Learning tunes backwards

April 14, 2012

When it comes to learning tunes by ear, for some reason it takes me forever. And I’ve been doing it the same way since, well, forever.

I memorize tunes kind of like I memorized my lines in the high school play. I learn line 1, then learn line 2. Then I say lines 1 and 2. Then I learn line 3 and say lines 1, 2 and 3 and so on. So by the time I’m finished I know line 1 like nobody’s business.

I learn tunes the same way. I learn the first few notes of the A-part. I play that a few times then learn a few more notes and play it from the beginning and on it goes. The problem is, I end up learning the A-part of the tune really well and the B-part never gets enough practice.

This became really evident when I started learning the tune the Wise Maid. It’s kind of a notey tune. Especially in the B-part. So the more I played the tune, the more the A-part became second nature and B-part never fully got as much practice.

So…my new method is to learn a tune backwards. I’ll learn the B-part first then the A-part. I’ll keep you posted as to how it works out.

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

5 Ways to get musically motivated

February 9, 2012

Every musician at some point reaches a plateau in their playing. During this plateau, we aren’t really that motivated to practice, or learn new music and sometimes it seems like a chore just to open up the case and tune the darn thing.

This happens at least once a year for me. During this “dark time” as I call it, I always feel like my playing is actually getting worse. This of course, discourages me from playing or practicing at all.

But each time this happens I take a short break from my music and then push myself back into it. And most of the time when I do, I actually find I’m just little bit better.

Here are some ideas to help you work through the plateau and become a better musicians because of it.

  1. Use the buddy system - Find a friend to play with and work on a tune-set a week (thanks Shaun for the idea). When you have someone counting on you to learn a tune you’re more likely to push through and practice.
  2. Take a music class of a different genre - Sometimes learning to play music of another genre can actually help refine your skills in the genre you’re playing in. Plus you get to meet new people and hear new music. Find a community music school in your area like The Summit School for Traditional Music, that offers a variety of music classes at a reasonable price. There’s plenty out there.
  3. Schedule practice time – Sometimes just writing it down and scheduling it forces you to be diligent about making time to play.
  4. Visit a local session without your instrument – Just go and listen. Try to see it from an outsiders perspective. You might be reinvigorated by listening to things you might not have heard had you been playing.
  5. Perform – Nothing motivates me more than when I have a gig to play for. It forces me to practice.

Feel free to leave me your ideas in the comments section. Now…go practice your instrument! Happy playing!

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

When your memory is gone…

January 18, 2012

There isn’t one traditional musician I can think of, that knows the name of every single tune they play, never mind every tune they hear.

In the old days (you know, like  a couple of years ago) you would probably have to play a tune to your friends, family, neighbors and your friends’ family and neighbors, just to find the name of the tune.

These days, now all you have to do is to play the tune into an iPhone app called Tunepal and voila, the name of the tunes is revealed. Seriously what did we do before the iPhone?

I use my iPhone to record sessions, check my email, update my Facebook status and oh yeah, make calls. And now, I can figure out what tunes are being played by the mere click of a button. Does it get any better?

Here’s a little about the app:

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

Irish sessions – practice or performance?

January 9, 2012

Once, while waiting for a session to begin, I overheard someone at the table sitting next to me explaining to her friend what a session was. “It’s where a bunch of musicians get together and practice,” she said. Practice, hmm…Interesting observation.

If you’re an avid reader of my blog, chances are you not only know what a session is, but you get why this explanation of it is so funny.

It did get me thinking though. I may take for granted that people just know what a session is all about. But in reality, unless you’re a traditional Irish musician, you probably don’t understand the true essence of a real Irish session.

I was reminded myself this weekend at the session at Bagitos when just about every top-notch player I know showed up to share some tunes. Tunes were played with precision and with the quality of music the session could easily have been situated in the heart of Ireland. This was no practice session.

Though there are a lot of different types of sessions, the thing that always remains the same is that the hosts and musicians want to maintain a certain caliber of music. Both for the audience as well as for the players.

Yes, random musicians show up and no one ever really rehearses together. We all just sort of sit down and play tunes. So I can understand the perception of it looking like practice time.  However, there are hours and hours of practice and tune learning going on long before a session ever takes place.

Related Posts:
What is an Irish Session?
Session Obsession – Seven Days

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

Top 10 Gifts to buy an Irish musician

December 19, 2011

With Christmas fast approaching and panic starting to set in, you may be wondering what you should buy for your fellow Irish musician as a gift this year.

