Showing posts with label music practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music practice. Show all posts

Blues Chord Progressions

When it comes to popular music, it's hard to overlook the influence of the blues. You can hear it in everything from Led Zepplin to Nora Jones. It has also had a huge effect on jazz, pop and many types of folk music. There are a number of ways that you hear these effects. One of them is on chord progressions used in songs. Most people think that this is simply a matter of the I-IV-V blues form but it goes way beyond that. Today we'll look at some of the other common blues type progressions.

I-bIII-IV

This is the one that's used in all types of music from metal to dance. Some may think that it's a version of a minor chord progression but the main difference is the melody is a major scale played over the progression. A number of scales can be used over this progression; the major, blues and mixolydian scales are all available. This progression is used in two ways. First it's often used as the main idea in a rock song, usually played with a riff or reocurring line. It's also used in sequences where you would use a I-bIII-IV using the I chord and then transpose the entire progression up a fourth to be used over the IV chord. For example a E-G-A progression to a A-C-D progression.

Online Music Tools

You don't even need music software on your computer these days it seems. There's a growing number of online sites that offer up all you need to compose music online. Here are a couple of my favorites.

  • Soundation -  app for creating loops, samples and sound effects. It has a sequencer, 11 real time effects, 3 synthesizers, a library of over 400 loops and a drum machine.
  • Audiotool - online virtual studio featuring 808 and 909 drum machines, TB303 and ToneMatrix synths, and tons of stompbox type effects.  
  • Avairy's Music Creator -  a multi-channel drum machine, beat maker. Has beat mode and can edit velocities.
  • Jam Studio - has a little bit of everything. Create beats and add chords and harmonies.
  • Drumbot - An online drum machine plus sequencer, metronome and more.

There are also quite a few apps that you can download for free that will help out with all of your audio and composing needs.

  • Audacity - a free audio editor and recorder with tons of features.There are others out there but this one is arguably the best.
  • Reaper - while not free, it's extremely cheap. The best thing about this software is it almost does everything all of the top of the line sequencers do at a fraction of the cost. Plus it's extremely efficient even on older machines. 
Here are my favorite sites for music theory, business and general info.

There you have it. Have fun.

Intro To Pentatonic Scales

Most musicians are familiar with the pentatonic scales in one way or another. Most of the time it's usually learned early as a preparation for soloing and improvising. There are many pentatonic scales and many ways of using them.

It's Worldwide

Pentatonic scales are used in many types of music all over the world. Many different types of folk music use this scale. If fact most people are familiar with this scale without even knowing it because it's used so often. There's a great clip by Bobby McFerrin who sings a pentatonic melody to an audience and to their surprise, they finish the tune without him! African and European (Celtic, Scottish, Russian) folk music use pentatonics quite frequently.

The Student Teacher Relationship

Most of the time, if you're looking to improve your skills or just starting out, you may want to seek out a good teacher to help you along. Ultimately becoming a great musician is up to the individual but having a good teacher can really help and speed up the learning process. A good teacher can add a lot to your development, they can keep you focused, help in your creativity and steer you in the right direction. In some cases though, they can unwillingly give you bad advice, bad technique, and send you in the wrong direction. Therefore it's always best to seek out the best teacher you can find.

Great Teachers Vs. Great Players

Keys To Becoming a Great Musician

There are many ways to get good at your perspective instrument and achieve some success in the music industry. It usually entails spending many hours in the practice room, going over the fundamentals. Then getting out there and trying to make some money from all of your efforts. Along the way you will find that there are some skills things that are more important than others as far as what it takes to be a musician. In fact, if you practice these essentials, it will be the difference between you being a mediocre musician and a great one.

Music Theory For Rock Musicians

During the times that I played in various rock bands one thing that always amazed me was how proud rock musicians were about the fact that they 'knew nothing' about music. It was like knowing something about the theory of music was a bad thing. There was the feeling that real rock musicians didn't know anything about music theory and that was good. There are many reasons why some musicians feel that learning theory is a bad thing that I talked about in a past post. One of the reasons why rock musicians feel that theory isn't useful to them is because they think that it just doesn't apply to what they're playing. There is in fact lots to learn about rock music that is easily explained and easy to learn.

How To Learn Music

As we went through school, we realized that there were good ways to learn and bad ways to learn. We discovered some shortcuts and methods that helped us through the rough spots. As we get older and leave school we forget some of these and the effectiveness in learning. We're going to look at the different ways we learn and how we use certain techniques to improve our progress.

