So, recently, Rob of http://www.musicteachingresources.com & http://www.teachwombat.com invited me to check out some materials he's put together to help make the music teacher's life easier!
Essentially what he's got is an organized set of worksheets covering the fundamentals of scales and chords that can be printed out or easily transferred to a thumb drive at your leisure.
Some of the sheets are explanatory in nature, illustrating things such as major scale construction or diatonic harmony (which chords are minor/major within the scale). Some of them are worksheets that require the student to construct a scale or chords or to go through the chords within a scale. Some of those worksheets have a diagram of a keyboard on them, some don't.
The files all come in labeled folders, and some of them even allow the teacher to fill in the blank to determine what scale or chord the student will build. Essentially, it's like having a portable music theory workbook, which you can draw from as needed.
My favorite thing about the set is the inclusion of the blues scale, minor/major pentatonic scales. My only criticisms would be that the chords don't go beyond 7th chords & that the Dorian mode is included, but not any of the other modes, making the set not overly helpful for jazz students.
All in all, I think this is a pretty neat/handy set of resources, especially for $18 - can't go wrong with that. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this with students on any instrument. Head over to http://www.musicteachingresources.com and check out what he's got.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Visualize First
I learned something important this week as a result of band practice and the Steven Isserlis concert:
Visualize *first*, then play.
The key to playing well is to come up with a definite concept of what you want the next thing you're going to play to sound & feel like. The next important thing is to not accept exceptions to that vision while practicing. One thing that goes with this is having no excess - every movement, every note is directly, immediately, linked to the note.
Watching Steven Isserlis, one of the things I realized is that part of his technique is a freedom that comes from dexterity/agility ... nothing is slow for him ... it is all very quickly connected and well planned. He is one of the only classical musicians who I feel is telling a story when I watch, as opposed to playing a piece. I also think that a lot of his freedom comes from never looking down when he plays, allowing him to listen and think ahead rather than be stuck in the present.
It was interesting to see him from the front row and to see how much he sways/moves (reminding me a lot of Jacqueline DuPre), and also to see the similarity (and differences) of his left hand techinque to hers, as well as to hear how the tapping of the notes with his left hand (on just about every note).
In other news, I am really struggling to regain my musical drive (ever since my father died) ... when I play the cello, it's the only thing I want to do, but when I'm not playing, I have almost no desire to pick it up. I think the one reason for this is that I'm not in multiple ensembles with music that is incredibly difficult - just my band right now & I feel pretty comfortable with our music.
That being said, the level of my playing has increased incredibly and my practice is now generally oriented around analytical imitation of a great cellist or analytical practicing of solo rep. Both are very helpful.
In general, I am doing things right ... I just need to push myself to do more of them and to go further with them. I need to start really chewing through the standard rep. or at the very least the student rep, so I can develop a really reliable & proficient technique.
That's all for now ... so happy that I just wrote a blog entry for once...
Visualize *first*, then play.
The key to playing well is to come up with a definite concept of what you want the next thing you're going to play to sound & feel like. The next important thing is to not accept exceptions to that vision while practicing. One thing that goes with this is having no excess - every movement, every note is directly, immediately, linked to the note.
Watching Steven Isserlis, one of the things I realized is that part of his technique is a freedom that comes from dexterity/agility ... nothing is slow for him ... it is all very quickly connected and well planned. He is one of the only classical musicians who I feel is telling a story when I watch, as opposed to playing a piece. I also think that a lot of his freedom comes from never looking down when he plays, allowing him to listen and think ahead rather than be stuck in the present.
It was interesting to see him from the front row and to see how much he sways/moves (reminding me a lot of Jacqueline DuPre), and also to see the similarity (and differences) of his left hand techinque to hers, as well as to hear how the tapping of the notes with his left hand (on just about every note).
In other news, I am really struggling to regain my musical drive (ever since my father died) ... when I play the cello, it's the only thing I want to do, but when I'm not playing, I have almost no desire to pick it up. I think the one reason for this is that I'm not in multiple ensembles with music that is incredibly difficult - just my band right now & I feel pretty comfortable with our music.
