More local music picks for the musically adventurous in Charleston, SC.

Solo bass, solo acoustic guitar, big band jazz, and chamber music.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Thomas Helton
Tommy Emmanuel

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Charleston Jazz Orchestra

Sunday, February 26, 2012

CSO Chamber Music

This will be a weekly local preview for the musically adventurous.

There won’t be much commentary; just personally editing the massive amount of music listings.

The whole point of starting this is to keep a running list of unusual, unique, rare, or otherwise less-than-mainstream music performances in and around Charleston.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Post-Cobra

Friday, February 17, 2012

Lee Barbour CD Release
Punks & Snakes
Drink Small

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Chamber Music Charleston
Big Bill Morganfield

Further Reading

How to Find the Best Live Music in Charleston SC

not notes ... 107365 by paloetic

In order to get a sound on the saxophone, you have to balance two different pressures.

The first pressure is the upward pressure from the jaw. The second pressure is the forward pressure of the air column.

Striking the right balance between these two pressures is the key to getting the desired saxophone sound.

Saxophone Embouchure

If you are starting from scratch, you may want to get up to speed on how to form a saxophone embouchure.

Think about embouchure as the mouth’s posture around the saxophone mouthpiece. It is the connector that allows air from within your body to get into the horn.

Once you have formed the embouchure around the mouthpiece, you have to negotiate two separate pressures in order to get a sound.

1. Jaw Pressure Upward

Before you move any air into the horn, you have to apply some upward pressure by the jaw in order to form the embouchure.

One thing to keep in mind regarding your jaw pressure is that it shouldn’t be too much.

The only reason we need a small amount of pressure from below is to get the reed to respond to the air column.

2. Air Pressure Forward

Of the two pressures required to generate a saxophone sound, the air pressure forward is the most important.

The quality of your saxophone tone is based on the quality of your air column.

Saxophone beginners I work with tend to work harder at putting pressure on the reed rather than blowing. The reason they wind up having to blow so hard is because they are blocking off the opening between the reed and the mouthpiece.

To help them minimize the biting, I recommend students think about the vowel “oh” while doing some long tone exercises. This way, there is some jaw pressure upward, but they are not overdoing it.

Making long tone exercises a part of your practice sessions, particularly when you are a beginner, really helps you focus all your energy on sound without having to deal with the finger aspect of playing the horn.

Two Other Things

There are two other things that play a major role in how much upward jaw pressure and forward air pressure you apply to the horn:

1. The strength of your reed
2. The distance between your reed and the tip of your mouthpiece

Keep in mind that the harder your reed is, and the wider your mouthpiece tip opening is, the more of each pressure you are going to have to exert in order to get a saxophone sound.

The challenge all saxophonists face is finding a setup that allows us maximum beautiful sound without having to work like crazy to get it.

Further Reading

You’re Not Practicing Practicing. You’re Practicing Playing.

Do You Want to Get Real Saxophone Lessons Online? Forget YouTube Videos. Get Skype.

How to Make Your Saxophone Practice More Fun & Rewarding

Le Grand 8 (0+0=8) by Gilderic

In order to change who you are, you must first change your habits.

In order to change your habits, you must first change your thoughts.

This list of 8 fundamental thoughts about practicing the saxophone will help you move closer to becoming the saxophonist you want to become by first changing your habits.

The habit we are focusing on in this case is the habit of practicing.

1. If you want to get better, then you have got to do it. Nobody else is going to do your work you. Make a personal choice to develop the habit of practicing and you will personally reap the rewards.
2. 30 minutes of concentrated daily practice is always better than one weekly 4-hour practice session. Demonstrating regular repetition is the key to your success.
3. You will not improve if you only review things that you can already play well. Practicing means focusing on improving areas that need improvement.
4. The quality of your saxophone tone is based on the quality of your air column. If you would like to improve your sound, then start by using more air.
5. Reviewing your chromatic and 12 major scales daily is fundamental to your development. Every time you make music on the saxophone, you are playing some variety of scale regardless of the style of music.
6. Ensure that a good part of your session is dedicated to practicing with a metronome. Listening to your personal metronome is essential to improving your internal pulse.
7. In order to improve your music reading, you simply need to read more music. Expose yourself to one new piece of music at each practice session, and you will improve your ability to sight read.
8. You have to stink at something before you can be great at something. The faster you make a lot of mistakes, the faster you can learn from those mistakes and improve. There are no failures; there are only results. So, get excited about making a lot of mistakes and getting results.

Further Reading

You’re Not Practicing Practicing. You’re Practicing Playing.

Saxophone Lessons Online Using Skype

Saxophone Tips: New Patterns for Fresh Practice

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

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It’s the little things that make a big difference.

These two obvious, seemingly insignificant habits truly make a big difference in the amount and quality of work you will get.

I previously wrote an article entitled 5 Essential Things You Absolutely Need to be a Successful Working Musician which outlines a handful of practical and musical basics.

This post will focus on two more practical musts.

Two simple habits that will get you more music gigs are:

1. Keeping one calendar
2. Returning messages quickly

Keeping One Calendar

Keeping one calendar is essential to staying organized and getting more gigs.

The more spread out your planned life is, the harder it will be to determine your availability, and the longer it will take you to get back to someone inquiring about a gig. I am blown away when I talk to musicians that keep more than one calendar. A drummer I called once said he had five calendars. Five calendars!

Preferably you can keep this one calendar on you at all times, either on your phone or in book form. This way, when a booking agent or band leader calls you to see if you can do a gig, you are ready to get back to that person in a timely fashion.

