Score study, or studying the sheet music, is a useful way to practice music away from your instrument. Here are some tips on how to practice using scorestudy. Things to take note of:
Concert Review of CJO's A Perfectly Frank Christmas 2012
The Calgary Jazz Orchestra performed a sold-out concert at River Park Church in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, December 23, 2012. From “You Don't Know Me” to “Frosty the Snowman”, the CJO presented varied palette of big band jazz, Frank Sinatra standards and Christmas favourites. The warm up act for this Christmas show was the University of Calgary Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. Jeremy Brown. The jazz group performed Fred Sturm's arrangement of Radiohead's “Bodysnatchers”, Bobby Watson's “Fuller Love” (Arr. Dan Keberle) and Jerry Nowak's “Frosty the Snowman”.
Virtual Choir 4.0 Announced
Last week, Grammy-winning composer/conductor Eric Whitacre announced the next Virtual Choir Project: "Bliss". This piece is from his 2010 West End musical entitled Paradise Lost. It is quite the departure from previous virtual choir projects. An exciting one. Some choristers may grumble, but I personally think that this will introduce a new group of singers to the beauty of choral music. "Bliss" is a fusion of classical, techno and something else that I'm still trying to put my finger one. Another difference between VC4 and previous projects is the need for a Kickstarter campaign. As Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir continues to grow, so do the expenses. VC3: Water Night cost over $100,000 to create. Hence, the Kickstarter campaign. Since it's launch last weekend, the VC4 kickstarter project has raised over $18,000. Not too shabby. Without further ado, here's Eric Whitacre on the VC4 project: In light of the tragedies from last week, any opportunity to come together as a global community in the name of peace, is a welcome one.
Music Practicing 101: Organized Practicing
On behalf of music students and music teachers everywhere, I'd like to send out a huge thank you to piano teacher Josh Wright. He put together these two videos about organized practice.One thing my students hear me say - a lot - is to figure out how much time they can dedicate to practicing for a particular day, set their practice goals for that session and determine how they will assess whether they've met their goals."Mindful practice" is also key to practice efficiency. Let's face it, if you're paying attention to what you're doing, you'll meet your goal a lot sooner than if you're just noodling around, waiting for that timer to go off.For those still trying to figure out how to set up music practice goals and how to organize their practice time, look no further:
Organized Practicing - Part 1
Organized Practicing - Part 2