The Road To Discovery

So as previously confessed, I tried my hand at score writing about five years ago. It was a horrible disaster!

I thought I could get by without a solid grasp of the terminology, note articulation, or music theory. I had a computer and notation software and an aptitude for creating music. I quickly realized however, that without the skill set previously mentioned, I was basically shooting in the dark.

I proudly handed out my score to a group of 18 competent musicians. They began to play what can only be described as the worst noise I had ever heard. I stopped them and broke down in tears. What happened?

It sounded wonderful on the software I had. Everything sounded in tune and seemed to fit rhythmically and harmonically. It was so confusing as to why it didn't work that I set aside my dreams of being a composer until now.

I was as clueless as this guy:

Lol! I love Don Music!

Anyway, it wasn't just that I didn't have a firm grasp on my music theory and the like, it also had to do with my use of the software. I have Sibelius, and I like to just troubleshoot my way through programs. I grew up in a home where we've had computers since I was a little girl, starting with a DOS machine. Yes, that long ago.

Back to 5 yrs ago, I had Sibelius playing back the music exactly as I had played it into the computer. Instead, I should've change the settings so that it played it back exactly as it was written. That way I would've found a lot of mistakes. Also I didn't understand a lot of the settings and Sibelius nor how to navigate the program beyond surface level. 

Now, I have Jazz Composition and Theory and Practice by Ted Pease. I can tell you I did not find the book helpful towards my efforts. The book is meant to be used in a classroom setting with the course from Berkeley music college. (I actually had to dig into my library in order to find it. Now that I have, I may dip back into it, but it's very rudimentary to me now.)

It also doesn't have the one thing that  Jazz Composition and Arranging in the Digital Age by Richard Sussman and Michael Abene has:

Hints and help guides for using Finale and Sibelius software.

Placed throughout the text of the book, these tips are on how to use both versions of scoring softwares. This invaluable addition to the book puts it leagues ahead of the competition. Also, with the addition of a website that can be updated, potentially makes the text relevant for years to come. It's helped me so very, very much. (No, I don't get a kickback from them for saying any of this.)

So, now I'm less like this. 

Thankfully, the dent in my forehead from slamming it into the keys is healing nicely. 

And like all things, one must learn to walk before one can run. However, I will say that I'm so close to sprinting now that I'm writing and composing a new piece I hope to share with you soon. 

Keep on going! Even when your crawling, you're progressing forward! 

Solfege Schmolfege...

Yeah, that's what I was like in college. All that talk of solfege and the like. I could have cared less. The closest I got to that stuff was with this broad:

Ah yes, I grew up listening to her sing her Do-Re-Mi's and thinking, "That's me. I'm going to sing just that." And I can do a pretty good mock up of Julie Andrew's too. Same timbre, accent and everything. That's what you get when you mimic the greats. 

But, I never did get a firm grasp of what solfege was. So when they handed me a sight-singing book in college I thought, "I don't think I need this." 

And for the most part, I was right. I hear a melody line once and I've got it. No need to be able to sight read. Great ear. Could sing you a scale or mode backwards or forwards. Have taught voice for years. Never used it. Not once. Know breath mechanics backwards and forwards, but this is on the low end of the need to know scale. 

But now that I want to up my piano skills, play on the fly, and compose/arrange? I see the fruit of it. I see how it can take all the guess work out of pitches and ranges so that I'm not spending so much time trying to figure out what I want to do - or how far apart those harmonies and intervals are. 

Cause that's what we're really talking about here boys and girls.... Intervals. 

Now, we've already talked about intervals a bit. When we talk about chord structures, it's really just a composite structure of intervals that make up chords. 

For example, a major chord is I - III - V (1st, 3rd and 5th of the scale). 

Easy! Simple! You got this! 

But! If I give you the tonic note of a chord, can you sing for me the 3rd? (or Mi for our solfeggi peeps)

You say, "Sure" 

Now pick a different note. Could you sing the 3rd down from that? 

AHA!!! Now, we may have stumped you a little bit. Not only do we have to build the scale from the ground up, but we must also be able to build it BACKWARDS! 

So, for you newbies, work on it and figure out pitches in only the major scale intervals. Take one practice session and say that for a day, you will only practice the interval of a major 3rd more 2nd. Practice all over the black and white's so that the interval become solid forwards and backwards. 

For those more advanced: Try the minor thirds and augmented fourths backwards and forwards. It will challenge you, but it will be worth it.  Here's a chart:

Notice, I still don't like solfege. I'm not using it. I still think it's flipping stupid. However, this makes sense in a lot of ways, yeah? You have to know the numbers of the notes within a scale to read chords, right? The 7th, the 9th, etc.... Get used to it. That's the way it is. 