Returning Messages Quickly

Returning messages quickly is a surefire way to ensure that you continually get calls about music work.

If a bandleader has a list of 48 guitarists to choose from, who do you think he is likely to call first? The most talented one who never picks up his phone and takes 5 days to return a text message? Or a friendly, versatile guitarist that promptly gets back to him with his availability? All other things considered equal, that’s a no brainer.

People don’t like their time wasted nor do they like to wait forever for an answer to a simple question.

Take the few minutes it takes to get back to people that would like to hire you. The faster you reply to agents, band leaders, and clients, the more inquiries you are likely to get in the future.

Keep one calendar and return messages quickly… and you will move to the top of everyone’s call list.

Further Reading

Knowing the Right Songs Is Just as Important as Knowing How to Play Your Instrument

Every Gig Is an Audition for Another Gig

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/2-simple-habits-that-will-get-you-more-music-gigs/feed 2 http://wiltonelder.com/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-active-music-listening http://wiltonelder.com/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-active-music-listening#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:36:37 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=2519



Active music listening. What is it?

Quite simply this phrase means listening to music with focus and intensity, without diverting attention to any other activity.

As Mark Maxwell puts it,

Active listening can be any form of listening activity where you are engaged in the music one hundred percent of the time.

Being “engaged in the music” means that, while you are listening to music, you are committed and fully present. It could also be said that you are immersed in, captivated by, and preoccupied with the music. In other words, you are interacting with the music.

Active music listening not only suggests a quality of attention given, but it also hints at the aspect of closeness. Because active listening is defined by intense engagement, it has a tendency to lead to both an intimacy with and a deeper understanding of the music. It is a direct path to getting inside the tune, getting inside the changes.

Christopher Davis states,

It can be said then, that active listening is really a critical evaluation of interpretation rather than merely time spent only listening to music. To really be an active listener you must have an intimate understanding of the music.

It’s All About Relationships

This notion of relationship is central to active music listening.

In order to get to know a new acquaintance at a social event, one has to spend time with that person, ask questions, converse, and observe. The more time you spend actively engaged with the other person, the closer the relationship and the better the understanding will be between you.

Developing a relationship with a piece of music is no different.

Spending time through repeated active listenings will allow anyone to become more familiar with and gain a deeper understanding of a piece of music. These will be determined by the quality and quantity of time spent engaging. The process of getting to know people, a particular piece of music, or anything else for that matter is strikingly analogous.

The Opposite of Active Is Passive

One of the best ways to define something is to look at its opposite.

To further understand active music listening, let’s look at it’s opposite – passive listening.

What is passive music listening?

This phrase refers to the kind of selective listening you do when you’re actively doing something else. It can be described as surface, hasty, or superficial listening. A passive listener can be described as being removed or distant from the music, primarily because listening, here, is secondary to the primary activity.

A few examples of everyday activities you probably engage in while passively listening to music include:

• Eating
• Socializing
• Commuting
• Running errands
• Exercising
• Surfing the web
• Cleaning your home
• Walking your dog
• Burping your baby

Passive listening is how many people listen to music most of the time.

The Music in the Background

As David Jennings points out, some people use the radio as background music. Others turn on the television as background noise so as to not feel lonely at home. Other people, like my sister, have white noise machines that are used to drown out undesirable sounds and help them go to sleep.

Passive music listening has also become an indelible part of the modern shopping experience. Whether you’re in the mall, at the restaurant, sitting in the dentist chair, or riding the elevator, background music is ever present. Not only do you occasionally find eclectic music mixes streaming from an iPod in a Mom & Pop style shop, but an entire industry has overtaken the retail environment in the name of “enhancing the customer experience,” pioneered by the infamous provider of aural wallpaper – Muzak.

Music (or the shell of music) is everywhere now, but how much of it are you really listening to? Has the ubiquity of music conditioned us to tune it out like we do the noise pollution of our urban metropolises?

Practice Active Listening

Active music listening is a skill. If we want to become better listeners, then we have to practice listening.

In the music appreciation class I teach, we practice active music listening each class period. I put on a different set of songs each meeting, turn off the lights, and let the music play with no comment and no distraction for 10 minutes.

Throughout the course of the semester, the discussions that follow these sessions become more insightful as students have regular opportunities to practice distraction-free listening. The significance of the students’ observations intensifies and the reactions to the music become more personal and abstract.

At the beginning of the semester, I steer the group’s focus to the instruments involved in the music. Is it an instrumental tune or does the artist focus on vocals and words? As they become more comfortable using the music jargon introduced at the beginning of the required text, we talk about the beat, the rhythm, the harmonic and melodic use of pitch, the dynamics, and so on.

Sometimes the discussions go on for the majority of the class. Sometimes the students don’t have much to say. Either way, we practice active music listening, and as a result, the students’ listening skills improve over the 4 month period.

A list of questions that can be asked during any listening session include:

• What are the instruments used to make the music?
• How does this music make me feel?
• What is the mood of the piece?
• Do I like or dislike this music?
• Does this music sound similar to anything I have heard before?
• Was this music recorded in a live setting or in the studio?
• What is the musical texture?
• Does the music have a steady beat or pulse?
• What is the meter?
• Is there singing?
• Does the singing feature syllables, words, or both?
• Is this piece an instrumental?
• How many voices are involved?
• What is the gender of singer(s)
• In what language are the lyrics written?
• What is the tonality/key?
• What is the relationship of consonance to dissonance?
• What is the dynamic range of the piece?
• What is the size of the ensemble?
• Are there any transitions between sections?
• Is the music sacred or secular?
• Does this music sound like it was composed or improvised?
• In what genre does this music best fit?
• From what time period does this music come?
• From what country does this music come?
• Which of my 5 senses does the music trigger?
• Does this music trigger any memories?

