Category: Musicianship
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Use your metronome most of the time
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in MusicianshipWhy should you use a metronome when you practice? How much should you use a metronome? But doesn’t playing with a metronome make your playing sound too mechanical? What about when you’re practicing something that doesn’t fit well with a metronome, such as changing time signatures? What if you’re “not good” at playing with a …
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Go ahead and use a fakebook
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in MusicianshipI felt a lot of stress and pressure during my years in college and graduate school, about jazz and Learning Tunes. Nobody who is anybody uses a fakebook! You have to Learn the Tunes! Do you know All the Tunes? Why don’t you know More Tunes? My teachers told me I would never make it …
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Playing at professional volume
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in MusicianshipOne thing I notice about a lot of my younger university students is that they play softly. Sometimes they seem reluctant to play above what I might consider about a mezzo piano. If I ask, many of them reveal that they spent their formative years in school band programs getting The Hand from their directors. …
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Written jazz articulation problems
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in MusicianshipIn classical music for wind players, articulation markings are gospel–part of the composer’s intent, to be performed with accuracy. But printed jazz music, such as arrangements published for high school or college big bands, can take varied approaches to articulation markings.
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Is jazz swing triplety, or not?
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in MusicianshipHere are some helpful generalizations we can make about swing rhythms.
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Make your musical lines sing and dance
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in MusicianshipIn “classical” and related kinds of music, we are often asked to make our instrumental music sing or dance. In fact, most music of this type should do one or the other. Here’s how to make that happen.
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Make a better marking
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in MusicianshipIf the marking you made in your sheet music didn’t work, do a better one. Here’s how.
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Why you should use a scale sheet
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in MusicianshipMy university students take a scale exam covering all the major and 3-forms-of-minor scales, plus arpeggios, in all 12 keys, memorized. In preparation, I provide them with a scale “sheet,” with all of the scales and arpeggios written out note by note. There’s a part of my brain that objects to this, since I don’t …
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What really went wrong? Leaning into problem spots
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in MusicianshipI have a recurring teaching challenge with my saxophone students who are tackling the altissimo register for the first time. They play a passage, and when they get to the altissimo note, if it doesn’t respond perfectly, they immediately stop playing. When I ask why, they look puzzled. “The note didn’t come out.” “Well, what …
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Making every marking audible
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in MusicianshipWhen my students work on études (musical pieces intended for study but not performance) I stress with them the idea of making everything on the page audible. That means that if I were unfamiliar with the étude but a skilled transcriber, I could listen to my student play, and write down with confidence every: Pitch …