With an upcoming recital looming, talk of performance anxiety starts blooming. It is almost spring after all.
I was recently reading a post by a young student that records her daily practices on Instagram. Many people, especially students, do this for their practice challenges as proof of their daily practices and as a tool to see growth in abilities over time. This one particular student, whose post I ran across is very good. Much better than her age would suggest and she describes all the performances and auditions that she does on a monthly basis in her posts. That is why I was a little puzzled when she, one day, suggested that she panics every time she has to perform. That her hands tighten up, that her vibrato while playing the violin suffers and intonation takes a holiday. This is someone that performs regularly on instagram for an audience of over 8000 followers. I guess it is the performance in front of a live audience that causes the stress. A lot of musicians suffer from music performance anxiety (MPA). In fact a recent survey of 1500 professional Norwegian musicians determined that nearly a third took some form of medication to alleviate the anxiety before a performance. The main reasons for the anxiety were determined to be pressure from self, excessive excitement to perform and lack of preparation, there may also be some genetic factors. While it is difficult to control some of these factors, adequate preparation can be one of the most important methods to alleviate the anticipated stress of a performance. For professional musicians, often the amount of music and schedule prevent adequate preparation. For non-professional musicians, especially those that participate in the New Horizons Music program, busy lives filled with all sorts of outside activities, interferes with the ability to find adequate practice time. When performing with the larger NHB we can sometimes get away with sight reading parts of a piece because there is usually a neighbor that can cover for your missed notes, but when performing a recital with only a few players, preparation is critical because there is no one to cover missed notes. The last two weeks I have been finding any chance I can to practice. I still don’t know if it will help me, I guess we will soon find out.
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Frequently, when we finish playing and older classical transcription in band or sometimes modern pieces trying to sound more classical, the director gets all excited and asks “does anyone know what the name of that chord was that ended that piece?”, we all know it must be a Picardy third because that is the only time we get asked that type of question. The other time there is excitement not related to any music theory is when we "stick the landing" which means we all finish at the same time. But what is a Picardy third?
From Wikipedia, “A Picardy third, Picardy cadence or in French, tierce Picardy, is a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key. This is achieved by raising the third of the expected minor triad by a semitone to create a major triad”. What!? I play music for fun and while I like to know some music theory so I can answer Jeopardy questions, I really need to have the theory explained in very basic and descriptive terms for me to understand. A brief survey on the web helped explain the term a little more. Basically, it is a technique that began in earnest around the 15th-16th century and used frequently during the Baroque era where a piece of music that was written in a minor key ends with a major chord. For those that really need more descriptive help here, music written in a minor key is often described as moody or sad sounding and music written in a major key is often described as happy. So adding a Picardy third to the end of a piece was the musical equivalent of creating a happy ending to an otherwise sad sounding song. And of course a description with an example is always helpful. To hear a notable example of the use of Picardy thirds, listen to the ends of each section of the Coventry Carol as performed by the U.S. Army Band Chorus. The button below will take you to a Wikipedia page with a recording of the piece. Some composers are more subtle in its use and it is more difficult to hear but if you know what to listen for, the moody sound that turns happy at the end, you will now be able to impress friend and exclaim “Did you just hear that Picardy third!” when you hear it played on the radio. We learned a new term in NHO today that applies to the intro that is used in many fiddle tunes. The usual 4 counts or 8 counts done by one fiddler before the beginning of the song are called potatoes. I tried to figure out why it is called potatoes and it seems the origins are as clear as mud. One site joked that it is a variation of the request to give 4 beats (beets) at the beginning of a song. Another site suggested that it comes from a children’s rhyme that counts 1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4. Some suggested it really should be called taters because the intro rhythm is usually more like what we often hear from a clawhammer banjo player playing a “bum ditty” rhythm or “one tater” or written out in musical notes as one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. All seem to agree though that the purpose is to establish the tempo for the song. So the lead player will play 4 potatoes to establish how fast the song should be played then everyone else jumps in at the same tempo.
