Category Archives: Uncategorized

There comes a time when almost every musician  must decide how to handle traveling with an instrument. Whether it’s a road trip, a music camp, a backpacking trip, a weekend at the beach house, or a performance tour, there are considerations for your instrument’s safety and the logistics of transport. Let’s look at various scenarios:Continue reading “Traveling with Your Instrument – Part 1”

Please click on the UPCOMING WORKSHOPS button (at the top of this page) for a list of workshops and retreats I’m offering in Washington State and Arizona in 2014.

Although this post may seem quite basic, there are musicians at every level of skill  – even some professionals  –  who really need this information. Wandering tempos are a real problem for many. We may or may not be aware when we’re wandering, we may think we can’t do anything about it, or we mayContinue reading “Rhythm Challenges, Part 3: Wandering Tempos”

Although we learn to count rhythms and beats when we learn to read music, being rhythmically adept isn’t, of course, dependent on reading music  –  people the world over, in all cultures, can follow or create a beat, and most don’t study music formally. For those who have trouble, it’s important to know that rhythm-impairmentContinue reading “Part 2: More on Rhythm Ability”

Please click on the Workshops page for a list of workshops I’m teaching in Seattle, Sedona and Spokane (banjo, harp and ergonomics).

Many musicians feel rhythmically challenged, at least at some time, and not just the beginners. It may happen when learning a new rhythm pattern, a polyrhythm, or playing with a metronome or ensemble for the first few times. And some believe they have no sense of rhythm at all. Is it really true that aContinue reading “A Sense of Rhythm – Do You Have It?”

At some time in our lives most of us, musicians and non-musicians alike, have played and re-played some favorite recording until, from repeated listening, we know every note of it. But did we realize this is actually a form of practice? How often do we treat recorded music as something more than background ambience? HowContinue reading “Listening – Really Listening!”

Learning obviously comes from many sources and in many ways. We can learn music from our families, peers, friends, teachers, recordings, and/or You Tube. We can learn from notation or tablature, by rote, by ear, and/or from observing performances. We learn aurally, visually, and/or kinesthetically. Many of us rely on just a few of theContinue reading “Full Benefit: the Many Ways of Learning”

There’s no denying that we tend to treat professional musicians differently from non-professionals, and exceptionally good amateurs differently from those who skills are average. It seems natural to be deferential to those whom we deem special in some way, to be perhaps overly polite, and even to be timid around them. Maybe we should takeContinue reading “How We Relate to Professionals”

This is a continuation of the previous post (Part 1). The last post discussed how to make a melody stand out from an accompaniment clearly. In addition to the actual melody line, other elements that make a melody “make sense” are: emphasis, tempo, beat, rhythm, and accuracy. Harmony choices in an arrangement are also important.Continue reading “Making a melody recognizable – Part 2”