Want the free color eBook edition of Practice Like This? Sign up for 6 Bullet Saturday. 6-Bullet Saturday is a newsletter that gives you six things I thought worth sharing every week. Mostly it’s about practice, and I always include specific tips or exercises or drills that I use to help me and my students get…
The Lust Branch: “Private Matters” of Eccentric Musician Percy Grainger
Nothing about practice, or music, apart from one composer’s motivations and inspirations, but still fascinating. Grainger is one of my favorite wind ensemble composers. Check his discography. Source: The Lust Branch: “Private Matters” of Eccentric Musician Percy Grainger – Atlas Obscura
Mastery, by Robert Greene: Animated
Mastery, by Robert Greene, is a book you should read/own. Want to listen to it? If you’re new to Audible, you can get it for free! Here’s a quick summary of Mastery:
Bizarro: Horton Hears the Who
Dan Piraro: One of the funniest comedians out there: Bizarro Blog, Cartoon Archive, Shop, Secret Symbols Source: Bizarro by Dan Piraro – Bizarro Blog, Cartoon Archive, Shop, Secret Symbols
7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE: ANIMATED
Pro Tip: Replace every business (or other reference) with “music.”
Jazz in Song: The Singing Instrumentalists
I sang some tunes for the first time in public at a gig a couple of nights ago, between playing trumpet and rhythm guitar, and then this show came on the radio. Perfect timing. Almost. Before the gig might have helped a little. It’s a good program. To listen, click the photo of Diz and…
Long Form: It’s hard to know why music gives pleasure: is that the point?
A long-form piece: well-written and thought-provoking. We know music is pleasurable, the question is why? Many answers have been proposed: perhaps none are quite right Source: It’s hard to know why music gives pleasure: is that the point? | Aeon Essays
How to Read Music: Free Course (new lesson published: Note Names)
The video course, Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music is FREE as I put it together. So far there are 12 lessons up, with more every couple of days. Today, the lesson on Note Names goes live. I’m still working out the design, production flow, and proofreading, so you might…
Conductorless Orchestra: Orpheus
Great sounds without a conductor! Big band jazz has been doing this for a century or so, and it’s de rigueur for free improvisers, but we don’t often think of classical musicians performing without that person up there waving a stick. Enter Orpheus. (spoiler: jazz/pop/classical musician Branford Marsalis makes an appearance in the later vids.) This…
Transcribe: Not Just for Jazz Musicians!
Transcribing (either by writing or playing it by ear) is one of the most valuable things you can do in your practice. Jazz, folk, and most pop musicians at this point are saying, “Duh!,” so this is basically for classical musicians. Case in point: Lizst’s transcriptions of all 9 Beethoven symphonies for piano. Classics (pun…
How to Read Music: Free Course (new lesson published: pitch)
The video course, Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music is FREE as I put it together. So far there are 11 lessons up, with more every couple of days. Today, the lesson on pitch goes live. I’m still working out the design, production flow, and proofreading, so you might spot…
