Harmonica Practice Day 5
Theory Thursday (On a Friday): What is a "Key" and what does it mean for a harmonica to be "in" one?
Harmonica Practice Day Three (Mary Had a Little Lamb)
Here’s day 3. Sorry for the weird lighting. Still figuring this out. Thanks for indulging me.
Harmonica Practice Day Two Plus Some Thoughts on Notation
Harmonica Practice Day 1
I'm Going to Teach Myself a New Instrument and Tell You About It in Real Time
Alright guys, the best teachers are lifelong students. I’ve written a little about my own practice routine, but perhaps the best way to talk about the process of learning a new instrument is to actually learn a new instrument. So, I’m going to teach myself to play harmonica, and write about it. This decision was spurred by a couple things. First, as you may or may not know, I play bass in a band called the Creaky Steps. We’ve written a couple songs that could use harmonica, and no one else in the band currently plays the thing. None of the tracks need virtuosic solos, just a little more depth and warmth on some of the progressions to accompany the rhythm guitar. Second, I’ve got a hundred dollars from my mother-in-law from Christmas, and I believe strongly that gift money should be spent on things you want, not things you need. And as it turns out, I found a set of 7 harmonicas (keyed E through Bb), a neck holder, and a beginner book, that taken together are right in that price range. Perfect. So, since this is something I want to do anyway, and that I have a budget it for, it occurred to me that it would also be a perfect thing to talk about on this blog.
Like most musicians, I’ve played harmonica before. Never in a performance or recording, but when there’s been one around at musical gatherings, I’ll pick one up. Harmonicas are a really easy instrument to play competently because they are already keyed, so as long as you know what key you’re playing in, it’s hard to play a really wrong note. But, of course, there’s a big difference between not sounding bad, and actually sounding good. That’s the gulf I’m going to try to bridge here. I want to actually know what I’m doing on the instrument, instead of just filling the air with diatonically correct but randomly chosen notes (right now I play the harmonica the way your friend who doesn’t play piano knows how to “stay on the white keys”).
Since I’m also going to be using this as a teaching opportunity, I want to make sure I set a good example. I told you guys in my last two posts to practice 6 days a week, so I’ll be doing my best to stick to that. But I also said that you can make progress playing 10-15 minutes a day, so I will also be limiting myself to that. I’m going to make it a rule to prove that progress can be made, and I’ll avoid the temptation to play longer than that each day. I already practice 30 minutes a day each on piano, guitar, and bass, as well as 10-15 minutes of ear training, so adding this should round off my regimen to a nice even 2 hours.
The goal will be to get competent enough to incorporate the harmonica into occasional performances with my band, which will of course include the added challenge of being able to play two instruments at once. I’ve done this once before with my band in college. We wrote one song on which I played bass and trumpet at the same time, using left hand slides on the former while holding the latter in my right hand. I ended up writing simpler live parts for each than what I had recorded because I lacked the coordination to play the parts I had written separately simultaneously, and it was primarily a novelty act, which we only did live a handful of times. But it was a lot of fun. I have higher aspirations for this.
And who knows, maybe this time next year JCInstrumental will be offering harmonica lessons. Stay tuned. I’ll let you know when the harps come in the mail.
-Excited for a new challenge, Ben
Practice Routines that Work Part 2: Commit to Playing Six Days a Week
Yesterday, I wrote that how often you practice is more important than how long you practice. Building a routine of consistent practice, regardless of how long you spend on it will improve your playing much faster than occasional marathon sessions. Today I want to qualify that slightly, and urge you to commit to practice six days a week. Six. Not seven. Let me tell you why.
Here’s the thing about schedules. Sometimes they break. Something unexpected will come up, and you won’t be able to practice that day. You had the time set aside, you were prepared, and then you had to work late, or the kids had an unexpected school obligation. Someone in your family got sick and you had to go to the doctor. Life intrudes. This happens to all of us. It will happen to you.
How you decide to respond to a missed practice session will make or break your habit. When we fail to meet a goal, due to circumstances outside of our control, it becomes psychologically easier to miss that goal again. If you commit to seven days a week you are setting yourself to fail. And once you’ve missed a day, is it really such a big deal if you skip another? And another? Soon the whole program has fallen by the wayside, and your commitment to improving on your instrument is just another abandoned resolution.
By committing to six days instead of seven, you are recognizing that the unexpected will happen, and when it does, it won’t ruin your commitment, it will have the opposite effect. “Ok, guess that was my day off, now I really have to commit to playing every other day this week.”