That being said, the level of my playing has increased incredibly and my practice is now generally oriented around analytical imitation of a great cellist or analytical practicing of solo rep. Both are very helpful.
In general, I am doing things right ... I just need to push myself to do more of them and to go further with them. I need to start really chewing through the standard rep. or at the very least the student rep, so I can develop a really reliable & proficient technique.
That's all for now ... so happy that I just wrote a blog entry for once...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A goal
Ok,
My goal is to regularly start blogging about cello (now that I've actually started practicing regularly again) in the very near future ... I'm also considering starting up the Dotzauer challenge again...
My goal is to regularly start blogging about cello (now that I've actually started practicing regularly again) in the very near future ... I'm also considering starting up the Dotzauer challenge again...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sometimes A Dream Turns Into A Dream
I think it's time to end my freelance career. What do I mean by that? I don't mean it's time to stop playing cello or quit my band or anything like that. But ... I think it's time to stop playing with random rock/folk/singer-songwriter/whatever groups for barely any pay & I think it's time to stop taking random gigs that again barely pay. More particularly, I need to stop going into NYC for barely any money ... It's all good and well to get experience, but I've got plenty of that, and I'm even developing the technique & level that goes along with that. However, I need to pay bills ... and I don't mean leisure/pleasure bills, I mean I need to keep a roof over my head & have enough money to get food, etc. Taking these gigs has messed with this in two ways: 1. I'm never really making any notable money & 2. It clogs up my availability to work, which is just not something I can keep doing. I need to set clear guidelines with myself for what the minimum I'm willing to do a gig for is & I need to come up with times that I just can't fuck with, because either I need to actually take care of things around my house, or I need to not skip work.
That being said, I'm in a band, I'm sort of in a (currently) inactive piano trio (that I can make active again by freeing the time) ... I think if anything I'm doing as a performer is going to pay (short of weddings & musicals) it's one of those two ... why should I put my time into other things that I don't even necessarily believe in & that won't pay my bills?
As far as I can tell, these are the only things that pay reasonably in terms of performance (or have paid reasonably so far)
Weddings - usually $125 to $200 per gig
Musicals - usually $50 per show or something like that ... not a lot, but not horrible if it's not too far of a commute (ie, not in NYC)
Solo or Ensemble Performances as part of a music series - usually about $150, sometimes more.
Here's what doesn't pay well:
Playing with bands - if I'm *lucky* I make $50 per show (commute costs $17 round trip) ... after rehearsals, next to nothing
Here's what I haven't even touched into:
Subbing for an orchestra - I just don't have the contacts for this ... I don't know the people doing these things
So I guess I'm not really saying I have to stop freelancing, what I am saying is that I have to stop taking gigs that don't make financial sense & that don't work with my schedule.
I want/need to make teaching my main income. It's one of the only things that will give me flexibility and pay well. As a performer, I need to concentrate my efforts into Edensong & into the trio & my own solo stuff (which I hope to make a financial asset within the next few years) ...
Ok, needed to get that all off my shoulders ... I wish this wasn't the first blog post I'd done in months, but things have been so unbelievably busy & I just haven't had the energy/inclination to write...
In other news, I've started doing the real recording for my solo album & am planning to have it out in November (or earlier if possible).
That being said, I'm in a band, I'm sort of in a (currently) inactive piano trio (that I can make active again by freeing the time) ... I think if anything I'm doing as a performer is going to pay (short of weddings & musicals) it's one of those two ... why should I put my time into other things that I don't even necessarily believe in & that won't pay my bills?
As far as I can tell, these are the only things that pay reasonably in terms of performance (or have paid reasonably so far)
Weddings - usually $125 to $200 per gig
Musicals - usually $50 per show or something like that ... not a lot, but not horrible if it's not too far of a commute (ie, not in NYC)
Solo or Ensemble Performances as part of a music series - usually about $150, sometimes more.
