, Set the beat for each quarter note for Latin, funk, or rock music. 2. Set the beat on “2 and 4” to simulate the drummer's hi-hat for jazz “straight ahead” swing rhythms. 31 Set the beat on “1 and 3° for Reggae or classical. Click tracks in recording studios are sometimes set this way. 4. Set the beat on the cighth note when practicing triplets, or 6/8 or 12/8. 5. To practice accelerando (speed up) and decelerando (slow down), record the metronome doing this, practice with the recording. 6, Practice playing “ahead of the beat” and “behind the beat”, by trying to “push” the metronome faster or slower with your playing. Then play right in the center of the beat to feel the difference, 7. Improvisors can record chord changes with a metronome to build up a “library” of practice tapes. There are many “music minus one” type recordings on the market, It's hard to know in advance the exact speed a piece will be played at in a performance. Many times music is played too fast, Sometimes musicians over-compensate for nervousness and start too slow. Be prepared for any speed. Practice all performance material at a wide variety of metronomic settings: 1, Start at a comfortable speed, slow the metronome one notch with each repetition of the music. 2. Start very slow. Increase the speed notch with each repetition. Stop BEFORE you tense up. 3. On the same piece, start slow, speed up, slow down. 4. Start fast, slow down, speed up. 15EAR TRAINING We are bombarded constantly with sound. Many of these sounds are loud and unsolicited in- trusions on our “space”, dulling our sensitivity. Then we enter a musical situation and all of a sudden must become sensitive and responsive to the music around us. We don’t have “ear lids” to protect. ourselves. Be aware of your “sound environment”. Guard your sensibility on a daily basis. Carry ear plugs or ear protectors with you at all times. Our ears already work, What needs to be trained is our brains. We need to interpret music after it enters the ear and then respond quickly with an instrument. Since most “ear training” skills are used when performing, it is most beneficial to practice sensitivity and response exercises with an instrument. Here are some sample activities to increase the efficiency of the ear-brain relationship. Try to think of some additional exercises to add to the list. 1. With another musician, play one note at a time to each other. Try to match the pitch as quickly as possible. Gradually increase to two notes, then three notes, 2. Have a pianist or guitarist sustain some chords for you. Using your instrument, experiment until you find the root of the chord. Play and/or improvise with a scale that sounds like the chord, 3. Agree on a root note. One person plays that pitch and follows it with a second pitch within the octave. ‘The other musician repeats the root and trys to match the other note. When ready, play descending intervals and intervals greater than an octave. 4. One or more musicians have the same music on a stand, One person plays a measure at random. The others scan the page. Upon location of played measure, plays it with same articulation. With large groups, sit ina circle, and play clockwise, then counterclockwise 5. With a metronome, play one quarter note located anywhere within two measures after stating “one”. The second player indicates “one” and repeats the pitch in the correct rhythmic location, It's also very interesting with two or more notes. Play eighth notes instead of quarter notes. 6. Play along with the radio. Change the station often to include many styles. There is an endless stream of material to be responded to. 16LISTENING TO MUSIC CONSTRUCTIVELY Musicians manipulate and create sounds, A musician should be aware of as much sound coming from as many sources as possible. Whether from a truck, bird, or stereo, it can be useful from a com- positional standpoint. We have usually felt at one time or another that the only music which was worth- ‘While was that which we listened to, But everyone has a different collection of recorded music at home. ‘All music has value to somebody. If we give a wider scope of music a chance, growth may be increased. A varied diet of food is healthy for the body. A varied diet of listening music is good for the mind. LISTEN intently. Get away from putting on “background” music. Create a healthy music environment to grow in. 1. Go the the library regularly to get listening materials. 2. Borrow the “10 all time favorite recordings” from your friends. Ask them to tell you why they enjoy this music, 3, Listen to a different radio station each day for fifteen minutes. 4, Set your car radio to “automatic seek” where the station is changed automatically every ten. seconds. 5, Take a walk with a group of friends. When you return home, each person makes a list of sounds heard. See who can make the most complete compilation. Each person reads the list and comments on it. ‘One can listen to music for inspiration, enjoyment, or education. When trying to absorb music from a culture and time other than your own, the feeling may be induced artificially by listening to just this style for a week or month. A popular way to increase absorbtion is to record just the important passages of a certain artist on a tape. For example, the improvisations from twenty Charlie Parker recordings could be put on a ninety minute cassette, To listen to the entire recordings would take about fourteen hours, ‘There are many ways to listen, Some people like to learn to play recorded passages note for note. Others listen and incorporate the feeling of the music into their own playing without copying the exact “licks”. 