Do You Want to be a Musician?
Jan 8, 2010 Development Zone
This article simply expresses my personal experience with being a musician. I’ve consulted with many individuals who wonder what place music has in their lives. In no way will this article answer all of your questions, but it may assist in getting your thought-process on the correct trail.
The Hunger of Music
Music can be something that gets into your soul and begs for a way of expression. It is a hunger of the soul which exists within the emotional, not the physical. You must accept that music may be a part of who you are and needs to be nurtured and not ignored. If it is ignored, you may find that you are not as happy as you could be.
How Strong Are Your Desires?
Additionally, you have to figure out how intense your musical desires are and how much they need to be fed. If overfed, you may burnout. If underfed, you’ll be unhappy.
As a personal illustration, at this point in my life I do not want to be a full-time musician. I would consider myself to be a part-time musician because there are other areas of my life that need attention. I am employed at a rescue mission, and I need to be responsible to my spiritual needs by working with the homeless. There are also other time consuming activities that I enjoy that would make it impractical for me to be a full-time musician. If I had to rely on music to be my primary source of income, I would view it as an indifferent discipline and not an enjoyable, gratifying venture. I want the creativity to flow when it happens and don’t want to force it for the necessity of my pocketbook.
Learning the Balance
The next step is to learn the balance for how much music is necessary in your life in comparison to other priorities, passions, and interests. This is a difficult question which takes time to figure out. No matter what the circumstances are, there will always be seasons of frustration that you will have to push through, as wells as periods of lack of musical expression that will need endurance. But, the balance is attainable if you’re intentional about your approach. I’m not a big fan of pre-tailored, systematic decision making since every situation is unique. But, I think there are good guidelines to follow.
1. Be A Leader
Don’t be a follower by simply relying on what your family or peers say you should do. While advice and counsel is helpful, this is your decision and you need to be the leader and make it for yourself. You and only you can discover what the truth is.
2. Get Your Feet Wet
You’re simply not going to know what you want until you try it. You’re not going to know if you will enjoy the life of a musician until you “get your feet wet”. Start basic, with things such as performances at retirement communities or teaching lessons to beginners. Progressively work your way up to a more committed schedule and see if you like it.
3. Count the Cost
Don’t pursue being a musician at the sacrifice of other things that are important or should be a top priority in your life( Example: God is #1, and family is #2). If you have abandoned those desires or priorities, this may result in unconnected frustrations that you can easily mistake for not liking music!
4. You Enjoy Music for a Reason
God made you to enjoy music for a reason. He didn’t give you a gift or an appreciation for music to not benefit you or others in some way. If you don’t want to be a musician, don’t abandoned music completely. You don’t have to be a chef to enjoy cooking or good food! Always enjoy music and know that there are rewards for having it in your life.
5. Play Music for the Joy
If there has been one lesson that I’ve had to learn the hard way, it is that I should play music for the joy. If you’re playing music for any other reason than for the joy it brings into your life, than you’re not going to be happy as a musician. I’m not saying that you won’t be successful, but it will simply be a career choice that puts the groceries in the refrigerator.
Humbly look to see how your music can benefit others. Music is a powerful healing tool and resource which brings endurance, motivation, and encouragement to lives. Using it this ways should be your greatest, joyful satisfaction.
Performance Tips
Jan 7, 2010 Performance
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Performing is one of those things which I grew into. It is one thing to be able to play a song well in front of a crowd, and it’s entirely another to be an entertainer. In a future post, I’ll go over a performance outline, but for now I’ll share with you performance tips from my soloist’s perspective.
Know Your Audience
Age group. Place. Mood. Expectations. Attention span. All of these things must be “felt”. I can’t say that I have a real scientific formula, but I’ve learned to pick up on who my audience is and how to perform to them. If I tell a joke that gets a big laugh 90% of the time and people don’t laugh, then maybe they’re in a more serious tone and want me to be the same way. The same goes for tune selection. Keep on an eye on reactions and applauses to your tune selections and figure out what it is that they like and play those tunes.
Play a Variety of Tunes
Sure, you’ll run into genre specific concerts, such as Christmas concerts, but I think it’s a good idea to play a variety of genres and moods when it is possible. This keeps things moving. Vary up speeds and volumes to add a lot of emotional impact and keep attention.
