#musicianship

[wtf-tfw]

trans person: i'm trans

society: ok

that guy from CAKE: aww yeah. awww no. awww right.

[teledyn]

Steve Lacy's notes from his time with Thelonius Monk

[adrianvarelablog]

Reflections on an interdisciplinary composition workshop

Connections across time and genres: in a recent composition workshop, The Cure informed students’ understanding of Bach’s counterpoint, and the structure underlying Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ was revealed to stretch, via Beethoven and da Vinci, all the way back to ancient Greece. External tools show us more clearly who we are, and can make us better composers and performers.

What is the approach?

I was recently invited by the head of music in a secondary school to lead a composition workshop for A-level music students.

My practice is based on reframing the object of study within new, different parameters: specifically, how the contemporary popular music the students are familiar with, has deep roots reaching hundreds and thousands of years back, and conversely, how aspects of historical music that are studied in depth in the classroom, are applied ubiquitously without them realising it, in the music of today. This exploration is undertaken through a re-, or de-contextualisation, of the issue at hand, which allows for individual aspects of music to be analysed more clearly, as well as through other tools, such as drawing parallels from tropes from the Arts and Sciences to elucidate musical analysis and practices. In this setting, interaction with the students and their invaluable input, are vital components in navigating the intersections of these disparate, albeit connected, musical worlds, and of the issues this cross-pollination uncovers. The seeds of this approach as a practice were planted during my Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music, and have since evolved into these rewarding workshops.

How does it work?

The Composition Workshop I refer to here took the shape of a 3-session, 5-hour day. Session 1 was in turn split into three parts, where students were guided through three large areas of music: texture, development, and structure.

In the first, textural portion, they were introduced, through their own performance, to a reframing of the concept of counterpoint through contemporary pop music. Stripped of its historical baggage, students garnered a deeper, more immediate understanding of counterpoint, how it works, what works and doesn’t, and how to make a texture intentionally clearer or murkier. Then, we analysed a deceptively simple developmental device free from its historical context, used exclusively -albeit ubiquitously- by Beethoven, as a potential tool for their own compositional toolkits, applied specifically to narrative development. Finally, we applied certain well-known tropes in the visual arts and mathematics to the analysis of musical structure, discovering how these ideas, hiding in plain sight, underpin the vast majority of both small and large-scale structure of most Western popular and art music of the last 400 years.­ This was done through a famous musical number, tracing its structural blueprint forwards from current popular music and film, all the way back to the Classical period and beyond, with roots in ancient Greek mathematics, drama, and philosophy; in a word, our common heritage, and a clear show of why the musical works we value -past, present and our own- are as they are.

Having opened the space with these alternative materials, Session 2 was left more open, for the students to bring their concerns to the table. I offered several options including an open forum, ranging from the most technical to the abstract, a ‘harmony lab’, and even an ‘intervals boot camp’ -this session was left entirely up to them. The head proposed critiquing each student’s work at their computers, going from one to the next like a simultaneous chess exhibition. Because of recurring issues in their work and time constraints, after looking at 3 or 4 of their pieces, one piece was selected to be put up on the main board to be analysed, critiqued, and worked on in depth. We saw how some of the issues of Session 1 were at play underneath the surface of their compositions, and how through clearly identifying them with the aid of these re-contextualising prisms, their work could be made stronger and more organic -in a word, better compositions.  

For the third and final session, I had originally planned to return to further compositional techniques, by looking at some non-digital means, to explore creativity free from the restraints of sequencer-based software. But the head made an interesting suggestion: in order to demonstrate the challenges of the actual process of composition, could I please there and then, compose something new, in front of the whole class? I took on this unexpected challenge, talking through the brief, the compositional process, questions, challenges, and potential artistic and technical solutions to the task at hand while I wrote, with the aid of student input, a passage of music to accompany a theoretical ‘chase scene in a film’.

How did the students respond?

For me, creating and thinking about stronger, and new, connections between past and present, and between art and popular music, and being to be able to convey to the students, the power and potential of this type of cross-genre, pan-temporal virtuosity, are challenges that make pedagogy, composition, and performance hugely rewarding. But even more rewarding, is hearing audible gasps, ‘Whoah!’s, watching jaws and pennies drop, and other expressions of amazement in the room, as the students suddenly hear, or realise, that something exquisite is happening inside music they’ve known all their lives, or how Tchaikowsky and Queen both knew how to manage and subvert expectations in the exact same way, yet none of this had registered with them before.

