TIME TO PRACTICE

Hoday!

Some of you have asked what does "Hoday" mean. Well it's a mix between Howdy and How-Day. Get it? I know, it's a wierd sense of humor. Anyway...

No matter if you're practicing for an upcoming jazz gig or a classical music recital this is the time to think about next year and how you want to approach your profession. A lot of success comes out of mental preparation and visualization. If you can see yourself performing you can practice while putting yourself in that environment. Yes, I'm talking about pretending! If you pretend your actually sitting in front of a musical jury, or an audience then you can remember how you did it in practice when you're actually performing!

By doing this, you will eliminate much of the nerves because you can mentally put yourelf back into the practice studio and take yourself out of the environment that is making you nervous - make sense? It does for me and it has done so for many years. I continually pretend that I'm playing for huge audiences so that I can think about how I want to act in front of them.

I have, in the past, been complimented on how I seem so happy on stage because I'm always smiling and acting like I enjoy being on stage when in reality I'm usually ready to upchuck 90% of the time! And the beautiful part of visualizing performances is that after a time it becomes second nature and the nerves somehow fade away as you act like you been there before. You become this calm and easy-to-get-along-with person who comes off as professional, confident, and inspirational. I'm not saying that I inspire people but I do see people who lash-out at others because they're simply nervous.

So now is the time to project who you want to be in front of the audience. Make sure people know that you're sincere about your passions by having successful performances. Nothing speaks louder about yourself than when people see you perform. Don't let anyone walk over your desires, it's OK to goof around with friends but they will respect you differently when they see you on stage. Visualize your performance while practicing and you might just find yourself in those real performances and you will thank yourself, be less nervous, and be ready to give the audience what they want - sincerity and honesty. It just happens!

Thanks for Reading

Showa!

DENVER'S GOT A WHITE CHRISTMAS

Hoday and Happy Holidays!

I thought some of you living down south would like to see our White Christmas from the Blizzard of 06!

FINDING TIME TO PRACTICE

Hoday, and Happy Holidays!

As with everything else going on this holiday season when are you going to find time to practice? Well here's some helpful hints to keep your mind on music as you shop, stand in line, or drive.

1) It's amazing how many musicians do this! As you shop you are constantly walking. What better way to practice than to tap out rhythm with your hands and feet while walking. You can have fun with hemiolas between your hands and feet and you're the only person who has to know! And while you're tapping your way to rhythm try tapping out a song you just heard on the radio, or tap out a song you're practicing at home.

2) While standing in line at the grocery store or department store listen to the music thery're providing over the musak! Yes I know you will want to avoid this but since you're trapped in their environment why not try to anaylze the music! Make a game out of guessing what scale degree the chord changes are making. Try and guess the intervals of major and minor. Recognize the sections of the orchestra and their individual instruments!

3) Actually, while driving you should probably concentrate on just driving. But just in case you get stuck in a traffic jam make sure to bring along a CD of the music you're working on so during the down time you can visualize yourself performing the piece. Again, anaylze the music between major and minor intervals, listen to the chord changes and scale degrees, and put yourself in the performance environment!

If you can't practice, keep your mind focused on music and it will lead the desire to get back to your instrument and try the things you may have thought of during your time away!

Have a great holiday and see you next semester!

Thanks for Reading

John

YOU'RE BETTER THAN YOU THINK!

Hoday! What Interval Is This?

Many of my Aural Skills Students have come to me independently to tell me about how they think they're not good enough to succeed in music. However, what I have found is that each one of them has a special talent of some kind in the arts. Whether it is in performance, composition, musicology, every single student (ALL OF YOU) have the ability to succeed.

Why do you have to take Aural Skills? In Aural Skills we study a number of areas in music; Sight Reading, Rhythm Performance & Dictation, Harmonic Dictation, Melodic Dication, Sight Singing, Interval Recognition, and other little devices to expose weaknesses! But it's not about exposing weakness it's about finding out who you are as a musician. Aural Skills is one of the only classes that will give you feeback on what you need to work on the most. And even though some may be weak in some areas, others will be strong in other areas. Nobody is immune from mistakes - especially me!

Just remember who you are in your music. You began somehow loving what you do, something happened to awaken you to this dream and something is moving you along within it - it's almost out of your hands so just flow with it and immerse yourself in the current world in which you live. You are about to be exposed to more experiences that would never of happened without this degree!

We teachers do care in fact, you're all we talk about! So please come to us about anything even if it's not about music, we'll listen. My advice is to PERSERVERE through college, you will be very proud of your accomplishments and ready to face just about anything life has to throw at you! Abandon all Preconceptions - You're Better Than You Think!

Thanks for Reading!

John

WHY CAN'T I MAKE SENSE OF MY SOLO

Hoday and welcome,

One of my students recently came to me with a problem. He was dead-ended in one his soloing efforts. So I asked him to play it for me and within 41 measures I could tell what the main problem was - there was no 32 bar phrasing! So the first thing I suggested was that he analyze his lead in terms of 4 X 8 bar phrases.

I told him that if he starts in a lower range for the first 8 bars then went to a higher range for the second 8 bars and then maybe change to a faster note value in a lower range for the third 8 bars and then perhaps even faster note values in a higher range for the last 8 bars that he would not only find himself expanding the same material but he would also be changing dynamics with the group and ending the solo climatically in a higher range. Always end solos with a climax and the audience will respond favorably.

I also explained to look at the group at the end of each of the 8 bar phrases and conduct them to rasie and lower their dynamics along with him. And then I explained that it's imperative that he looks up just before the end of the last 8 bars to signal the group that he's done then the group will be tighter and feel better about their performance. So remember analyze your music, practice your solo form, and make visual contact with your performers!

It's you're time to shine, so take command and be the leader.

Later, Thanks for Reading

John