Don’t Drag
If you see a lot of yawns or feel anxiety in the crowd, then maybe it’s time to close things down or shake things up. If I’m losing the crowd mid-way thru a concert, I try to involve them. This almost guarantees to bring them back. Children love to be involved. Some are rather shy, but you can usually find one that would be thrilled to come on stage with you. Then, I let them hold the hammers and guide their hands to play a song such as Jesus Loves Me.
If no children are present, I (once again, entirely depending on the mood and setting) pick a “VIP” from the group (such as a pastor or event coordinator) and ask them to come on stage impromptu. I have them play something simple (such as a droning 4/4 5th to the metronome) from the front-side of the dulcimer while I grab my 2nd pair of hammers and play a song backwards. This is an easy way to play a duet that actually sounds good. And, the crowd loves it!
Keep the Songs Short
Depending on the setting, 2:30-3:00 minutes is as long as your songs should be. Keep the 4:30 stuff for the CDs. There are some venues where your piece could be much longer if your listeners are trained music appreciators, (such as a classical event), but that’s probably not what you’ll be doing on the hammer dulcimer.
Don’t Talk too Much
I can get in trouble here, and there are a lot of performers who do. You may have a unique presentation where people are just as interested in hearing you speak as they are your music, but I’d venture to say that most people want to hear your music. From my experience, in a 30 minute concert, you need to play at least 6-8 tunes. If you’re only playing 3-4 and the time runs out, you’ve said too much.
Developing an Arrangement
Mar 21, 2009 Intermediate
Arranging is a very personal thing that portrays many of the characteristics that embrace you. It is the personality of your music. Life, teamed with the adversity and bliss that it brings, will be passed on into your arrangements. There are endless possibilities to arranging a song; it will express individuality in a manner that may be concrete or abstract.
If you’ve never learned how to arrange music, than you will need some structure as a starting point.
Music has form, just like language compositions. Not all arrangements follow the same form, but some forms are more common than others. We’re going to discuss today’s most common form, look at each element, and learn how to make an arrangement with this form.
COMMON FORM
- Introduction
- Verse 1
- Chorus
- Verse 2
- Chorus
- Bridge (or verse 3)
- Chorus
- Ending
The reason this form is successful is that it makes the song easily memorable because of the structure and interesting due to the frequent change. In fact you’ve heard this form dozens of times on your local music station. The songs you hear probably sound like this:
- Instrumental introduction (usually lead by a guitar)
- Vocals start with verse 1, music remains simple
- Chorus begins with a sudden build, caused by added instrumentation and alternate percussion
- Verse 2 starts and some of the build pulls back, making the piece simpler
- Chorus starts again, which is a repeat of the first chorus with minor variations
- Bridge begins that is very simple, making way for the big build
- Chorus is played again, big, dramatic, huge
- Ending (possibly abrupt)
Now, let’s discuss each element, but with a solo instrumentalist’s mindset.
#1 INTRODUCTION
The introduction is the initial impression of your piece. Make it memorable and make it good. Typically, it establishes the tone, mood, timing signature, and pace of your song (although I would encourage variations to this!). It can be something that is in your face and grabs your attention, or it can be subtle. Personally, I like it when the introduction does not play the melody of the piece, but rather plays a progression of chords that possibly includes variations or snippets of the melody or chorus. However you construct your introduction, make sure that it fits with the rest of the song.
#2 VERSE 1
Your first time around, establish the melody. Keep it simple. Don’t get carried away with added embellishments. This is not your time to to try to impress. While you know the melody, your listeners may not. It will be frustrating for them if they’re having to think to hear the melody.
#3 CHORUS
Still keep that melody prominent, but start building the piece. Maybe throw in some arpeggios, but don’t go all out just yet.
#4 VERSE 2
Once you have completed your chorus, you may want to add a transition before you play verse 2. You may want to play part of your introduction as a transition, so people will be reminded of it.
The second verse needs to start adding some variety to the piece, or else it may start to drag. You want the change to keep the listener’s attention. Some options are to use intervals you haven’t played with yet, some different chord constructions, etc. Vary up the verse slightly, but don’t go all the way just yet.
#5 CHORUS
Jump right into that chorus, but make sure that there is a little transition between verse 2 and the chorus. This gives some breathing room. One thing I like is to make the song “crooked” by adding an additional beat. If the song is in 4/4, add a 5th beat pause as a transition, then start the chorus on beat 1.