Is it really necessary to step outside classical music to study it?

Recontextualization, decontextualization, and cross-fertilising resources from other types of music and from other disciplines in and outside art, such as mathematics- are powerful tools, when wanting to analyse music, and when analysing it with a view to developing students’ composition and performance skills, as well as one’s own. It is a way to bring theory, history, and all society together, in order to contextualise contemporary and historical music; and to understand ourselves and what we are doing, better, by spotting ourselves in the past.

From a purely practical standpoint, I find it handy to have a vast, perpetually growing, arsenal of technical, musical, cultural, and philosophical weaponry, so that when the workshop -like a river- takes whichever direction it does in the moment, it can be followed and supported by a wide cultural, cross-fertilising foundation, both contemporary and/or historical, and via popular and/or ‘art’ music.

Is this a one-size-fits-all workshop?

On reflection, one five-hour workshop day for an A-level group, is just enough time to introduce these concepts at entry level, and to then follow the teacher’s lead, but no more. Perhaps focussing on just one or two of these concepts per workshop would enable students to get to grips with them, and actually be able to begin to explore their application.

Undergraduate and post-graduate-level students have more maturity to grapple with these ideas and run with them; they are also a bit more aware of the world around them, and of the need to explore outside the constraints of the ever-narrowing bubbles their social media, streaming, etc. algorithms so effectively -and unwaveringly- seek to isolate them in.

For GCSE, only one of the ideas above, per workshop, would likely be more than enough.

Another alternative, for all age groups, could be to plan more than one workshop over one or two school years. This would enable students to absorb some of these powerful techniques and apply them to their course requirements, ideas that could then continue to be developed on their own, further down the line.

Any final thoughts?

I found it hugely rewarding to work as a team with the professionals in charge of the youths, as they are in the best position to select, out of this cornucopia-come-toolbox, what would better suit the students in their charge at this stage.­­­ There are tons of ideas to exchange. I’ll be returning soon.

[gltsmoking]

"I Thought About You"

Performed by Diane Schuur on the 1993 release "Love Songs"

A breathtaking performance on all levels. Dynamic vocalist and pianist Diane Schuur ("Deedles") is chilling, smoothly wafting vocal phrasing from the soul in this beautiful big band arrangement by Tom Scott of a standard written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mercer in 1939. The production quality of this piece—for that matter, the entire album—is amazing; I'd call it pristine, and it is impeccably executed by a host of notable talent, including the great Hubert Laws on flute. (see complete listing below)

But, Schuur's vocals! Oh my! And, the meaty growl of the upright bass... And that flute solo! I'm in love!

Diane Schuur—vocals, Tom Scott—all saxes, Hubert Laws—flute, Chuck Domanico—bass, Roger Kellaway—piano, Will Kennedy—drums.

Produced by Tom Scott with Lynne Scott as the associate producer.

[jellogram]

It's okay to quit your hobby.

If you pick up and abandon a new hobby that doesn't mean it was a waste of time. If you start learning a new language and give up you still know more about the world than when you started. Maybe you forgot how to play that song on piano but you still understand music a little better for trying.

The goal of learning something new shouldn't ALWAYS be to have a lifelong skill and to be the best. Not everything will speak to you. The goal should be to learn something about yourself and the world around you.

[favemusiclessons]

How To Become a Better Guitarist While Away From the Guitar

Become a better guitarist at work, on long car rides, or away from your guitar. Memorize your triad notes, relative keys, sketch out music scales, and more!

Memorizing the Notes of the Triad Chords  

Memorizing Relative Keys

Strengthen Your Interval Knowledge

Sketching Out Scale Grids

Finger Scales

Memorizing the Circle of Fifths  

Become an Active Music Listener  

Mental Visualization/Hearing

Hear the chord?