Active Listening Is Critical Listening

These questions and many more can only be explored when you decide to sit down and spend time with a piece of music. A superficial listening won’t afford you the opportunity to ponder these items. It takes a dedication of time, of focus, of attention, of sincerity, and of critical thinking to really unearth the truth of any piece of music.

Active listening is critical listening. It’s focused. It’s engaging.

It leads to intimacy and understanding. It leads to appreciation.

Active music listening is a skill, and by practicing this skill, not only will your listening improve, but your musical life will also be enriched.

Take time out today to actively listen to a piece of music. It just might change your life.

Further Reading

8 Study Tips for Your Next Music Listening Quiz

How to Find the Best Live Music in Charleston SC

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

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I recently pulled out a book from my college days entitled
Free Play: The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

While thumbing through some of the passages I highlighted years ago, I stumbled upon a few verses that caught my attention (again) on page 118.

We often make the mistake of confusing education with training, when in fact these are very different activities. Training is for the purpose of passing on specific information necessary to perform a specialized activity. Education is the building of the person. To educe means to draw out or evoke that which is latent; education then means drawing out the person’s latent capabilities for understanding and living, not stuffing a (passive) person full of preconceived knowledge. Education must tap into the close relationship between play and exploration; there must be permission to explore and express. There must be validation of the exploratory spirit, which by definition takes us out of the tried, the tested, and the homogenous.


One of the reasons I so love this passage is because it highlights one of my personal beliefs.

Education is the personally initiated pursuit of truth through trial and error.

It is a journey that you have to take for yourself, an investigation propelled by internal motivation.

Seeds of Greatness

Nachmanovitch’s picture of “drawing out the person’s latent capabilities” appropriately illustrates the tending to and nurturing of our native seeds of greatness. This phrase highlights my belief that we are all born with the equal potential for greatness. Only those that exercise personal responsibility and pursue lifelong learning will cultivate those “latent capabilities” that lie dormant within all of us.

The building up of the person is made possible, not by the stuffing in of information, but by the drawing out of our innate potential.

Learning Is Exploring

Learning can occur in many places and in many different ways. Certainly learning can take place within the walls of the classroom, but the power of Nachmanovitch’s message resides in the fact that cultivating a habit of improvisation in learning is the most sincere way we can build ourselves and shape our person without the approval of so-called experts.

His use of the word “explore” paints a wonderful picture of a curious individual actively learning through his own experience, on his own accord, using his own God-given creativity.

The explorer within us all can not only lead us individually into a state of true education, he can also lead us to question going down the road more travelled and spurn us onto a path of new ground, active inquisition, intimate reflection, and personal understanding.

Further Reading

The Secret of Getting Motivated

Saxophone Lessons Online Using Skype

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/education-is-the-building-of-the-person/feed 2 http://wiltonelder.com/youre-not-practicing-practicing-youre-practicing-playing http://wiltonelder.com/youre-not-practicing-practicing-youre-practicing-playing#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:16:43 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=2434


Joe Lovano by Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Joe Lovano once made, in one of his masterclasses, a statement that hit me really hard…

When you practice, you’re not practicing practicing. You practice playing.

This, like most profound statements, seems very obvious when you think about it. But I venture to say that most musicians don’t keep this idea in mind when they are practicing.

Practicing is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.

If you’re a great practicer, but you’re a lousy live musician, then I recommend rethinking the reason you practice to begin with.

The end goal is not to be an expert practicer. The end goal is to make better music.

Lovano goes on to outline, in the masterclass, how to go about practicing playing.

1. Develop a Repertoire

To practice playing, you must have a repertoire, Lovano says.

Repertoire is, very simply, a book of songs or tunes. It’s the material that you can go to at any moment to make music.

Pick a tune, any tune, and use that tune to make some music. Ideally, this will be a tune that you can and will be playing live in the near future.

2. Play Rubato

Practicing with a metronome is a key part of improving your musical ability. I think Lovano would agree with me here.

However, Joe’s point is that free playing allows you to personally shape the phrase. Playing independent of a regular pulse allows me to get inside the melody, get inside the harmony, and get to know the music.

The emphasis when playing rubato becomes more about making the melody your own and less about executing the perfect replica of someone else’s.

3. Avoid Copying

Lovano’s encouragement with this third point is to avoid going after a recreation of a famous recording and move toward reinventing or personalizing the music to your own.

You won’t be replicating that recording on a gig, will you?

No. Absolutely not.

You may quote a famous solo or a head to another tune on a gig, but it won’t be note for note. It will be modified and personalized.

This last point of Lovano’s outline for practicing playing is a crucial one. When we’re practicing playing, we want to move away from a preconceived notion about how a tune should sound and move toward a reinvention of that melody in a way that has never been arranged.

Wrapping Up

If we are going to become better players, then we need to focus our energy on practicing playing when we practice. When doing so, we would do well to follow Lovano’s outline of 1. developing a repertoire, 2. playing rubato, and 3. avoiding copying famous recordings.

Let’s spend time with the music. Let’s develop a relationship with the melody. Let’s internalize the harmony. Let’s challenge assumptions about how it should sound, and let’s develop the courage to create a new paradigm for the music.