Remember, once you learn something like this and can rapidly recall it when it is most needed - In practices, or when you're writing or whatever. 

Practice, repeat, practice repeat... Learn it. Love it. Earn from it!

Rhythm Nation... No, not nation, Notation.

Nothing against Janet Jackson, but let's stick to jazz, shall we?

As mentioned previously in other posts, I use Sibelius as a notation software. I like it for it's ease of use, but not everything is cut and dry with the program. For example,

these are "beat slashes". Sibelius doesn't seem to call them anything, but thanks to a quick internet search, I stumbled upon a handout from an IAJE conference in 2007 that describes jazz rhythm section notation (thank you, Tom Rudolph). You can find it here, along with a host of other helpful guides.

So, let's go through the process of making these little beauties in Sibelius:

1.

 

Create the rhythm you want the instrument to do. In 4/4 time, 4 quarter notes would be common, so that's what we have here. 

2.

Make sure the "Properties" window is open (Window > Properties). It has a header of "No Selection" because a measure hasn't been selected to alter. When you do select one, it will say "Edit Passage"- which is weird that it doesn't just say "Properties". In the image, it's the menu window on the left side.  Select "notes" from that drop down menu. 

3. 

Select the measure you'd like to convert to beat slashes and then select #3 from the dropdown menu in notes. 

4.

Your notes will instantly convert! 

Well, that was easy, right? 

Sure, if you have foreknowledge of what to do, but finding this stuff in Sibelius is a real pain at times. You can search the help menu all day, but if you don't know what to call them in the first place, you might as well go swimming with sharks. 

A little help Avid?

Well, I guess that's why I'm studying this stuff.

Hey listen, Godspeed. We're making headway and that's nothing to smirk at!

Keep moving forward!

Artists Are People Too!

Ah yes, I've heard people say many times over, "I wish I had your talent!"

It's extremely flattering. It's very generous. It's also very humbling.

I often ask people what they do for a living. They may say, "I'm a bookkeeper" or "salesman" or "nurse."

All those professions take discipline to make happen. I am a musician/writer. It takes discipline to be what I am too.

Often, I will say to those people, "Wow. I wish I could do what you do." And it's true. I'm terrible at accounting - failed the course. I don't sell things very well. And the nurse thing? Ugh... Blood and stitches and puss? Bleh! I admire those people. I could not do that and it isn't easy to do those trades either. But it's what they may have been built for.

This is what I was built for: writing and music.

Now, because this doesn't offer me a steady income unless I want to teach or become a worship leader, I will need to become good at designing a business around what I do. How do I make myself sellable?

Well, I'm terrible at self-promotion. I feel a lot of shame whenever I do it.

I need help at marketing. I get myself to a certain level and then stalemate.

I don't know what to charge. Haven't thought it fully through I guess.

I need a LOT of encouragement. A LOT. A LOT. A LOT.

What's a girl to do?

Enter Marie Forleo:

I like this woman for a number of reasons: 

1. She's positive 
2. She's encouraging. 
3. She's quick to the point. 
4. She's quirky - with a great sense of humor.
5. She takes everything that's in long winded self-help books and consolidates it. 
6. She teaches productivity and business sense.

As I try to make this experience as positive and painless as possible, I know I'm going to run into road blocks and places where I stumble. Having an encouraging voice can make all the difference in the world to someone like me... An artist/business woman. 

So, thank you Marie, for encouraging others to do and be more. And if YOU have something to share with the world, DO IT! We need more positive messages out there. The world needs your talent. 

Recording on the Fly

When I was younger, I'd use my mom's tape deck to record.

If this wasn't the exact one, it looks a lot like it. 

I loved to plug in one of her microphones and sing and make up songs. Sometimes, I'd even have some friends help me! I even have one of my birthday parties on tape. It was the height of cooldom for me. 

Then, as I grew older and wanted to keep my song ideas to write them down, I tried just writing the words on paper. I found out quickly that was not the best way to keep song ideas. If I left them for a day or even half a day, I would forget what I had come up with! So frustrating! Ugh. 

But as an adult I was able to invest in a small digital device:

WHAT THE???

That's not digital! Well, ok, I did have one of these too as a kid. And it was great for recording in my room. 

No, I meant one of these: 

Ah yes, that was great.... Until I accidentally pushed the wrong button, wiped the memory card and lost all my ideas! DOH!