Mental Singing

Tapping Out Beats

[songwritingtipsandtricks]

To be, or not to be a Songwriter - Songwriting Tips & Tricks

Hi everyone, Did you ever ask yourself, what it really means to be a songwriter? Is it just the lyrics, is it the music, is there more to it? What describes a songwriter best? Well, this episode is focused on what parts come together to form the term songwriter. We discuss the mindset you should have when turning to these parts and to steadily grow as an artist. So what do you think makes up a good songwriter? Let me know of any opinion or feedback you might have on this, and other episodes in the comments or via Facebook, Instagram or Tumblr. Happy songwriting and all the best. Cheers, Kieper keywords for this episodes are: poetry, author, musicianship, painter, artist, Emily Dickinson, music theory, playwright, songwright, black lives matter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/songwritingtipsandtricks/message

To be, or not to be a songwriter transcript

Hello and welcome everyone again, to a new episode of Songwriting Tips and Tricks. My name is Kieper, and I am really excited to talk to you again today. Thank you so much for the reviews and messages you send to me in the last weeks. If you like the show so far, please consider sharing it with friends that could benefit from it and leave a review on whatever platform you are using.

In the last episode, we've been talking about songwriting while at home during the corona pandemic and a possible lockdown. This time, however, I want to focus more on what a songwriter, in fact, is. Are we modern-day poets? Are we, full-fledged musicians or are we authors? Playwrights to some degree perhaps? What do the lines that we write really mean in context?

Maybe some of you ask themselves what art they are producing. And to be honest, I ask this question most of the time. I mean from a literature point of view, we are developing plots, we are searching for rhymes and words and maybe even look for the meter. On the other hand, as musicians, we try to make the lyrics fit the melody and meter of the music that was composed by us or others, or we are trying to find a suitable melody to words we have written. So what really is a songwriter?

One could argue that songwriters are modern-day poets. But this definition is somewhat limited. Because as songwriters, we do what feels right to us, and fits the music. We do not count the meter rigidly or know about iambs, dactyls or anything else. Another thing is that most of us write about day-to-day life. This sure is something to write about, yet it means that a lot of other issues are not being touched by songs. Many songwriters, think about marketing too early and write what might attract an audience. But that is not art, is it? I mean, you could be paid to write a song about something, but the most powerful songs are those that are inspired by things that happen to you or you observe. These songs also cover things that were not in the spotlight or only had little media coverage.

So if you are an aspiring songwriter, what would you chose to do? Would you like to write songs that are empowering people and have topics and viewpoints that no one else uses, or would you like to be someone creating standard pop songs that will be lost over the centuries, decades, or years? Because it is not those that do things like the rest that stand out, but those that dare to do something different. Perhaps when you are writing your next song, try to write about something else except love. Maybe you are familiar with Emily Dickinson, who was a famous American poet from the 19th century. Her poems got published only after her death, so she never got any credit for it in her life. She wrote about her experiences, and often time her thoughts on death and the life that follows. As a woman, she was not allowed to neither vote nor did she had access to a proper education. She was not religious or spiritual in any way. And despite all this, she kept writing and kept around 2000 poems hidden in a chest in her room. She wrote about everything that inspired her, not thinking about how to market it or how to put it on Spotify. Now you might argue, alright, there was no Spotify or anything like it at that time. You're right, and to make it worse, as a woman, it was appreciated to publish anything or have a perspective on things. But poetry was her life, so she kept writing but to save the reputation of the family, she never published anything herself.

I would call this dedication to art. If you want to have an insight into some poetry of this great poet, head over to Tumblr and search the blog to this podcast, as this month is the month of Dickinson on Songwriting Tips & Tricks.  

So songwriters are poets in a way, as we write poems in a way. But as I mentioned before, we need to find original topics to write about or incorporate to stand out and not just be one more songwriter. The most natural approach is to read poetry. Really do it every day. Ranging from ancient greek or roman poetry to modern-days there is tons of poetry or writings from philosophers that might ignite a spark of some sort and get you off that beaten track. Be the one songwriter in a room at open mic nights, that has read the most poetry and consequently has songs that carry something more. You will know how poetry works and how to build tension. Don't let the music do that, it hardly ever will do the trick on its own.

Are we authors? Well, in a way yes, as songwriters try to write a coherent story with different protagonists, and various narrative approaches. If you need more insight on this, listen to the episode "Wait, who's talking' to hear more about narrative situations. But most beginner songwriters do not think about structuring their songs beforehand. They just start writing.  Which is good of course, as we need to start somewhere. But have a look at famous songs, there is a clear structure in the plot. I am not talking about the verse, chorus or bridge, but about the introduction, central part, and the closure. It bears a close resemblance to novels sometimes. But we do not have 500 pages to get to the end, instead just 3 1/2 minutes until the end, or a minute to get to the chorus. So it is essential to know what to say when. People will need to understand immediately what the story is about and what to expect, even if the theme is new to them. Still, it is essential to surprise them at any part of the song. Structure your plot before and while you are writing. Try using a mindmap or a storyboard to help you structure. Try to know that character in detail, how she moves, how she looks, what sound her snore has and so forth. Try to find inspiration in people around you. Maybe let her say a phrase that your co-worker in your sideline in a fast-food restaurant says or have hair like a person on the train. Basing story upon facts from reality is a potent mechanism to make a story relatable. You could as well chose traits of characters from your favourite film or tv-series to adapt in your songs.