1, Listen to a phrase until it is memorized and you can sing it. Pick up your instrument and teach yourself to play the music from your memory. 2. Try to play the musical passage with your instrument as you listen. 3. With or without the aid of an instrument, write down the passage on paper, then learn to play it. 4. Without copying the recording, make up something in that style. 17TRANSCRIBING MUSIC ‘Writing down the music you hear is kind of like riding a bicycle. You only lear how by doing it. It gets easier each time. Focus on the instrument you want to transcribe by mentally, nite oo the Ut gets coer an practice this skill each time you hear music. First listen to the bass, then the drums, then the vocalist. ‘A systematic approach will simplify things. Choose an easy piece of music that you Know well Some people use a theme song from a television show they hear every week and can sing from memory. 1. Decide on the time signature (how many beats per measure) by counting along with the music. Most likely it will be in 4/4. 2, Find the first beat of the first measure. Beware of “pick up notes”. The first note MIGHT NOT be on the first beat. 3. Count the total number of beats in the part to be transcribed. 4. Start from the first beat and divide the beats into measures. This will show you how many measures you must fill with notes. 5. Listen to each measure, one at a time and count how many notes are in each measure. Make a Tittle dot in pencil above the staff to indicate how many notes are in each measure, 6. Space the dots to approximate the position where each pitch begins. 7. Using a pitch source, locate the pitch of the starting note. 8. Use the known first note to locate the second pitch, then the second to locate the third, ete Peer the machine after each pair of notes is heard. Use an instrument for help if you are Tumble to identify the intervals (space between notes) “by ear”. For very difficult passages # pol thepeed recorder is desirable. Record on the fast speed. Play back on the slow speed The pitch is an octave lower. If this presents a problem, a “pitch shifter” or “harmonizer” will raise the pitch back up an octave without speeding the tape up. 9. Now notate the rhythms one measure at atime, Memorize a small section, sing it beck slowly (but accurately) while tapping your foot as a reference. 10. When finished, work out the best fingerings. Lear it at the speed of the recording, Play along with it. Ifthe recording is too fast for you. Play with the half speed version. If itis easier for you to transcribe the rhythms before transcribing the pitches, do it that way. 18TECHNIQUES WHICH IMPROVE IMPROVISATION We improvise every day. We know how to use words to improvise sentences to express our thoughts. It takes a newborn baby 2-4 years to learn vocabulary, acquire voice instrument skills, and express thoughts through language, After the right kind of musical training, we should be able to continue to improvise with a new vocabulary (music) and a non vocal instrument. These exercises will familiarize you with the improvisor’s tools, and improve your ability to play and compose music simultaneously. 1. To leam the relationship of all melodic pitches to the chord changes, play one at a time, each chord tone over each chord in a tune. Start with the root. Repeat the tune playing the third, then the fifth, ete, Next play the second, fourth, and sixth. Then the altered notes. A book of songs (“fake book”) is a good companion for this type of practice. 2. Practice all major scales from root to root, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, and so on. It's important to be able to start a melody ascending or descending from any scale degree. 3, Play scales in time over chord changes. For chords lasting four beats, the eight notes fit perfectly as, cighth notes. On dominant chords lower the seventh degree a half step making the “Mixolydian mode”. Lower the third and seventh scale degrees a half step to play on the minor chords (the “Dorian mode”). An apreggio (1357) of eighth notes works well for a chord with a duration of two beats. Don’t forget to lower the 7 on dominants and lower the 3 and 7 on minors on the arpeggio also. 4. Play numerical sequences (melodies) on each chord in the cycle of fifths. Examples: 1357, 3543, 1236, 5342, 13-57, 1-537-9, 78532. 5. Using a drum book, improvise pitches in time on each non-pitch note. Pitches can either be randomly selected or can be part of a predetermined scale. 6. Read a newspaper or poetry book playing one note per word syllable, using the same rhythm you would use if you were speaking the words “out loud”. 7. Watch television with the sound off. Improvise a sound track with your instrument. 8. Before improvising on any tune, learn the melody and be able to hum it without an instrument. When playing, always have the song going silently in your mind to help you keep your place. 