However, it’s also a lot of fun to play with others.  I play regularly at church as well as with a few other musicians for the occasional gig or just a fun jam session.  There’s something almost magical about joining our instruments or voices together with others to make music - the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

Would you like to join other musicians in making music, or maybe take group music classes? Right now is a great time to look into music groups in your community. Many community orchestras, chorales, and other ensembles are preparing for the upcoming season, and are bringing in new members. Many local schools, churches, and community centers offer group music lessons for free or for a small fee.

Ask your friends, look in the phone book, or check your local newspaper listings for upcoming opportunities to make music with others.  It may be as simple as getting together with a few friends on a regular basis.  It may be to join an existing group.  Or perhaps you have what it takes to put together a community orchestra or ensemble to help others enjoy making music, too.  Whatever option suits you, go for it!  Making music with others is a great way to have fun!

Sometimes it’s really helpful to put some limits on what I’m doing, and work within that structure when practicing or composing. It opens up my “musical ears.”  For example, improvising on a whistle is pretty easy.  A whistle (tin whistle, irish whistle, whatever you want to call it) is pretty straightforward because it’s diatonic - you really can’t hit any nasty notes no matter what you play, because they’re all in the same “key”.  The stricture of the notes being in the same key is really a license to play freely and still sound good, at least to ears attuned to western music.  You can, however, vary which note is the root note to change the feel, and this gets into the area of modes, which most of us tend to run away from with cries of “Music theory - aaaarrgh!”.

However, once understood, modes are really helpful.   Understanding modes helps you understand why a song “feels” a certain way.  You can use modes to set the mood of an improvisation you perform.  A composer (maybe you?) can change the feel of a song by changing the mode you play it in, even by, for example, moving between a minor mode and a major mode within a song, as in the Christmas carol “We Three Kings”.

You can experiment a little with this concept by playing a major scale on your instrument.  The first note you play will be the root note.  If you play piano (or even if you don’t, but are using a keyboard), the easiest one to start this little exercise with is probably “C”.   If you start on “C” and then play the white keys in sequence going up in pitch (to the right) to the next C, you’ve just played a C major scale.  Now, if you start on “D” (or II, or 2, if you’re playing your scale on other instruments or use a different starting root), and play up to the next D (or II or 2), you’ll notice a difference in the “sound feel” of the scale.  You’ve just played what is called the Dorian scale (from the Greek nomenclature of the modes).  You can do this again starting at E, or any of the other notes, and playing up the scale, using the notes of the C major scale.  Each variation, beginning with a different note for the root, will give you a different feel, because the pitch intervals (whether it is a whole step or half step up) vary.  Playing around with these scale variations (I’ll say it - “modes”!) can be very fun, inspiring, and can open your musical ears to listening for such “modality” in music you play and hear.

After you’ve played the straight scales, try playing around by varying rhythms and intervals, using just the C scale notes but varying the root note (eg. trying out different modes.)  You may just find some tunes of your own.

“You’ve got some rhythm going”

“I’m in the groove” (this has special meaning for us bass players)

Habits are more strongly formed by rhythmic repetition (albeit somewhat slow tempo)

Meter (or metre) in poetry and children’s rhymes

Or how many of our basic functions are based on rhythms?

Our heartbeat

Our breathing

The cadence of our steps when we walk, jog, or run

All of these have a regular tempo.

I’ve done a bit of “drum circle” type playing with my kids and others (leaving out the “energy/spirit” stuff), and one of the first things I do is to make the kids aware of these natural rhythms that are so much a part of their life.  Then when you start drumming (which essentially means hitting or playing whatever is at hand if it’s not an official “drum”), it’s amazing how often folks who may not have had good rhythm before suddenly become better.  Awareness of rhythms helps us tune in and keep steady.  Ever wonder why the range of 60-90 beats per minute (or multiples thereof) are such popular tempos, or why 120-140 bpm is such a popular “up beat” tempo range?  Check your pulse

Conversely, studies have also shown that if the subject (or musician) is listening to or playing a piece that has a tempo that is close to the range of the listener/performer’s heart rate, their heart rate will slow or quicken to match up to the performance tempo.  We do “become one”, in a sense, with the music.