Here's what doesn't pay well:
Playing with bands - if I'm *lucky* I make $50 per show (commute costs $17 round trip) ... after rehearsals, next to nothing
Here's what I haven't even touched into:
Subbing for an orchestra - I just don't have the contacts for this ... I don't know the people doing these things
So I guess I'm not really saying I have to stop freelancing, what I am saying is that I have to stop taking gigs that don't make financial sense & that don't work with my schedule.
I want/need to make teaching my main income. It's one of the only things that will give me flexibility and pay well. As a performer, I need to concentrate my efforts into Edensong & into the trio & my own solo stuff (which I hope to make a financial asset within the next few years) ...
Ok, needed to get that all off my shoulders ... I wish this wasn't the first blog post I'd done in months, but things have been so unbelievably busy & I just haven't had the energy/inclination to write...
In other news, I've started doing the real recording for my solo album & am planning to have it out in November (or earlier if possible).
Monday, May 24, 2010
Quebec/Terra Incognita
I had my first real international musical experience last weekend ...
Edensong went up to Quebec to play for the Terra Incognita Festival. It was a very cool experience ... very long drive (about 8-10 hrs. total) ... we stopped in Vermont on Thursday night & got some *amazing* French Toast at Stellas (2nd only to a cafe in Brooklyn of which I can not remember the name). James, Tony, Sarah & I rode up together & did a combination of chatting, filming and listening to cool music on the way up. When we got there, the customs folks were pretty nice & the guy who interviewed us was actually a prog. fan & asked us if we sounded like Porcupine Tree - talk about unexpected (on the flip side, the American customs folks on the way back weren't nice at all)!
So customs went ok - we had no merch in the car with us & it was packed to hell anyway (I really don't know how we fit so much in there!), so I think they decided not to bother inspecting it.
Anyway, eventually we got to Quebec (on Friday) & were all very tired. We went out to meet James' family (who drove up to see the band play) for dinner & had our first experience with Quebec food (it was pretty bad). Then we walked around a little bit & headed back to the hotel where we got settled in and waited for the rest of the band to make it up & settle in so that we could do a vocal sectional.
Then it was saturday. We were the 2nd band on saturday & had probably the best slot of the whole festival! Saturday was a lot of time spent running around getting equipment together & getting the merch table set up & eventually even practicing a bit ... we got an hour sound check early in the day (so cool/helpful!) & spent the whole day at the venue pretty much.
The venue itself was a nicely-sized chapel with a concert hall that fit about 200 ppl & an outside room where everyone was set up. I also later discovered that there was in fact a green room - very helpful for warming up and running through the set (which was essential, because I had barely practiced in 2 days).
By the time we were on stage, I was physically exhausted/just not feeling well & we took everything *fast* ... despite that, there was a lot of energy btwn. the band and the crowd & it was the first time I had played a show with Barry (our flute player) ... he's awesome to play with ... he sort of ... dances? ... on stage while playing flute & rocking out & he's a great person to feed energy off of & to try to one up ...
One of the things that I love about this band is that we're really a live band & we all put 100% into the show... afterwards it was the usual rush of "get everything off the stage" & then I actually had a beer! And there was a rush of people many of whom wanted my autograph on the cd they just bought & many of whom were very excited about the set they saw. Some of them had seen Edensong multiple times & were very complimentary about my cello playing & stage presence ... it was really lots of fun & enjoyment ... also a nice surprise, I got to see John, Paul & Greg from IZZ (who played on night two)... John was the only one I really knew at that point...
The other bands to play that night were: Claire Vezina (whose set I missed, but the other band members said was awesome!) & Galahad. Claire was incredibly nice & friendly and a pleasure to meet & talk to. Galahad were all fun guys & their music was pretty neat too! The keyboardist had some amazingly realistic/great sounding choir patches ... we saw them at the bar/restaurant later that night & they were good fun. (Actually, I met Stuart - their singer - at the hotel earlier & he said that he had seen me the night before & thought "Either that guy's in a rock band or he should be").
