A week of....

Chopin.

Celebrations in his native Poland.

200 years since he was born.

There is disagreement about his actual birth date.

So, they are holding a WEEK long performance.

It covers both the suspected dates.

Day and night you can hear his piano music.

Which has got me thinking.

Do you have an exam or performance soon?

How about a week of YOUR music?

Think of it, playing those pieces whenever you get the chance?

Maybe not the same ones all day AND night. Hz

Lighter

Hey, have you noticed?

Yes, I'm happier this week!

There's more daylight.

It's lighter when you come home.

I can even see across the room at breakfast time!

So, how about doing some practising before you get tired?

Before the lights have to go on.

Before you snuggle up in front of the fire.

Before you decide to leave it until tomorrow.

Go on. Do some today.

And tomorrow, of course. I'm such a slave driver. Hz

Little notebook

Some people are great at remembering things.

They know exactly what their teacher asked them to work on.

Others are useless at remembering things.

They use it as an excuse to work on nothing all week.

Which kind of person are you?

Hmmmm. I thought so.

Why not buy a little notebook?

Ask your teacher to write your homework in it each week.

Read it before you start each practise session.

And try to do everything on the list.

Remember to take it to each lesson.

Let me know if it works for you. Hz

Dynamics

p mf ff sf > pp

So many people just ignore them.

Maybe you do as well?

Varying degrees of loudness.

All the extras that give our music intensity and shape.

What helps our music make sense.

The interesting features.

Without them our music is likely to be dull.

Like reading aloud with no expression in your voice.

So come on, be dramatic and add the dynamics!

I'll hold onto the roof when it gets really loud. Hz

Don't let the holiday stop you

The holiday is nearly here!

So, remember the Summer holiday?

When you left your instrument alone and unplayed.

When the dust accumulated.

When you forgot most of what you had learnt.

This holiday, you could try doing it differently.

By trying to continue your daily practising?

It doesn't have to be a chore.

You might look forward to an hour away from the tv.

You might even enjoy it.

Let me know if you give it a try. Hz

Playful

It's good to warm up before tackling full on work.

Fingers have a chance to limber up.

Your brain has time to switch into the right mode.

Why not try some free playing where anything goes?

Free improvisation.

Some people call it doodling.

Imagine you are drawing with notes instead of a pen.

Long notes, bits of scales or patterns.

Highs and lows, playful calls and rumbles.

Just forget about trying and PLAY!!

Remember to put the cat out if you really want to let rip! Hz

Get into the groove

This might sound like a radical idea to some people, but -

How about practising every day for a week?

Making sure you do good work.

Missing no days for any reason.

Think how much work you will achieve.

While you are at it, how about you keep going?

For a month.

Or a year

Or even forever.

Making it a part of every day builds great momentum.

It is also what musicians do. Hz

Sit back and listen

Practising done for today?

Good work.

How about you finish your day doing what I love most?

Simply sit back and listen to some music.

Switch the radio on to a music station.

Maybe you could choose one you don't normally listen to?

Pick a disc at random from the shelf.

Or maybe the library shelf?

Switch your iPod to shuffle and press play.

You might be pleasantly surprised.

Guess what I'm about to do? Hz

No stopping - for any reason

I know that you know.

You keep leaving a gap in that piece.

It's where you stop and have a think.

Where you can't find the next notes in time.

Sometimes, you grind to a halt right there and leave the room.

Take heart - try only the pesky group of notes as slowly as you can.

Check the fingering or placing on your instrument first.

Move smoothly between each note.

Replace the rhythm, still playing slowly.

Speed up a little each time.

Bravo - finish your session by playing a favourite piece. Hz

Sounds like

Curious about what you sound like?

You could record a piece you play well.

One of these will do -

a mobile phone, a computer, a video recorder,

an old Dictaphone or tape recorder.

Find someone to press the buttons for you.

Do a trial run first, then go for it.

Listen back with a sense of generosity.

Write the date on the recording and put it away.

Listen back in a year's time and see how you've progressed.

You might be surprised. And it might be fun. Hz

Bad notes day

It happens to us all once in a while, even to the best players.

The dreaded and dreadful BAD NOTES DAY.

This is the day when your instrument seems to wince in protest.

When you can't play more than three right notes in bar one.

When your fingers have forgotten all they knew.

When your is dog desperate to escape out of the back door.

Before you give your instrument away, try this -

Slow down and try play just one small thing correctly.

One scale, one exercise, one short piece.

Make one thing as beautiful as you can.