How Not To Practice

There are many times when we set out to accomplish our goals but it either takes too long or doesn't happen at all. When it comes to music, we all know how important it is to practice. Yet, there are many things that we do that undermines our ability to get better, grow and learn. This things may not seem all that important at first but their effect over time can be monumental.

Practicing Quickly

We know what we want to do. We have a basic idea of what it is and how to go about it. So we try the exercise a couple of times slowly and then plow ahead and see how quickly we can pick it up. It's not perfect but it's close. The speed is almost there but there are a couple of problem areas. So we keep plowing ahead and forcing it to work. This is in fact contrary to what we want to do. Every time we practice something, it gets reinforced in our brain. Practicing something at a fast tempo, incorrectly, over and over again just reinforces the bad technique. That's why it's important to practice slowly. When you practice slowly and deliberately, you are reinforcing good technique (i.e. the neural pathways in your mind). The tempo doesn't matter; it just matters that you are doing it correctly. Practice slowly and get faster gradually. Ironically, if you practice this way, you'll get better sooner.

How to Listen

One of the most important traits a musician can have is how to listen effectively. Yet it's something that doesn't seem to happen often enough. It's mentioned but it's rarely taught or discussed. Listening is important for playing well in a group. It's important in figuring out (and enjoying) music. It's important in creativity.

Listen Up!

Arguably, one thing that makes great players great isn't so much their playing as it is their hearing. When listening to great players, they always seem to have a great sense of rhythm. They seem to be able to play what's 'appropriate' or 'interesting'. This comes from listening. Having great chops is one thing, knowing when to play what is another. All of this comes from listening. When playing with other players, no matter what kind of music you play, it's vitally important that you listen. You can always tell the tightest bands because the members make sure that they listen to each other. When playing with others, you should be listening to only about 40% of yourself, the rest should be everybody else. Of course the number is arbitrary, but you get the idea.

Musician's Top 10 Guide to Learning Music Theory

You've decided that you want to learn some theory or some new concepts on your instrument. You may start out reading a book or checking out something online but then lose interest quickly. It's kind of dry and nothing you read seems to have anything to do with what you're doing on your instrument. Here are some things to help you out and make your time learning theory a lot more effective.

Practicing Your Rhythms Effectively

Most of the time when we talk about practicing we talk about scales, chords, technique and songs. But there's little talk of rhythm. In most of the music we listen today, rhythm is perhaps the most important aspect of the music. Yet most musicians spend very little time focused on just rhythm. There are a couple of things that should be included into your practice regimen that makes sure you're getting your rhythms and timing rock solid.

Yoga for Musicians

I have to admit, I love yoga. But before you think I'm going to get all new-agey on you let me point out some practical applications and conventions from yoga that we can apply to our art.

Getting Into It

Yoga practice is a lot like music practice; its a set of exercises to set the mind and body in a specific direction. It's done everyday, it follows a regimen, and it can be done practically anywhere.  With every yoga practice, there is a mind/spirit connection. You try and be in the moment. Focusing all of your energy on the matter at hand. You take time to notice how your body feels while trying to quiet the mind. There is the constant 'practice' of working on something, keeping focused, working hard and getting better everyday. It becomes a ritual but not automatic. It becomes an important part of your day. It becomes part of you.

Practicing Your Scales Effectively

One of the first things we learn in music is scales. We're told that these are the building blocks of music but that doesn't mean too much to us initially. So we learn a couple of scales, starting at the lowest note, going up an octave (maybe two) and then come back and stop at the root. This seems to be the method for at least the first couple of months. We may then learn some songs, maybe some licks from our favorite solos. The scales however, still remain a step away from the 'real' music that we're learning. Aside from atonal and 20th century music that stays clear of scales on purpose, all popular music uses scales; in fact, the same scales.

Up and Down

All too often I hear students practicing their scales in the method listed above. Up and down, up and down. In the music we hear, the scales are rarely used that way. It's the equivalent of learning to paint using the same color combinations over and over. Aside from trying to getting familiar with the scale and trying finger exercises, scales shouldn't be practiced this way. Once  you learn a scale and and committed it to memory, you should be practicing it in other ways.

The Evolution of An Artist

It usually happens you're so busy trying to get stuff done, that you don't notice. You try and get something done everyday. You work hard at your craft and try to improve. While you may not notice, there's something happening there. You're evolving as an artist. Before we get too philosophical about this, let's take a practical look at what's going on here and see if we can help in our own evolution.


