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Music Production Story Time

September 23, 2012 in Composition, General Music, Improvisation, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 0 Comments

In The Not-So-Distant Future (la la la)

(In this play, Randy will be crustily portraying the role of Grandpa)

Kids: “Grandpa, tell us again about the days before Auto-Tune!”

Grandpa: “Well, I know it’s hard to imagine, but there were these people called singers who could stand in front of an audience or a microphone and perform a song from beginning to end! ”

Kids: “But didn’t they use a computer to fix wrong notes?”

Grandpa: “No, they actually sang the whole song correctly!”

Kids: “But that’s not possible!”

Triads Over Bass Part II: Add 11

August 31, 2012 in Arranging, Composition, General Music, Improvisation, Music Theory, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 0 Comments

In our last lesson, We discussed the use of major triads superimposed various intervals above a bass note. Adding tones to these triads can make these voicings even richer. One of many ways to enhance these triads is to add the 11th or perfect 4th to the triads. Not to be confused with sus4 chords, where the 4th replaces the 3rd, these chords keep the 3rd and add the 11th, creating a four-note shape.

The Myth of Difficulty

August 28, 2012 in General Music, Improvisation, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 0 Comments

When confronting a task, it is common for people to describe it as “difficult,” or “hard.” While superficially valid, these labels do little to move us toward completion. In fact, they may lead us in the wrong direction. Let’s re-examine our concept of “difficulty.”

Keyboard Harmony: Triads over Bass I

August 24, 2012 in Arranging, Composition, General Music, Improvisation, Music Theory, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 1 Comment

In a previous video, we discussed learning the various major triads by playing them through the cycles of 4ths and 5ths. In this lesson, we will learn some ways to use these triads to build more complex chords.

What To Do When You Mess Up

August 17, 2012 in General Music, Improvisation, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 5 Comments

We all have had gigs where things didn’t go so well. If you are new to the field, these may be agonizing and discouraging, and even if you are a veteran, they are still pretty bad. Let’s talk about how to handle this humiliation and learn from it, since nobody is immune…

Three Keys to Improvisation

August 15, 2012 in General Music, Improvisation, Music Theory, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 0 Comments

Improvisation is the spontaneous creation of music. Depending on the style, there will be various guidelines and boundaries that define what will work, but in all these situations, there are three skills that need to be in balance. All of these can be improved using organized practice methods, as we discussed in this post.

Keyboard Harmony: Triads in Cycles

August 10, 2012 in Arranging, Composition, General Music, Improvisation, Music Theory, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 4 Comments

Cycle of 4ths

Here is a lesson on practicing major triads through the cycle of 4ths. The pattern of chords ascending by perfect 4ths (two whole-steps and one half-step) is fundamental to tonal harmony, and is sometimes called “strong root motion.” Practicing these patterns helps us learn to find these chords in all 12 keys, and in an order they often appear.

Bad Digital Keyboard Actions (Why does it hurt when I play?)

August 4, 2012 in General Music, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 2 Comments

Ever wonder why some keyboards are harder to play than others, or why your hands hurt after a gig on certain keyboards? In this article, we are going to look at certain design elements that make some keyboards hard to play. I tested a selection of keyboards available to me as a cross-section.

Many musicians focus on the amount of force it takes to press the keys, called touch weight. While this is important, here we will examine some other design features that can really mess up our ability to perform:

The Three Elements of Practice Part II

July 24, 2012 in General Music, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 6 Comments

Reinforcement

Last time we discussed repetition, the act of playing the same passage over and over in a short time-span. In this article, we will discuss the second element in successful practice.

As we learned in part 1, repetition is effective for a limited time; after this short period, continuing to repeat can waste time as well as lead to daydreaming and joint pain. Furthermore, we can only learn so much in one session, no matter how long we do our drills. How can we imprint the skills we want to have so they are consistent and available to us? Through what I call reinforcement, or the process of forgetting and re-learning.

The Three Elements of Practice Part I

July 23, 2012 in General Music, Piano/Keyboard, Practice with 10 Comments

Practicing is a personal activity; no two people are the same, and this also goes for practice. However, there are some fundamental forces that are part of the learning experience for all of us. Learning to use and balance these processes will lead to successful and efficient use of our precious time. In this series, we will discuss the three elements of successful practice.

The First Element: Repetition

This may seem obvious; everybody knows you have to repeat things to learn. However, what we are discussing here is a very specifically structured activity, geared toward building muscle memory. Here are my suggestions on how to optimize the use of repetition.

Page 1 of 212 »

Music Production Story Time

Triads Over Bass Part II: Add 11

The Myth of Difficulty

Keyboard Harmony: Triads over Bass I

What To Do When You Mess Up

Three Keys to Improvisation

Keyboard Harmony: Triads in Cycles

Bad Digital Keyboard Actions (Why does it hurt when I play?)

The Three Elements of Practice Part II

The Three Elements of Practice Part I

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