9. Play up and down the entire range of the instrument, changing the notes to fit a song's chord changes. Across bar lines play an interval no greater than a whole step. Change line direction only when reaching the end of the instrument. 19Improvisation is a type of composition. It is music that is performed at the same time it is composed. This is asking a bit much for a beginning improvisor. I've had good luck by having students compose and write down the process so that it can be studied. Here is an eight week plan. Make sure that you learn to play well everything you write before proceeding to the next step. 1. Write an “improvisation” using only eighth notes on a set of chord changes. Eight eighth notes per measure—no rests. On the first beat of every measure andjor chord change, put the root, 3rd, Sth, or 7th of the chord controlling that measure. Approaching these notes from the previous measure should be a note which is a half or whole step above or below, making a smooth line into the chord change. All notes should be from the Ionian (major scale), Dorian, or Mixolydian modes. Do not have two notes in a row at the same pitch—no alterations, Make the shape of the melody line interesting. Have it say something, as in a “connect the dots picture”. Play it with a metronome and improve the sections that might not sound good to you. 2. Write another piece as above, except make the following changes in the guidelines: The first note of every chord change must be approached by a half step only. The last note on every dominant chord must be: -5, +5, -9, or +9. ‘The last note of the minors should be either -5 or +5. Use the Lydian mode (raise the 4 a half step) in place of the Ionian. 3. With only eighth notes, repeat number two except have 2, 4, or 6 on the first beat of each chord change. Have the note resolve to 1, 3, 5, or 7 on the second note. 4. Use any rhythms you want, but make it playable—no rests. Try to make musical sentences with the thythms and the shape of the line. 5. Write another, doing anything you want, Add rests to separate your phrases. 6. Listen to an improvisation on record over and over again until you can sing it from memory. Don’t worry about hitting each note at the correct pitch or the quality of your voice. Pay more attention to the rhythms, shape of the line, and the idea of each phrase. Now try to sing each phrase, play it on your instrument, and then write it down, 7. Get some Jamey Aebersold “Play Along Series” recordings, which have a rhythm section for you to improvise along with and a book of changes and scales, The “II-V Progression” is a great place to start. Check at a music store. 8. “Forget” all of the above and practice improvising on sight with a metronome or drum machine on as many different sets of changes you can find. The influence of everything you have done so far will enable you to eventually find your own style, 20PHYSICAL FITNESS ‘You should at least once a week, practice as long as your performances so you are used to playing that jength of time, Make a practice session a pretend gig to raise your endurance level. However, don’t do it he day before or after a gig. The hands or any other part of your body used to play an instrument should be treated with the utmost sare. To guard against injury, loosen the hands before playing by soaking in hot water for about five minutes. When finished playing, soak in cold water for a few minutes to reduce inflammation and pain. Before and after performances, stretch the hands gently and briefly in the opposite direction they are in when playing. When playing most instruments the fingers are bent inward and the shoulders tend to bend forward, For preventive maintenance and agility try the following: Stand up, stretch the arms straight up over the head for a few minutes. Do standing push-ups, leaning forward with hands against the wall, to open the chest and push the shoulders back. ‘Touch the fingertips of both hands together and bend the fingers back GENTLY. DO NOT PUSH HARD TO CAUSE PAIN. Since most music is played in a stationary (usually sitting) position, do the opposite by walking, running, swimming, or bicycling regularly. Do it till you sweat. Find out what may be the best diet for your best health. Start by gradually substituting good food for not so good foods until it becomes a habit. Example: Drink orange juice instead of pop, a salad instead of french fries, etc. A healthy diet will not only give you more energy to practice and perform better, but you will look better on stage. ‘When loading equipment, or doing any kind of work that can harm the hands, wear work gloves. ‘When carrying an instrument for a long distance, try to use a shoulder strap, or a dolly with wheels to avoid hand and back injury. Gently and slowly tum the hands around in circles to loosen up the wrists. Do the same with your head. Each instrument has certain idiosyncrasies which can cause discomfort andjor injury. Ask as many great players as possible how they deal with those problems and stay in shape. Check the angle of the instrument and the angles at which the arms and hands approach it. All angles of wrists, shoulders, and elbows should be as close to naturally comfortable angles as possible. 