Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Popular and Rock Music Piano Tips - Part 1
Here is the latest video on playing pop piano. These are tricks that can be applied to many popular songs where there is a singer or a band. It primarily focuses on the role of the piano in modern popular and rock music. Have fun with this.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Why I'm celebrating Willie Nelson and his 80th birthday...
This Tuesday, April 30, will be the 80th birthday of Willie Nelson. This has become a yearly holiday in my musical calendar the last five years. Andy Sells and I were playing a weekly gig across the street from my house at the Park Pub and randomly decided to do a Willie Nelson night on his birthday. That was the first time I had sung at a show for over ten years. I’m positive I didn’t sound very good. But I later discovered it wasn’t the point.
Relearning those songs triggered the awakening of a voice that I never realized I had. This musical self-discovery is still in process as I hope it always will be. But I think the right thing hit me at the right time. And the right thing was the power of Willie Nelson’s musical vision and his artistic voice.
For years I had been guided musically by voices such as Miles Davis, Bjork, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Sly and the Family Stones, Squarepusher and Bill Frisell to name a few. But as a small child I spent hours listening to vinyl and singing along with the Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson classics. I remember strumming along on the guitar as well - but I suspect I wasn't hitting the right chords.
Relearning those Willie Nelson songs brought me full circle musically. It brought me back to the sounds that first mesmerized me. These sounds made something gradually click for me. The light bulb faded on slowly and I began to see the connection between Miles, Bjork, Prince, Joni and all the artist I had become enamored with over the years. As I rediscovered the music of Willie Nelson, I discovered for the first time after many years the reason I always wanted to play music.
I realized I would never be a comfortable keyboard guy who could play the right part at the right time using the right sound. Those gigs (which I have done a lot of) really stress me out because I can’t relate to that role very well. But Willie’s music connected me to the source of what turns me on about playing and listening to music.
 |
| Willie and wife Connie with Miles Davis |
All of my musical heroes are considered rebellious because they didn’t conform to what the industry and society told them was ok. This rebellion was not contrived to get attention, to gain a following, to shock the world into taking notice. It was a rebellion that actually put us in touch with our true and most basic self. It may or may not be intellectually or academically groundbreaking. It is a sound and vision that strips away the unnecessary layers that society, politics, marketing, education, religion, the music industry and all institutions put between us and our own integrity. It is sad that this constitutes as rebellion, but I suppose this is why we need rebellion and this is why we need heroes.
Willie Nelson is a hero figure in the classic sense. He has been honest and open about his lowest points in life and shares them as equals to his peaks in life. He has used his own suffering to evolve personally and musically. He has broken down prejudices against gays, African-Americans, minorities, religious leaders and anyone who people don’t consider to have a place at the table - and has done so without shouting, screaming or being angry. He does this with quiet grace and openness.
Musically, he exudes that same grace and openness as he courageously stays in each moment. Always in tune with the room and the situation, he makes the song not just his own - but the listeners’ as well. In the music business there is always pressure to play something the same way each time. Willie makes sure he plays it the right way each time - not the same way. He moves air with his sound that penetrates us to our true self. And in my case awoke something that had been dying to come out for years.
So on yet another run of Willie Nelson birthday shows this upcoming week, I am very grateful for this true American treasure who is now turning 80 years old.
I sincerely thank you Willie Nelson.
Michael Stegner
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Practicing the Unknown
Once students establish an effective routine in practice, it is always fascinating to see what they do when they practicing. Often we practice something for a long time only to feel that our progress doesn't match our efforts. In my opinion, this is a choice to feel this way. It is a choice in how we practice. I only say that because I often fell into the pitfall of associating the amount of time to the success of my practice.
I used to be so impressed by the stories of people who practiced eight hours a day. I did this for many years thinking this was the trick to improving a lot. Then I realized that I wasn’t improving as much as I would like during the eight hours, so I became convinced by teachers and mentors that correct repetition during the practice sessions was the key. This did help me considerably. Lately through teaching and my own practice, I have found the element that was missing from the first two approaches was the “unknown.”
When I practiced something that I was already comfortable with for any amount of time, my focus dipped. I could go on autopilot and waste valuable time. Then my eight hours really turned into a diversion - not a practice.
As a young student, it was stressed to me that I repeat something three times, five times or seven times in a row before speeding up the tempo or moving on to something else. Neuroplasticians have proven that our brain does not benefit from this static repetition. Mastery grows and our brains benefit from incremental practice. Every time we do something, the stakes should get higher (or change). The tempo should get a little faster. We add another hand or part to the mix. We change the key. We force the issue into the unknown.
I can’t begin to count the times when I would dutifully put the metronome at the tempo recommended by my teacher and have it pound away all week as I repeated the assignment. Not only was it boring, it wasn’t helping me very much because I could zone out.
The flaw with this type of practice is that it doesn’t encourage our connection and engagement with what we create. This is very sad and frustrating. I would even go one step further and say that we can’t possibly create when this is the method.
If we as music teachers get frustrated about sports, video games, dance and all the other activities competing with our time; we really only need to look in the mirror. The thing that those activities have in common is that they emphasize incremental improvement. Whereas we were often taught that the way to play music is to do the same thing over and over again. When we play video games, we are excited for the next unknown challenge. When we play sports we want to rise to new challenges and improve. We get hooked on the unknown and the next adventure.
