Tips on Project Management and Learning Music

For those of you doing a music exam or playing at the music festival, you're probably feeling the pressure from your music teacher and parents. After all, we're in exam and music festival season and the clock is ticking!

To help keep my students on track, I've helped them come up with a Project Management Timeline for the areas that need work. When I first used this backwards project timeline, it was during my co-op term at CPO. I had to plan out when I needed to write my press releases for upcoming concerts at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Working backwards from the radio, TV and print media's submission deadlines, I was able to figure out when I needed to write the press releases for the spring concerts. It works well for music too:

D-day in this case is the week leading up to the APTA Festival. I had my students count out how many weeks they had till D-day. Then, I informed them that they needed to give themselves at least one month to let their memory settle and to polish their pieces. This is represented by the first two numbers on the LH side of the page.

From there, we calculated just how many weeks they had left to memorize "Piece X" and how many weeks they had to finish learning the piece.

Next, we looked at the RH side of the page; at the total number of lines in the piece, the number of lines learned already and finally, the number of lines left to learn. Then it was time to put the math hat on:

• 9 lines to learn DIVIDED by 3 weeks learning time = 3 lines to learn per week

• 18 lines to memorize DIVIDED by 7 weeks = 2.6 lines to memorize per week, give or take a bar or two, depending on phrasing

In this example, the student needs to spend some practices learning the rest of the piece and some practice time on memorizing a section.

With the formula, the music memorization deadline thus becomes the week of March 27. You can also use this formula to help figure out your practice milestones for the week.

Give it a try with your current pieces - good luck!

P.S. Now, the milestones will change, depending upon the level of difficulty of the piece and the student's work habits

Practicing Conversational Japanese

As with learning any language, if you want to learn how to speak it, you actually have to practice speaking it, ne? Below are a few groups you could join to practice speaking Japanese:

1. University clubs: Check to see if you have a "Japanese Conversation and Culture Club" on campus.

2. Form a study group with your classmates. You can meet up in person, or try a "virtual" study group via Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, etc.

3. Meetup.com: Check out "Japanese Language and Culture Meetup Groups"

4. Become involved with your local Japanese community association. The Calgary Japanese Community Association is pretty active and many of the older members are helpful when you try to speak Japanese.

5. Youths can check out the Japanese Youth Association of Calgary.

Although many of the links are Calgary-specific, you can check online to see if there is a similar group in your area.

Preparing for the Long & McQuade Music Education Contest

For the first time, my studio submitted an entry to Long & McQuade's Annual Music Education Contest. It's been a really neat experience for my students and I.

When I saw the poster back in November, I had a hunch that the four students I selected for the project would work well together (aged 11 - 13). Three of them had already worked together in combo classes and improv classes in previous years. I went on a hunch with the fourth member. This is her first year studying with me. However, her creative vision and personality seemed like a good fit for the other three.

In December, D stepped up to be Team Captain/Music Director. They held planning meetings at my studio, starting in January. G, the new student, wound up being the Secretary, writing down ideas and project deadlines and practice schedule on the whiteboard. E picked the song, while W brought supplies for their photo shoot.

They opted to perform "50 Ways to Say Goodbye" by Train:

They wound up practicing sometimes twice a week at my studio throughout January. They did most of the planning  by themselves. I served as an advisor, while D's mother helped supervise meetings while I was teaching.

After several discussions over their band name, they christened themselves "WEDG" (opting to use the first initial in their names). The group is comprised of W (cajón/vocals), E (lead vocals), D (vocals/keyboard) and G (keyboard/hand percussion).

I have a digital piano in my office, so I was still able to teach while WEDG practiced in the studio. At the end of the evening, I emailed the mp3 files from their practice for them to review.

There was one setback. Long & McQuade announced that the audio category was full at the end of January. The kids decided to press forward and record as they were already planning to continue working together. They were already talking about CD covers and decided they could still submit an photo entry for the contest.

We did receive good news last week though, in that Long & McQuade re-opened the audio category for the bonus prizes. Last Friday, the group recorded their entry AND posed for photos for not only the photo contest, but also their CD cover.

To my delight, I even heard a bit of their own compositions in passing. I was occupied with setting up the recording equipment when I overheard one of them say, "Let's run through our song first." I was floored as I listened to them run through a catchy pop tune that they created.

Whether WEDG wins a prize in the Long & McQuade Music Education Contest or not doesn't really matter. The moment I heard them come together as a completely cohesive unit for the recording their final take and the surprise moment when they ran through their own band songs - that's what matters. The ties created by their shared love for music, along with their shared vision. As their teacher, I couldn't be any prouder than I was at that moment. I cannot wait to hear what they come up with next.