I though it was quite apropos seein’ as how half of the NHO players work in the potato research program at MSU during the day and now we get to play potatoes at night. In the coming weeks I will try to interview some of the members of the East Lansing New Horizons Music (NHM) family. The basic idea behind NHM is that it is a place for ordinary people to play music together for the fun of playing. It is not a professional musical organization though we comport ourselves in a professional manner with respect towards all the musicians and guests that participate in and support our musical endeavors. We are amateurs that enjoy playing music and want to share that enjoyment with others by encouraging them to participate with us by playing or enjoying a performance in the community. If you are interested in joining our group please contact the MSU Community Music school or continue reading on this site to get more information. NHM: Tell me a little about your background. Where you call home. Daniel: I grew up in Lansing and for all but a few years when I went to Wisconsin for graduate school, I have spent most of my time in the mid-Michigan area. I always enjoyed music as I grew up and participated in the music programs in school when they were available with the one regrettable exception that I did not play in High School because an orchestra was not offered. I started playing my current instrument, Alto Saxophone, after I graduated high school because when I was in Junior High I had heard someone play the sax and I really liked the sound. I took lessons for a little over a years until my teacher moved away then I stopped playing because there were no real outlets for playing for a beginner and I was getting busy with my college classes and work. NHM: What did you study in school. Daniel: I think the better question is what didn’t I study. I started out at MSU wanting to do something in science - biology. But I didn’t like the way classes were taught so I switched to Math for a semester but wasn’t very good so switched to English then dropped out of school for a semester but couldn’t find a good job so went back to biology then tested theater for a semester (really out of character for me) before starting botany. Then I talked to an advisor and she said there was no future in botany so I took classes in microbiology. By this time I had accumulated enough credits to graduate but I hadn’t taken enough core classes in any major to complete my degree so as a senior I took a couple of 100 level biology classes to get my BS. During that last year though I discovered that I really liked microbiology and ended up spending an additional year taking classes to get a second BS in microbiology and public health. Then I went to Wisconsin and got an MS in bacterial genetics. Finally I came back to Michigan State and completed my graduate work in Botany and Plant Pathology but my focus of research was in plant molecular biology. NHM: What drew you to your instrument in the New Horizons Band? Daniel: I think everyone has a sound that attracts them. Saxophone to me has an enticing sound that gives me a chill down my spine when I hear it played well. Although I appreciate the various genres that have adopted the saxophone, I really love the sound of classical sax, especially when performed by saxophone ensembles. NHM: Do you have any future goals musically? Daniel: I want to continue improving on my instrument to try to get a closer match of the sound of the instrument that I am playing to the sound in my head. Last year I did a 100 day practice challenge on my other instrument I’m learning to play, the violin, and saw some improvement so am planning on a similar challenge on the sax this spring. NHM: A 100 day practice challenge can be, well, challenging. What other activities keep you busy? Daniel: When I do the challenge, I think I will do it a little more relaxed than I did last year - meaning, if I miss a day because of work, travel or if I get sick, I am going to allow skip days and not feel guilty about it. I do have a pretty busy schedule because I work full time at MSU in the Potato Breeding and Genetics lab as the lab manager and heading up or assisting on several research projects. I also am co-owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited nature shop in East Lansing and while my sister manages all the day to day operation, I try to help when I can and deal with some of the financial management side of the business. My wife and I also have two kids in East Lansing schools that need driving around all the time so I add chauffeur to my list of job duties and homework supervisor and all the other things that go with being a parent. But music is my escape that helps me relax when everything else is going crazy. NHM: Thank you for answering my questions. Good luck on the practice challenge, maybe we can follow up later. Daniel: Thank you and keep up the good work on your website. I hope it encourages lots of people to try and enjoy playing music. I wrote an article for the East Lansing online newspaper ELinfo to encourage people to join the New Horizons band. My original article had references to information you can find in google if you look up music and health and a portion of that original article is below. But because I didn’t cite any references in my original, the ELi editor decided to remove the health benefit comments and she did a good job of organizing some of my original thoughts about how fun it is to play in a band. The published version of the article is here on the EL info site.