Further Reading

3 Saxophone Questions with Timothy McAllister and Jeff Coffin

A Jazz Improvisation Lesson for Saxophone Beginners

Do You Want to Get Real Saxophone Lessons Online? Forget YouTube Videos. Get Skype.

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/youre-not-practicing-practicing-youre-practicing-playing/feed 2 http://wiltonelder.com/get-real-saxophone-lessons-online-forget-youtube-videos-get-skype http://wiltonelder.com/get-real-saxophone-lessons-online-forget-youtube-videos-get-skype#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:53:48 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=1528




That’s right. Forget YouTube videos.

If you want to get real saxophone lessons online, get Skype.

You see, YouTube is great for a lot of things. It’s great for learning the lyrics to your favorite new song, enjoying bootleg concert footage, and surfing from one amateur karaoke video to the next for hours on end.

It’s not, however, a great tool to learn how to play the saxophone.

Here are a few reasons why should forget YouTube and get Skype.

”In This World, You Get What You Pay For.”

YouTube is a popular destination for two major reasons.

It has a LOT of videos.

And…

It’s free.

And you know what Kurt Vonnegut has to say about that?

In this world, you get what you pay for.

Simply put, free information is not as valuable as information that you have to pay for. Because it does not cost any money to upload and it costs very little money to create, videos on YouTube tend to be of poor quality.

Another thought about the cost associated with free…

Even though it does not cost you any money to enjoy these videos, you are spending two of your most valuable assets when viewing:

1. Your time
2. Your attention

As a result, you get what you pay for… low quality information and ads.

YouTube Is Like the Web… Not Very Well Organized

There are billions of pages on the web.

They are not well organized.

That’s why we need search engines.

Likewise there are billions of videos on YouTube. Again, like the web, this video network is not very well organized which is why we rely on a combination of search, text and tags to find our desired videos.

Not only do you wind up spending your valuable time and attention watching ads before you can get to the content you want to watch, you also spend your time searching for the right video to answer the question(s) you aim to resolve.

YouTube can be a fascinating platform for discovering content and bouncing from video to video, but it is not very well organized.

Wouldn’t it be a lot more efficient if you could just type in your question and have YouTube provide you the right video with the right answer presented in a way that makes sense to you?

Wow! There’s an advanced idea for improved database distance learning.

YouTube Is Passisve… Skype Is Interactive

Let’s say that you eventually find the right video, and you actually get your question answered.

What happens when you have a follow up question?

If you want to connect your newfound understanding to another concept, you have to go looking for another video for an answer.

You see where I’m going with this?

When you have a live teacher on the other end of your internet connection, he can answer follow up questions. He can package answers in such a way that relate to you and your learning style.

You might find the right information in a YouTube video, but unless that information can be personally packaged and transformed into usable knowledge, the raw information is not useful to accomplishing your goals.

A saxophone lesson online using Skype, conversely, is an interactive experience that allows for a dialogue, a conversation and an unfolding of ideas.

Skype affords you the opportunity to get specific answers to your specific questions, and this translates into a benefit of understanding how to play your saxophone at a higher level than you did before the lesson.

With a Skype saxophone lesson, you can personalize your learning. With YouTube, you are at the mercy of learning what these “teachers” have provided in their videos.

With a Skype saxophone lesson, you get timely answers to your personal questions. With YouTube, you get to spend your time hunting for videos and watching ads.

So What Now?

Now that you understand that a superior online saxophone lesson happens using Skype, you need to find a teacher equipped with both the knowledge and the technology to help you.

And where would you find someone like that?

Well, you just happen to be in the right place

Click here to read more about learning the saxophone with yours truly.

Further Reading

Saxophone Lessons Online Using Skype

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/get-real-saxophone-lessons-online-forget-youtube-videos-get-skype/feed 0 http://wiltonelder.com/knowing-the-right-songs-is-just-as-important-as-knowing-how-to-play-your-instrument http://wiltonelder.com/knowing-the-right-songs-is-just-as-important-as-knowing-how-to-play-your-instrument#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:59:56 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=2279

One of my advanced students recently inquired about me recommending him for gigs I can’t do.

My question in response was…

OK. What tunes do you know?

He named a few jazz standards he’s worked on over the past year like “Girl From Ipanema,” “Straight, No Chaser,” and “Oleo,” but his list quickly ran out.

His answer launched me into a 45-minute lecture about the importance of, not only knowing how to play the saxophone well, but also knowing the right tunes for the gig.

Learn Songs That Feature Your Instrument

Your primary instrument will inform which tunes should be on your priority list to learn.

Since saxophone is my primary instrument there is a diverse range of music that I need to know. Not only is it expected that I play the melodies and improvise on a variety of jazz standards, but also I need to be able to play the horn lines and primary melodic hooks for the core funk, R&B, rock, and pop tunes for my cover band gigs.

One strategy is learn how to play all the signature parts of the major pop tunes on your instrument:

• Guitarists should be comfortable starting “Brown Eyed Girl” and playing the solo on “Don’t Stop Believin’”
• Keyboardists should be fluent on the clavinet part to “Superstition” and the piano introduction to “Build Me Up Buttercup”
• Drummers should be ready to start “Brick House,” “Billie Jean,” and “Hard to Handle” (with the right feel and correct tempo)

Here I have compiled a suggested list of pop songs all horn players should know (45).

Learn Songs With Good Gas Mileage

Not only do I recommend learning songs specific to your instrument, but I also recommend prioritizing your learning based on what tunes get the most play.

I believe in maximizing the work I put into something. If I am going to learn a new song, one of my considerations will certainly be how much mileage I will get out of any song.