Here are some ideas to help you out:

  1. Patrick Ourceau’s Live at Mona’s CD – One of my all time favorite albums. It’s a recording of a live session at Mona’s in NYC. If you listen closely you can hear people shooting pool in the background, telephone’s ringing, etc. It’s kind of like you’re there listening to it, well, live.
  2. Tickets to Lunasa for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day concert at the Flynn Center in Burlington – It should be a great show!
  3. Gift certificate to a local music shop – Strings are expensive and we’re all pretty particular about what strings we use. It’s much easier to let us pick them out ourselves.
  4. Gift certificate to iTunes – a musicians best friend.
  5. Subscription to Fiddler Magazine.
  6. Humidifier for instrument case – This is a must-have, especially in Vermont in the winter.
  7. Metronome – Heck, we could all use a timing check.
  8. Rosin – You can never have enough.
  9. Music stand – Although most traditional musicians learn tunes by ear, it’s nice to have a stand when you’re practicing your, ahem, scales.
  10. Tuner – We all sound better when we’re in tune.

I hope that helps. Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

5 Tips to learning tunes by ear

September 30, 2011

When you’re first learning to play by ear, it’s a long, slow, painful process, kind of like sitting in traffic when you’re late for work. But just as it is with traffic you cannot rush the process and you do eventually get to your destination. It just takes a little patience.

I remember the very first time I learned to play a tune by ear. I took a weekend fiddle workshop and my only goal was to learn one tune before the weekend was out. This may sound simple. I mean a whole weekend to learn only one tune, really? If you’re not used to learning tunes by ear, I’m sure you can relate to what a feat that actually is.

Here are some tips to help you more easily learn tunes by ear.

  1. Listen. Listen to the tune you want to learn as much as you possibly can. Listen in the car, while you’re doing the dishes, in the shower, etc. Listen it to it so much that you can sing the tune in your head. It’s much easier to learn a tune that you actually know.
  2. Slow it Down. There are tools that you can use to help you slow down the tune without changing the key. The two that I have used are The Amazing Slowdowner and Transcribe. You can even download an app for this onto your iphone.
  3. Take a Class. Check your  local community music school. The Summit School of Traditional Music in Montpelier offers two great classes called Beginning to Learn Irish Tunes by Ear and Irish Session Repertoire. All tunes are taught by ear.
  4. Practice. If you’re used to reading music, learning by ear can be very challenging. But rest assured it does get easier, it just takes practice. Just like anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
  5. Be Patient. To some, learning by ear is easy, to others it takes time. So just be patient with yourself and know that you will eventually get better at it as time goes on.

What are some of your tips?

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

Gaining miles on the fiddle

June 23, 2011

Often times I’m at a loss for what to practice, which sometimes discourages me from practicing at all. Do I practice my scales, do I learn a new tune, practice old ones or do I just fiddle around with what is off the top of my head? Without having a teacher, it’s difficult to figure out what exactly to practice that will make me a better fiddler.

The other day I picked up my fiddle while my friend was over, and just started playing whatever tune came to mind. I didn’t quite want to practice scales in front of my friend because frankly they’re boring to practice and I can’t imagine how dreadful they would be to listen to. I didn’t want to try to learn a new tune mostly because of the same reasons. So I just just started playing old tunes that I haven’t played in a while and were a bit rusty on. At the end of it, I didn’t feel much like I gained anything except some giggles from my friend and a resurrection of some old tunes.

But here’s the thing, practice actually means: to perform or do habitually or usually, according to dictionary.com. So if that’s the case doing any and all of the above is considered practice. I guess just having the instrument in my hand and pulling notes out of it in any way is beneficial, as long as I do it “habitually” or “usually.” So maybe I’ve been too hard on myself.

I try to pick up my fiddle every day or at least every other day to play a tune, run through a scale or just mess around. And each time I pick it up, I gain something. If nothing else, I gain miles on the fiddle.

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

Smile while you play

April 21, 2011

SmileIsn’t it nice when you walk by a stranger and they smile at you? Isn’t it even nicer when you’re watching live music and the musicians smile at you? When performers smile it puts the audience at ease. Yet why don’t more of us do it?

Smiling while performing for me has always been such a chore. Its not because I don’t enjoy what I’m playing or even enjoy smiling. I think its just because I’m concentrating so damn hard on the tune that I can’t possible engage my 26, or so, face muscles on top of it.

I recently had an audition to get my street performer’s permit (which I got, by the way). Before the audition one of my friends asked me if I smiled while I played. When I answered “no,” he replied “you should.” And I can’t tell you how many times my mom has seen me play and said “Trina, you should smile more.”