Add some variation to that chorus and really start having some fun, but not too much!
#6 BRIDGE (OR VERSE 3)
Here, you’ve just spent the entire song creating a build. A build can create a type of tension in your listener, so it’s probably time to back off and go back to simple for about 20-30 seconds. This will allow the song to breathe and your listener to exhale. Additionally….
Something that is bold will be better appreciated next to something that is more subtle
#7 CHORUS
You’ve just played that bridge or verse 3 simple, so whenever you play the chorus, your listeners are going to really want it. They’ll be anticipating it. Give them what they want and then some. If you’re performing and sense the crowd is really into it, you may want to adjust your arrangement and play that chorus a second (or maybe 3rd!) time.
#8 ENDING
You should not undervalue the importance of a quality ending. While you may want to leave your listeners hanging with an abrupt ending, this is not always the best approach. I like to be able to anticipate the ending. In order to do this, one option is to repeat the introduction as the ending. This will signal to the listener that the ending has arrived and it is time to wrap things up.
Tags: arrangement
Improvising (Demonstrational Video)
Mar 16, 2009 Development Zone, Songs, Videos
This is not a lesson to help you learn how to improvise. This is a picture into how I use improvising as a practice habit and development skill. For me personally, the thought of only playing what other people have already put to music sounds boring. I like to do my own things and make music that is unique. This is why I enjoy composing and arranging. Improvising helps me come up with new ideas.
I improvise all the time. I clear my mind and just let the music flow with what feels right at that given time. But, I’m always paying close attention to what I’m communicating, when the song needs “breathing room”, and when change needs to happen.
With this approach, I can discover some passages and different licks that I really like. I then develop and memorize them. Sometimes, I may use just one passage from an improv to enhance an arrangement Or, I may be hopeful of what happened, and try to use it as a main theme to a new song.
One thing that is helpful when improvising is to record yourself. This gives another opportunity to analyze your playing, figure out the passages that worked, and remember what you actually played!
This video is an example of a blind improvise that I did during a practice session last night. I’ll use this video to analyze what I’ve done, decide what I liked and didn’t like, and probably use it to develop a new song one day.
Tags: improvise, improvising, video
101 Lesson 4 – Major Chords in the Box
Mar 16, 2009 Beginner - 911 for 101
We are now going to learn how to play the three major chords for the key of D. This is really quite simple, so don’t be intimidated by the technicalities if you don’t understand it. If you’ll give it a shot, it’ll make sense.
If you have not learned any music theory, the following paragraphs might not make much sense. I will do my best to make it simple, and you can try your hardest to understand. If you just cannot, please do not give up. Just jump right down to the illustrations and try it out. You may get farther than you think just by doing it before you fully know it!
The Chord Defined
The actual definition of a chord is “two or more notes played or sung simultaneously.” The hammer dulcimer is played with only two percussive objects, which may be chop sticks or pencils if you forget your hammers… So technically, only a two note chord is practical in most circumstances. For this reason, when two notes are struck simultaneously, it is typically referenced as an interval (3rd, 4th, etc.).
A chord on the hammer dulcimer would generally be considered three or more notes played by an arpeggio. An arpeggio is the notes of a chord played in succession rather than simultaneously.
For the sake of simplicity, when referencing a chord it will be understood that an arpeggio will be utilized to play it. This understanding is common for many instruments, not just the hammer dulcimer.
Three Major Chords
Within each key there are three major chords. In order to play them on the hammer dulcimer, you do not have to know the notes that make up the chord.
A Box and a Triangle
Instead, you just need to learn the chord’s shapes and how each shape sounds. And when playing inside the box, a three-note chord will look like a type of triangle when visualized…Just look at the illustrations.
Practice these chords and don’t get caught up trying to memorize the placement of the individual note names of the chord. Once again, learn to associate each shape with the sound and “feel” that they generate.
I’ve included two names for the three major chords for the key of D. First, their position (which is for you if you’re an ear musician), and second, their name (for those who know just enough of music theory to be dangerous).
Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Yes, I know this is an A chord that starts on an E, and the previous two chords started on their root. This is a beginners lesson and we’re playing in the box, remember? You can start it on an A, but you’ll have to play outside of Box 1 in order to do that. We’ll cover all of that later!
Tags: beginner, Hammer Dulcimer Lessons