Turning Off the Critic Being Critical Can Cut Ourselves and Our Students Off from the Music

After years of training in an area we accumulate patterns and habits that effect every aspect of our experiences. We acquire information and knowledge that was intended to improve the way we perform or express our abilities. Of course this makes us better, but this information and knowledge can also hold us back in the long run if we use it as a way to become overly critical and negative when experiencing our own playing, our peers’ playing, our peers’ students or anyone performing in our field.

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Two Step – Video, Piano Recording and Sheet Music

This version is a little different than the score and it has an improvised solo in the middle. The short version below matches the score.

Here is a PDF of the free sheet music – Two Step PDF Download

Mp3 with improvised solo version for free download or stream:

Mp3 with version matching the score for free download or stream:

Two Step

Short Version with just the melody and no improvisation:

Taking Selfies with Sound Five Approaches to Use When Recording Ourselves

There have been times when I would feel that my rate of improvement didn’t line up with the large chunks of time I was spending at the instrument practicing. Sometimes practicing a lot isn’t enough. We need other methods to elevate our playing and bring cohesion to all the concepts we are working through.

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The Secret Life of Triads Four Ways to Make Triads Work for You

One of the biggest breakthroughs I had when learning to play music came during a painfully frustrating time. I was trying to work out a lot of Bill Evans material in college and I just couldn’t make it sound good. I spent a lot of hours that didn’t equate to improvement. I was studying with an amazing teacher who could rip through the stuff with ease. He also sensed something wasn’t clicking and said, “You know, everything comes down to triads.”

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Connecting to the Source Aligning Our Efforts with Musical Inspiration

I was excited to be placed in the Miles Davis Ensemble at the beginning of a college semester. Miles was one of my heroes and our leader said we were going to do original music in the style of the famous quintet with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. This made me more excited because I wanted to write music in that style to learn more about it.

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Where Have All the Geniuses Gone? A Tribute to the Purple One

It’s been a rough 24 hours mourning with so many around the world over the loss of Prince. There are beautiful tributes by his friends and loved ones, by female musicians that were inspired by his inclusion of amazing women in his bands from the beginning of his career, by African Americans for all he represented and inspired within their diverse communities, by musicians who marveled at all he could do with seemingly any instrument he touched, by songwriters for his ability to craft perfect songs, by producers and engineers who were influenced by his creative use of technology in making records that will stand the test of time, by creatives who felt inspired by his disregard for the rules and by anyone who didn’t feel like they fit in their environment.

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Using Restrictions to Develop Creativity Three ways to encourage both creative and accurate playing

Creativity can be an elusive quality to develop. There are many kids and people who seem inclined to do their own things and do them their own way. As teachers, we often categorize these students as creative and do one of three things:

  1. We spend time letting them explore their ideas. Often enamored with their ability to create , we try and not to push them too hard in directions that are not inline with what they want to do so we don’t squash their joy and passion for creativity.
  2. We try to snap them into our program, curriculum or methodology. We don’t encourage creativity until they get certain things on our agenda as teachers within their grasp – if ever.
  3. We do some combination of numbers 1 and 2 above. We dedicate time to both exploration and method.

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