21MENTAL FITNESS ‘What is the mental environment that you are creating for your mind to grow in? Do you know WHY you play music? Do you believe in what you are doing? Do you really want to be a musician? Are you playing music for healthy and positive reasons? It is healthier to compete with yourself than another musician. Music can’t be an event such as a basketball game or a chemistry exam. Always be on the alert for ways to improve your ability and performance. Keep challenging yourself to reach new heights. You are always a beginner. You are in trouble when you think you know it all. Constantly reaffirm your long range goal. At the beginning of each practice session state your short range goal for that day. Try to please yourself AND the audience. If you enjoy music and like your playing, the listeners will know. Nurture a positive attitude even when the music isn't going well and it may save the performance, Work on your attitude in the practice session. Get in the habit of smiling and having fun while playing. Tt may not sem like anyone in the audience is listening, but there is always someone who is. Play for that person. Most listeners can’t tell the difference between a weak and a strong performance. They listen with their eyes. If you look like you are playing well, most will think you are. THE BEST POSSIBLE PERFORMANCE affected by DESTRUCTIVE FORCES yields THE REAL PERFORMANCE. Anything which lessens the quality of your performance falls into two categories: SELF GENERATED: Fear of audience rejection, loss of employment, mistakes, poor attitude, weak physical condition. EXTERNALLY GENERATED: Instrument malfunction, uncomfortable room temperature, undesir- able acoustics, noises. Wherever you perform, there is a different set of circumstances. Be aware in advance of the factors affecting a performance so you can prepare accordingly. Destructive forces fall into three areas: 1, UNCONTROLLABLE: If the distractions are at an unacceptable level, you have to refuse to play. 2. CONQUERABLE: Through adapting personally, an unchangeable distraction may be made tolerable so the performance can be acceptable. 3. REMOVABLE: The threat may be removed entirely through a behavior change or by stopping the irritation at the source. 22Na we PREPARING FOR A PERFORMANCE Make sure you are rested before night time performances. Take a nap in the afternoon. Go to bed early the night before. Moderate exercise and stretching during the four hours preceeding the gig, help loosen tight muscles and dispel nervousness. Time your food intake close enough to the performance so you don’t get hungry. Leave enough time for your food to start to digest before you begin to play. If you eat immediately before the gig you may get tired right away. ‘Any music that must be performed should be leamed days ahead of time. Do not “cram” practice into the day of the performance. Do “light” practicing for a short period of time earlier in the day. Don't play the performance music extensively. Heavy rehearsals the day of the performance usually result in tired, uninspired playing. Warm the hands with gloves or hot water. Dry thoroughly. Observe your breathing. Is your breath short and fast due to nervousness? If you can slow down your breath, your fear will be reduced. Try not to relax too much, you may not play well. A little fear is good and can give you energy to perform, ‘Some simple breathing techniques can bring about 2 calm state of mind, increased sensitivity, and a removal of blockages in the body-mind relationship. Number one can be done during a performance things are getting out of hand for you. Techniques two and three should be done in a private place a half hour or more before playing. The natural way to breathe when relaxed is “diaphramatic”, letting the air go to the bottom of the lungs. Exhale twice the length of time of the inhalation. Breathe in for 4 counts, out for 8 counts. This forces you to slow down and observe the breath, producing a calm state of mind. Try this one while playing something as fast as you can, to reduce tension. Force the air in and out of the lungs with quick, short bursts, pumping with the stomach muscles. Do this 15-30 seconds. Stop before you get dizzy. This removes carbon dioxide and other wastes from the blood which dull your sensitivity. ‘There are invisible pathways around your body which conduct messages to and from the brain with electricity. These need to be cleared our periodically to allow the mind and body to work efficiently. Since the right and left sides of the brain control different functions, itis important to have both sides properly balanced, The body automatically does this in cycles. For a period of 2-3 hours the left nostril breathes more than the right. Between the cycles they are even for a brief period, then for 2-3, hours the right breathes more than the left. To clear the energy pathways, to balance the body, and for relaxation, one can consciously do alternate nostril breathing. Sit in a chair with your back straight and both feet on the ground. Put your hand by your nose so that the nose sticks out between the fingers. Gently, close one nostril at a time. Breathe in and out slowly as follows: Let Right Left, Right Lei Right in-out in in out in, out out, in out, in in out in, out out, in out, in