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How to learn a musical instrument.

10/25/2018

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Some thoughts

Write out your goals, be clear and specific. You know the drill.
Devote time, money, and energy to the project.
Find an experienced, enthusiastic, and supportive teacher(s).
Seek out fellow learners and build your peer group.
Listen to the best exemplars of the style of music you want to learn.
Go to live concerts.
Be humble and patient.

Now to the areas of study that must be pursued simultaneously.

Ear training: If you can't hear it, you can't play it.
Theory: everything is easier if you understand what you are doing.
Sight reading: play for fun sooner, learn quicker.
History: Knowing where this music comes from and who are the most accomplished players and composers will inspire and motivate.
Technique: Skill will let you soar.
Repertoire: Seek out the best compositions in your style.

Best,

David Story, piano teacher, drum student since 2011

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Why learn theory and practice ear training?

10/11/2018

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Why theory? Memorisation. Instead of trying to memorise a long series of notes, trained musicians remember a shorter series of larger patterns. They understand how the various patterns related to each other. It is important to understand that notes don't move at random. Each style of music has conventions that composers understand and work with.

Check this out:

Composer: Clementi. Knowing this tells me this piece is in a "classical era style"
Allegro: fast and happy
Left hand goes from tonic to dominant, followed by an 8th note run from dominant back to tonic.
Right hand plays a broken tonic chord in 2nd inversion twice, followed by a run from dominant to dominant trilling around the leading tone on its way.
Play forte
I could go on.

I could go on.

Now ear training. Ultimately we all play be ear. Training your ear will shorten the time it takes to get there. You don't need perfect pitch but you do need good relative pitch. You need to be able to hear nuance in the professional performances you are listening to.

Check this out.

Jazz students

What instruments to you hear?
How many choruses does each musician take on the solos?
Is the piece a blues, standard, or jazz composition?
Which era of jazz history does it belong to?
What is the dynamic plan of the arrangement?
I could go on.

Classical students

Listen to the phrasing. Does the dynamic change with the direction of the melody? Does it get louder when the melody rises and fall when the melody falls?
How is the balance between melody and accompaniment.
Is the tempo steady or flexible?
What is the relationship between tempo and dynamics?
I could go on.

These are examples of ear training.

Cheers,

David Story
Remember I give online lessons, now is four countries.

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The most important practice of the week

10/3/2018

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“The most important practice session of the week isn’t the one right before your lesson; it’s the one right after.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 296

I agree, flip open the music as soon as you get home and dive right in.

Please have a look at this article: https://www.musiciansway.com/blog/2011/01/the-most-important-practice-session/ Better yet buy the book by Gerald Klickstein. Sign up for his Facebook posts and Twitter feeds.

Here is some feedback from a reader: Simon Horsey … I am forever reminding my students that by playing through everything covered in their lesson, reading through my notes and planning their practice sessions for the week they can actually lessen the practice time required to meet their targets for the week..."

Have fun.

David Story

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How to learn a musical instrument.

Why learn theory and practice ear training?

The most important practice of the week

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