Lessons in Email Management

Please tell me that I'm not the only one struggling with keeping my email in-boxes tidy. Managing emails seems to be an ongoing battle. One that I feel like I'm losing.

With a new school year fast approaching, I really want to get a handle on this. I found some articles that with some email management tips. I look forward to applying the "Two-Minute" Rule". I suppose I should create some rules too for newsletters:

A Simple Guide to Managing Your Email

Managing Email Effectively

10 Tips to Manage Email Effectively

Do you have any tips on how to manage your email that isn't mentioned in these articles? Please share.

Getting Those Fingers Back into Shape

I think it's safe to say that most music students take it easy during the summer. Most music teachers like to as well. However, with fall just around the corner, it's time to strengthen those fingers!

I recommended a few popular books with hand exercises a while back. Last year, I finally worked through the first book of Hanon exercises:

The New Hanon (link to my affiliate link)

This summer, I'm working my way through the Schmitt Five-Finger Exercises, op. 16 (affiliate link).

What I really like about the Schmitt exercises is that they are five-finger exercises. Sure, you're supposed to play them 15 times each, but it's really not that bad. I use the following pattern:

• Five times legato

• Five times staccato

• Five times something else

That "something else" could be portato, or jazz triplets or two-note slurs. I do notice that it takes at least five repetitions of the pattern before my tone evens out.

If you're looking for a way to get your fingers back into shape before the fall, you can't go wrong with Hanon or Schmitt. It beats playing your Conservatory scales, chords and arpeggios every day.

Starting a New Chapter on Social Media Management Tools

After less than a month of using Hootsuite Pro, I've cancelled my account. I really enjoyed being able to have "one dashboard to rule them all" but the limitations that I encountered with this social media management tool were aggravating:

1. Being limited to using the Owl.ly and Hoot.ly link shorteners: Simply not a fan. Whether I was sharing a photo or a blog post that I scheduled for two days in advance, Hootsuite would simply share the item as the shortened link - without the summary blurb or featured photo. The result? A decease in readership because people are afraid to click on the links since they had no clue what the link was about.

2. Only being able to post to my business G+ page. You know, sometimes, I'd like to post as me, the music teacher/musician.

3. The mobile app leaves much to be desired. The mobile app would tell me that one of my former coworkers posted something but half the time, it showed up as their photo and nothing else. Ergo, I'd still have to log into LinkedIn to find out what the post was about. Also, the mobile app is limited only to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

4. No integration with Feedly: Hootsuite has the Hootsuite Syndicator for managing your blog subscriptions. However, I prefer Feedly. It's slick, it's sexy and very easy to use.

5. Missing "Likes": Whenever I "Liked" a post on the Hootsuite app, when I logged in Facebook, that "Like" is gone. Now, I know "liking" only goes so far, but I thought it would go a bit further than my Hootsuite app.

Now what?

Remember Buffer? I mentioned them when I first began this journey into SMM tools. It seems to be popular with quite a few bloggers. There's a Free Plan and an Awesome Plan. The latter is $10/month and gives you up to 12 social networking profiles. Although I'm testing out the Free Plan, I can tell you now that if I'm satisfied, I'll upgrade to the Awesome Plan. It's the only plan I can look at since I have two FB business pages and my Wall, along with multiple Twitter accounts.

Buffer and Feedly are partners. This means sharing with them just got a whole lot easier. Not only that, it looks like they both will talk to Evernote (a new app that I'm trying out).

Buffer has one drawback: not G+ integration. It looks like Google+ has to be treated differently. Either I just use the G+ mobile app or check out Do Share. Now Do Share allows you to schedule posts to your business page and your personal profile. That is handy.

So that is the next leg on my journey to find the ideal social media management tools for my business.

Where to Find Lead Sheets and Fake Books Online

Fake books and lead sheets are used by many musicians, from amateurs to professionals. They provide music makers with a springboard for embellishing or improvising solo or in collaboration. They also provide musicians an opportunity to practice their keyboard harmony skills.

What is a Fake Book? What is a Lead Sheet?

look inside

The Ultimate Fake Book - 5th Edition C Edition. Composed by Various. Hal Leonard Fake Books. Standards, Pop, Country and Rock. Fakebook (spiral bound). With vocal melody, lyrics and chord names. 808 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.240024).

A lead sheet is an arrangement of a musical score that contains the melody, lyrics and chord symbols. According to Blake Neely, “The accompaniment part of the song is left to you, the performer. You have to ‘fake’ your own accompaniment or arrangement.” (Neely, Blake. How to Play from a Fake Book, Keyboard Edition. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999).

Fake books or “real books” contain hundreds of lead sheets. There are fake books for classical music, wedding music, pop and rock, ethnic music, jazz, Latin music, and more.

Buy Fake Books Online

Most music retailers carry a selection of fake books. Larger retailers are equipped to handle online purchases.

Musicians can also order fake books directly from music publishers, such as the Hal Leonard Corporation. Online book retailers, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, also carry fake books.

Free Lead Sheets Online

Various websites offer free lead sheets online legally. Free sheet music that is legal falls under the Free Art License, which "grants the right to freely copy, distribute, and transform creative works without infringing the author's rights."(Free Art License 1.3, accessed July 6, 2010).

This is a small selection of lead sheets posted by the original arrangers:

Wikifonia is a site where musicians can share their lead sheet arrangements. There is a wide variety of music available, including pop, jazz and rock. Visitors can transpose the arrangement prior to printing and make requests for an arrangement to be made.

Sibelius Music contains over 94,000 scores on its website. There are lead sheets available for pop, rock, jazz and worship music. Viewers can listen to musical selections as well as transpose lead sheets prior to printing. Scorch software is required to view the scores properly.

ChordMusic.net contains over 1,800 songs for chord piano, keyboard, guitar, and voice. Musicians can find music by ABBA, Elvis and the Beatles. The site also contains a chord finder. A small donation is required prior to downloading these lead sheets.

Things to Watch for When Downloading Free Lead Sheets

There are two things to watch out for when searching for free sheet music online: illegal scans of copyrighted scores, and poor arrangements.

While a transcription shared freely by the arranger is legal, scanning a lead sheet that is copyrighted by someone else is not. Musicians should inspect the music score carefully to confirm its authenticity. Fuzzy quality is a sign of photocopying or scanning.

Prior to downloading free lead sheets, it is prudent to review several different arrangements. Musicians should check the chord symbols and rhythms to see if these elements are consistent (they should be close). Some lead sheets will contain simplified chords. Music students should consult with their music teacher if they require assistance in this area.

Fake books and lead sheets provide musicians with a road map to follow as they explore embellishing and improvisation. Whether they are playing solo or in a group, fake books and lead sheets can offer musicians countless hours of repertoire and enjoyment.

Originally published on Suite101.com on July 6, 2010. Updated August 7, 2013.

Infrared Therapy for Canine Arthritis

Each of Maestro's laser therapy sessions concludes with a stint of infrared heat therapy. From the look on his face, it's a pleasant experience for him:

Maestro is going to the Canine Aquafitness Centre every second week, so I bit the bullet and bought our own Thermotex™ Platinum Infrared Therapy System during our visit two weeks ago. The bonus is that now I can use it too! Goodbye back and shoulder pain!

The other bonus - we can use it every day. Actually, we can use it up to four times a day.

Check out my official product review of the Thermotex™ Personal Therapy System on my Stumbling Still blog. This portable personal pain relief device can be used by adults, children and pets.