1.INTRODUCTION: February 29,2008 This page is to provide suggestions to my students on how to organize their time so that they may be successful not just as musicians but hopefully in school and at work as well. My hope is that you will find this information useful. 2.MY CHILD NEEDS TO DROP; HIS GRADES ARE FALLING:February 29, 2008 Music need not interfere with schoolwork. Usually, students have poor grades because they are not as organized as they need to be. I recommend the following procedure for students: 1. Housework( if this applies) 2. Practice 3. Study 4. Leisure 5. Bedtime. These areas will be discussed in detail in the following entries. 3.MOTHER MAKES ME CLEAN HOUSE :March1, 2008 This is a very common statement from students and admittedly, it can effect practice time. It seems unfair, doesn't it? You toil and strain,"Body all achin' and racked with pain; Tote that barge, Lift that bail" all while MOTHER TAKES A NAP! Unfortunately, there's no rescue from this situation because it is her house but there are certain steps that can be taken to make the work load easier and faster: 1. Count the number of rooms in the house and divide that number by the number of days per week you do housework. plan to work on that many rooms in one day. 2. List each room by name and decide on what day you will work on each section of the house. 3. For each room, list the tasks that need to be done. Save the option to modify these lists just in case you need to. Of course, here comes Mother, white gloves and stripes on her sleeves to inspect your work. Don't fret; if she points out something left undone and this task is not on your list, write it on the list. Soon, you will be doing everything that needs to be done and Mother will be left with nothing to criticize. 4.EFFECTIVE PRACTICE March 3, 2008 Practice is key to successful developement of musicianship. A student may get away without it for a while but sooner or later the tide turns and everything becomes progressively more difficult until finally the student can no longer progress. Becoming a musician takes years of constant practice and instruction and a student willing to practice and take instruction will have no problem remaining current in his/her progress. Sometimes assignments will be more difficult than others. Don't get discouraged; go ahead and progress at a comfortable pace. You'll get through it; trust me. Practice should always begin with warm up exercises. For singers and wind instrumentalists, this should consist of long tone exercises in a comfortable range that gradually extend to the entire range in both directions. For keyboard, string, and pecussion instrumentalists, this should consist of manuvering and scale exercises done slowly at first then repeated and done progressively faster. Instumentalists should then do scales done in all keys and aimed for performance as fast as possible. Next should come the assignments in method or etude books. Then do music for ensemble(Band, Orchestra, Choir, etc.) then finally at least one solo. Ideally, practice for at least half an hour. If this is not practical, practice as much as you can because any practice is better than none. 5.EFFECTIVE STUDY March 3,2008 As the old saying goes, "To get a good job, get a good education." This applies for musicians as well. The reason you are being sent to school is because the more knowlege and skill you can aquire growing up, the easier and cheaper life is for you as an adult. Good study habits are essential and with better grades come many benifits including the chance to pursue interests in music. If you are having trouble in school, try this: 1. List all of your subjects in school. 2. List them again in the order of least favorite to favorite. You are going to study your assignments in this order saving the best for last. By doing this, you are giving yourself something to which you can look forward thus keeping you fresh and making the study time much more pleasurable. Do all short term assignments first(assignmants to be turned in the next school day) then you are ready to work on long term assignments. Do these in the same order. It is recommended that you practice in this same format if you are doing more than one musical consentration. Bottom line, save the best for last because it keeps you going and makes practice and study time for fun and enjoyable. Oh; and if you need help, there is no shame in that. The shame is in needing help and not seeking it and there is no such thing as a silly question between a student and the teacher about subject matter. A student simply cannot ask such a question. 6.LEISURE AND BEDTIME; UNIMPORTANT, RIGHT? March 4, 2008 It may seem that these areas are not important but the day before the big performance, it is important to stay as rested as possible. What you do not want to do is wait until the last minute to prepare your show. By that time preparation time is past and it is too late to get things ready. What you want to do is prepare everything well in advance and on the day before, you want to get everything done as early as possible, do some warming up to stay in shape, then kick back and relax. Read, watch TV, play video games, or whatever you do for pleasure. Then as you lie on your bed to sleep, you want to go over the performance in your mind and you want thoughts of the performance to be your last thoughts as you dose off. That way, when you wake up in the morning, everything will be fresh on your mind. Do some touchup and as you go through the day convert any worry time into preparation time. Then it's SHOWTIME. Have fun. 7.WARMING UP THE VOICE March 7, 2008 Care of the voice is a must for singers. If throat problems occur, go easy on the voice and in severe cases, don't try to vocalize or sing. Honey, apples, and hot beverages are the standard recommendations for throat problems. They don't cure the problems but they do soothe the throat and keep the vocal membranes moist and less harsh. Under normal circumstances, vocalization is important to a singers daily practice session. First, practice breathing exercises then gradualy warm up the voice with long tone vowel sounds in a comfortable range. Follow this with short tone long tone combinations to set the attack and sustainment of tones. Then work on lower range to practice singing with proper breath support. It takes as much breath support to go low as it does to go high and with less risk of straining the voice. Finally, you are ready to work on the upper range of the voice with a nice warm voice and without strain. Now comes the rehearsal section of your practice; ensemble music followed by a solo. 8.ROUTINE FOR BRASS March 11, 2008 A standard practice routine is important for all musicians. For brass, this routine should begin with breathing exercises followed by buzzing into the mouthpiece with a properly formed embouchure(French for" shape of the mouth"). Then put the mouthpiece on the instrument and do long tones in midrange. Learn all of the notes in the chromatic scale and their valve or slide positions and then do long tones going chromatically through the entire range of the instrument or at least as much of it as you can do. Your range will increase as your embouchure becomes stronger. After long tones come scales. Learn all twelve major scales and all fifteen written scales. First, do one octave and then once you are