Are we playwrights? Well, that is a tough question, in combination with the previous question, I would say to some degree we are, but only while writing the song. We direct when a character is to appear and what it does. Adding the music, this is a lot more relevant. We need to know, at what point what part of the story is suited best, if the music does fit at all. You might as well want to put your favourite book or film into a song. Then it is crucial to strip it down to the key-concepts to make it fit the time frame. And when I say time-frame, this is a part that authors are less concerned with. We know that we have limited time to tell our story and we know when a change in the music happens and how it sounds. So perhaps think of yourself not as a playwright but as a songwright, as you are focussed on auditive input rather than visual input. The song is our stage, and we need to know what has to happen when, why and how.

So turning over to music. Are we musicians? Well, yes, of course. This is what got us started on songwriting in the first place, wasn't it? But think about your music education, have you been taught traditionally, or did you learn most of the stuff yourself? If you know how to play your instrument, do you play other instruments as well? Do you know music theory by heart or do you need to google all the times? Did you play in a band or know about arrangement through YouTube or other sources? How solid is your music background really? This is a question that bugs me most of the time. I taught myself how to play the guitar, and I have been singing my whole life, but I always doubt my musicianship. I'm binge-watching music theory fundamentals and teach myself other instruments to close these blank spaces that a traditional education would not have left perhaps. I even bought a midi drum set to work on micro timing with apps like melodics and co. Yes, we are musicians, but at what stage of our musical journey we are is in our own hands. It is essential to learn new things every day. If you don't, you will get frustrated. So consider taking half an hour each day to learn music theory, listen to intervals, learn fancy chords and songs that use it. Listen to new music even. Dare to make your own set of rules and break it again. This is how you grow, both in music and in writing.

So next time, when you are writing a song, use a random song and try to use the chord progression or time signature, combine songs and styles, take as much input from other as you can. Because this way, your music will always be different, but still yours. Your music will be instantly more exciting and attract audiences as it incorporates a lot of genres and styles.

So now let us talk about something, I am raving about. Painting pictures with words really is in the domain of poets, but try to imagine for a second that you were an artist and you have a blank canvas in front of you. Where would you start? What colour would you use? And in the end, what picture do you see in front of your inner eye? What should this picture invoke in the mind of an audience? Pictures might tell more than a thousand words, but the right or wrong words in context could meet or destroy expectations. Try to describe as vividly as possible, shed light on detail that was previously hidden. Dare to be the Picasso that paints melting clock. Try to be irrational in the creation and later judge what you've done. Dare to take bold turns. The song is yours, and if you do not want to share it with anybody, put it in a box like Dickinson did.

So much on what we as songwriters are. Do you have another comparison or idea, that could touch the work of songwriters? Don't bother sending any feedback or opinion you have via Facebook, Instagram, Wordpress or Tumblr. I'll gladly reply and perhaps talk about this in the next episode.

If you like the program, I'd really appreciate, if you rate and review the show or episode on the platform you are listening to right now.

Thank you again for tuning in once more and staying tuned on Songwriting Tips & Tricks.

[msfoord]

Thanks, to everyone who tuned into my "Live" grwm, today, where I sung through my upcoming Christmas Album, that will be released, soon! I'll plan a "live", maybe next week, where I'll preform all of the songs on my album - so that'll be exciting! 🎄 #Christmas #Vintage #Retro #PinUp #ChristmasTree #Xmas #Sewing #christmas #christmastime #christmasiscoming #christmasgifts #christmasdecor #christmasdecorations #christmas2020 #musician #musicians #musicianlife #musicianslife #musiciansofinstagram #musiciansdaily #musicianship #musiciansoncall #musicianlifestyle #singersofinstagram #singer #songwriter #singersongwriter https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYELwahbTQ/?igshid=18wzxeqdu39hk