Speaking of that bar restaurant ... I've never had so much trouble ordering a cheeseburger in my life! (And it wasn't even good... though it was appreciated nevertheless). At some point earlier in the evening I had had quiznos (oh wait, that was actually day 2...) ... that was ok...
Then on to Sunday ... On sunday we ran into Galahad at the hotel during breakfast & it made for a lively and fun breakfast - they're all a pleasure to talk to & great guys! Hopefully we'll get to play with them again sometime ... Afterwards, James & Sarah & I headed to the city to meet up with James' family again & to do some exploring/eating (again, food was disappointing). The street musicians their played piano, harp & accordion. They played classical & improvisational music. The old city is incredibly beautiful - a must see for anyone who can ... a great example of what we can do/be...
Most of the rest of the band had gone home at this point (except Stefan, who was also with his folks). So we hung out in the city a bit & got to do lots of walking and talking before heading back to the venue for a full day at the merch table (with a bit of watching the bands) ... I really enjoyed doing this & was surprised at how much we sold on day 2!
The highlight of Day 2 for me was getting to see Izz & to hang out/chat with them after their set. I got to meet Tom earlier in the set & got to chat with the rest of the band more afterwards ... I discovered Greg was also a Mville graduate (guess we should have all sent an email to the music department & let them know what we were up to, but oh well, next time) ... on top of Izz, there was Atreal (whose set I missed) & Discipline (who were very nice & cool folks) ... James & Stefan are huge Discipline fans ... it was my first time hearing them, though I was really too wiped out at that point to give them a fair judgement (I had been struggling to stay awake during Izz's set just from the exhaustion). Discipline did really well considering some technical difficulties they'd been having with the festival's keyboard controller earlier in the day.
I think we went straight to bed after the festival ... can't quite remember ... we had decided to stay an extra night at that point (it made more sense & James had gotten a clue to the origins of his hat from one of the Izz folks earlier in the day).
So, Monday was a nice, enjoyable day off that involved just going through the city on our own. We drove to the address listed on the card James had, only to discover that it was an Atelier (which I believe means factory/workshop?). James told him the story of his hat (worthy of a blog entry for sure) & he offered to have us follow him to the boutique ... once there, James re-told his story to the folks working there & bought another (much cooler) hat! On the way out, I decided that it would really pain me not to have a souveneir of Quebec. So, I got a hand-made leather bracelet there that I now wear all the time (though I have found that it interferes with my cello playing, so I often take it off for that). Then we picked up Subway (the only good food we had the entire time!) and started the journey home.
On the way, we stopped in a place that could only be described as Hick's ville (not meant in any derogatory way) & got some great food for really cheap! It was quite impressive ... Sarah ordered a whole pizza pie (that was not entirely intentional) & we worked on french on the drive home (a little late huh?)
All in all, it was a cool, incredible experience & though I was less awe-struck than when I traveled to Baltimore, it is definitely something that will stick with me. It was generally very relaxing & helped lift the weight of the world off my shoulders a bit ... I'm going to really love it when Edensong becomes more successful & we can travel even more ... I definitely think lots of traveling is something I'm meant to do, and it seems like Edensong will be my venue for that...
Ok, time to go to sleep ... I'll try to write about something technical soon ... I've been practicing a lot lately & will be teaching my first guitar lesson tomorrow (which has caused me to start learning the blues, which is just *so fulfilling*) ... it's funny how life sort of has its own timetable/way of filling in the pieces...
Edensong went up to Quebec to play for the Terra Incognita Festival. It was a very cool experience ... very long drive (about 8-10 hrs. total) ... we stopped in Vermont on Thursday night & got some *amazing* French Toast at Stellas (2nd only to a cafe in Brooklyn of which I can not remember the name). James, Tony, Sarah & I rode up together & did a combination of chatting, filming and listening to cool music on the way up. When we got there, the customs folks were pretty nice & the guy who interviewed us was actually a prog. fan & asked us if we sounded like Porcupine Tree - talk about unexpected (on the flip side, the American customs folks on the way back weren't nice at all)!
