Author: Jonathan Harnum

Hi, I'm Jon Harnum, author, publisher, teacher, musician, and scholar. If you'd like to learn more about music or how to publish books, come check out my web sites and online courses. Lots of freebies so you can try before you buy. See you online!

Singing Is Learned, Not a Natural Ability: More Evidence

Glad the issue of learning over “natural talent” is getting more attention, and not just from researchers like Steven Demorest and Peter Pfordresher (et al.), who just published a research paper on the subject. Here’s an excerpt from a recent Chicago Tribune article. <snip> Singing is more of a learned skill than a natural talent, said…

Read More

How Important Is It To Play On a Fine Instrument?

An upright bass player I used to play with told me that his teacher owned a $40,000 bow. A bow!

When sound quality is your top priority (and you have money), no amount seems too high a price. See Neil Pert’s new drum set in the video below for an example of a fine (and expensive!) instrument.

See the Unseeable: Visualizing Music Has Never Been This Awesome

Nothing about practice in this post, but you can bet it took a lot of practice of all sorts to shoot this very cool video from musician Nigel Stanford. In fact, it took months of preparation, and 2 days of shooting in a Brooklyn warehouse.

Composers use lots of ways to create compositions. Stanford’s use of these physical properties of sound (and frame rates of cameras) to create a piece is fascinating. Check out the “behind the scenes” vids for details on these experiments with sound.

Stealing Like An Artist: Herbie Hancock and Pygmy Musical Improvisation

Musicians steal all the time. Chord progressions can’t be copyrighted, musicians often borrow a progression from a well-known song and put a new melody over the top of the chords. The uber-standard chord progression in the jazz world is “Rhythm Changes,” the chord changes from the Gershwin brothers’ tune “I Got Rhythm,” used in hundreds of songs, including The Flintstones theme.

Herbie Hancock stole a melodic idea for his hit album Headhunters (the super-hit song Watermelon Man–see below) from other master improvisers, improvisers not too many people know about: the Pygmy people (specifically, Mbuti Pygmies of Northeastern Zaire).

One of the Most Powerful Tools for Your Practice

The amazing Dr. Carol Dweck explains how your belief about intelligence profoundly impacts your motivation to learn, the depth of your learning, and your persistence in the face of failure. In music, Dr. Bret Smith discovered similar findings. Lots more in Chapter 6 of The Practice of Practice (free shipping in the US).

Midwest Clinic Presentation: Free Kindle Editions: 2 Days Only!

I believe the information in The Practice of Practice is valuable and helpful, so I’ve decided to give attendees the Kindle edition of that as well as the Kindle edition of my bestseller: Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music (4th ed.). You can get one even if you’re not there! Just click on the image below to get one. They’re only available for December 18th and 19th. Please share this information with your students, parents, and on social media, and thanks!

From Rock to Bach: THE Book for Any Musician On Your List

Until The Practice of Practice, there hasn’t been a book on practice written for musicians who aren’t interested in the school musics (band, choir, and orchestra). The good news is that this book is also valuable for those folks, too. It’s useful whether you’re into Bach, Rock, or any other kind of music.

The World’s Hidden Music (Rituals)

Watching the video below started me thinking about how music practice, especially when done with others, is a powerful means of communion, in several senses of that word. We have to practice alone in a room, yes, but it’s vital to embrace and seek out playing with others, too. As soon as possible.