But since the invention of the cell phone, I have always had my song ideas in my pocket with me. And now that I have a smart phone (an iPhone 6 currently), I can record on the fly with ease. Why with ease? I'll tell you. I use Voice Recorder Pro 7.

Why do I love this app? Look at all the options! 

Impressed? I am. It's pretty handy. 

When you open it up, you have to press record twice. The first time to set the options you want. You will see this screen. 

I love that you can speed up or slow down the recording. When you're songwriting, sometimes what starts off as a slow song needs to be sped up. 

When you're finished recording, the file will save as a series of numbers. The name, will be the time and date of the recording.

As you can see from the photo, that can all be changed to reflect the song name or whatever you want.

There's so many advantages to this app, I haven't even messed with them all! Just today I found silence detection! 

Now, I've tried lots of songwriting and recording apps, but this is the one that I find the most adaptable and useful for my needs. 

Keep writing... Keep going... Record, reflect, rediscover and plot a course towards success! 

And get the right tools for the journey.

Reverse Engineering: Not Just for Mad Scientists

"Igor! Throw the switch!"

"Yes, Master!"

Zap! Kapow! ZZZZZZIT! 

"It's Alive! It's Alive!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" 

Yes, I've been experimenting again. 

     Actually, it was a challenge to see if I could map out about 8 bars of the rhythm section in a difficult piece of music. Hopefully, I'm not too far off the mark. I'll put the original and the finished piece next to each other so you can hear them and critique the piece should you wish to. 

     I chose the song, "Jump, Swing Blues" by Rick Krive.  Here's the full piece:

I transcribed measures 5-12 of the piece, and only the rhythm section. This area, being the beginning of the song is rather sparse, but the rhythms are challenging -- At least to a non-drummer they are. Here's my best shot:

(click image to enlarge)

Here's where you can listen to the original and the scored chart above. Please note, that electronic instruments will not be as emotive or dynamic as when people play. 

Jump Swing Blues - Original

Jump Swing Blues - Score Playback

Well, that's all for now, my fellow mad scientists.

Join us again next time, when we dissect something else fun and thrilling!

Oh No, Mr. Weenie! More on Modes

"Nein! Nein! You can't make me go back zare! I have done all of zee modes and scales before and I'm sick of zem. Give me zomesing else to do. Nein! NEIN!!!..... Oh, alight."

Yes, Mr. Weenie, we must go back to the modes and scales, at least for a quick replay of what is needed to be said. It won't take long, I promise. You might even learn something.

As you can see from the image, I've changed our sheet on Modes just slightly to list the flats (or sharp) that will go with each mode if you think of them in a major scale.

What? What you talkin' 'bout Willis!?

Well, the Ionian scale is basically a major scale, that's why there are no flats or sharps listed next to it on the sheet. We're going to base all of the other modes on the Ionian (or major scale), to help us find the others with ease and on the fly. 

For example, it can be helpful to think of a major scale in relation to the whole and half steps it takes to complete the scale, i.e. whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. 

But this gets much more convoluted when getting into the modes. For example, the Aeolian is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. Who wants to keep that in their brain? 

So, by taking the major scales (those scales we practiced over and over and over and over again when learning our instruments) and thinking of what flats or sharps with each mode needed to alter them - we make the chore of learning modes, much much easier. 

So, let's go with the Lydian mode for a second. 

 Starting on F, we won't play the Bb so we're sharping the 4th to make it a B natural.

 Now let's try a G Lydian mode. 

If we look at the major scale, G has one sharp, F, but in the Lydian mode we will also play a C# to make the 4th note sharp (keeping with the Lydian Mode.)

See? Not that bad. When we memorize the differences in the modes based on the major scales, it makes a light chore out of some hefty lifting. You can teach an old dog new tricks... Right, Mr. Weenie?

Hope this helps! 

Destined to be Dynamic!

Jazz is and must be, above all else, dynamic.

Have you ever heard one that isn't? BLECH, right? Or when it's half-way done? Yuck!

You get this mash between elevator music and a grade school band. It's enough to make one tone-deaf! (or at least wish they were)

Well, perhaps I am being a bit harsh. But it's important to have some effect, some razzle-dazzle in a piece. Otherwise you may as well watch paint peel. (oooo - aaaahh)

Today, I was in Chapter 12 of Jazz Composition and Arranging in the Digital Age, where we look at dynamics, articulation and brass mutes. Now, I'm not going to get into all the articulations, because I've already covered where you can read about them in a past posting called, What does - > ^ • mean, anyway? Let me articulate that for ya.