Every genre has it’s own standard repertoire. Learn the core songs for the genres you’ll be playing on your gig.

If you are playing a jazz gig, you should be familiar with standards like “Blue Bossa” and “All the Things You Are.” Every hip hop band does “Rapper’s Delight.” Learning funk tunes? “Brick House” and “Play That Funky Music” are staples. Straight rock and roll gigs invariably feature “Honky Tonk Woman” or “Don’t Stop Believin’.” And every reggae band I have ever heard plays Bob Marley at some point in the gig, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start with his greatest sing-along of all time, “No Woman, No Cry.”

Learn Songs Specific to Your Gig

After you have begun learning tunes specific to your instrument and prioritizing tunes based on popularity, another major consideration should be to focus on the songs that will be featured on your next gig.

If you are appearing as a sideman, get a song list from the band leader to begin learning. Some bands I wind up playing with have a set book of songs and the show rarely changes. It is very predictable. In these cases, I get the charts, review the original recordings, and practice my part.

Other bands have shows that change all the time and a huge list of songs that they have played over the years. In these cases, I ask the leader for a priority list of tunes that we are likely to play on the gig. A hot list helps cut down on unneeded work. Why learn an obscure song on a song list if the band isn’t likely to play it?

Now You’re Learning the Right Tunes, But How Quickly Can You Learn New Tunes?

There is an economist named Paul Zane Pilzer that I have read and listened to since 2004. He has said a lot of things that have shifted my paradigm over the years, but one of his most impressionable quotations is…

Prosperity belongs to those who learn new things the fastest.

Pilzer believes that it is good to have accumulated valuable knowledge, but if you don’t learn new stuff at a fast rate, you are going to get left behind by those that do.

I believe this quote appropriately relates to working musicians learning new tunes.

There will always be new gigs with new musicians featuring new music that you have never played before. Not only is there an incredible amount of music already written that you haven’t played, but there will continue to be new music written in the future and even new arrangements of music you’ve already played.

I frequently talk to drummers, bassists, keyboardists, guitarists, and singers about doing gigs with me, and they are all very fine musicians. The quality of musicians is rarely the problem. The problem, invariably, is the rate at which they can learn the songs. Not only are there musicians who don’t know core tunes in the major genres, but there are also really good players who don’t learn new tunes very quickly.

This One Time… With a Salsa Band

A few years ago, I got the opportunity to play with a serious salsa band named Bio Ritmo.

I got an email from J.C. Kuhl to fill in with Bio Ritmo at a hispanic arts festival in North Charleston about 48 hours before the gig. The show was to feature all original salsa music. Not only do I not play salsa on the regular, but I was also not intimately familiar with the band’s records. On this gig, my personal book of tunes was not going to be good enough. I had to learn new tunes specific to this gig and learn them fast.

I proceeded to print out all the charts that J.C. emailed me and downloaded recordings so I could hear the arrangements. I assembled them into a playlist, dumped it on my iPod, and took to learning around 20-25 new charts in short order. Most of the charts had fairly intricate road maps, were fairly long, and some were hand-written, which made it a bit more challenging than it already was.

I listened to the playlist in the car and in my apartment. I did active and passive listening. I made notes. I read the charts slowly with a metronome and then played along with the recordings once I got my feet about me.

I was already at a disadvantage because I was filling in for the full time saxophonist. I simply wanted to take advantage of every approach possible to make myself as comfortable as possible with the material. I knew that the more comfortable I was with the material, the more music we could make.

Become a Tunesmith

As my friend Ken Mullin espouses,

Become a tunesmith!

Ken and I recommend building your own personal book of tunes. The way I see it is that there isn’t always going to be a Real Book for your gig. There won’t always be charts. You will not have other people do the work for you all the time. The responsibility is on you; it’s your music business.

Once you have narrowed down the tunes you need to learn, study multiple recordings of these core songs. Build you own personal library, and study different arrangements.

I hear musicians say they know this tune or that, but they don’t really know it. They have just listening to it before. They haven’t studied it. If you know a song then you have spent some time with the song. Know the primary melodies, the hooks, the hits, the chord progressions, the lyrics, and the basic structure.

I like to learn songs in more than just the original key. Maybe you don’t learn it in all 12 keys (that would be preferred), but at least learn it in a handful of different keys so that you get the structure and the progressions in your head and under your fingers.

This applies to all the musicians in the band. It’s not just the horn player’s job to know the melodies, so does the guitarist. It’s not just the drummer’s job to know the hits, it’s the keyboardist’s too. It’s not just the vocalist’s job to know the lyrics, so does the bass player.

To paraphrase my friend Mr. Mullin,

You never want to be the cat that the band defers to because you don’t know tunes.”

Learn tunes specific to your instrument. Begin learning the core songs from the major genres. Learn the specific tunes for your gig. Stay in the mode of learning new tunes and you will get better at learning tunes fast.

Take responsibility for, not only being an expert on your instrument, but knowing the right tunes.

This is what it takes to be a first call working musician.

If it’s gonna happen, you’re gonna make it happen.

Further Reading

5 Essential Things You Absolutely Need to be a Successful Working Musician

Every Gig Is an Audition for Another Gig

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/knowing-the-right-songs-is-just-as-important-as-knowing-how-to-play-your-instrument/feed 2 http://wiltonelder.com/wilton-elder-nominated-for-horn-player-of-the-year-2011-city-paper-music-awards http://wiltonelder.com/wilton-elder-nominated-for-horn-player-of-the-year-2011-city-paper-music-awards#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:06:02 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=2045



I am blessed to be included among the incredibly talented Charleston musicians in this year’s City Paper Music Awards.

