MostlyBass.com

Do you underuse or overuse your tuner?

Most younger players underuse theirs and never develop a solid pitch center.

Most experience players overuse theirs and neglect their pitch independence. Instead of playing scales with your tuner, try this:

Play the first note of a scale
sing the 3rd while playing the 1st degree
play the 3rd
sing the 2nd while playing the 3rd
play the 2nd
sing the 4th while playing the 2nd
etc. etc.

Other ways to improve intonation:
Use a drone pitch -i.e. play a G scale with a constant G playing

Use a recorder for instant feedback on your intonation.

Sing Sing Sing!

Lately I’ve been reading The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. I’m working on a simple, yet effective practice checklist. Here’s the first draft:

…with the Tascam, GarageBand, and Amadeus Pro all used as tools.

What style / kind / brand  of the following do you generally recommend to students:

• Upright Bass:
• Bow:
• Electric Bass:
• Amp:

Rather than focusing on recording practice time in a log, consider a pre-practice log. A sort of pre-flight checklist.

• What is the plan for the session?
• What spots will you work on?
• What is the outcome?
• How long will  you practice for?
• When  you will take a break?
• How long will your break be?

Be specific!!

Looking for a great way to capture your music ideas? Check out the Moleskine music notebook!

Here’s a practice record you can download. Download the PDF HERE.

I’m a huge fan of Moleskine notebooks. They’re sturdy and use high quality paper. Check out their music notebooks:

http://www.moleskineus.com/musicbook.html

http://www.moleskineus.com/moleskine-books.html

More details at his website.

This evening I taught a lesson to student preparing for an audition.

I wanted to be able to hand him a ‘dry run’ DVD of his playing for him to evaluate  before we film the actual audition.

So I had my digital video recorder setup. First we taped his scales and excerpts. While he warmed up on the etude I imported the from files from the SD card in iMovie on my MacBook Pro. We then filmed his excerpt, etude and concerto. While the computer imported those files I used my four-track to play the accompaniment to his concerto through a setup of monitor speakers so we could work on rhythm.

We continued to work with the accompaniment while I burned a DVD of the lesson recordings and was able to hand him the DVD at the end of the lesson!

Ahhh – solid use of technology as a real tool rather than just for its own sake.

“Nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry.” Napolean Hill

Toodledo.com is an easy to use, web-based to-do list. Keeping track of all your tasks will help you avoid disorganization, stay motivated and be more productive. Check it out.

I’m looking to use my skills in the field of personal coaching.

As a music teacher, much of my job is basically personally coaching. During a rehearsal, I organize, analyze and review data. Then I decide what to do with that data, if anything.

In rehearsals, lessons, meetings, and throughout the day knowing what to discard, what to keep, what to pursue, what to modify and what to leave alone are skills I have honed over my years as an educator.

These are skills that can be applied to any area of life.

If you feel your life is out of control or your time management abilities could use some sharpening, I can help!

If emotions are at the core of learning, why do music educators and ensemble directors consistently ignore the student’s emotions? Nearsightedness and for their own emotions.  Or perhaps we should be thinking about future emotions.
It is easier to look a month or two down the road. It is easier to view own your road rather than putting yourself in the students place ten years from now. And of course it feels good to win. Bringing home the gold ‘proves’ that you’re a great teacher. Or does it?
Is it really about how ‘good’ your ensemble is? Is it about how many gold medals you win? How many competitions you attend? Those are events to experience and targets to shoot for but not the end goal. It’s about the students and their experience. It’s about them having a positive experience. It’s about them walking away with positive emotions.

Think about the kid in the back of the section. He’s a mediocre player. Not always in tune and sometimes comes in at the wrong time. Do you cut him or put soap on his bow so he can’t make a sound? Of course not. But down the road, what is really going to matter? Not the fact that the group received a lower rating because of him. No, what will matter is that he participated. When he looks back, the fact that he was in the group will make the difference and in turn affect  how he interacts with people, groups, and situations.

What do you remember about your school music experience? I don’t remember what score I received at contests but I can tell you how teachers treated me and what kind of experience I had.
I remember my baseball coach not putting me in the game because…well because I sucked at baseball! It was a freshman league and all he cared about was winning. Does it really matter? How do you think I feel about that experience and how does that affect me now? Will your students want to attend a musical event as an adult or will it cause negative emotions to reverberate with them?

First, thank you for supporting the arts and your daughter / son’s musical education! There are many benefits to this, which have been documented in many sources.

Now, what can you as a parent do to help your child on their musical path? Plenty. But first let me say that I advocate a holistic education.  I believe in a well-rounded education. I don’t mean that a student can’t have a favorite subject but overdoing any one thing can be detrimental. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily do a student, or person, any good to be a jack-of-all trades and a master of none. Some area should be focused on. A balance must be found. I have had students in high school take all advanced, or AP, classes only to be stressed out and struggling with all of them. This did not help the student learn or get into college – which is why the student thought they should take advanced classes in the first place.

I believe it would be better to take one or two advanced classes in the areas that interest the student and take ‘regular’ other classes. This will also allow for practice time for orchestra and private lessons.

Be supportive.
Go to their concerts.
Talk to their teacher.
Ask your child about their lessons, concerts, etc.
Be positive about driving your child to concerts, don’t seem like it is the         last thing you want to do, even if it is.
Support and encourage their practicing.
Attend professional concerts with your child(ren).
Little gifts such as rosin or a new CD can be a huge motivator.
Sometimes it is helpful to attend their private lesson with the student. It is also beneficial to leave the student and teacher alone sometimes as both can be a but more honest without a parent there.

For a great beginner electric method for young students check out:

Bass 101: A Contemporary Approach to Bass Playing

by Ron Manus & L.C. Harnsberger

I’ve been using it with a 5th grader and it’s perfect!

For a more advanced method book, try Chuck Rainey’s series of “The Complete Electric Bass Player“.

When I was in high school I auditioned for the all county jazz band. I had prepared several scales and solos on my electric bass.

There were 5 or so us going and after school us and our band teacher rode a school bus to the audition site.

In the warmup room I kept looking around for the other bass players. I was curious to see what the competition was like. We arrived early and there weren’t many students there yet.

Another bus load of students came in. Still no bassists.

Finally right before my audition I looked around. I was the only one!

I auditioned, and well, made the group.

I had to ask my director on the ride home, “Do I tell people I made the ensemble or that I was the only one that auditioned?”

I’m a logger – I keep track of just about everything and have many journals, both paper and electronic. I was reviewing my notes on practice records and here are some of my current thoughts.

For the public school setting practice records can be a great tool to establish patterns and habits.

For the private studio setting I still like using the  Musicians Practice Planner.

For myself and an  advanced student I think paper still offers the most flexibility and I like using a composition notebook or a Moleskine Graph Notebook.

Some other random thoughts I found in my journal:

Google Docs? too clunky

Notebook on iPhone? not clean enough

Spreadsheet?  yes – would like to see more data / month at a glance but clunky to maintain

In a separate iCal or google calendar? Laptop and maintenance too clunky

GoalKeeper on iPhone? – Can’t see time

…which all brings me back to paper!!