The culture of teaching music has become so repertoire driven, that teachers may confuse harder and/or “more fun” pieces as incremental progress. Sadly, this only encourages students to perform moderately more difficult pieces in the same way they have played their previous pieces... Good... Average... Poor... All detached from the creative process of performing. In sports they call it “going through the motions.” It's not fun to do no matter what activity we apply it.
Since I use the motto in my teaching studio of “four or more,” let’s start with that. We play each assignment four or more times each day. Here are ways you could use the metronome (or MIDI/play-along tracks) to practice the same piece for a week. Let’s say the piece has a suggested tempo or end-of-week goal of 105.
Day 1 (Traditional):
First Repetition - Metronome at 60
Second Repetition - Metronome at 67
Third Repetition - Metronome at 74
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 81
Day 2 (Traditional - Increase Tempo):
First Repetition - Metronome at 60
Second Repetition - Metronome at 70
Third Repetition - Metronome at 80
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 90
Day 3 (Traditional - Build Tempo Threshold):
First Repetition - Metronome at 75
Second Repetition - Metronome at 85
Third Repetition - Metronome at 95
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 105
Day 4 (Reverse Metronome):
First Repetition - Metronome at 60
Second Repetition - Metronome at 50
Third Repetition - Metronome at 40
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 30
Day 5 (Slow, Slower, Fast, Faster):
First Repetition - Metronome at 50
Second Repetition - Metronome at 40
Third Repetition - Metronome at 90
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 100
Day 6 (Extreme Tempos):
First Repetition - Metronome at 40
Second Repetition - Metronome at 30
Third Repetition - Metronome at 110
Fourth Repetition - Metronome at 120
Try this out and let me know how it goes. Be slightly uncomfortable and engaged the whole time. Embrace the unknown and see if it doesn’t help your connection to the music.
Michael Stegner
“Like” me on Facebook - Michael Stegner Music Page
Friday, April 5, 2013
Creating Positive Musical Experiences Through Practice Routines
Several students have recently come out of musical ruts because we were able to get organized with their practice and they were willing to embrace a simple practice routine. It is always frustrating when we as students or teachers think that something sounds better the previous lesson than it does at the beginning of the current lesson. In group lessons, students get frustrated when they start to lag behind the others even when they are more than capable of keeping up.
When we go through these down phases it is often due to falling out of a practice routine. It seems easy enough to just get back on the horse. But it really isn’t. We start to feel all the times we didn’t get our work done stacking up and creating an insurmountable “to do” list. We make it bigger than it may be and therefore we put it off longer.
This is when you may hear your child or yourself say that it’s time to quit and move on from this whole music thing. This age-old statement starts to pop up, “I just don’t like piano any more.” In group lessons students going through these dips in practice can act out in classes with behavior issues because they feel they are slowing their peers down.
Lately I have found a simple and practical way to gently pull students out of these times and make them less traumatic. I think there will still be these times but often practice routines are the root of the dissatisfaction in learning music.
Putting emphasis on one day of practice is most beneficial in regaining momentum for playing music. A weighted practice chart of the days in the week is really helpful to students. For example; if their lesson is on a Monday, Tuesday is the most important day of the practice week. Then after Tuesday, Wednesday is the most important day of the practice week. Then Thursday is the most important day of the week. By emphasizing the days right after the lesson the students will retain the information and build momentum.
Most of us get caught in a our ruts innocently enough when we decide we just had our lesson and can take a couple of days off before ramping things back up. The problem with this is that the day you planned to practice coincides with soccer practice, birthday parties, weekend trips, etc. Before you know it, it’s the day before the lesson and it’s panic time. We don’t remember all the nuances of what was covered in the lesson, we cram our practice(s) in, show up to the lesson stressed and then the process repeats itself because the mountain seems more insurmountable the next time around.
This is an ideal practice routine for someone struggling to get in the groove (or any of us for that matter):
Tuesday - Lesson
Tuesday post lesson - very short review practice
Wednesday - Master one new concept on each assigned piece
Thursday - Master another new concept on each assigned piece and review Wednesday’s work
Friday - Master another new concept on each assigned piece - review Wednesday’s and Thursday’s concepts.
Saturday - Repeat the same thing. Review previous concepts.
Sunday - Ideally repeat the same thing - but if you’re going to take a day off this may be the one.
Monday - Review everything so you feel good about Tuesday’s lesson.
I have found as a teacher, if I list out the days and have the students circle each day they follow the script then lessons go really well. The students can see the cause and effect of doing the routine, having a great lesson and feeling really good about playing music.
High school and college students can make spreadsheets and email it to the teacher the night before. This helps give them something very concrete to attach to their feelings about playing and practicing music.
It doesn’t take long for the youngest to the oldest students to see the correlation between spending productive time and enjoying the activity.
I’ll write a follow-up to this, but one essential component to this is that we work on new material when we practice. Many of our ruts our self-induced because we stick with what we’re able to do. No matter how great something is when we first learn it, it will get stale. The energy of always working on something new will snowball into a sustained positive experience. Constantly playing something we mastered a month, week or day before leads to a dip in the enjoyment and productivity of the creative/practice process.
Hopefully this is helpful.
Michael Stegner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)