Effective Memorization In Music

One of the most important parts of learning music is memorization. Whether it's a small piece. a couple of licks, scales, chords, or an entire performance, memorization is something that musicians have to deal with on a daily basis. Yet this is rarely mentioned in textbooks and music courses. One thing that should be part of every musical education is how to effectively use your memory. Simply learning a piece isn't enough: memorizing the piece is another process entirely. It must be dealt with accordingly. If you don't believe me, just look at how you would approach trying to remember a phone number. If you had a pen and paper, you would simply write it down and forget about it. But, if you had to memorize it on the spot, you would probably go through a couple of exercises or techniques to help you remember the number. You know that simply repeating it to yourself just once isn't going to work*

Top 10 Reasons NOT To Learn Music Theory

It's been said a million times that every musician should learn music theory. Here are ten reasons not to:

  1. Music theory is for classrooms and doesn't apply to working musicians.
  2. It's too hard to learn. You need a doctorate to understand this stuff.
  3. It takes too long. There's a better use of my time.
  4. It's a waste of time. Nobody really uses this stuff.

Measuring Your Music Talent

We go through life relatively quickly. It's easy to go through an entire day and not really remember what you've done. It's just as easy to accomplish quite a few things in a day and not realize it. It's the same with our musical progress. It's easy to just go day by day without figuring out exactly where we are, what we are doing, and what we'd like to accomplish.

We have a terrible sense of time. It's the same with a lot of areas of our life where we go with our gut feelings or some vague recollection. How many songs have you written? How many songs do you know? You may think that it may be a large number but until you sit down and actually calculate the exact number, you really don't know for sure.

How to Apply Your Music Theory

When learning theory, most programs take a general approach at the beginning. You learn about scales, intervals, chords and so on. Eventually you'll get to point where what you're learning about in the classroom starts to apply to what you're doing on your instrument. When I teach, I try to apply the theory as soon as I can.

One of the things that I ask a student when they first start is what kind of music they listen to and what they want to accomplish on their instrument. You should ask yourself the same questions. Most students start out with the same basic exercises and theory and get into specifics later. Most students just want to learn songs but I encourage them to learn theory along with some improvisation and writing skills.  It helps with their playing, ear training, and takes away some of the mystery away from how music is created.

Managing Your Daily Practice

Every musician knows how important it is to practice. It's drilled into our brain from the first time we pick up the instrument. For good reason; we all know that the path to mastery is consistent, focused practice. Problems arise when you want to practice but somehow it just doesn't get done. Or, you may be putting in the hours, but not getting any results. In effect either you aren't practicing as much as you like, or you aren't practicing properly.

The What and How

We are all told how important it is to practice but nobody ever goes into the 'what and how'. It's important to keep on track of what we want to do and what we are actually achieving. Make notes on what what you want to achieve but also what you've done. It's important to make daily notes so that when you sit down to practice, you don't have to sit and think about what to work on. You can continue from what were working on last session. This helps maintain your focus and may do more for your progress than anything else. 

Ready, Set...

I try to have everything ready to go as soon as I sit down. Don't put your instrument away if you don't have to. Have a corner of your space just dedicated to your practice. Have all of the materials out on your music stand ready to go. Have all materials that you may need right there ready to use: your metronome (or drum machine), your computer (if you use it), extra parts, all reference materials and your practice schedule.

