So I've been part of a rock-cover band for a little over 3 years now, and have been enjoying my time rocking out with like-minded musicians! When I joined, we were just content to practice every Sunday night and hang out, sometime playing for private parties involving just us members and our loved ones, but as time went on, we started to branch out and book gigs around the metro area here around Cleveland/Akron. There have definitely been many highs, but of course several lows as well. Some of the best things I've encountered are just general excitedness and energy from the crowd, such as cheering, singing along, dancing, even random requests for songs (we aren't a jukebox, so usually doesn't work haha!). However, just this past Saturday at a gig at a motorcycle dealer, we experienced a crowd that was very dead and unresponsive for the most part. Sure they stopped to listen to us occasionally, but for the most they went on with their business, looking at bikes, talking with each other, eating and drinking. We were a little shocked, and deservedly so, since as stated before, most crowds receive us positively! Other disappointing things have been from the venue itself or the booker. There have been a few people who reneged on their promises, such as underpaying us, backtracking on side perks like free/discounted food and drinks, and even dropping our bookings last second! We're of course now working on our contract with places, but I knew all along due to people not living up to their word nowadays, this would eventually be a problem (hence why I have lesson policies). The venues for the most part have been middle of the road, but there have been a few places that barely had enough room on stage for a 4-piece band, let alone 6 or 7 of us, or very hot with little ventilation, which makes it very uncomfortable for all of us and makes it harder to perform. There was one venue in Wadsworth that had a Green Room which was amazing and made us feel like true VIPs! For those who don't know, a Green Room is a space backstage or on a different floor that is reserved just for the band to hang out, change clothes, rest, eat, etc. Basically a home away from home! Anyways, these are just a few thoughts from my general experience gigging with a band. But the best part is becoming part of a musical family of cool people that you know have your back!
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When I accept new students that have been trying to teach themselves, mostly from YouTube videos, I often cringe. That's my usual reaction because most of the time these students have been learning from semi-amateurs/non-classically trained musicians who have been handing down bad technique and habits to these impressionable learners. That makes my job a WHOLE lot harder, as I have to un-train them from these bad habits and then re-train them the correct way. One very good and public example is the newest Subway $5 footlong commercial where the famous singer/songwriter Charlie Puth is performing a jingle singing, while accompanying himself on keys. Now, I can't speak to his singing ability, as I'm not a vocalist; but I can attest that his piano technique as witnessed here is HORRENDOUS! As soon as he starts playing (0:08), we can see his right hand bouncing off the keys as high as almost half a foot (no pun intended!). There are even animations of green and yellow lines rendered above his hand that accentuates this fact. "Why is this such an issue," you ask? Well just think: if he's playing all those repetitive chords on every single beat, it would make much more sense to stay closer to the keys than to spend extra time and energy to come back from a mile high for that entire length of the jingle. Also his left hand is just....*sigh* where do I start? Notice his active fore- and middle fingers (2 & 3) are pretty straight, which shows tension, and it doesn't take a musician to know that when doing anything with tension, you'll wear down faster, and the task at hand will be much harder than compared to when you're totally relaxed. We can say that the human hand is relaxed when we naturally let the fingers curve. On to the next issue....the inactive ring and pinky fingers (4 & 5) are at a weird angle and even look uncomfortably squeezed in every so slightly. Again, when we're relaxed, our fingers will natural curl, forming a "C" shape, and all the fingertips will be equally settled on the surface of the keys. Finally, the thumb (1) is mostly inactive, and for some reason Charlie thinks that because of this he can just hang it down off the side of his keyboard. That might be ok if we didn't use thumb at all when playing piano/keys, but we do, so this isn't kosher. And then he does a weird cross-under at the end with his 1st finger (0:21), which is totally unnecessary---he could've finished with his 2nd or 3rd fingers, since they were doing most of the work all along in that area. Thumb cross-overs/-unders only are needed when doing scale-like passages where one might run out of fingers from their current position (for example, playing 7 keys stepping up with the right hand would demand us to execute a thumb cross-under). Of course, after thinking about the whole premise of this short performance by Charlie Puth, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and consider that maybe the Subway commercial executives wanted him to be very "showy." So perhaps the commercial director told Charlie to do all these things that I"m pointing out, on purpose. But I wanted to have a little rant and make a public disclaimer that this is NOT how one plays the keys/piano! So if you are one of those people that is trying to teach themselves any instrument via YouTube videos, please take the technique shown with a grain of salt. Better yet, just hire a music instructor who can teach you the CORRECT way of playing your instrument! The last in-person lesson I taught before all this craziness of the global pandemic and self-isolation began was March 19th. It's been a new adjustment teaching most of my students online the past couple of months, as I mentioned in my last post.