But since I am not a newspaper and use this forum to present my personal opinions, I felt that it would be OK for me to make reference to health benefits here in my personal blog, even if not scientifically proven, so that is what I have done below. While I have not cited any references to research, most of the suggestions of health benefits are based on some limited research studies and you can probably look up most of them by doing a quick google or literature search. Beat the Blues with Music Adults can beat the winter blues by learning to play music. Michigan State University’s Community Music School has opportunities for adults of any age and any musical skill level to learn to play an instrument. New Horizons was originally started in 1991 at the Eastman School of Music by Dr. Roy Ernst, the program was designed to give adults the opportunity to learn and play band instruments in a low-pressure friendly setting. The program was opened to both adult beginners and those that had not played in many years. In the time since the first classes in Rochester (NY), interest has grown, and similar New Horizons music programs have been started in hundreds of locations around the world. In 2003, local music educator Patti Kroth, developed a chapter of New Horizons Band through the MSU Community Music School. The idea for that original band was well received and membership has remained steady with well over 60 adults that currently play in one of three different New Horizons bands taught by four different directors, including two concert bands and a jazz band. New members are welcome to join any time and prospective members are encouraged to sit in on a rehearsal to see what it is like. While it may seem daunting to take on a challenge like learning an instrument, especially for adults, the New Horizons Music program is designed to be a less intimidating environment. Learning as a group offers social support from others going through the same experiences. In addition to the enjoyment of learning and playing a variety of different types of music, there are many health benefits associated with music. Playing in a music group can help beat the blues by offering a venue for self-expression and a sense of belonging through social interaction. One of the most rewarding aspects of playing is performing for outreach programs. Seeing the expressions of people listening to and enjoying music that is familiar to them is a unique experience. In addition to the satisfaction from performances, research has shown that playing music can help reduce depression and blood pressure, improve memory as well as improve quality of life with perceived improvement in health and self-esteem. Many of these health improvements are similar to what would be expected if one were to start an exercise routine. So, for adults learning to play music, an instrument can be like an exercise machine for the brain. The new semester for New Horizons Music at the MSU Community Music school starts at the end of January and, for the first time, will include a New Horizons Strings program. Anyone that is looking for an entry or reentry point for playing in a string orchestra or playing a wind/percussion instrument in a concert band is welcome to contact the Community Music School at (517)-355-7661. I was talking to a fellow New Horizons member about practice habits and explained how I stay motivated to practice. It is not always an easy thing to do but you have to find the tricks that work for you. For me, there are two thing that keep me going back regularly. I'll start with the second one first because many people would think this should be first. That is to practice music that you find interesting. While I tend to practice longer if the music I am learning is interesting, just my interest in the song doesn't draw me into the music room unless I have a lot of spare time or am bored. Usually, I am either busy with kids activities or work or work around the house or I am just so exhausted that I don't have a lot of spare time. So to draw me into the room to practice, the song has to be really really interesting, or I reliably use my first trick - to play with my pets. No, Hillary Hahn got me started on my real trick. The thing that draws me in is the desire to keep a routing or a streak going and to improve. A couple of years back, Hillary Hahn started posting on instragram her practice routine doing a 100 day challenge. It became the thing to do for budding musicians. I started seeing posts of kids and challenges by music teachers for their students to try the 100 days. The point for Hillary Hahn was not to practice 100 days in a row, because she is a professional musician and usually did practice every day anyway. But the challenge for her was to use it as a tool to document and and improve on small things that she might not otherwise have committed to do. I am not a professional musician, but had been playing and practicing irregularly for a couple of years and felt like I was in a rut of not improving. So I decided to try the challenge. I wanted to see if adding additional days of practice to my routing could help me improve. I did not document every day because I just don't have the time to figure out how to edit and post videos of practice sessions every day but I did start practicing every day. I average about 20 minutes of practice every day although on really busy days it may be a little as 5 minutes or on a good day may be an hour and a half. The first week was easy. I was motivated and wanted to see my improvement. The rest of the first month was difficult as I struggled to find a time to fit in a practice. But then I established a routine in my day and since then have managed to practice every day. I even took my instrument on a vacation and did short daily practice because I was afraid of breaking my practice streak. Finally I achieved my 100 days but I didn't want to give up. I didn't want to change my routine out of fear that I would lose the progress I was seeing in my playing and fear that I would fall into my old habit of practicing maybe 1 or 2 days a week. So I have continued to practice every day. I am now at the 255 day mark and have changed my goal to a 365 day challenge. I am seeing improvements in my playing and that has also been a motivator to continue. Because it has become so much a part of my routine, I don't even think about whether I should practice today or not, I just do it. When my kids were young and they had to write “poems” or other writings to fill up a page for a school assignment, I often suggested they write a word down the left side of the page and use the first letter for the first word of that line and the text should somehow relate to the word that is written down the side. It ended up making for a easy way to fill a page and got them over the blank page block that was stopping them from starting to write anything. As I try to write things to fill my blog regularly, I am sometimes faced with the blank page problem. How to start writing something. I am writing more for practice of writing and exercise for my brain than I am for people reading and in fact don’t expect that anyone but me is reading this so I will amuse myself by occasionally doing what I suggested for my kids so that I can fill the page. Sounds so soothing, simply sweet sax sounds. Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the 1840 for facility of playing and loudness of sound; intended for both band and orchestra. Xylophones are not saxophone. Often played in marching band since the beginning of its invention, it never was really accepted in the orchestra. Poor little saxophone, no one wanted to add it to orchestra but it has done well everywhere else. Actually a few composers did include it including Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Bizet, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ibert, Britten, Debussy and George Gershwin. In fact the Mi-Bémol Saxophone Ensemble has taken Prokofiev's piece a little further featuring all parts on saxophone. Human voice is sometimes imitated by the sound of the saxophone. One of the original saxophones played by Adolphe Sax was a bass which was used in performance to provide a low bass voice-like sound. Once you hear the sound of a sax, you’re going to want to hear it more. Not only did Sax invent the saxophone, he invented the Saxotromba, the Saxhorn and the Saxtuba. He obviously was trying to invent a new "Sax-latin" language too. Saxbut, saxit saxnever saxcaught saxon. Ernst (Roy) founded the New Horizons band which has afforded me the chance to play my saxophone in a band. I’ve often heard that learning to play an instrument is good for brain health and memory. I will probably read and write more about this in the future. Part of the theory is that playing music in a group helps to keep you focused which in turn exercises your brain. It has been posited by Roy Ernst, founder of New Horizons International, that as you age, playing an instrument is particularly good at helping to keep focus. With the overwhelming amount of information that is bombarded at you each day, distraction is a problem. Being able to stay focused on a task takes a considerable amount of mental energy. Playing music in a group not only forces focus on playing notes on a page, translating the information into articulated movements of you fingers on your instrument but also listening to others around you so that you can play when others are playing. If you have ever played in a group you will know that it really does take a considerable amount of energy and focus to play in a band and it often leaves me feeling invigorated. Like it has warmed up my brain to continue with challenging endeavors after. I often get more creative just after playing. So one of my New Year Resolutions is obviously to continue to play in the NHB and NHO but I also want to challenge myself musically and learn a little more about music theory. I want to know why I am playing the notes and how they fit into the larger sound of the group. I would also like to learn more about the style of music that we play and maybe about the composers that write the music. Now New Year Resolutions for me don’t always last much beyond the first day of the year, but learning more about music can be a lifelong journey so I figured even if I don’t become an expert on music theory, just going to class will force me and remind me to learn little by little over time. Wishing everybody Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year. Here is a short old timey banjo tune named Old Christmas Morning that I hope you enjoy. My son was born with earworms. That sounds gross, but I’ve mentioned these before and no, they are not physical creatures that inhabit the ears of humans. They are musical interludes that play endlessly in our heads. My son, for as long as I can remember, has had rhythms in his head. He would beat out rhythms on the rail of his crib. He pounded on walls. This was before he was walking. He is the one that lead me back to my discovery of music when we started more formal music classes with him. He has an amazing musical talent, though, he rarely likes to show it but the music is in him. I think he has infected me with his ear worms now. When I first joined the New Horizons Band, I would leave practice with whatever song we were playing looping in my head. It is difficult to stop the earworms. Even if I get distracted, I find that without warning later in the day, I will be humming a melody. Fortunately, the earworm usually dies out before the next day or is replaced by the next song of the day. Recently in band we were sight-reading a medley of classic Italian style songs . Later in the day I also heard some more Italian classics on a television show and between the two exposures that day, I now seem to have picked up a particularly stubborn earworm because Funiculì, Funiculà, has now been looping in my head for the past 3 days. I woke up yesterday morning at 2 am humming the melody. It won’t stop. My son claims that he hates music and that he doesn’t want to play anymore. But as soon as he says it, he starts humming songs. I still see him tapping rhythms on the table when he gets frustrated with homework or if he is nervous before a test. He is my encyclopedia when I hear a movie song but don’t remember which movie it came from, he knows. Music is a part of who he is and I know he doesn’t hate it, it is just something that takes up time from him doing other things he likes. For me, I've grown to "hate" the Funiculì, Funiculà song. It was apparently written as a joke about the construction of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius and became an instant hit and has been recorded many times since. Fortunately, after three long days I went to a concert and replaced that song with another earworm called Bluegrass Medley arranged and conducted by NHO director Mikaela Vanator and her new middle school group "Ovation Strings". |
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March 2019
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