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!

Less Talk, More Music Part Deux: Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier sings and plays all the parts in this amazing video clip. He also arranged this version of Stevie Wonder’s Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing. Apparently he also edited the video. Some serious skill. Wonder what his practice routine is like….

Less Talk, More Music

The title of this post says what I feel. Talk is cheap. If talking about music sufficed, music would not be. I’ll shut up now. Well, almost. Props where props are due.

Reinier Voet and company (w/ Rob Stoop on accordion) play Django’s beautiful tune, Anouman. Mr. Voet’s web site is here.

Essential Music Books (age 14+)

I’ve read every practice book out there (most of them twice), and many other music-related books besides. Here’s a compilation of the best of the best. Great advice and excellent writing. If I’ve left out a favorite of yours, let me know in the comments. I’ve done extensive reviews of most of these titles. Look for the link, or go here.

Lots of food for thought in these books for players of every level. These books should be in your music library. The order in which they’re presented reflects my own loose ranking system. The first one is the best. All of them are good.

12 Rules of Music Practice (Wynton Marsalis)

Here are 12 practice suggestions from Master Marsalis. Each one could be the subject of a book on its own. After the vids, I’ve added suggestions to consider below each of Wynton’s rules. Some will be covered more thoroughly in the book, “The Practice of Practice.”

Yeime Arrieta Ramos: When She Looks Asleep, Her Accordion Playing is Most Dangerous

Meet young accordion queen, Yeime Arrieta Ramos. Her playing is great, and her attitude is even better. I’ve been writing about Flow states lately, for a chapter in the motivation section in The Practice of Practice. Young Ms. Ramos could be a poster-child for Flow. I’d love to hear more about her history and how she practices. Her musical companions, who also seem to be around 10-12, are also pretty amazing musicians. Anybody see the Smithsonian documentary on her? I think I’ll go check the Smithsonian app right now. Here’s the video of Yeime Arrieta Ramos:

Chromatik: An Online Music-Learning Resource

Below is the video on playing thirds that Chromatik chose to include on the site, and what’s really cool (you have to click through to see it), is that on Chromatik, the issues I talk about are illustrated with music theory and written notes. Super-cool! Much more useful and informative than my original video, which is great! I love the internet. When information is free, everybody benefits.

Heard: A Practice Recording App with a 5-minute Buffer

It can be tough to know exactly what to record beyond a specific performance of a song or section. Sometimes, when I’ve been improvising or goofing around during the warm-up, or making a “creative error” while transcribing a solo, I really like the results. When I stumble across a neat musical idea, if I don’t stop to capture it by repeating it or writing it down, it’s gone, usually never to return. Now there’s an app for that.

The 10,000-hour Red Herring

You’ve all heard it by now: all the talk and focus on the 10,000 hour “rule,” from people like Malcolm Gladwell, and the researcher who originally published the study with the finding, Anders Ericsson, whose theories are not without opposition in the academic world. If you haven’t heard of this finding by researchers Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Romer yet, it goes like this: it takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach expert-level performance, whether it’s in sports, music, chess, or x-ray diagnostics. But the 10,000-hour rule is a red herring for several reasons.

RIP, Laurie Frink: “Trumpet Mom” for Many Jazz Trumpeters

Ms. Frink passed away July 13 from complications of bile duct cancer. She was 62. The loss of a great teacher is most tragic.

A Blog Supreme posted a nice tribute to Ms. Frink.

Below is a video of the Maria Schneider Orchestra playing Gumba Blue in 2000. Laurie Frink is in the trumpet section along with one of her students, Ingrid Jensen.

Cover Your Assessment: Musical Elements Checklist

Stumped on what to listen for in your practice? Use the musical elements as a checklist. Want to learn more about the best ways to practice? Get an e-mail with a discount code when The Practice of Practice is published (June, 2014). To learn more about the book, check out a sample from The Practice of…

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