And now, as of Tuesday May 12th, 2020, I restarted in-person lessons with a couple of my students here in my neighborhood. To be honest, it was a little surreal. I think mostly because I had gotten so used to doing pretty much everything via webcam, even meeting up with friends or family, that what was once considered "normal" now seemed "foreign." To be sure, I wasn't scared like some people would be. But it was slightly different than before, since I had committed to wearing a mask at all times within my students' house, didn't touch their piano at all, as well as restricted myself from touching anything else except my own belongings. I asked my students to handle their own lesson books because I wanted to reduce possibly spreading the virus via surface contact. I'm sure these students thought this was all strange as well! Today on the 13th, I had another in-person lesson, this time at a local music school where I have a few students. The requirements for everyone coming in (teachers, students, parents, employees alike) was to wear a mask, of course maintain 6 feet apart, and sanitize all surfaces after touching them. Thankfully there was a keyboard in the same room I was teaching in where I could demonstrate for my student, while she played on an upright piano. It was still a little surreal, especially not seeing that many people there on a normally busy Wednesday afternoon (there was only the office secretary and one other teacher with their student). Going forward, I'm confident more students' families will be willing to restart in-person lessons, but I know I have to proceed slowly and with caution, and give them reassurance of their families' health and safety. But I foresee most people wanting to continue webcam lessons via Skype, Zoom, etc. So I guess this is our new normal. An this is only one example of many different workers across all kinds of different fields adjusting to a new way of doing their job. Who knows how long this will last.... It's definitely been a crazy and unprecedented past few months....with the global pandemic of COVID-19 affecting almost every aspect of our lives, we've all had to adjust our daily routines somewhat drastically. For us educators, it has been no different. Since late March, I've had to mostly convert physical in-person lessons to virtual webcam lessons, with a few families opting out entirely, hoping to resume when we're allowed by our state government (I've personally decided to resume in-person lessons on May 12th, same day retailers are allowed to open back up here in Ohio).
Originally, I was admittedly a little disorganized in the first several days, even though I already had experience teaching an out-of-state student via Skype for 2 years. What helped me effectively teach this student is that I was able to purchase the trumpet books he has been working out of and follow along with him, designate assignments for the next week, etc. But that idea is a lot more complicated when you have 23 other students who each might be doing completely different books, all at various levels. Thankfully I had the idea for parents to send pics/scans of their children's music to me either ahead of time, or during the lesson. That helped TREMENDOUSLY! Another thing that students, their families, and I had to overcome was the positioning of their devices to get the best angle and perspective of their hands and fingers, especially when playing piano. I had spent a few minutes at the start of almost every lesson navigating the parents to find that perfect spot that would allow me to correct the students' technique and analyze any pitfalls in their performance. Technical issues of course have been a major hurdle as well, from slow internet speeds (in the beginning I had "late 90's" speeds, before I broke down and switched back to my old ISP with much better speeds) to bad audio quality, video calls dropped for no apparent reason, etc. But I think one good thing that has come from this is that it has encouraged me to be more concise, clear, and structured during the lesson. Perhaps this comes from the ability to see myself in the corner of all of these webcam platforms, and therefore adjust how I interact with the students. Perhaps it's an innate drive to reassure the student that even though I'm not there with them physically, I'm more than 100% there with them in spirit, and I want to encourage each student to drive forward with their passion of learning music. So yes, there have been many challenges that have presented themselves during this strange time of doing everything online, but I think we can all learn and grow from this time as well. And this has been a great reminder that music connects us all, through even the darkest times. Hang in there world, we can get through this! Happy New Year (and new DECADE) everybody! I don't know if any of you are the type to make resolutions, but I've been getting into this New Year's tradition as a way to keep myself accountable for self-improvement. I have quite a few, but achievable and realistic goals for this year, and two of them are music-based.