There are a variety of categories to vote on including Album of the Year, Singer-Songwriter of the Year, and Up-and-Coming Act of the Year. I am in some mighty fine company in the category of Horn Player of the Year alongside the likes of Cameron Harder Handel, Louis Dixson, Oscar Rivers, and Charlton Singleton.

You must register to vote. Voting ends October 5th.

Click here to cast your ballot now!

<---UPDATE--->

Congratulations to Charlton Singleton for winning Horn Player of the Year and a big hi-five to all the rest of the great Charleston musicians who were nominated and won.

The City Paper Music Awards Show at the Pour House

Further Reading

Every Gig Is an Audition for Another Gig

The Opposite of a Train Benefits Halsey Institute

If you like this article, I invite you to leave a comment below and spread the word by clicking the buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, or any of your other favorite social media sites.

]]> http://wiltonelder.com/wilton-elder-nominated-for-horn-player-of-the-year-2011-city-paper-music-awards/feed 0 http://wiltonelder.com/8-study-tips-for-your-next-music-listening-quiz http://wiltonelder.com/8-study-tips-for-your-next-music-listening-quiz#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:04:25 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=1845

A typical format for a music listening quiz is two-fold:

1. Your instructor plays a series of music selections in class
2. You are tasked to identify the composer and title of each music selection

Pretty simple.

Preparing, however, for such a simple test as this can prove difficult if you have never done so.

Here are 8 study tips to help you successfully prepare for your next music listening quiz:

• Gather all the recordings that will be on the quiz and put them in place. This can either be a burned CD or play list on your computer or iPod.
• Passively and actively listen to all the music selections at least once a day leading up to the quiz.
• Passively listen to the selections while you are driving in your car, cooking, cleaning, exercising, or any other daily activity you can do and simultaneously listen to music.
• Actively listen to the selections in an solitary environment where you can isolate yourself from distractions like the phone, email, internet, television, radio, and anything or anyone else that can take your mind and your ears away from the task of learning the music.
• During your active music listening sessions, take notes while you listen. Jot down the composer name and song title a few times. Make note of the instrumentation, the voices, the tempo, the meter, the dynamics, the texture, the style, and the time period.
• Make the active music listening session personal by commenting on the intertextuality. That is… write about how the piece of music makes you feel. What does the music piece remind you of? Is there a person or a life event that you can associate with this music?
• Your listening frequency should increase as you get closer to the day of the exam.
• Finally, test yourself. Put the burned CD or the play list on random/shuffle. Listen to the songs in the new order, and write down the composer name and song title down as if you were taking the quiz in class. Go back and grade yourself in a self-assessment to see how you scored. Repeat this practice test until you feel completely comfortable identifying all the songs on the list.

Further Reading

What Everybody Ought to Know About Active Music Listening

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]]> http://wiltonelder.com/8-study-tips-for-your-next-music-listening-quiz/feed 5 http://wiltonelder.com/3-saxophone-questions-with-timothy-mcallister-and-jeff-coffin http://wiltonelder.com/3-saxophone-questions-with-timothy-mcallister-and-jeff-coffin#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 02:59:10 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=1708

Two of the most in-demand, technically amazing, and emotionally moving saxophonists at the forefront of the music community today are Timothy McAllister and Jeff Coffin.



Timothy McAllister

Known internationally for his leadership in the world of concert and chamber music, McAllister is the soprano saxophonist for the PRISM Quartet and the Associate Professor of Saxophone at Arizona State University.



Jeff Coffin

Known internationally as one of the top educators, composers, arrangers, and improvisors of instrumental music, Coffin is the founder of The Mu’tet, 3-time Grammy Award winner with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and member of touring/recording group Dave Matthews Band.

Considering the depth of these two men, their mastery of the saxophone, and the personal respect I have for them, I wanted to take this opportunity to ask Jeff and Timothy three questions whose answers I know every saxophonist can benefit from.

I have shared what I learned from them below.

Question #1:

What is the number one thing, in your opinion, saxophonists can do to improve their sound?

Jeff Coffin:

LONG TONES! But, do them in a way that allows full control over the entire spectrum of dynamics. With a tuner, start from very soft and crescendo into a FF, then back down SLOWLY until it’s back to a PP…control of the dynamics is paramount to attaining a good sound. Do them for at least 10-15 minutes per day.

Timothy McAllister:

I like to emphasize three principles when teaching sound–The Three ‘C’s’: Color, Conditioning, and Control. Improving sound is about being able to achieve any type of tonal color through slight alterations in tongue position and nuances of air support; embouchure conditioning and voicing awareness needed to achieve such changes in sonority; and exhibiting mastery of kinesthetic memory—control—over all of the acoustical imperfections of the instrument.  So, for me, the answer to the number one thing to master The Three ‘C’s’: Long Tones, 30-45 minutes a day.   

After that, overtone study, mouthpiece exercises, and pitch bends on the instrument. The worst thing a student can do is play for a few minutes before jumping right into scales and etudes… the practice routine must be much more comprehensive if we are to succeed in defeating the obstacles inherent in the saxophone—timbrally and acoustically.

Question #2:

What is one tip you like to share with other teachers that has helped them better teach saxophone embouchure?

JC:

Find your ‘place’ on the mouthpiece. Where is it that your teeth comfortably sit? Use a bite pad and see if you are moving around too much or if you are pretty consistent with where the teeth placement are. Don’t take to much mouthpiece, but don’t take too little either.