The List

I'm going to summarize with a list of things that you should be doing everyday. These exercises should only take a small amount of time. That way, even on your busiest day, there is the chance that you will still get in some quality practice time. I've listed the name of the exercise and the amount of time allotted to that particular exercise.
  1. The warm-up (about 1 minute): warm ups are an extremely important part of your practice sessions but very few people do them consistently. Most vocalists know how important it is to warm up but instrumentalists are bad for not doing these. Warm ups should be simple. They should be something that is relatively easy to do (i.e. not complicated, too fast or involving really hard technique). They should be done slowly and deliberately. For example, if you're an instrumentalist, try exercises that include all of the fingers. Start at a point that is easy to execute and then gradually go higher or harder. It's all about warming up your fingers (or vocals) and getting focused. Like the beginning of a yoga session; you're trying to get into the right frame of mind. It's about shutting everything else down, forgetting about all of the days' problems and focusing on the music.
  2. Technique (5 minutes): this would include any technical exercises written specifically for your instrument. This would include picking. bowing, tonguing and fingering exercises. It may also include working on your intervals (3rds, octaves), arpeggios, and awkward leaps. It may also include such things as articulations, dynamics and rhythms.
  3. Chords (5 minutes): these are exercises that would include adding more chords to your repertoire or learning to use the ones you know more effectively. That means learning the new chord, different fingerings (or inversions) and and the theory behind it (it's function and uses). It would also include chord progressions. Learning chord progressions used in various musical styles but also how to play the chords in that style. An integral part of learning chords is learning to comp. This means different things in different styles. These exercises should be part of every players practice regimen, not just rhythm section players.
  4. Scales (5 minutes): everybody know how important it is to learn your scales. It's important that you don't just 'go through the motions'; don't spend all of your time just going up and down through your scales. Learn how to use them. Go through different patterns and doing ear training to learn them inside and out. Learning how to effectively use a couple of scales (and chords) is much more important than learning a ton of scales (and chords) and not knowing what to do with them.
  5. Improv/writing (10 minutes): I usually put improvisation and writing together when it comes to short practice sessions. I'll work on whatever is the most important at the time. This is what I call the application of theory. I use the chords, scales, licks, cliches or whatever I've learned that week and put it into actual practice. It's good to try ideas in a variety of keys, tempos, and styles. It easy to get carried away with this portion. If you're short on time, make sure  you go over the relevant material and not spend half an hour 'jamming'...which is wonderful when you have the extra time!
  6. Song/repertoire (10 minutes): this is learning new songs/material and reviewing your song list. Too many musicians learn tunes but don't review them on a regular basis. Reviewing songs regularly gets them into your fingers and helps in improvising and writing because the changes and parts are pretty much ingrained into your psyche. By organizing the way you learn songs and memorize them (we'll go over this in a future post), your repertoire can grow in no time at all. If you're a jazz or session musician, having a huge repertoire is paramount.
If you only have time for a short session, then these are good guidelines to get it all done in about half an hour. If you have more time, you can spend more time on the individual exercises. If you're learning a new tune for example, you may want to spend a whole session just going through the chord changes. Then you can use the next session going through the melody or bass line.

Pace Yourself

It's better to not spend too much time on one exercise or one practice session. There is a point of diminishing returns when you've repeatedly gone over the same material. It's better to spend less time and be completely focused. If you have extra time, try breaking up your practice schedule into smaller sessions*. This gives your brain some time to assimilate all of the information that you've thrown at it.  

*There are exceptions to this...one being getting ready for a show. To prepare you want to go through the entire set in one session to make sure that everything flows.


Just Do It

Try to get it into your brain that your practice sessions don't have to be a long drawn out affair. It's great when you have the time to sit down and get right into it but don't put off practicing just because you don't have a spare hour. If you have a spare 15 or 20, that may be enough to get in a great practice. Remember to have the list in front of you and go through all of the exercises. Don't spend too much time on any one exercise. Sure it's more fun to get right into each exercise but you may not always have that time. This way you can still get something done. It takes away an excuse and allows you to keep motivated and on course without stressing about losing days. It makes it easier to remember what you've done, what  you're supposed to work on, and what needs work. Most of all, you'll see better results because you are practicing more often, you're working on essential skills everyday, and you're staying focused.

Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that crap and just play. - Charlie Parker

Must Have Gear for Every Musician

Most musicians are adamant about the gear they have and the gear they want. We all love to talk about the latest and greatest stuff, but there are a couple pieces of gear that every musician should own and use everyday. These may not be flashy or exciting but they all have a specific purpose and go a long way into making you a much better musician.

The Practice Workbook

Most musicians I know don't have one of these. They might have a list of things that they're working on and that's about it. It's imperative that you have all of your notes and practice material in one place. I find that the best solution for me is the practice binder. I use a binder because I find it easiest to make notes, rearrange, add and take things out. You may want to use your computer or your own system. It doesn't matter as long as it works for you. Simplicity is best here. You can have different sections for different things you're working on. You may want to make a section at the beginning and make a list of your goals. There's no use in getting a great practice schedule going if you're not going to have goals. These don't have to be huge 'going to be a rock star' goals but simple goals. Examples would be learning all of your major scales. learning a new style, or mastering a new technique. That way you don't pick up the instrument everyday wondering what you're going to work on next. Put all of your relevant material in your binder. Make sure everything is right there were you need it so you don't have to stop in the middle of your practice session to go looking for something. If there's something that you want to learn, put it in there. If you have any special reference material , put it in there. Following a good method/program or putting together your own would be a great thing to add along with your own exercises.

