Gig Musings

I played background music at a corporate function last week. It's been a while since my last one. Sometimes, the crowd is low-key, while sometimes, they are a rambunctious crowd.

Last week, they were the latter. I could barely hear myself. In my 25 years of gigging, I have learned that in those situations, it really doesn't matter what you play so long as 1 - you don't stop and 2 - you play fast songs.

I improvised. I repeated songs. I sight read. Other than my ears ringing afterward, it was good.

My friends and I were supposed to be in Japan for Spring Break (as in, right this minute), but our plans fell apart, well before the March 11 disasters. Since we can't be there to help, we have been helping out from home. We've made cranes for Japan and have also signed up to help with the Calgary Japanese Community Association's Earthquake and Tsunami Relief efforts.

Which brings me to this week's challenge. My sibling and I (both being musicians) have offered to perform at some of the upcoming CJCA events. This means rapidly re-learning some insanely fast Jpop and JRock songs on piano, learning how to sing two new Japanese songs and getting more coordinatedwith accompanying myself on piano while singing with the songs I do know.

It's a case where practicing is just much more fun than bookkeeping. However, I did promise myself that I'd deal with the not-so-fun aspects of managing a business (administration) before practicing today. Wish me luck.

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

On Memorizing Music

Often, a piece of music becomes memorized after practicing it many times. However, for a piece to be truly memorized, musicians should incorporate more than one type of memorization. This is a great article on the different types of memory that music students can use, called "Music Memorization". Yes, it's similar to the VARK Learning Styles. Harmonic or analytical memory stems from read/write learning.

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB. All rights reserved.

Singer in a Band Workshop Musings

There is a proverb that says, "To teach is to learn." To grow, music teachers must find ways to further their own music education.

 There are several professional development opportunities for music teachers. By exploring these options for continuing education, music educators can rejuvenate and develop their own musicianship.

As some of you know, I took singing lessons as my learning project for 2009/10. I've sung for years in choirs, but last spring was the first time I have ever sung a solo in public. It's a completely different ballgame. With piano, the performer faces his or her instrument. However, when singing, looking at the audience (or towards the audience) is critical to engaging them. If you cringe because of a missed note or lyrics, not only is it visible, but cringing affects tone.

My vocal coach, Sherry Kennedy, convinced me to take the Singer in a Band workshop she ran last week. Shortly after the singing workshop began, I thought, "What on earth was I thinking? Why did I pick two songs I don't know very well? Why did I pick a song in Spanish?"

Over three days, Sherry, along with my piano teacher Derek Stoll, worked with us eight adults taking the workshop. We had a such a diverse group, including two professional "shampoo bottle" singers and one singer who's had an up and down relationship with singing for several years. There were two piano teachers, myself and my friend and colleague Melodie Archer.

We went through breathing and stance ad nauseum. Many of us needed to "open up", so Sherry stuck foam rollers under our arms (those quickly became light sabers).

As a pianist, nay, as a VRK pianist, I found it especially challenging to have Derek play an intro and for me to just know how the correct notes should sound without me playing the note on the piano was difficult. Another challenge I faced was how to make each song my own so that I didn't sound like Consuelo Velasquez or Stevie Wonder.

Memorizing lyrics was a challenge for all of us however, we all pulled through. The nice thing about singing jazz is that if you forget the lyrics, you can simply scat your way out of a potential mess.

 All things considering, it was a wonderful night. All eight of us delivered our best performances. Our success can be attributed to several factors:

1. supportive and encouraging instructors

2. the fact that we were all tired from running around from 9:30 AM until 10:00 PM that we were too mellow to be nervous and

3. the fantastic and supportive energy backstage

We cheered whenever the person performing cleared a "trouble spot" as if we were in a hockey game. You can check out my performances on my website.

Many thanks to Sherry and Derek for their hard work and guidance. Hats off as well to Dave Marshall, our serious-looking drummer and Dave Hamilton, our guitarist who can play many a cool lick.

So what lessons did I take away from this experience? Singing lessons and this workshop reinforced the importance of singing and sight singing to develop one's inner ear. You can't beat the rush from performing in an ensemble and singers take artistry onto a whole new level.

Would I do it again? Most definitely.

(c) 2010 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, Alberta. All rights reserved.

Recreating Great Performances with Technology

There is something special about listening to a live performance. There's the energy in the room, the element of unpredictability and the uniqueness of the performance conditions - time, place, humidity, environment, audience and performer - that can never be replicated. Now with technology, it is possible to replicate at least one aspect of a performance - how it was performed. John Walker from Sony demonstrates, using a Yamaha Disklavier, how they took performances by Glenn Gould and Art Tatum, converted the recording into raw data that can be played back. In this clip, you get to see the piano play part of Bach's Goldberg Variations as Gould did in one of his recording sessions.

They even show photos of the recording process, enabling you to listen to the music as if you were the one sitting on the piano bench, as opposed to 20 or so feet away in the audience. Believe me, it is a different experience.

Although you can never replicate all aspects of a performance, it's still pretty interesting to watch the piano show you how Gould and Tatum touched the keys, the pedal.

(c) 2009 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Deaf Percussionist Talks About "How" to Listen

Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie gives an impressive demonstration-talk on how to listen. She clearly shows viewers how to listen by using your entire body as a resonator. Evelyn also highlights how our experience of a sound can differ, depending on our location and our role (creator, audience). This piece of advice resonates in other aspects of life: Relax, open yourself up and you can listen better. You can become one with your instrument/car/cooking/studying/[insert activity here]. Here's the video:

There's a humorous moment in the middle when she asks the audience if they heard what she just did. And another when she tries to get the audience to clap "snow".

(c) 2000 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.