Archive for the 'Banjos' Category
Never Let The Music Die
I am a self-confessed music lover. I don’t just love listening to music, I also enjoy learning how to play music. The first instrument I’ve tried was the piano. I loved it but my love affair with the piano didn’t last long. Then, I decided to try my luck with a stringed instrument. I started learning how to play a guitar. I realized that strings were my cup of tea. After learning the basics, it was easier to learn the trickier arrangements.
Currently, I’m into playing the banjo. It is also a stringed instrument but is less popular than the guitar. It can come in four, five, or even six strings. This instrument is more often associated with folk music or country music. The songs are mostly upbeat and merry.
Maximizing Practice Time
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| by Frederick Burton |
| Self-discipline.Author Napoleon Hill defines self-discipline as:
“Taking control of your mind, your habits, and your emotions. Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you want to or not.” I think that sums it up, but as a musician, there are things you can do to make the most of your practice time. I’ve heard a lot of musicians say that they practice while watching TV, listening to music, etc. They claim they need some sort of distraction in order to better concentrate or they become bored. In my opinion, this is a deep pitfall. Sometimes, something is better than nothing, and sometimes it’s not. Remember, what works for one person doesn’t always work for everyone. It’s up to you to find what is right for you. But here is some advice to develop a musical environment that will maximize your practicing. First off, let’s find a quiet room: a room away from everything that can be distracting, a room without a television or a radio. Let’s make this room very bright, but without blinding yourself. This will minimize unnecessary straining of your eyes, thus causing a headache. Your area should have all equipment necessary for your practice session: guitar, music stand, necessary books and music, a good chair with a sturdy back for support, a foot stool, tape recorder, and believe it or not, a notepad and a writing utensil. It’s also cool to have posters of your influences on the wall. Now, your ready. But wait… An important aspect of practicing is the all-important goal setting. Do you have a goal when you begin your sessions? I do, and its very important for all to develop one. An example of a goal is: “I have two hours today, I’m going to first work on my I-VI-II-V chord progressions in every key using the 5-4-3-2 string group.” This is a short term goal. A long term goal is: “Man, give me two years, and I’m going to be as good as Jimmy Bruno.” This goal is a bit more unrealistic, but with practicing, who knows… I’m really just throwing out some ideas, but the point is to create a goal, both short and long-term. Write them down and tape them to a wall in your newly created musical room. Recite them to yourself, and let it soak into your subconscience. Another thing you can do is to write down on your notepad all the things you may wish to practice: Scales, Arpeggios, Technical Mechanics, Tunes, Sight Reading, Improvising, etc. In those two hours ,maybe you can touch on all these topics spending 15-20 minutes on each aspect. If you happen to be strong on scales and weak on sight reading, then concentrate more on the sight reading and less on your scales. You be the judge. Having a routine agenda makes the self-disciplinary process easier to achieve and maintain. Remember this point: repetition leads to habit which leads to routine which leads to self-discipline. But, never forget the importance of rest. It’s good to develop a routine, but let’s be realistic: don’t harm yourself with continual non-stop repetition, as this can be harmful, especially after coming back from a long period of non-playing. Hopefully, these tips will prove to be helpful in developing your fullest potential as a musician. Good Luck!
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Finding Yourself As A Guitar Player
We’ve all started out somewhere as guitar players
. I started learning guitar by playing old Beatle songs. I had never taken a lesson in my life so I had no one really to guide me. Now, years later, the style of music I have played has become very different. This is because I let myself go.
Letting yourself go requires an kind of detachment from what you are used to playing. Now you may say to me, what gives you the right to tell me how to find my style?” You’re right, I have no right. But I can tell you what my experience was like and you can take from it what you want.
Like all of you, I started out by playing my favorite songs. It’s very difficult to break out of the groove of writing bad ripoffs of your favorite bands just because you love them so much. This is not to say that you can’t write in their style, but writing a spinoff of the Beatles and calling it your new style is stretching it. This is because it’s not your own style. Trust me, I know.
Let me explain then what I mean by writing in their style. You can sound like them to some degree, as most artists sound like other artists. Even the really good ones stem their influences from somewhere. The thing that separates the real artists from other artists is that they sound new and fresh.
The next step is to listen to as many different types of music in the genre you in which you focus. Even better, listen to music that’s out of that genre. You will see and hear your music style change. The more you hear, the more you are influenced. And just keep writing as much as you can. This is the only way you will get better.
Finally, it’s time to let yourself go. Let yourself write what you wanna write, not what your favorite band wants to to write. All the influences you have may fuse into one, or you may find yourself writing completely differently. There is no quick road, but eventually you will find the path.