One, I want to learn 10 major pieces. I define "major" by taking up at least 8 minutes at performance tempo and that is challenging enough for me so that it would take 4 weeks or so to master. So by this estimation, this will give me just enough time to learn 10 pieces in a year. Right now, I'm working on a French Suite by Bach. Another is to be more comfortable with memorizing these and any future pieces. It is a proven fact that pieces/songs are more polished and truly mastered when they are memorized inside and out. This includes even dynamics, articulations, and other expressive and editorial phrases. If you know me well, this actually scares me. I've had bad experiences with forgetting where I was in a given piece and freaking out on stage (mostly college years), but I know this will push me to become a better and more expressive musician! So hopefully hearing my current musical goals/resolutions will inspire you to create some of your own. Cheers to the new year and the NEW YOU! Most musicians know that in order to be well-disciplined and to have a smoother performance, they need to first warm-up with scales and arpeggios. A lot of them dread this or think it's boring, especially beginning music students. Of course, to make these essential exercises a little more intriguing, we can add dynamics (piano, forte, crescendo, diminuendo), articulation (legato, staccato, accents) and rhythms to liven up this monotonous drill. This method of spicing up scales can also further prepare a musician for an actual style of playing in whatever piece they're studying. Furthermore, what some musicians don't realize is that they are playing these in their music more often than not! For example, I started one student on a traditional Christmas song, "Joy to the World" (I know: really early as of mid-November, but it came up in our lesson book). If you simply study the melody, all it really is is a descending scale pattern, with a rhythm of mixed note values. Also a few months back I joined a local rock band. As we were listening to Queen's "I Want It All", I noticed that it had arpeggios in the keyboard part based on the harmonies in the chord chart. Of course I instantly recognized the familiar pattern! I even jokingly said to my band mates that I would tell my students that here is a prime example of arpeggios in REAL MUSIC, but here I am telling the whole world! I could go on and on of countless examples of both arpeggios and scales in songs and pieces, but this post would be too long. I just wanted to quickly give you all an idea of how these fundamental exercises and warm ups can be expressed in everyday music.
Performing out in the public can be such an exhilarating and rewarding experience for us musicians! Sometimes though, we all tend to psyche ourselves out and become unexpectedly nervous before an event. Here's a recent personal story about just such a situation, that ties in from the previous blog (I apologize if this ultra long). So about 2 Saturdays ago, 3 fellow musicians and I performed at our high school alma mater for a big joint concert showcasing each of us for around 30 minute blocks. The main premise of the whole concert was to justify the arts in my hometown's school district, and to show that a dedicated musician can make a living off of music and "make it" in the real world. This event had been planned for a whole YEAR in advance, and the entire time we were all in constant communication about different performance ideas, how the concert would flow, what each of us was planning to wear, etc.