With that in mind, we can use that information to help us slow down and relax in our often-times hectic world.  Those breathing exercises you’ve read about?  Yes, they work.  “Breathe deeply, in and out, nice and slow” - and other rhythms in life become more relaxed as well.  Want to get more lively?  Put on some boogie, rock, or salsa - whatever moves you.   Notice how your heart rate picks up as well, and you want to move.  Great dance/exercise music!

As musicians, we may already be more aware of these rhythmic aspects of life than non-musicians are, but rhythms are a great way to introduce those who are currently non-musicians to a more musical approach to life.  They may find the fact that rhythm is so ingrained in our lives to be an encouragement to them to pursue drumming or playing an instrument.  They may even progress to the point of wanting to do more with music .

What rhythms are you noticing in your life?

ttfn,

Sherry

It wasn’t until fairly recently that I finally realized that a lot of the time that I play the piano, my head is partly somewhere else than the music.  It’s sort of like my fingers are on autopilot, with my head somewhere else.  I wouldn’t advise anyone that they should or shouldn’t daydream while making music.  There are times in which on or the other is beneficial.   I would advise, though, that if one is practicing a piece, then one’s head should be in it, and not somewhere else, if the goal is to improve one’s playing of that piece.  However, there is also another good reason for keeping one’s head in the music rather than elsewhere when one is making music.  The article Sherry has referred to in her post offers the reason that making music can help us gain focus.

Recently, I started getting more serious about practicing specific piano pieces.  That required that I focus much more closely on musical details than I usually have done just recreating on the piano.  In applying a deeper level of focus on fine details of my music playing, I rediscovered my ability to deeply focus, in a part of my life, music, where I tended to be somewhat sloppy.  In my professional work as a software developer, I often exercise somewhat obsessive focus, to the extent that someone has to practically hit me on the head to break my intent focus. But that focus often is lacking elsewhere in my life activities.  Or, rather, often I have carried that obsessive focus on programming software to my other activities, so that my head is still programming software rather than applying itself to the activity in front of me.  Sometimes people around me would say, “Earth to Mark, Earth to Mark,” to get my attention.  Similarly, my piano was sometimes crying “Earth to Mark”, to please put my head into the music, instead of something else.

So, for me, learning to focus intently on the piano piece I’m working on is not only good practice for my piano playing but, more generally, good practice in exercising focus in activities besides just programming.  There are many places in which it is better to have one’s mind mostly there, rather than in two different places.  Practicing music is one place where it’s a good idea to have one’s mind mostly there.

Cheers

– Mark

My oldest son is high-end ASD, and thus some might consider him to be ADHD as well.  He loves music, and making music.  He has a bright red mini-strat that he loves to crank up on his little (thankfully) amp and play away.  When he does this, or when he and I can “jam” together, I notice that afterward he is much better able to focus on tasks at hand.  I notice that I feel more able to focus on upcoming tasks.  I know also that sometimes if I feel restless, pulling out one of my instruments and just playing for a bit is very soothing.

Give it a try sometime, with you or your kids or other “significant person in your life”.  If you’re feeling unsettled, try playing your instrument for a little while.  Breathe a little peace into your life.

ttfn,

Sherry

A couple of years ago we had a house fire. We all got out fine, but the ensuing mess not only stunk, but took a long time to get cleaned up, assess the damage, list all the items that were lost or damaged (inventory your storage areas now!) and replace them. All of those tasks coupled with the constant supervision of the rebuilding process, along with my usual duties (Notation Software work, church obligations, routine house/home chores/maintenance, and homeschooling our four kids) added up to more stress than I typically have to deal with. It could have turned nasty.

This also happened to be the “birth” year of a band that I play in called ZP (for zao psephos, or “living stones”). We were just coming together that summer, but I can’t imagine now how I would have mentally survived the summer if I hadn’t had the outlet of music to help work off some of the adrenaline energy and frustration of those days. I found that playing alone during that time was not the same as “jamming” with the band. I was blessed with just the right solution for releasing the accumulated tensions on a regular basis. There’s nothing quite like taking a 1200 watt electric bass rig outside with a really good drummer and a couple of very capable guys on guitar, and cranking it up loud enough to rattle the gutters on the neighbor’s place a mile away (BTW, “Hearos” ear plugs are great, and save those ears during gut-rattling sessions. I also used to work in hearing research )

My kids have been asking me lately to re-tell stories of some of my college-days antics when I sang in the women’s chorale at North Carolina State University. I haven’t sung in a choir setting for nearly 20 years, but I can still recall the thrill of uniting my voice with 60+ others either in the chorale at college, or with the church choir in Ann Arbor where I went to graduate school. Joyous….