Advice on Music Exams, Cramming and Number Games

Sometimes, our music students are still scrambling to get ready for their music exams. If you're like my one Grade 9 piano student who has been trying to memorize his Brahms' Intermezzo, it's too late. You need to start looking at the numbers and focusing your energy on the areas where it is do-able to in the time you have left to prepare. Take a look at what he'll be doing at his Gr. 9 partial examination through Conservatory Canada:

1. List C (Romantic): 10 marks

2. List D (Late Romantic to Contemporary Classical): 10 marks

3. Studies (2): 10 marks (worth 5 apiece)

4. Technical Tests: 14 marks

5. Memory: 2 marks (1 for List C and 1 for List D)

Now take a look at what examiners are looking to award Honours (70 - 79%)

• consistent tempo

• clean rhythms

• clean notes

• technical facility

• clear dynamic contrasts

• some articulation

• a sense of phrasing

• good tone

• sense of musical style

Memory needs lots of time for the music to settle (and performances). As you can see, memorization is only worth one mark for his Intermezzo. I asked him if he wanted to sacrifice the 70ish marks he'd get for all of the above for that one measly memory mark. For a piece that's not completely secure, there is a good chance that these things will crumble under the pressure of an exam.

If you're like my student, you're better off focusing on getting the basics as stated above. If those are secure, you can still walk away with Honours or even First Class Honours.

Technique is a big area. It's worth 14 - 16 marks alone, depending upon the grade and the music conservatory you are following. If your technical facility is lacking, examiners will penalize you. This is not an area to cram in at the last minute.

Sight-reading, rhythm and ear training are crammable - to a degree. If this is truly a weak spot for you, then it is an area you need to work on throughout the year, not just one week before your exam. However, bear in mind that sight-reading is worth 10 marks (clapping and playing), while ear and rhythm training are worth 10 marks. Those are easy marks to give away but just as easy to keep with some consistent practice.

I used to panic over melody playback (worth four marks). In hindsight, I should have focussed on nailing my intervals, chords and cadences more (worth six marks). That, combined with my clap backs, would have balanced the scales a bit.

To wrap up, when you're trying to play the "numbers game" with your exam marks, keep in mind the following:

1. Beef up the foundation (the basics) of the areas that are worth the most marks.

2. If you know that one area is going to be wobbly no matter what, then look at the other elements in that section and try to strengthen those areas.

3. Just guess on the wobbly areas. You may get partial marks.

Speak with your teacher if you have any questions on this or need more advice. The mark breakdown for each grade is listed in the conservatory syllabi.

Sources: Conservatory Canada Piano Syllabus & Royal Conservatory of Music Examiner's Guidelines for Assessment of Repertoire.

Memory needs lots of time for the music to settle (and performances). As you can see, memorization is only worth one mark for his Intermezzo. I asked him if he wanted to sacrifice the 60 or so marks he'd get for having most of the notes, rhythm and the tempo there for that one measly memory mark. For a piece that's not completely secure, there is a good chance that things will fall apart under the pressure of an exam.

My Kotatsu Table Project

It seems like there is a kotatsu table in every household featured in the anime shows I watch. A kotatsu is a heated Japanese table. The special kotatsu heater sits on the underside of the table. They are generally fairly low, with a futon placed on top to keep the heat in. The first time I saw it, I thought, "Man, I really need one of those!"

Japanese homes don't have central heating, so having one of these in your home is a must once winter hits. If the Internet is an indicator, it's catching on here in North America too. Great for those of us without a fireplace or those who are looking for ways to keep heating bills down.

Last winter, I decided to make a kotatsu table. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I found this set of instructions on How to Build and American-style Kotatsu.Then, it was off to Ebay to order my kotatsu heater from 4kokuq. It has to be a kotatsu heater. An ordinary space heater would be a fire hazard. Kotatsu heaters have low voltage, so they can handle being in an enclosed space.

The cost for the kotatsu heating unit, including shipping and the exchange rate, was just under $100 CAD. It came within two weeks, as promised.

Next, I went to IKEA to pick up a LACK table (under $20) and a comforter from Wal-Mart for approximately $25. I picked up four fluffy accent pillows to use as seating cushions. I think they were between $7 - 12 each. Thankfully, Canada uses the same voltage as Japan, so I did not need to purchase an adapter.

It didn't take long to assemble the LACK table. The next step was to install the heater. At the time, I was only in Level 1 of Japanese language classes, so I couldn't read any of the kanji in the instructions. However, I did learn that it asked me to "Insert kotatsu heater in wooden frame underneath table. Insert screws into holes of said frame and screw into the heater."

Perhaps you see my challenge. I don't have a bona fide kotatsu table, so there is no frame. This required a quick trip to Home Depot. The solution? Corner Braces.

I marked in pencil where I should position the heating unit and screwed in the braces at each corner. Then it was time to screw the heating unit in.

Since the LACK table lacks space inside the table leg to thread the power cord through, another adjustment had to be made to keep the cord in place. This time, a picture hook came to my rescue.

Last two steps were pretty easy - put the comforter on top and then what was originally the shelving unit for the LACK table on top of the comforter.

Click here for my Kotatsu Making Photo Album.

This clip shows some other uses for this versatile Japanese table:

December 12, 2013 update: If you don't want to make your own, one of my fave otaku stores, J-List makes them. A steal of a deal for $100 USD. Click for J-List Kotatsu!