And if you make it six days in a row without a crisis, reward yourself. Take Saturday or Sunday off. Sleep in. Eat a long breakfast. Take a bath. Do something fun with the family. No matter how fun playing an instrument is (and it should be fun, otherwise why are you doing it), it will still sometimes feel like work. There will be days when you just don’t want to play. Trust me, no matter how much you love your instrument, if you play six days a week taking one off will feel like a reward, and rewards can be a great source of motivation. Use this to your advantage.
Commit to six days a week. You can do it. And you’ll be amazed with the results.
Happy music making!
Practice Routines that Work Part 1: Frequency is More Important than Duration
The new year is coming, and that means resolutions. Maybe yours is to learn a new instrument, or to get serious about one you already play. In either case, musical resolutions, like so many others often fail or are discarded by February. So how can you make sure that this year you stick to your plan? Over the next few days, I’m going to present some ideas of what has worked for me. Obviously every person is different, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments about what has worked (or not) for you in the past. Hopefully, my thoughts can be of some help.
I know something about committing to a practice routine. I currently maintain several of them. Every day, I set aside time to play piano, guitar, and bass for 30 minutes each, and to do 15 minutes of ear training. I also try to play ukulele at least 3 times a week, and to compose something (even if it’s not any good) every week. Obviously, this is my job, and so I can afford to devote nearly 2 hours a day to practice, but the amount of time I devote to each instrument is not all that great, which brings me to my first tip:
How often you practice is MUCH more important than how long you practice. Practicing every day (even for 10 to 15 minutes) is exponentially more effective than spending your entire Saturday afternoon. So, come up with a daily routine that keeps you accountable to at least pick up your instrument at least 5 days a week. Because much of the learning comes from repeated exposure to concepts or materials, playing a little every day will make a big difference, and like sleep, it is very hard to make up the time you missed on a different day.
It is true that practicing for 3 hours will accomplish more than practicing for 30 minutes, but not by as much as you think. And spacing those same 3 hours of weekly work across 6 days, instead of cramming, will make a much bigger difference than you may realize. It also makes it much easier to begin to build a habit. Set aside time each day at a particular time of day (early morning, after school/work, before bed, etc). And experiment with what times you prefer to play, as these will be the ones in which you will make the most progress.
If you don’t think you can find 30 minutes a day, try 10. Really. You’ll be amazed how much progress you’ll make, and once you’ve established the habit you may realize you have more time than you thought, and you can begin to extend your practice time. The important thing is just sitting down (or standing up) and playing your instrument. I want to challenge each of you (whether you’re my students or not) to make regular practice time your resolution in 2020.
Happy music making!
Theory Thursday #1: Introducing Theory Thursday + Adam Neely and the Theory of Musical Relativity
One of the things I want to do with this blog is to create a space for members of the JC Instrumental community with varying levels of musical knowledge and expertise (including none) to talk about musical ideas and to think about music in ways that they might not have been exposed to before. I’m calling this feature “Theory Thursday.” I can’t promise that it will be every Thursday, but I hope to post as often as possible. Sometimes the posts will be original content from me, sometimes they will be guest posts, and sometimes (as in this case) they will be links to content I think is cool, interesting, or useful. Each post will begin with a tag describing the level of theory knowledge it is most appropriate for, and the specific concepts it assumes familiarity with. So…
Theory level: advanced beginner (specific intervals & polyrhythms, but you should watch it even if you don’t get these concepts yet, you’ll understand enough for it to be interesting)
I’m starting with this because of a conversation I had with a student last night, where I referenced this idea. My student Adam is a longtime friend and has recently started lessons with me on piano and theory. Last night after a lesson on measuring specific intervals, we started talking about frequency ratios. This video essay by Adam Neely came to mind. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot in the years since I first saw it, and has been influential to the way I conceptualize musical relationships. So I thought I’d share. I’m sure I’ve inadvertently plagiarized this in casual conversation at least a dozen times because it’s just such a good frame for thinking about what music IS.
It is also a good opportunity to introduce you to one of the best music theory youtubers out there (and his production quality has gotten much better over the three years since this video). Adam Neely is a Berklee trained professional bass player, composer, and theorist, and one of my all time favorites on youtube. I’ll be using this platform occasionally to introduce you to bloggers, vloggers, and other thinkers whose work has been useful to me, and who I think have important things to say. And I can think of no better place to start than with Adam Neely. All his content is great and you should check it out. So enjoy, feel free to discuss in the comments, and I’ll see you next week.