I auditioned last night for a local jazz band. As always it was a very interesting night. You get to meet new people, learn new music and try to make a good impression all at the same time. Auditioning for a band or show is, or should be, a fun experience and one where you [...]
This article has been inspired by my 17 year old son, who is a budding bass player, drummer, guitarist. He has a high degree of “natural ability” when it comes to picking up instruments. Not surprising when you consider his mother is a pianist and his father a guitarist. In our house, if you can’t [...]
As a music teacher one of the most common questions I got was “How much do I need to practice?” Well, the simple answer to that is “How good would you like to be?” I say it’s the simple answer because there are many factors involved but usually it all comes back to putting in [...]
There is an old sporting saying that applies very well to music. “Play on your strengths, train on your weaknesses.” Put simply it means that a performance is not the time to try out your new stuff. One of the greatest assets you can have as a performer is confidence. Confidence comes from knowing “your [...]
Practice makes perfect, right? Almost. Practice is always central to any improvement in playing your musical instrument. Practice by itself is not enough though. To make genuine improvement you need to modify the old saying slightly. From: “Practice makes perfect.” To: “Perfect practice makes perfect.” It’s a small but very important difference. What it means [...]