There is something very special about playing or singing with others that doesn’t happen when you play or sing alone. Times that I play with the band, or our church worship team or at home with my kids are really special times. I hope you get to play with others, too If you haven’t, give it a try. It will take your music making experience to a whole new level.

ttfn,

Sherry

Ohhh oh! I like singing by the camp fire.
Ohhh oh! I like being with you.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that that little ditty would have the power that it does. Now, every time we even mention having a campfire, the kids start singing this song, but they take off on it, singing verses about what they’re doing right now. It’s just way too much fun making music together like this, and I’m thinking that it will probably make up one of their most prominent memories of our regular family times together.

ttfn,

Sherry

I recently read an article about a PBS special entitled The Music Instinct: Science & Song.    The article was written by Chuck Colson, and reads in part:

The footage was part of a recent PBS special, The Music Instinct: Science & Song. The program was an exploration of, among other things, music’s “biological, emotional and psychological impact on humans.”

Part of this “exploration” included how music affects babies. If we are, as some scientists believe, “wired for music,” then babies are ideal test subjects since their reactions are, by definition, instinctual.

Part of this research involved the effect of music on fetuses. While we knew that mothers often sing to their unborn children, we weren’t sure that the unborn child could hear them.

We are now. A segment of The Music Instinct featured Sheila C. Woodward of the University of Southern California, who has studied fetal responses to music. A camera and a microphone designed for underwater use were inserted into the uterus of a pregnant woman. And then Woodward sang.

The hydrophone picked up two sounds: the “whooshing” of the uterine artery and the unmistakable sound of a woman singing a lullaby.

Then something extraordinary happened. Upon hearing the woman’s voice, the unborn child smiled.

It was one of those moments that makes you catch your breath. The full humanity of the fetus could not have been clearer if he had turned to the camera and winked.

This finding correlates well with my own pregnancy experience.  I took up playing electric bass when I was pregnant with my son Thomas.  At that time I was playing a semi-hollow viola bass which resonates quite fully.  That little gem sat squarely on my tummy, where Baby (we didn’t know he was a “he” at the time) was always (so it seemed) in motion.  At about 7-8 months, I noticed a distinct “groove” to his movements when I would play my bass.  When I told my daughter Mahala and son Aaron (ages 2 and 1 respectively), they immediately tested my assertion by tapping on my tummy.  Much to their delight, Baby tapped back.  It was amazing to see and feel these responses to music from such a very, very young musician.  He still has very good rhythm and pitch.

We adopted three of our children, and we’ve heard stories from other adoptive parents who could only soothe their fussy newborns by playing music that the babies were exposed to in utero.  In this way, some of those families came to appreciate genres of music that they had not been exposed to before.  We did not have that particular experience ourselves (we played a lot of music for our babies as well), but it also points out the power of music, even passively attended to.  Simply amazing.

ttfn,

Sherry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Susan Boyle is an extraordinary everyday musician.

 Cheers

– Mark

This is real. The Young at Heart Chorus started in 1982 in a senior center in Massachusetts. The surprisingly tough chorus director, Bob Climan, explained that they first started with traditional songs, but found a spark of energy when one of the members interrupted with an improvisation of a rock tune. That event ultimately shifted the group’s focus to rock music, which many of the members admitted was not their original preference. The unlikely formula of seniors and rock music created an incredible fountain of youth for the seniors, and for their audiences. They tour internationally.

These senior chorus members were driven with an incredible team attitude to succeed at tackling challenging music. They naturally became highly bonded with each other, with music being the glue.

If it weren’t for some sadness, the whole story would have felt too good to be true. The story really is true, however, and is one that can serve as a beautiful example of how we can find fulfillment in music, not just as a private endeavor, but as one that we engage in with others.

My amateur, first movie review almost forgot to mention that the Young @ Heart is quite funny.