Sight-reading Music for Fun

Summer music practicing should be fun, don't you think so? One way that I've been keeping it light but still maintaining my skills is to sight-read. I recently bought a bunch of music while at the music teachers' convention. I plan on doing book reviews on most of them, so I've decided to sight-read my way through them. Sure, some of it is easy peasy for me, but there are enough books in my "To Read" pile that do remind me to utilize the sight-reading tips that my colleagues and I give to our students.

It's been an adventure. I'm not familiar with all the composers or the pieces in these new books so I have no idea where the composers are going to take me.

Give it a try. If you are in need of sheet music to sight-read, head to your local library to borrow some song books. You can also visit your local music store. If you want to buy some music online, there's always Sheetmusic Plus and Musicnotes. Happy exploring!

6 Steps to Self-Regulated Practicing

Last month, I attended a national music teachers' convention. It was my first time as an attendee (versus when I was  a organizing committee member). One session that really resonated with me was Dr. John Picone's Steps to Parnassus: Guiding Young Musicians to Self-Regulated Practicing.

He was such a dynamic presenter and had wonderful ideas. I hope that one day, the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association or the Alberta Piano Teachers' Association could bring him out here to do a session for music teachers AND music students.

He shared a lot of information and examples with us. I will just highlight six main points for you try to incorporate into your at-home practicing. They are, what Dr. Picone referred to as "Six Dimensions of Self-Regulated Learning":

1. Take charge of your environment: Is your pet pestering you when you practice? Does your little sister come and bash on the keys while you are at your instrument? Or is your practice area in the same room as the television? You need to, perhaps with some help from your parents, create a practice space in which you can actually get some quality practice time in. Get rid of those distractions!

2. Manage your Time and Setting Goals: This past year, I introduced my students to the concept of "speed learning". To force them to think about time management, I used the countdown timer. If you only have 10 minutes, then you need to have a solid plan of attack. Pick a chunk of music that's do-able in 10 minutes. How much can you learn in 10 minutes? Or fix? The clearer you are with your plan, the more productive your practice will be.

3. Record and Review: Record and Review is something I encourage my students to do regularly. I think some do but not all. There's a lot going on when we play a piece or technical exercise. How else are you going to know if you're making any progress at home unless you listen to what you just did? If your iPod records, then use it. Or a tablet, computer, phone or other recording device.

4. Seek out resources on your own: Can't remember what "subito" means? You know technology more than your parents and teachers do. Google it! Or get a music dictionary app.

5. You have a repertoire of strategies and you know how to use them: One drill I grew up on was "Drill this 10 times". I'd get tired by five. My students have some more creative practice drills in their arsenal (e.g. Smarties Drill, the Every Other Bar Drill and the Fill in the Blanks Drill for starters). Regardless of what practice drills you have been taught, you have to know when to use them and how to use them. Now that would require you to read your music notebook, wouldn't it?

6. Motivation: There's external motivation (e.g. you have a music exam next week and you don't want to fail) and internal motivation (you simply want to do well). It doesn't matter how often your teacher asks you to practice more or how often your parents yell at you to practice - if you don't want to do it, it's not going to happen as well as it should. However, you need to really think hard about whether you don't want to practice because you've hit a snag or because you really hate music, but that's a separate topic.

The video that Dr. Picone showed us was of a seven-year old boy. He didn't really play much in the practice clip, but he didn't need to. He spent about a minute asking his mother to take the family dog into another room. Then, he spent a couple of minutes planning out what he was going to practice.

Once he selected a piece, he took another minute to skim through it. His finger traced over the notes. He stopped and looked at a tricky rhythm. After a moment's thought, he pulled out his music notebook to read his teacher's practice suggestions for that rhythm. Then, he remembered that he had a recording of that part of his lesson, so he listened to it. He checked his clock. Then, the clapped out the rhythm a few times. Checked his time again and then did a run-through at the piano - slowly. He tried it a few times before running through the whole piece.

If a seven-year old can master self-regulated, or organized practicing, you can too.

Practice Tip - Know When to Ask for Help

I had to deal with a flat tire recently. It started as a slow leak, needing air every three days. This week, it went down to every two days, then every day.

At that point, I decided it was time to make an appointment to get it fixed. However, Friday is the earliest I can get in. Time to break out my spare tire and jack.

I spent an two hours fiddling with the tire jack. When you don't need to do something on a regular basis, it takes a long time to remember what your next step is. Once I got to solid ground, I hit a snag when I realized that I wasn't strong enough to take the lug nuts off. Time to call for AMA Roadside Assistance.

Roadside assistance arrived within 30 minutes. I effectively wasted one-and-a-half hours of my time and inconvenienced the people I was meeting with. >_<

I bring this up for two reasons:

1. Be aware of the time: Had I watched the clock more carefully, I would have realized that I should have called for help a lot sooner, rather than stumbling through and asking my 1:00 pm appointment to adjust their schedule to accommodate my screw-up.

2. Know your limits: When the crowbar refused to budge after the first three turns, I should have stopped. Instead, I stubbornly pushed ahead for another 15 to 20 minutes.

This applies to music, homework and work. You have a limited amount of time after school to get your homework and chores completed. If your troublespot is still giving you grief after three practices, without improvement, it's time to try something different.

If the "something different" doesn't work after two or three practices, then it's time to ask for help - from your parents, musical sibling or friend, or your music teacher. Don't sit there, like me, wasting time on a tire that I am physically too small and weak to change.

How to Use the Metronome

It's a little soft, but here's a neat tutorial on how to use the metronome (you know, that ticking device your teacher tells you to use but everyone hates). More importantly, this guy talks about why we should use the metronome and why we should play steadily.

As a bonus, he talks about the history of metronome.

His hair's pretty wild, eh? Reminds me of another musician I know.

Is Talent Enough?

Concert pianist Mitsuko Uchida addresses whether talent is enough? If you read my earlier post about Sir Richard Taylor (Lord of the Rings, WETA Studios), you'll know what the answer is. Ms. Uchida discusses other skills, in addition to talent, that are needed not just for music, but for any art form that you wish to be really good at: