Category Archive

You might have noticed that my posting has been extremely light these past few weeks. 

Here are my excuses;

1.  Family –Getting the mom and dad moved/settled into their new digs a few doors down from my house.  Plus lots of relatives visiting = too much activity around the house! 

2.  Piano Boot Camp –Every summer we have a weeklong piano daycamp for beginning to advancing players from elementary to high school grades.  I’m doing the late intermediate coaching this year and we’re doing jazz/blues pieces.  It’s funny how these students learn to depend on printed music so much that they recoil in terror when anyone says “improvise”.     On second thought,  it’s actually sad.

3.  Footloose is the summer musical and I’m playing 2nd guitar.  Actually, I should be playing 2nd guitar, but the changes come so fast that I’m playing the part on a synthesizer.  In fact, we’re using 4 synths in the show because:

a.  The instrument changes come so fast that it’s impossible to make the changes without some sort of Variax-style guitar that lets you switch from electric to acoustic to banjo in a matter of seconds.

b.  We didn’t have students with the sightreading chops to handle the book, even if they did own the instruments.   I could play 90% of it, but when the key goes to F# major, (and it does), I crash and burn like the aspiring amateur guitarist that I am.  That’s something I don’t feel comfortable doing in public anymore.  Hey,  –at least it pays the bills.  I’m not too proud to take a shortcut here or there!

So, that’s the news here… how’s life at your end of the world?

I’m still in shock;  somehow this loss escaped my attention until I read it in this month’s Music Trades magazine.  I’ll think of Bill Ludwig Jr. as the father of the school percussion kit.  A heck of a lot of professionals owe a debt of gratitude to those big kits.  Back in the 1980s, I was fortunate to be able to meet Mr. Bill Sr., Mr. Bill Jr. and Mr. Bill III when they came to the dealer I was working with for a Selmer-Ludwig promotion.  Back then, they were experimenting with “offshore” parts production and had some parts defects. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday she arrived 10 minutes before time to start playing.  Her name was Joyce and she was a “hotshot” soprano from a cathedral in Virginia.  Usually she sent music well in advance, but today she just showed up and wanted to sing.  I bumped the communion hymn off the hymnboard to make room for her solo and she handed me the copied pages of music;  –music I had not seen before.  I had only 5 minutes to prepare to sightread this piece.  What did I do?

1.  With pen in hand, I examined the page to make sure the notes were there.   Soloists are infamous for only paying attention to their part and trimming the lower clef off the other parts.

2. I made sure everything was legible and dark.  I will write letter names for notes more than 3 ledger lines above or below the staff.  Copies made too dark or light can spell trouble when sightreading.

3.  I examined the solo for 1st & 2nd endings, Da Capo al Fine, and Coda marks and highlighted these with attention-getting symbols of my own design (I favor frowny faces).

4.  I looked for courtesy accidentals.  Upon finding none, I inserted my own.  Many publishers use courtesy accidentals to help you realize that the preceding accidental has been cancelled.  The more accidentals a piece has, the more brainpower it requires.  Once there was an old TV game show called “Concentration” where contestants had to keep remembering where the pieces were.  If you don’t appreciate key signatures, go pick up a copy of some Paul Creston.  I’m sure Creston was smart enough to use key signatures;  –the problem was that he modulated so much he figured he didn’t need them.  Most of the time he probably didn’t know what key he was in!

OK, enough of the accidentals rant.  It’s important to know when accidentals are there and when they are cancelled.  Do what you have to do.

5.  I decide tempo and sing (”audiate” i.e. hear in my head) through the most complicated part of the soprano line.  She may be the soloist today, but I’m driving the parade;  –I’ll set the tempo and we can argue about it later.

6.  Finally, I study the most important notes in the bass (i.e. reduction or Schenkerian analysis, for you music theory buffs out there).  If the right hand should get lost in a sea of accidentals, I’ll jettison its part and will momentarily become a one-handed bass player. 

The important things I keep in mind are:  keep the steady beat (unless it’s colla voce),  drive the music defensively (i.e., –act like the soprano drops a beat out of every 3rd or 4th measure and you’ll win a million dollars if you jump in the music with her) and don’t lose your cool.  

Salvation is only a half-step away.

 There you have it:  my 5 minutes of prep.  The performance was fine, btw, and Joyce said ”it’s so nice to work with a real accompanist that’s always ready to go” as  she ambled off in search of food.  Thanks, Joyce. 

Whether  you’re preparing for a studio session or live show, there are some interesting rituals that take place. 

If possible, I also remove my wallet, checkbook, keys and spare change (when I have any) and hide them away in a safe spot.  Sometimes there are no safe spots.  Oh well.

If you have a moment, why not share one?

