Be The Music

Spanish Music

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:10:46 -0600

I love spanish music... It is a passionate music written with dance rhythms that are hard to listen to without at least considering dancing. It’s a music that compels me to grab my guitar almost without choice.

Spanish music does indeed have a very intimate relationship with my main instrument-the guitar and much of any classical guitar players repertoire is made up if it. It’s very different from most of the music we listen to in that most spanish music is associated with a dance. Below I’ve included a video of a modern samba. I’ve never watched the show but the video is from an episode of “So you think you can dance” and they actually do a pretty good job. Enjoy the passion and excitement the music exhibits and the interpretation of that in the dance.

I’ve also included a video of a song I composed and recorded this week in the spanish style for you to enjoy.

ps-I will be backpacking next week and won’t be able upload a new post so I’ll be back here with a new post in two weeks.

Salud!

Effort is What Sets Us Apart

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 11:24:21 -0600

Last week I talked about the importance playing slowly and perfectly when you’re learning a new piece. I said:

“We all would love to get results without the effort but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Nothing will just come your way unless you put in the effort first.”

but when I read it again I realized I was partly wrong. The second part is true, we have to put the effort in to get results but that’s not really an unfortunate thing...

The effort we put in is what sets us apart. If we could all get results without any effort then we would all end up looking very much alike. The effort required to get results (learn a piece of music lets say) separates the hobbyists, the professionals, and the quitters.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning hobbyists. I think music is a fantastic art and I love to teach people how to enjoy it as a hobby. It still takes lots of effort and it’s still well worth it if you enjoy music. I’m not even condemning people who quit music...

My favorite quote is by Albert Einstein when he says, “Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

We all need to find what we love and pursue it. For me it’s music, and it’s not an easy thing to pursue. There is lots of effort required to be a musician and it never stops; it’s hard work but it’s worth it. In fact, psychologists have found that the harder you work, the more you enjoy the result(s). So even the amount of effort it takes to practice and learn a piece the right way only increases my enjoyment of playing the piece once it’s learned.

So whether you’re a hobbyist, just trying out playing an instrument, or a professional, put the effort in and make some great music this week. Don’t give up when it gets hard, push through and it will be well worth it.

ps-check out this hilarious drawing of a satire on the subject

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Slow and Perfect

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:50:40 -0600

We all would love to get results without the effort but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Nothing will just come your way unless you put in the effort first.

When you practice it’s important to play everything slowly at first. You may find playing slowly boring or even frustrating but playing slowly is the quickest way to learn how to play fast (ironic, huh?).

When you first begin to learn something connections are formed in your brain and it’s important that those connections are formed correctly. It’s important that you play slow enough to play perfectly when you first learn a new piece or section. If you don’t you will either always be prone to the mistakes you played at first or else you will have to not only re-learn it the right way, but you’ll actually have to un-learn the wrong way first.

By not taking your time to play slowly and perfectly you are actually adding an entire extra step to the learning process (two if you include learning it wrong the first time). When I am learning a new piece I typically start by playing it at half tempo and slowly work it up to speed being careful to never play it faster than I can without making mistakes.

It can be frustrating or even painful but it’s important to play slowly if you want to learn something to right way. We would all love to be able to play perfectly instantly but it just doesn’t work like that...

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Playing with People

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:52:11 -0600

Playing with other people is right up there with individual practice and private lessons as one of the best things you can do to improve your musicality. Most instruments are not usually solo instruments so it’s important to make an effort to play with others. Even if your instrument is usually a solo instrument (take classical guitar or piano for instance) the instrument still has many pieces/songs written for it with other instruments that often add a lot to the instrument or at least show another side of it.

Playing with other people is also a great way to express yourself and learn more about music by listening to the people you’re playing with. You can learn a lot by playing with others and it should never be left out.

Playing with other people adds a new dynamic which can be interesting and fun but it’s also very different from playing solo and it takes practice. So get out there and find some people to play with!

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Hang Drum

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:29:09 -0600

This week I wanted to tell you about a very unique instrument called the Hang Drum. It’s only made by two people in the world and has a unique soothing rhythmic sound. Check out the video I’ve included below to hear what it sounds like.

Enjoy!