familiar with all twelve scales, go to two octaves then gradually work on increasing the tempo in which you can play the scales. After scales come lipslurs. Slowly, do simple lipslurs gradually increasing the tempo and do them in all valve or slide positions. After you can do these exercises well, go to more complex lipslurs. A good ideal for playing lipslurs is to play them so fast that all that is perceived is the chord and not the actual arpegio being played. You are now ready to begin the rehearsal section of your practice routine; method or etudes followed by ensemble music followed by a solo. 9.ROUTINE FOR WOODWINDS March 11, 2008 A practice routine is a must for all musicians. For woodwinds, this should begin with breathing exercises followed by a long tone on the open tone of the instrument. Do several such tones giving emphasis to a well formed embouchure. Follow this with long tones in the lower register. Learn all of the notes in the chromatic scale and their fingerings in the lower register. Once you have familiarized yourself with the lower register, you are ready to begin working on the upper register. Start with the lowest note on the instrument playing a long tone then without a break or tongue, press the register key. Gradually, move up chromatically repeating this exercise on every note. After you have worked the entire range of the instrument, it is time to work on scales. Learn all twelve major scales doing one octave for each one. After all twelve scales can be played in one octave, go to two octaves then gradually increase the tempo in which you can play them. After scales come trills. Do trills in the lower register going downward chromatically. Why the lower register? Because if you can do them in the lower register, you can do them in the upper. Next come slurred arpegios( This is not proper Italian but it is used more often than not in English). Do simple arpegios at first in all keys then go to more complex ones building the tempo in which you can play them. Now comes the rehearsal section of your practice; method or etudes, ensemble music, solo. 10.PRACTICE FOR PERCUSSION March 13, 2008 There is more to playing percussion than meets the eye and daily practice is very important. The practice session should begin with warming up the hands doing strokes in the air by slapping the butt of the sticks against the heel of the palm. Next come basic rudiments on a single head doing each rudiment in all three basic grips; traditional, German, and French. Start slowly and gradually increase the tempo. After single head comes multi-head making sure to cover all three basic hand motions; same hand, alternating hand, and hand over hand. Now comes practice in definite pitch playing scales and arpegios in all twelve keys. Finally, of course comes the rehearsal section of practice; method or etudes, ensemble music, solo. 11.PRACTICE FOR GUITAR March 18, 2008 The guitar is known to many people as a pop and folk instrument and I wouldn't try to change this perspective. However, this image leads many people to underestimate the complexity of the instrument's technique. This is a mistake. Just because a musical instrument is not regularly regarded as one for classical music does not mean that it is easier to play than such instruments. On the contrary, some of these instruments are very complex and this is not to be underestimated if a student wishes to play such an instrument well. Almost any instrument requires about five years of constant study and practice in order to master it. The practice session for the guitar should begin with the chromatic scale in the open( or first) position; first, the individual strings several times then the entire range of the first position. Next come arpegiated chords to warm up the right hand. Now you are ready for scales and chords in all keys. For beginner students just the familiar six keys. Learn the major scale and the seven basic chords for each key. The intermediate student should learn all twelve keys in the first position. For the advanced student, there are seven positions for each scale and in addition to the basic scales and chords, the student should practice harmonized scales in three part chorale and two part counterpoint styles. As with previous articles, I conclude by saying that the student is now ready for the rehearsal section of practice; method or etudes, music for ensemble ( if applicable), then finally, at least one solo. Bon etudier ( good practice). 12.PURSUING THE DREAM March 22, 2008 Do you think you have what it takes to pursue music professionally? If so, you have several options. As with any profession; to get a good job, get a good education. This applies to most people pursuing music as a profession as well. You can go to college and while there, get letters of endorsement from several of the professors in the music and/or theater departments. Then you are ready to attempt your auditions. As with most workplaces, professional orchestras, band, and choirs will put out an add when a job opening comes up. They receive audition tapes from an average of ten thousand applicants and select the top one hundred for a live audition for a single position out of which they will select the best applicant. You may be #75 out of this group then next time #62 then #50, #39, #22, #14, #7, then finally getting a position. A popular band may take you in on a trial basis then fire you without explaining why. You will go through that experience several times left on your own to understand why they let you go then finally landing a position. You can strike out on your own starting locally doing these steps: 1. Put your act together. 2. Find a place to perform. 3. Build your following. 4. Start out with free performances then begin charging admission as necessity arises. You know you're on your way when they are asking you to perform instead of you requesting the opportunity to do so. Further information can be obtained on this in Making Money Making Music No Matter Where You Live- James W. Dearing. Good luck. 13.SO YOU'RE A COMPOSER March 31, 2008 Once you have written your composition, what should you do with it? It is so easy to steal a composition if it is not properly protected so the first thing to do is insure that you can proove that it is your work: 1. Copyright your final draft with a circled lower case "c", date the composition, write,"All rights reserved" or any special permission you wish to grant, Then finally sign your name to it. 2. Make a copy of your final draft. 3. Take the original copy of your final draft and place it with the other drafts and sketches then take it all down to the Post Office and mail your composition certified to yourself. People do this all the time and they can show you how to do this. Yes, it is going to cost you some money. 4. Make another copy of your composition and record your expense in doing so. Tag a percentage of this cost onto your figure for profit but don't be greedy. At first, you are just trying to put out your name. 5. Make several more copies of your composition, go to your local music store and try to sell your composition on consignment( collecting your profit after the composition has been sold to a consumer). If all goes well, you will be getting more orders for your work. At that point, you know you have a hit and can begin looking for a publisher. Good luck.