So customs went ok - we had no merch in the car with us & it was packed to hell anyway (I really don't know how we fit so much in there!), so I think they decided not to bother inspecting it.
Anyway, eventually we got to Quebec (on Friday) & were all very tired. We went out to meet James' family (who drove up to see the band play) for dinner & had our first experience with Quebec food (it was pretty bad). Then we walked around a little bit & headed back to the hotel where we got settled in and waited for the rest of the band to make it up & settle in so that we could do a vocal sectional.
Then it was saturday. We were the 2nd band on saturday & had probably the best slot of the whole festival! Saturday was a lot of time spent running around getting equipment together & getting the merch table set up & eventually even practicing a bit ... we got an hour sound check early in the day (so cool/helpful!) & spent the whole day at the venue pretty much.
The venue itself was a nicely-sized chapel with a concert hall that fit about 200 ppl & an outside room where everyone was set up. I also later discovered that there was in fact a green room - very helpful for warming up and running through the set (which was essential, because I had barely practiced in 2 days).
By the time we were on stage, I was physically exhausted/just not feeling well & we took everything *fast* ... despite that, there was a lot of energy btwn. the band and the crowd & it was the first time I had played a show with Barry (our flute player) ... he's awesome to play with ... he sort of ... dances? ... on stage while playing flute & rocking out & he's a great person to feed energy off of & to try to one up ...
One of the things that I love about this band is that we're really a live band & we all put 100% into the show... afterwards it was the usual rush of "get everything off the stage" & then I actually had a beer! And there was a rush of people many of whom wanted my autograph on the cd they just bought & many of whom were very excited about the set they saw. Some of them had seen Edensong multiple times & were very complimentary about my cello playing & stage presence ... it was really lots of fun & enjoyment ... also a nice surprise, I got to see John, Paul & Greg from IZZ (who played on night two)... John was the only one I really knew at that point...
The other bands to play that night were: Claire Vezina (whose set I missed, but the other band members said was awesome!) & Galahad. Claire was incredibly nice & friendly and a pleasure to meet & talk to. Galahad were all fun guys & their music was pretty neat too! The keyboardist had some amazingly realistic/great sounding choir patches ... we saw them at the bar/restaurant later that night & they were good fun. (Actually, I met Stuart - their singer - at the hotel earlier & he said that he had seen me the night before & thought "Either that guy's in a rock band or he should be").
Speaking of that bar restaurant ... I've never had so much trouble ordering a cheeseburger in my life! (And it wasn't even good... though it was appreciated nevertheless). At some point earlier in the evening I had had quiznos (oh wait, that was actually day 2...) ... that was ok...
Then on to Sunday ... On sunday we ran into Galahad at the hotel during breakfast & it made for a lively and fun breakfast - they're all a pleasure to talk to & great guys! Hopefully we'll get to play with them again sometime ... Afterwards, James & Sarah & I headed to the city to meet up with James' family again & to do some exploring/eating (again, food was disappointing). The street musicians their played piano, harp & accordion. They played classical & improvisational music. The old city is incredibly beautiful - a must see for anyone who can ... a great example of what we can do/be...
Most of the rest of the band had gone home at this point (except Stefan, who was also with his folks). So we hung out in the city a bit & got to do lots of walking and talking before heading back to the venue for a full day at the merch table (with a bit of watching the bands) ... I really enjoyed doing this & was surprised at how much we sold on day 2!
The highlight of Day 2 for me was getting to see Izz & to hang out/chat with them after their set. I got to meet Tom earlier in the set & got to chat with the rest of the band more afterwards ... I discovered Greg was also a Mville graduate (guess we should have all sent an email to the music department & let them know what we were up to, but oh well, next time) ... on top of Izz, there was Atreal (whose set I missed) & Discipline (who were very nice & cool folks) ... James & Stefan are huge Discipline fans ... it was my first time hearing them, though I was really too wiped out at that point to give them a fair judgement (I had been struggling to stay awake during Izz's set just from the exhaustion). Discipline did really well considering some technical difficulties they'd been having with the festival's keyboard controller earlier in the day.