TM:

I believe in the Teal approach which emphasizes a flat, downward pointing chin, an upper lip exhibiting downward pressure on the mouthpiece, corners pulling inward, and creating space between the molars. This allows for maximum vibration of the reed and tonal richness. The memory tool I like to use when working with young students is the following phrase: “Flat CHIN, Corners IN”. Quick reminders like this can be helpful throughout a lesson.

Question #3:

What is your top piece of advice for high school saxophonists that are either preparing for a college degree program or life as a music professional?

TM:

High school students must increase their awareness of the expectations of potential college professors, as well as the ever-growing skill level of the top students nationwide in their age groups.  The internet, CD recordings, DVDs, et.al have exposed more and more hungry students to the highest standards of the profession.  Students who regularly listen to and study recordings of great players (both saxophonists and non-saxophonists) will develop sensitivity for what constitutes high level playing.  

Hard work always trumps the elusive—and misleading—term known as ‘talent’, and a high school student who positions themselves early for top college programs while remaining humble and sustaining a desire for excellence throughout their studies will, hopefully, develop necessary skills for life as a professional. Of course, many more factors come in to play in order to be successful as a professional, but no career is possible without great training and unrelenting initiative.

JC:

Be sure you know what you are getting into. And have your basics/fundamentals DOWN! Talk with professional players and find out what it’s like to make a living being on the road or playing professionally. It’s not an easy life but it can be very rewarding.There are a lot of sacrifices that you will have to make and many of them may not be easy.

If this is what you are absolutely burning with passion to do…be a good person, be easy to work with, have a good professional work ethic and be dedicated to making music but realize too that this is a business we are in. Have some knowledge of that so you can make good personal, musical, and financial decisions.

Thank you, Timothy!

Thank you, Jeff!

For more information on these guys, visit jeffcoffin.com and timothymcallister.com.

Further Reading

5 Essential Things You Absolutely Need to be a Successful Working Musician

8 Fundamental Thoughts About Practicing the Saxophone

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]]> http://wiltonelder.com/3-saxophone-questions-with-timothy-mcallister-and-jeff-coffin/feed 0 http://wiltonelder.com/5-essential-things-you-absolutely-need-to-be-a-successful-working-musician http://wiltonelder.com/5-essential-things-you-absolutely-need-to-be-a-successful-working-musician#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 04:02:56 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=1624

If you are a successful working musician, then you are always looking for ways to increase the amount and quality of the work that you attract.

If not, then you will never be successful… in or out of music.

And when I say work, I am referring to a spectrum of opportunities including (but not limited to) booking your own band, performing with other bands, doing recording sessions, selling your songs, producing, studio engineering, running live sound, teaching master classes, and building your base of private lesson students.

On the performance side of that spectrum, I have always preached some essentials to my fellow musicians that are required to attract, maintain, and grow the amount and quality of your gigs. Among those essentials is adopting a mindset that every gig is an audition for another gig.

Here I am going to outline 5 essential things you absolutely need to be a successful working musician.

1. You need to have a beautiful sound (or tone).

Whether you are a vocalist or an instrumentalist, your sound is your everything. It all starts with sound. It all ends with sound. If you don’t have a beautiful sound or tone, then nothing you say (musically) really matters.

You may…

• Have all the chops in the world
• Be able to sing higher than any one else in the country
• Be able to double tongue faster than every other trumpet player
• Be the loudest rock guitarist to ever strap on a 6-string
• Have the most well developed harmonic vocabulary of any jazz artist in history

But…

If you don’t have a beautiful sound, it doesn’t really matter what you have to say.

Your sound is everything.

If you are going to be a successful working musician, you need to have a beautiful sound.

2. You need to be able to read music (quickly).

In the world of music, reading is fundamental.

You may know a 1,000 songs by heart. You may be able to play by ear. You may be fantastic at it. However, if your reading skills are low (or non-existent) you are missing out on a lot of opportunities and leaving money on the table as a result.

Whether you are rehearsing in advance, walking on to a gig cold, or heading in to a recording session, being able to read a chart is invaluable and really opens up the opportunities to you.

Being able to navigate the road map on a piece of sheet music is completely mandatory in classical music, pit orchestras, show bands, jazz, music lessons, and anything involving 2 or more horns.

If you are going to be a successful working musician, you need to be able to read music.

3. You need to be able to improvise music (well).

So much music is made on the spot. Without sheet music. Without rehearsal. Without having heard a recording. Without preparation. Without much discussion.

Having a working knowledge of a broad base of music standards is imperative, whether you are playing pop songs or jazz tunes.

Taking it a step further, what’s more important is being able to not only generally improvise on your instrument but specifically create music in the moment on a choice number of chord changes and song forms.

This is certainly true for gaining more and better work in the live performance arena, but it is also true for studio work. I and my close friends who also teach privately also integrate improvisation into the music lessons with our students.

If you are going to be a successful working musician, you need to be able to improvise music.

4. You need to show up (early).

You have got to show up. If you don’t show up for the work you already have, you will never get more work.

One surefire way to supercharge your reputation is to make it a habit of showing up early for all your engagements.

If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late.

This is one area where it is so easy to help yourself and hurt yourself. A lot of really great players blow it when it comes to timeliness.

Showing up early helps establish you as being dependable. People want to work with other people that are dependable.

And while I am talking about being dependable, one way to certify that people won’t trust you is to tell someone that you will do a gig and then back out. Regardless of the reason, nobody wants to get a call from you saying that you can’t make the gig, especially if it is last minute.