Flash forward to about 3 months out, the organization that was hosting and putting this concert together started hyping it all up and bragging about us, like we were some famed platinum-certified artists (well maybe not, but it started to feel that way!). I started hearing from my parents that the organization put up our professional head shots on the town's two digital signs that announces upcoming shows at the high school, and articles for the concert were being featured in local newspapers. The high school's thespian club director even reached out to us about having some of her students interview us about our high school experiences and current professional lives. Oh, and did I mentioned they had us sign contracts and paid us big bucks just for 30 minutes of solo time? And because of all this hype and marketing, I for one started to feel the pressure and get a case of the butterflies. Later on, I discovered I wasn't the only one! Now, this wasn't from being under-prepared: like I mentioned, we all had a whole year to prepare! All of the expectations and the bar that was set for us made it feel so grand and serious that the pressure to perform flawlessly felt very palpable. The only other time I felt this way was my junior year recital at Ohio State, where I had to memorize all my music for 35-40 minutes, all alone on stage, as a requirement for my bachelor's degree.....talk about PRESSURE! In addition, as I mentioned in the last blog, one of the vocalists emailed me her music for me to accompany on piano, about a month and a half out, and another vocalist sent me her music only 2 weeks after that, each having about 8-9 songs. So suffice it to say, I was practicing like a MADMAN in those few weeks! (Thank God the 3rd vocalist gave me his only accompanied song months ago!) Well, the day of the show arrives. I'm fairly confident in reality, but my mental state is in shambles. I'm so worried and nervous, my only driving force is to get to the auditorium ASAP and not only get acclimated to the Yamaha piano there, but practice every single piece and song leading up to showtime. The other musicians arrive, I rehearse with the vocalists, and before we know it, it's mere minutes before the start of the concert! I'm pacing back and forth, trying to focus on the MOUNTAIN of music before me. I'm trying to remember all of the edits the vocalists made in their songs, the nuances they would take, as well as the differing styles and technical hurdles in my own solo pieces. 7:30pm....our MC (my former band director) announces the first act. She leads, walking onto the stage, I follow; and so begins the musical gauntlet I endured for the next hour and a half! Yes, I was on the stage THAT LONG! I remember by the time I did my solo act, I heard a small voice in my hand telling me to breathe, relax, and enjoy the music....which I did! And by some miracle, I made it out alive! Not only that, so many friendly and familiar faces were waiting for me on the other side that told me how impressed and inspired they were by my performance! And they couldn't believe the sheer amount of music I cranked out. The main highlight for me, and I'm sure it was for the other musicians, was being reunited with our former piano/vocal teacher from our high school days, Mrs. S. She was so emotional, tears streaming down her face, and told us repeatedly how proud she was seeing us all on stage and how fulfilled she was knowing we're living our dreams through music. So, if any of you out there have a BIG performance, musical or otherwise, don't sweat it! Be brave, relax, breathe, and just enjoy the moment! Know that your friends and family have your back, and that if you've prepared and you're passionate about what you're doing, you'll blow everyone out of the water! "Break a leg!" So this past Saturday I had a 2-hour rehearsal with a friend, former high school classmate, and fellow musician. She's a vocalist, and she and I are performing for a "Coming Home" Concert with 2 other musicians in October at our alma mater. Leading up to this, we all knew WELL in advance that it was coming up, and I already was preparing for my instrumental pieces, most of which I had already performed. The other 3 vocalists had requested for me to accompany them on the piano in some way, which was totally fine. They all had promised to try to get in the sheet music for their songs as soon as they could, but you know, life gets crazy, and....well I didn't get the music for the first vocalist about 5-6 weeks before our rehearsal (the one other vocalist got his only song into me pretty early; the other had sent it the same day as this rehearsal). Anyways, I was practicing like a madman in preparation for meet up with the first vocalist, because I wanted it to go as smoothly as possible and be professional, however there were a couple piano arrangements that were....JAZZY, and therefore very difficult to learn in that short time frame. I made this aware to my vocalist friend, I apologized profusely, but since she is such a positive and forgiving soul, she said it was more than ok, that she understood she wasn't giving me enough time, and told me I could simplify it as much as I deemed fit. She even said we could always cut one of those songs out, or she could use a track recording as a last resort. I tried my best of course, muddled my way through those 2 super jazzy accompanist with the crazy poly-tonal 5-finger chords, every-changing key signatures, syncopated rhythms between hands, etc.....and it went well! There was a point when she said that what I played sounded great, and I responded, "Really?!? I sort of made up things and just tried to keep up with you!" So my fellow accompanists, the point is: don't feel bad if you're not quite ready for rehearsal with a soloist, especially if they haven't given you a realistic time frame to practice up. If they're a decent person and professional musician, they'll understand and be forgiving, like my friend here. If not, that's on them, not you! How much time is enough? Well that depends on the difficulty of the piano arrangement, how much time you have, and your musical experience. But like any performance, have fun and enjoy the music!!!
P.S.---If anybody would like more info on the "Coming Home" Concert I mentioned in this blog, follow this link:https://www.communitiesfortheartsclyde.org/events-1 |
About this blogHello world, this is your friendly musician friend and teacher, Joseph! This is where I share my thoughts and feelings about anything and everything music-related. Enjoy! Archives
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