Musings, articles, activities
If you're a student of mine, you may find some familiar ideas here!
Today I worked with a student and his ears. I believe there are really two ways to make music. One is with our eyes- we're reading notes, chord symbols, tablature, or even watching someone's hands. The other is with our ears: we're hearing music in our minds, or from a CD or the radio. They work together- while we're reading notes, if we're experienced at it, or if it's a familiar tune, we're hearing the tune in our mind. If we're watching a YouTube video on how to play Smoke on the Water, we're hearing the tune from the video, and probably our mind as well. If we're using tablature, unless there is rhythmic notation, we need the tune in our mind.
The most "pure" music-making, I think, is when we hear a tune in our mind, and find it on our instrument. In this case, our guitar, which means we can find the melody, the harmony, or chords, and we can put them together. This is great fun, great for developing as a musician, and, our brains are good at it, it's built-in to our brains. Most anyone can do it, once they learn, and I've found most people improve rapidly if they keep on doing it. It is the activity that leads to the ability to improvise, to learn a tune from a CD or radio, to join in with a friend as she plays a song, with out her telling you what key it's in, or seeing any sheet music.
Most experienced musicians can do this; we learn it in college, and we learn to write it down: musical dictation, or transcription. It's an essential skill for most professional musicians.
If you have not tried this, you need a few skills to start: I teach most often with a C chord, and a C major scale. Strum the chord and listen for the first note of the tune you're looking for, let's say, "Hot Cross Buns". Try to sing the first note of the tune with the chord. With most simple tunes, it'll be a note in the chord, either C, E, or G.
From there, decide whether the second note goes up or down from the first, or, it may stay the same. Look in your scale for that note, then the next.
This is doing so much for your ears, and your musicality. Another great activity is just matching pitches with your voice. Be exact, and don't let yourself get away with not matching! If you even suspect a non-match, slide that voice up or down until you hear it match. It takes multiple tries, sometimes, but you'll get better at it quickly.
Repetition
Many students have heard about repetition, but don't always understand what it means. It means doing something over and over again! Not 3 times, but 25 times, 50 times, enough so that you don't know how to play it wrong anymore. This is a big part of the Suzuki method, but has been used by good musicians for centuries. You still want to pay attention, be mindful, because then you begin to see what is causing a problem, and how to fix it, what parts to repeat.
A fellow Music teacher and I were talking to a Philosophy professor, who commented that he had five cases of plagiarism this semester (which is a lot.) He said "imagine if one of your students played a Dave Holland solo instead of his own." We both laughed and said "That's what we're trying to teach them!" It's true. All Jazz players learn by copying! (We call it transcribing, not plagiarism!) I often tell the story of Wes Montgomery, who on his first professional gigs would play a Charlie Christian solo when the bandleader pointed at him. I suppose Wes didn't pass off Charlie's work as his own, just to be lazy and get a good grade...
Today I worked with a student and his ears. I believe there are really two ways to make music. One is with our eyes- we're reading notes, chord symbols, tablature, or even watching someone's hands. The other is with our ears: we're hearing music in our minds, or from a CD or the radio. They work together- while we're reading notes, if we're experienced at it, or if it's a familiar tune, we're hearing the tune in our mind. If we're watching a YouTube video on how to play Smoke on the Water, we're hearing the tune from the video, and probably our mind as well. If we're using tablature, unless there is rhythmic notation, we need the tune in our mind.
The most "pure" music-making, I think, is when we hear a tune in our mind, and find it on our instrument. In this case, our guitar, which means we can find the melody, the harmony, or chords, and we can put them together. This is great fun, great for developing as a musician, and, our brains are good at it, it's built-in to our brains. Most anyone can do it, once they learn, and I've found most people improve rapidly if they keep on doing it. It is the activity that leads to the ability to improvise, to learn a tune from a CD or radio, to join in with a friend as she plays a song, with out her telling you what key it's in, or seeing any sheet music.
Most experienced musicians can do this; we learn it in college, and we learn to write it down: musical dictation, or transcription. It's an essential skill for most professional musicians.
If you have not tried this, you need a few skills to start: I teach most often with a C chord, and a C major scale. Strum the chord and listen for the first note of the tune you're looking for, let's say, "Hot Cross Buns". Try to sing the first note of the tune with the chord. With most simple tunes, it'll be a note in the chord, either C, E, or G.
From there, decide whether the second note goes up or down from the first, or, it may stay the same. Look in your scale for that note, then the next.
This is doing so much for your ears, and your musicality. Another great activity is just matching pitches with your voice. Be exact, and don't let yourself get away with not matching! If you even suspect a non-match, slide that voice up or down until you hear it match. It takes multiple tries, sometimes, but you'll get better at it quickly.
Repetition
Many students have heard about repetition, but don't always understand what it means. It means doing something over and over again! Not 3 times, but 25 times, 50 times, enough so that you don't know how to play it wrong anymore. This is a big part of the Suzuki method, but has been used by good musicians for centuries. You still want to pay attention, be mindful, because then you begin to see what is causing a problem, and how to fix it, what parts to repeat.
A fellow Music teacher and I were talking to a Philosophy professor, who commented that he had five cases of plagiarism this semester (which is a lot.) He said "imagine if one of your students played a Dave Holland solo instead of his own." We both laughed and said "That's what we're trying to teach them!" It's true. All Jazz players learn by copying! (We call it transcribing, not plagiarism!) I often tell the story of Wes Montgomery, who on his first professional gigs would play a Charlie Christian solo when the bandleader pointed at him. I suppose Wes didn't pass off Charlie's work as his own, just to be lazy and get a good grade...