If you can’t commit, don’t say “yes.” This one will destroy your credibility.

If you are going to be a successful working musician, you need to show up and show up early.

5. You need to be a nice guy (or gal).

I can’t tell you how big this one is. It’s so huge.

Now we all have our off days when we can be a little hard to get along with, but overall you should strive to be known as a music professional that is easy to work with.

At the end of the day, it does not matter how good you think you are. If you are a jerk, if you are coarse, if you are hard to get along with, if you have a disagreeable reputation, if you are in a perpetual bad mood, you will not get called.

If you are going to be a successful working musician, you need to be a nice guy that is easy to work with.

In Conclusion

The 5 essential things you absolutely need to be a successful working musician are…

1. You need to have a beautiful sound (or tone).
2. You need to be able to read music (quickly).
3. You need to be able to improvise music (well).
4. You need to show up (early).
5. You need to be a nice guy (or gal).

If you put these things together at the same time, I guarantee you will be well on your way to attracting, maintaining, and growing your amount and quality of work in the music business.

Guaranteed.

Related Post

Knowing the Right Songs Is Just as Important as Knowing How to Play Your Instrument

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]]> http://wiltonelder.com/5-essential-things-you-absolutely-need-to-be-a-successful-working-musician/feed 8 http://wiltonelder.com/3-little-known-long-tone-exercises-for-saxophone-beginners http://wiltonelder.com/3-little-known-long-tone-exercises-for-saxophone-beginners#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:28:06 +0000 wilton http://wiltonelder.com/?p=1559

If you are a beginning saxophonist working on getting a characteristic saxophone sound for the first time, I am going to outline 3 little known long tone exercises to help you get a characteristic tone.

Playing long tones is important in developing a beautiful saxophone sound because the exercise forces you to focus on your air support, and air support ultimately determines the quality of your sound.

While there are many different approaches you can take to improving your sound, playing long tones is the simplest and allows for the greatest focus on your air stream.

I am going to outline 3 long tone exercises with each one building on the previous.

So, what are the 3 little known long tone exercises for saxophone beginners?

Here we go…

1. See How Long You Can Hold Your Breath Under Water

The first of these exercises came from my younger days of summer at the pool. Remember when you were a kid (maybe you are a kid) and you would hang out all day at the pool in the summer?

We used to hang out at the deep end most days, and when we weren’t busy going to the snack bar or jumping off the diving board, we would see who could hold his breath under water the longest.

This approach to working on long tones has a similar playfulness to it, and I think you will find it particularly engaging and fun.

This practice exercise is extremely simple. All you have to do is breathe in as much as you can and then play any note until you completely run out of air.

Now, choose a different note and repeat. You can use a simple major scale (like G) or a portion of your chromatic scale.

To make things even more exciting, you might even get out a timer and see how long you can hold your longest note!

2. This Time Use Your Metronome

Now that you are comfortable with holding a single note for a long time, you will continue to focus on good air support while moving your fingers a bit more.

For this exercise, you will need a simple metronome, and I recommend setting the quarter note to 70. Pick another simple major scale (like F) and play the collection of notes up and down in whole notes. Keep your focus on your air while counting four clicks (of the metronome) per note.

The benefit of this long tone exercise (at a slow to medium tempo) is that you will be able to focus primarily on producing a quality air stream while focusing secondarily on counting large, slow-moving quarter notes.

Just as before, repeat this exercise using other major scales that you know or a portion of your chromatic scale.

3. And Now With Dynamic Contrast

Now that you are comfortable playing long tones and counting at the same time, you can make your long tone practice even more fun and engaging by adding dynamic contrast to the equation.

In the past two exercise approaches, you played your long tones with a consistent dynamic (volume). Now you are going to change the dynamic on each note.

Building upon the second method mentioned above, repeat the exercise, and this time, crescendo (get louder) on the first time, and decrescendo (get softer) on the second note. Crescendo on the third note, and decrescendo on the fourth note. Continue this alternating pattern until you play the entire scale up and down.

Focus on keeping your air stream solid and consistent even as you move your fingers up/down and increase/decrease your volume. Remember that the whole point in playing long tones is to focus on moving a consistent air stream to create a beautiful saxophone tone.

You can make this long tone exercise more creative by starting the scale at the top rather than then bottom, which is where you probably start most of the time. You can also change the dynamic shape of the first note from a crescendo to a decrescendo. Using these two variations in conjunction on the scales you know, can provide a great number of exercises and a lot of fun.

As a side note, if the words crescendo, decrescendo, and dynamic are new to you, you can click here to check out a list of music terms and definitions.

In Conclusion

Playing long tones regularly is one of the best ways to improve your saxophone sound. By using the progression outlined above, you will hopefully find it easy to consistently focus on producing a quality air stream while added the other aspects of scales and dynamics at your own pace.

Work on your long tones for 5-10 minutes per practice session, and I believe you will see a marked improvement in your saxophone tone within 7 days.

_________________________________________________

Looking for additional ways to enhance your sound?

Would you like to improve your saxophone playing?

Are you interested in getting started with saxophone lessons?

Having trouble finding the right teacher in your local area?

If you answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, then click here now to schedule your very own Skype saxophone lesson!

_________________________________________________

Related Posts

Saxophone Embouchure: 5 Tips for Beginners

Saxophone Lessons Online Using Skype

Saxophone Tips: New Patterns for Fresh Practice

Click here to read Wilton’s other online saxophone lessons.

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