Make notes everyday on what you've done and what you need to do next. Also. list all of the reference materials and books that you need. Have notes on what you would like to learn, what you need to get, and what progress you've made. 


A Metronome

Ok, so it's not very exciting. A tiny box that just ticks away. No beats, no bass lines or shiny buttons, just a ticking box. The truth is, every musician should spend some time practicing with a metronome. The value of a metronome is that it doesn't fill in any of the holes. You are required to play the notes in between the beats...in time. Some people call it a crutch but it only becomes a crutch when you've come to a certain level; before that, it's invaluable. Try practicing all materials with the metronome at a variety of speeds. It's surprising to find it's much harder to play some materials at a very slow tempo.


It's important that you practice with the metronome and without it. Play your scales or a song with the metronome and then try to keep the same tempo and feel without it.

A Recorder

There's nothing like recording yourself as a record of how you're doing and what needs to be fixed. It's hard to gauge how well you're doing something when you're right in the middle of it all. This is where recording your progress comes in. It's great for listening to yourself and scrutinizing your playing. You should try and record all facets of your practice sessions; everything from scales to technique exercises. Other ideas would be to record jams, rhythm exercises, song ideas, and of course performance pieces. I also have a recorder that I carry around with me to capture any writing ideas that may pop up.

Music/Instrument Stand

This goes with having your own space for your practice sessions. Even if you don't read music (if you don't, you should add it to your list), you should have a music stand placed right in front of your practice space. Place your instrument right next to it on it's stand, ready to play. If you must keep your instrument in its case, have the case next to the stand. All materials that you need for your practice (i.e. music books, method books, practice notes) should be open on the stand. I also have a small table right next to the stand that has my recorder, metronome, tuner etc.

Music/CD Player

Another item that should be right beside your work area. This has a couple of functions. First, it's great for reference. Take the time to listen to recordings of material while you're working on them. There are many things that the printed page just can't convey and having the recorded version right there is critical. Secondly, the player is useful if you have jamming tracks or beats you've created to jam along to. If you're using an mp3 player, make sure it's hooked up to a stereo; headphones* just get in the way.

*If you live in an apartment or have little ones, this may not be a choice. For you folks, being organized is even more important if you want to get some quality practice time in.

Drum Machine/Jam Tracks

Have some jam/backing tracks to play along with. This can be anything from backing tracks (e.g. karaoke), to jamming software (Band-in-a-Box), to play-along CD's (e.g. Jamey Aebersold). It's important that if you're working on a certain style, that you have rhythms in that style to jam to. There are some products out there (drum machines, accompaniment keyboards, jamming software) that allow you to pick your style/key and it will provide a track for you. There are also some method books that go into detail on how to play certain styles that also include a play-along CD. Having separate rhythm tracks or a stand alone drum machine are also great to have ready to go. It's important to practice with just a drum beat or rhythm track if you're trying to groove with the rhythm section (or if you're part of the rhythm section).

All In One

Some of you might be thinking that you could probably have all of these things right on your computer and have done with it. There are free metronomes online that you can install on your computer. You could have your work/practice regimen on your computer along with all of your jamming tracks. I have found that this is not a good idea. Having all of your items on your computer actually becomes counter-productive because you will have to go looking for things just to use them. It's better to have a separate system set up just for practice. It's fine to assign your computer one task (like using it for jam tracks or using it as your recorder) but using it for too many tasks starts to get in the way of our purpose. I keep my notes and materials in a separate binder because it's there, open all the time, ready for me to add things, make notes and check my progress. I use my laptop for jamming tracks but when I find one I really like, I make a CD so I can access it over and over without having to load up a program or go looking for it on my already overloaded laptop.

Keep It Simple

That's it. Not too exciting but I'm always amazed at how many musicians don't have these essential pieces of gear. You also want to have all of the essentials for your particular instrument (picks, strings, rosin, etc.) right there just in case. The point is you want to have all of these items in arms reach so you can just pick them up and get to work. You don't want to be searching your documents, going online, wondering what you did last session, looking for lost CD's, or anything like that when you're right in the middle of your practice session. It's important to get to work and have as few distractions as possible. Have all of the items separate like I've listed above so as soon as  you sit down to practice, it's all there ready to go. No excuses. No interruptions. Nothing getting in the way of you, your music and most of all, your progress.