Thanks,

J  

I never thought I would ever forget my father’s birthday.  We’ve really become very close since Mom’s stroke and Alzheimer’s onset.  And I was wondering just last week what I needed to get him.  I didn’t expect my memory to fail me.  Especially not on  his 94th birthday.  You see, I visit twice a day to give Mom her medicines and he mentioned this evening all the wonderful phone calls relatives made.  

It’s clear how all the job-related hassles, deadlines and responsibilities mean so very little in the long run.  Birthday’s are important.  Very important.  Happy Birthday, Dad.  Belated celebratory plans are being made as I write…

UPDATE!   Dad received cake and ice cream at 5 PM CST along with a generous stash of cookies and some hanging baskets I found at the gardening center.  Mom subsequently forgot that she had forgotten his birthday yesterday too, but neglected to remember what she’d gotten him (or thought she had gotten him).

(Reliable Drum Cat photo borrowed from www.conservativecat.com)

I’m looking for a word to describe those musicians who will show up and do their best even when they’re deathly ill, tired, or troubled in other ways.  Over at GuitarFlame, they’re talking about performers who don’t show up at gigs, rehearsals, etc… and it made me think that I’ve been lucky to have dealt with very few of these types over my years of playing.  I’m seriously trying to remember if I EVER missed a gig.  Seriously.

Don’t think I’m some kind of superman, but I posted recently about my struggle with the flu.  Last night I played a 3 hour rehearsal (from Hell) after working a particularly exhausting 10 hour day(but that’s normal ).  I’ve traveled many, many miles and endured incredibly bad venues (including many churches!) and low (or no) pay but if I told someone I would play, then that’s it;  –I’m going to play. 

OK –mea culpa;  a confession.  Over my years of accompanying (15+ years at TROY), I now recall that there was one senior recital that I missed because my sister-in-law passed away and we had to go back to Indiana.  The player kept the piece on the program and one of my piano-playing students tried to cover for me, but I missed it;  I couldn’t make it.  I still feel guilty about it because that recitalist was depending on me.

So far this post has only been about ME.  I still need to find a word to describe that overwhelming sense of responsibility to the task that a professional musician has.  So help me out:

1.  What’s the word?

2.  What’s your story?  Ever made it to a gig under the most adverse conditions?  Played even when you felt like you were going to die? 

3.  Do you need to confess a missed gig?  If so, post your gig sin here and I’ll see if I can get it absolved.

4.  Do you have a word that adequately describes a musician who thinks nothing of skipping out of an obligation?  (Let’s keep it relatively clean, folks;  I have impressionable students who read this blog!)

 Peace,

J 

Slate Magazine’s William Weir made some good points with Tuesday’s Music Box column: Read the rest of this entry »

Hear 2.0 reminds us of the cyclical nature of the music industry. (ad-supported music).

Media futurist predicts a songwriter’s strike due to the failings of the Performing Rights Organizations (PROs).  I believe there’s a good chance he’s right about this; –the industry and the courts still haven’t gotten a good handle on a digital world without borders.

A lot of bloggers are pointing to the end of the record labels.  I read with interest the post about “Digital is more than just the Internet“  from New Music Strategies.  The point is well taken;  –the industry was not prepared for the wide open spaces and changing formats/distribution methods.  Change takes time and the folks who made a living off the status quo were slow to see the handwriting on the wall.  But don’t rule them out yet.

Seth Godin published some new music lessons for the industry to think about. (hypebot, our digital music).

The Digital Rights Management experiment apparently failed, so the labels will have to come up with something new(our digital music).   My bet=look out for  digital watermarks that track the tracks (Listenerd). 

The RIAA is probably not dead. (Mashable via Listenerd).  I know my job continues to change incrementally.  The same can be said for the industry, even though change can be painfully slow (and those who do not change are condemned to fade away).

Finally, we’re all here for a purpose.  Look at Louis’s post and contemplate the future.  What changes do you need to make?

For you plugin-heads;  a free Vintage meter! (RTAS, VST & Direct X).  (thanks to the Womb board).  Plus a list of more FREE RTAS plugs!

Happy Sunday!

Peace,

J

Notice the balance of the major and minor modes in this ancient carol.  For me, Christmas carols are  a musical journey, taken at the same time each year.  They are like ghosts of a much older meaning;  --one that is obscured by many of the modern trends of this season. 

The new year is a cultural manifestation of an astronomical cycle of seasonal significance.  It can be much more, if you're interested in creating new meanings for yourself.  May the spirit of renewal follow you throughout the coming year. 

Read the rest of this entry »

This was a killer Wednesday and major amounts of “grace” were enjoyed by so many at my end of the building!  This has been a killer semester and the exam grades reflect just how busy we all seem to have been with extraneous things.   In the spirit of reflection and overall adherence to academic standards, I offer the following 2 videos: Read the rest of this entry »