in out, in in, out in, out cut, in out out in in, out out in in, out out in Breathe 3 times with 5a Both nostrils Out with both nostrils. Take Seay seas. 3 breaths with both. Repeat When repeating each of the 3 systems, start the opposite nostril each time. 23At this writing, I have played over 4,000 gigs and still get nervous before I perform. I have leamed that nervousness in moderation can give you energy to play music, It’s wise to identify reasons for the excessive stagefright which can ruin a performance. We don’t know what each member of the audience is thinking. They might not even be listening! If someone talks while we are playing, they might be saying something positive or negative. Most likely, they’re not talking about the music at all If you are paying attention to the music, you won’t be worried about what's being said. In any case, YOU are the best one to judge whether or not you are playing well. Remind yourself constantly throughout the performance to play something “musical”. Attempts to impress listeners and to “show off” technique usually “backfire”. Competition in music should be with yourself to improve, not with other people. If you can’t get the sound you are comfortable with from your instrument due to room acoustics, you may be continually distracted. Accoustics are either “dead”, “live” or something in between. Many musicians have two or more instruments, each with a specialized application. “Dead” sounding instruments generally sound better in “live” settings. “Live” instruments may be better in a “dead” environment. Electric instruments should have a “reverb” unit available to add depth to a dull hall. When planning a concert, schedule easier pieces first, so you can get used to the surroundings. Put the hardest tunes in the middle when you are warmed up and have the most energy. Schedule easy material last to allow for fatigue. Before a show, play long, slow notes to warm up. Playing very fast passages will increase your tension, Practice performing in front of relatives and friends. To insure a good experience, tell them what you expect from them. Disconnect the phone. No talking aloud. Thank them for their time. They will enjoy it. Playing with a recorder on can also create the feeling that “someone” is listening. Get used to the feeling. When your tension gets to a dangerous level, “rhythmic breathing” will come to the rescue. Observe your breath, Count how many heart beats it takes for the air to go in. If you are tense, it may be one or two beats. Breathe in and out to an equal number of beats. Increase the inhalation and exhalation by one beat without taking in more air, After a few repetitions, increase by one beat again, and again. Within a few minutes you will be less tense. Five beats should be enough. Then stop and focus on the music again. Do this between tunes or during long rests in the music. 24THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT AND TEACHER The role of the student is to teach oneself (with or without the help of an instructor). When playing a musical instrument, you are always a student. Always seek new ways to improve, things to learn, music to play. You will never learn everything there is to learn, so be enthused about discovery and your rate of improvement. If you have a good teacher, he or she may have had some great professional music adventures. Try to learn all you can from that person. A teacher can point you in a direction, but cannot do the practicing or learning for you. You have to take the instructor’s place the other 167 hours per week at home after your lesson. If you are not progressing, perhaps you aren’t keeping up your end of the bargain by doing the work of learning. Some musicians have the discipline to work harder and longer than others. Maybe that’s what “talent” is; the ability to put energy in one direction long enough to receive a return. We should respect and have faith in the instructor. We should give suggestions of certain techniques a fair chance. There should be a “give and take” on certain issues of disagreement, Your instructor should listen to your point of view also. Maybe a par- ticular technique isn’t right for you. You should be allowed your opinion. You can save a lot of time by taking lessons. One of the most important things you can learn from a more experienced player is the best way to hold and play the instrument. Have your posture assessed early so that you don’t grind in bad habits which may be difficult to change later. Be careful in your search for instruction. A poor teacher can lead you in a wrong direction. Ask other musicians and teachers who to study with. A great teacher's name will appear many times. Before enrolling for lessons, make an appointment to interview the person regarding lesson format. This will also show that you are serious If you don’t feel comfortable with the first few lessons, quit, and find someone else. Sometimes personalities conflict. ‘The instructor might be good, but not for you. The bottom line is: ARE YOU GOOD AT TEACHING YOURSELF THE MATERIAL PRESENTED TO YOU? The minute you think you know it all, you are not growing, and need to adjust your attitude. You can learn something from anyone. Miles Davis said, “If you knew everything I know, you would be me.” 25