Remember - it's ok to make a racket once in a while,

just not every day! Hz

More than a lot of note bashing

Did you know that while you are learning to play an instrument you are also building up useful qualities that affect the rest of your life? Such as -

• patience
• confidence
• self-esteem
• improving your work
• setting achievable aims
• persistence
• satisfaction at seeing a job well done
• learning to work well alone
• communication
• and it's something you can still enjoy when you are old like me!

Lots of reasons to get that instrument out tonight, then. Hz

Doing it well

Ready to try something new in your practising this week?

How about you do your work as well as you possibly can each time?

Every scale.

Every exercise.

Every part of every piece?

Paying attention to making the most beautiful sound you can make.

See, a lot of the time, we make do with the minimum.

We think of other things while we work and then rush out the door at the end.

Sounds like someone released from jail.

With a bit of extra effort, we can transform our work.

Guess what? You'll feel so much better about it. Hz

Those bad bits need you

Life gets busy sometimes.

I know you have work, school, college, kids, laundry, sleep, chores etc. to fit into your life.

So, how can you use your practising time better?

All together now - WORK ON WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.

Easier said than done.

See, I know you always like playing your pieces in the right order.

And then you think it's done.

Even when that piece goes badly wrong in the same place each time.

Why don't you just work on the bad bits each day and then stop?

It will take far less time.

How about you try it and let me know if it works or not? Hz

First

Some people do their practising in the morning.

Before school, work or college.

What a great way to start your day!

If everyone in your house is up and about, it might work for you.

Think about it - instead of practising when you are tired out

you will have done some good work, fresh as a daisy.

If this doesn't appeal, how about doing it as soon as you get home?

Instead of it being last on your list of things to do.

Instead of leaving it until you're too tired to care.

Instead of deciding not to bother today.

Find a good time to do your work. And the begin! Hz

Pick a line

Want to check if that piece is ready to play to your teacher?

Try this game called Pick a line.

Level 1 - Pick a line from your piece.

See if you can play it at the correct speed with no mistakes.

If you make a mistake, you get one more chance - start the line again.

Don't carry on and play the rest of the piece.

Note which lines need more careful work.

Leave out the easy lines and do what you need to do instead.

When you've worked on the tricky lines, try on another day.

Level 2 - play again but this time link up several lines, say 4, 2, 7.

Same rules.

Level 3 - play the whole piece beautifully in the right order.

If you make a mistake GAME OVER.

Try again tomorrow.

It might be tricky at first, but remember to have FUN! Hz

That playlist

Got a piece ready?

Great!

Now we need to keep it on the boil.

Remember to try it a couple of times a week, straight through.

Listen carefully to make sure you are making a good sound.

You might want to start a list in your notebook.

You might want to keep a playlist pile you can find easily.

But more important than that - find an opportunity to play it.

This could be to your teacher, a friend, someone in your family.

Start small and see how it goes.

Bet they love it. Hz

Playlist

How about another small aim?

Once you have finished a piece you like, how about adding it to a playlist?

What this means is that over time, you will develop a repertoire.

This is a good thing for all sorts of reasons, like.....

You could play to Aunt Bertha when she comes round for tea.

You could perform at the charity fundraiser.

You will have audition pieces ready to play for the band/orchestra/show.

You can have a jam with friends. (More about jamming in another post.)

So, choose a finished piece or 2 that you really like.

At the END of your practising session, have a play of it aiming for no blips.

This is what we are really aiming for. It's so good to play it all in the right order, but only when you can DO it. Hz

Recognize it?

See if you can recognize this.

I know, it's tough, but see how you go.

La la lalala laa de de de de dum

La la lalala laa hum a zummmmm

La la laa *!^£)$:"?! aghhhhhh ?(±|>±

La la lalala great big 4 bars of total silence

La la lalala laa hum hum hum hum ZUMMMMM

Yes - it was your unique version of that gorgeous piece your teacher gave you.

Homework this week - work on ONLY lines 3 and 4 until you can play them without mistakes.

THEN, try placing them back where they belong and have a run through.

Hey! It's not nice to swat at wildlife.

Blitz and blast

When we are learning something new, we are bound to make mistakes.

To improve, we have to try again, then try again some more.

There is no magic wand to wave.

It comes from the daily practising that you are aiming to do.

So, it's good to remember that we are LEARNING.

We learn from our mistakes - yes, even those horrors in line 3 of your piece.

Take those weird notes and try them alone.

Blitz them. Blast them. Learn them off by heart if that grabs you.

Make the bad bits as good as the good bits.

Make it like we could never tell which was which.

Come on! Let those notes beat you no more. Hz