I think we went straight to bed after the festival ... can't quite remember ... we had decided to stay an extra night at that point (it made more sense & James had gotten a clue to the origins of his hat from one of the Izz folks earlier in the day).
So, Monday was a nice, enjoyable day off that involved just going through the city on our own. We drove to the address listed on the card James had, only to discover that it was an Atelier (which I believe means factory/workshop?). James told him the story of his hat (worthy of a blog entry for sure) & he offered to have us follow him to the boutique ... once there, James re-told his story to the folks working there & bought another (much cooler) hat! On the way out, I decided that it would really pain me not to have a souveneir of Quebec. So, I got a hand-made leather bracelet there that I now wear all the time (though I have found that it interferes with my cello playing, so I often take it off for that). Then we picked up Subway (the only good food we had the entire time!) and started the journey home.
On the way, we stopped in a place that could only be described as Hick's ville (not meant in any derogatory way) & got some great food for really cheap! It was quite impressive ... Sarah ordered a whole pizza pie (that was not entirely intentional) & we worked on french on the drive home (a little late huh?)
All in all, it was a cool, incredible experience & though I was less awe-struck than when I traveled to Baltimore, it is definitely something that will stick with me. It was generally very relaxing & helped lift the weight of the world off my shoulders a bit ... I'm going to really love it when Edensong becomes more successful & we can travel even more ... I definitely think lots of traveling is something I'm meant to do, and it seems like Edensong will be my venue for that...
Ok, time to go to sleep ... I'll try to write about something technical soon ... I've been practicing a lot lately & will be teaching my first guitar lesson tomorrow (which has caused me to start learning the blues, which is just *so fulfilling*) ... it's funny how life sort of has its own timetable/way of filling in the pieces...
Tonight's Lesson
Tonight I had a horrible experience - I was playing along to some music for a hip-hop fashion show ... which was all cool and fun ... BUT I had not thought about amplification/it just never got brought up ... the result? Somebody was holding a mic to my cello when I already had inadequate space
What would have solved the problem? Having a quarter inch on me ...
The Resolution: Always carry a Quarter Inch in the car ...
The show was good otherwise, but that really put a damper on it for me :(
What would have solved the problem? Having a quarter inch on me ...
The Resolution: Always carry a Quarter Inch in the car ...
The show was good otherwise, but that really put a damper on it for me :(
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Bow Technique
I learned two things from watching Nevarra's bow technique vids:
1. The index finger & pinky are the most important fingers ... the pinky is for balance ... it is important to concentrate on both of these fingers.
2. I was doing my bow changes wrong ... I was doing them with the fingers and not with the upper arm ... he had an excellent point: you can tell if you're doing the change motion correctly, because the angle of the tip will remain the same. That was a valuable lesson & I'm playing better already ... coordinating bow changes was always something I had trouble with. ... It's amazing how much of playing the cello well really just comes down to have a concretely & correctly defined technique
Caveat: Anybody reading the above should go watch the actual videos, because it's easy to misunderstand what I'm saying since it's out of context (and I don't think I'm explaining it well):
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ber93Z85eA&feature=related
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNhZrMhD6I
1. The index finger & pinky are the most important fingers ... the pinky is for balance ... it is important to concentrate on both of these fingers.
2. I was doing my bow changes wrong ... I was doing them with the fingers and not with the upper arm ... he had an excellent point: you can tell if you're doing the change motion correctly, because the angle of the tip will remain the same. That was a valuable lesson & I'm playing better already ... coordinating bow changes was always something I had trouble with. ... It's amazing how much of playing the cello well really just comes down to have a concretely & correctly defined technique
Caveat: Anybody reading the above should go watch the actual videos, because it's easy to misunderstand what I'm saying since it's out of context (and I don't think I'm explaining it well):
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ber93Z85eA&feature=related
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNhZrMhD6I
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