But here's what I learned:

1. Brass instruments will sound louder than woodwinds, so give brass a "mf" and the sax players "f" when you want the to sound the same. 
2. Jazz players seem to have more issue with the duration of quarter notes than eighth notes as far as dynamics go. 
3. At times, jazz musicians disagree about how certain dynamics should be played, for example: >  may be argued to be played the same as just a >, though they are different articulations. 
4. Mutes can change the pitch of instruments when in the upper and lower registers, however there is a safe range to stay in and experienced players can compensate. 
5. Brass players need ample time to insert and take out mutes - 4 to 8 measures is good. Be sure to put a warning a few measures earlier of "to mute" and specify which mute, to allow them ample time before putting in the device. Then when playing simply specify the mute. 
6. Another way to dampen the sound of brass players without them using a mute is to have them play into the stand. 

Some of this may seem awfully simplistic and silly to write about, and truthfully, it is kind of a "duh, of course!" moment for me. However, it is really easy to forget some of this stuff in the throws of creative passions. 

I certainly know how it feels to just want that song to be played without regard for crossing t's and dotting i's. It's alive and it must be heard! My soul is on fire until the world can hear this masterpiece of my design. My creation! Darn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead! And then, CRASH AND BURN! AH THE HUMANITY!!! What a World, what a world... (Enter Celine Dion Singing My Heart Will Go On...)

Alright, so my favorite thing about this chapter has got to be all of the online listening through the book's website. Lots of examples. I would give you the website, but you have to buy the book to listen. But, there's always youtube and don't forget the blog post that I presented earlier in this post.

Have fun out there! Troubleshooting isn't all bad, it may save your piece.

And A-way we go!

Columbo, Finger Exercises and Approach Tones

Columbo.... Really? 1968 Columbo?

Yes! I'm hooked. Thanks to netflix, I am able to watch Peter Falk portray that iconic character as I practice my bass runs. Because let's face it, my brain doesn't have to totally be switched on the practice the licks. It's more muscle memory than anything.

So, I sit at my piano and watch an episode (about 1hour and 15 mins in length) and work on runs with my getting-more-flexible-by-the-day left hand.

Some of you may say, "Yes, well, that's all very fine and good, but what about your Jazz Theory? Are you keeping up with that?"

Put your minds at ease. Yes, I continue to study. This morning it was 6:40am when I found myself reading about the finer points of the craft. I truly feel like I'm gaining some great knowledge with the book and by finding helpful friends who post to Youtube.

Like this guy, who is teaching about Approach Tones:

He's a bit long winded, but give him a break - he's very thorough. For the newbies, that's a good thing!

Alright, so now you know my secret: Columbo. When I finish with that series it will probably be something else. And with tastes as eclectic as mine, who knows what it could be! 

**** Just a side note: If you focus on the obstacle in front of you, you'll never see the way around or through it. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't. That will come in time, and with a sledge hammer. *****

Cheers!

Thank You Mr. Sussman!!

My last post may have seemed a little melodramatic to some of you, but today, I'd like you to know that music theory is very confusing... Especially when you try to discuss it with others.

Remember, music is not just a nice tune you hear on the radio, but a language, mathematics, and a science (hence the name, music theory). So, like all of those disciplines, sometimes we get a little fuzzy in our discussions about what we're exactly talking about -- especially when people are at differing levels of education or proficiency. 

Back to my last post. I began discussing it with a friend who is a guitarist and they felt that you would actually interpret the "Cmix" chord to be played as if you were in the F scale and then transpose to the mixolydian mode. This confused me a great deal. In fact, everything he said confused me more and more the more he talked. 

So, I asked some friends. Some thought they knew. Others didn't have a clue. So, I turned to the internet and I found the homepage of one of the authors of the book that I've been studying out of: 

Not only did I get a prompt reply from Mr. Richard Sussman, but he was very kind and courteous. He explained that yes, I did have the correct conclusion, that a "Cmix" chord was the Mixolydian Mode beginning on C (or C scale, if you like). Here's his direct response:

"Generally in jazz chord nomenclature, if you designate a mode such as C mix, G dorian, F phryg, etc. you’re not indicating a specific voicing, but rather that you can improvise using any notes of the designated mode built on the indicated key, for example a mixolydian mode starting on C, etc."

But what of my friend the guitarist? We will have to have further discussions, because it's a concept that seems to be confusing many musicians and certainly I don't want to be misinformed, but I don't want to lead others down the yellow brick road of mental gymnastics that leaves you baffled and no closer to answers.  But I'm thankful to him for making me dig deeper. This has certainly helped me. 

No harm. No foul. I'm grateful for all the lessons - from my friends and Mr. Sussman. 

Never stop learning!!!