Too busy to practice? Try the 10 minute practice session

With the school year well underway, students are busy with homework, sports and other extracurricular activities. This translates to the famous line many teachers hear on a weekly basis, "I didn't practice this week because [insert excuse here].” This is actually a discussion topic on the Canadian Piano Pedagogy Discussion Group I am part of. Both my brother and I were busy with extracurricular activities and school in our day, in addition to piano, music history, as well as harmony and analysis classes. How did we manage it and still do well? First, our parents made studying a priority, whether it was school or piano. We couldn’t drop either activity. Sure, we didn't practice as regularly as we should have but Mom was on our case if we slacked off too much. It helped that Mom gave us fun music on a regular basis for the times we were tired of our exam pieces.

At university, I learned how to practice more effectively. I suffered my first bout of tendonitis between my second and third year. The doctor said the best way to let my arms heal would be to not play the piano for several months. That simply wasn’t an option for me. With a careful regimen of icing, physiotherapy, rest and ibuprofen, my piano teacher completed the program by revising my practice routine. I started slowly, only playing for five minutes a day. Gradually, I built it up to the two to two-and-a-half hours a day I maintained for the rest of my studies.

With only ten minutes of piano time, I had to make them count. I learned to zoom in on “trouble spots”. No need to drill something that I can do well.

It also meant I had to find other way to keep up with my peers. My teacher advised me to study the music score for patterns and memorize the music as I would memorize a vocabulary list. I tracked down recordings of my repertoire and listened to them ad nauseum. I also learned to practice the rhythms away from the piano by tapping them on my lap or on a table.

Each of these activities can be done in a ten-minute session. It’s a routine I employ now as a teacher with limited practicing time. Warm up on scales, chords and arpeggios for one key, drill a trouble spot and improvise for a few minutes. If a student is late or doesn’t show, then I can squeeze in another ten-minute session. I try to squeeze in at least one ten-minute session a day if I’m pressed for time. After all, I know as well as the next person that it’s tough to practice an hour a day, every day.

© Musespeak, Calgary, AlbertaCanada, 2005. All rights reserved.

Lost and Found....Odds and Ends

Here I was, happily posting blog entries when I was surprised by an e-mail from a friend a few days ago. She asked where my blog content went. Sure enough, "Musings" disappeared. My friend and I inspected the code and I explored my settings - all to no avail. This evening, on a lark, I changed the template to blue (Calliope's colour - Calliope is my writing moniker) and now everything is fine. The weekend's gigs went well. I was a little disconcerted by Saturday's wedding however. Small weddings in large churches make me feel odd to begin with. Small weddings in large churches where 90% of the guests don't sing along are especially disconcerting. I especially worked hard with the priest to pick mass settings that were familiar to the couple's families. I tried to lead in the singing but wound up sacrificing the chords I so studiously figured out the night before. What can I say? It was a quiet crowd. Lovely ceremony though and the couple looked fantastic.

Yesterday's gig was an adventure. I managed to improvise on four boogie woogie rhythms. The first attempt was the best, by far and garnered some applause and cheers. It was a good thing I practiced improvising as I wound up ditching the slow songs in favour of more upbeat tunes to match the crowd's mood.

There was a cowboy singing duo, complete with a washtub and amplified guitar in another room during cocktails. During dinner, we were located on opposite ends of the dining room, which was fine. However, as the evening progressed, the cowboys inched closer and closer to the piano. With 10 or 15 minutes left to my gig, I turned to the people sitting closest to me and said, "I think it's time for me to go get dessert." I wound up relaxing and listening to the cowboys for the rest of my time. There was no way I was going to win against an amplified guitar and cowboys who were challenging the patrons to sing and dance. As I was packing up to leave, the cowboys took over the piano area completely.

Ah well, them’s the breaks. It was an adventure and the food was delicious. Another gig came through the pipes this morning. Another wedding but it’s a cocktail music + wedding music + dinner music combo all in one place. Guess what they’ve asked for? You’ve got it, honky-tonk and boogie woogie.

© Musespeak, Calgary, AB, 2005. All rights reserved.

Friday Fun Link #3

This week, I’ve directed several students to MusicTheory.net . Ricci Adams, the site’s creator, has done an excellent job at preparing tutorials to musicians. The Flash presentation on rhythm has helped at least one of my students. My favourite part of the site is the Trainer section. Where was this when I was studying? The Interval Ear Trainer is set up like a game. The Trainer will play an interval (the distance between two notes) and the student must identify what the interval is. The Trainer even keeps score. The Scale Ear Trainer and the Chord Ear Trainer are set up similarly.

The Note, Key, Interval and Triad Trainers are like online flashcards.

It’s a great way for students to practice their ear training and note reading when they don’t have a study partner.

There is even a staff paper generator for those who want to try their hand at composing.

Check it out.

(c) 2005 by Musespeak(tm). All rights reserved.

Friday Fun Link #2

There are many websites that boast free music sheet music (with or without a membership). It makes things easier than ever before to find some fun or leisure-play music. However, just be careful since that some versions are a little shady (error-ridden or infringing upon someone's copyright). Today's link is a place I go to for fun music: Ichigos - my students and I are currently on a Japanese anime/JPop kick and some dedicated otaku (obsessed fans) have transcribed the songs and share their transcriptions. These people sat down and played back the CD or mp3 file enough times to pick out the notes and jot them down. Now that's dedication!

Adventures in Teaching and Playing

My students and I are starting to get used to our school-year routine (a couple of students who forgot about their lessons the week before). Even Maestro is learning to be the model teaching assistant. With the weather cooling down, I thought it was apropos when a student played "Jingle Bells" at today's lesson. This week, I asked several students to try chording (or faking) a pop song they are currently working on. For the non-music folk, it means that instead of playing what's written on the page, they will play chords in the left hand. Most pop folios write the chord symbols on top of the music. Chording accomplishes three things (at least that I can think of): it helps students learn their songs more quickly, it gives them the freedom to embellish their own accompaniment and it helps them better understand the song's form and structure.

I'm chording more these days. For the wedding that I'm playing at this weekend, I have no idea whether I will be asked to play the music for the parts of the Mass. I have a version of "Glory to God" but last night, I just realized that it's not the one we usually sing at church. Thankfully, I borrowed a hymnal from church a few weeks ago. I found the version that we usually sing. However, the hymnal only has the vocal melody. No chords. Nor chord symbols. Nada. I had to fiddle around with it and figure out the chords. It's not perfect, but it's definitely passable. After all this effort, I bet Murphy's Law will kick in and that the congregation at the wedding will just say the parts of the Mass that are often sung. Then I'll be off the hook. I should be prepared though - just in case.

(c) 2005 by Musespeak(tm). All rights reserved.