Smiles just plain make people feel good. So I have come up with some ways to help us concentrating musicians smile while we perform:

  1. Practice playing and smiling in front of a mirror, friends and family. The more you practice the easier it will get.
  2. Know your music inside and out so you can concentrate on smiling. Review tip #1.
  3. Right before performing think of something funny and try to keep that in your head throughout your performance.
  4. Practice smiling all the time. Even if you don’t feel happy.
  5. Smile at every stranger you see while walking down the street. (I’m not sure if this will help your performance but it will make a lot of people feel really good so why not?).

What are some of your tips to smile while you play?

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

The strategy behind learning tunes

October 18, 2010

Recently, I enrolled in an Irish Session Music class at the Summit School of Traditional Music in Montpelier. In this particular class, we are learning all about the great composers of traditional Irish music like Ed Reavy, Paddy O’Brien, Josie McDermott and more. What’s great is that we learn the history of the tunes as well as some of the tunes themselves. The problem is our homework is to learn 2 tunes a week. Sounds simple but when you learn tunes as slowly as I do, this can get frustrating.

The class has been going on for about 3-4 weeks now and each week I find it extremely difficult to learn all of both tunes. So, I have decided to take a different approach to learning tunes.

For me when it comes to learning a new tune, I am meticulous about learning it note for note. I learn the A part and I will not move on to the B part until every note in the A part is where it belongs. Then I learn the B part and put them together. I then play the whole tune over and over and over again until the melody becomes ingrained in my brain. Unfortunately, this can be a long process.

This week I was determined to learn both tunes but a week with a full time job and a trip to CT to visit family didn’t leave too much practice time. So I decided to change the way I learn a tune. Big move for me.

I decided to listen to the tunes a couple of times and then just try to play the whole tune hitting what notes I could find. The first few times, it wasn’t pretty but the more I listened, and the more I relaxed and the more I stopped “trying” to play, the easier it became.

I can’t say that I learned all of both tunes note for note but I think I might be onto a new way of learning that might allow me to learn these tunes quicker.

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

10 Tips to calm stage fright

March 10, 2010

Stage FrightDo you get nervous before a performance? If you do, don’t worry you’re not alone. Everyone does at least on some level.  Hell, I even get nervous starting a tune set at a session sometimes. The trick is to not let it get the best of you. Here are some techniques to help you get through your performance without letting them see you sweat.

  1. Prepare – It’s sounds simple, but when coming up with your set list be sure it includes tunes that you know backwards and forwards. Don’t try to perform the tunes you’re unsure of  just to impress the audience. A simple tune played well sounds much better than a difficult tune played half-assed.
  2. Dress to impress – Dress to impress yourself. Wear what makes you feel good. When you feel good it shows and it makes you feel a bit more confident.
  3. Practice – Know what you’re going to say on stage and practice it so that you’re not stumped when all eyes are on you. If you can, practice in front of a family member or friends and allow them to give you feed back. Even just practicing in front of the mirror will help. The more you practice the easier the words will come out when you get on stage.
  4. Be confident – The audience wants you to succeed. They want to have a good time. So if they see you are relaxed and confident, it gives them the okay to relax and enjoy. And if you’re not confident – fake it! If you’re at ease the audience will be.
  5. They don’t see you sweat – When most people get nervous their hands shake or they sweat. The audience however, never sees this. They have no idea how nervous you are or that your hands are clammy or that you’re sweating. So let it happen and get over it.
  6. Be the conductor – So few people can do what you do and just you being up there is impressive. Command their attention and play with confidence.
  7. Don’t worry about mistakes – They happen to the best but most likely only you know about them. The audience has no idea what your music is supposed to sound like, only you do. So play like you’ve never played before and forget about the mistakes. The audience doesn’t hear them anyway.
  8. Enjoy playing – This is the music that touches your soul, that’s why you have spent so much time learning it. Share it with the audience. Don’t play to impress the audience, play because you love it. This is the time to enjoy and share the love.
  9. Don’t beat yourself up – If you make a mistake,  don’t beat yourself up. Use it as a lesson for the next time. Just do your best and know that your best today will be different from your best tomorrow.
  10. Smile – This is probably the hardest thing to do but it is so necessary. Don’t take yourself so seriously, remember this is fun. If you’re smiling and having fun, the audience will too no matter what you’re playing.

I hope this helps. There is no cure for stage fright but you can learn to manage it.  Take comfort in knowing that almost every musician gets nervous before they get on stage but the best performers learn how to use it to their advantage. You can too!

Here are some resources you may find helpful:

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Posted by Katrina VanTyne

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