Graham English
Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Blogging Musician
Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Blogging Musician
A practice schedule is an important part of your musical development.
My sax teacher, Nathan Davis, used to tell me, “Go without practicing one day, and you know. Go without practicing two days, your friends will know. Go without three days, and everyone knows.” Good advice.
When you implement a practice schedule, here are some critical points [...]
Music hacks are slick solutions to common musical problems. This Music Hacks podcast is designed to help you learn to hack your music intentionally, so you never get stuck and experience more joy out of playing.
Topics covered: Mental rehearsal, how to get your music heard, how to elicit good feedback about your music, outcome-based thinking and intentional music, effective lyric phrasing, songwriting hacks, “open loops”, the 80/20 rule of songwriting.
Music hacks are slick solutions to common musical problems. Like using a hack to create a brand new melody instantly when you’re up against a deadline. Or tricks to make your improvised solos stand out from note one and make the listener feel involved like they’re having a conversation with you. Things like that.
In honor of my brother’s birthday. He turns 30 today. Happy Birthday Brian!
Here it is inverted:
Here it is backwards:
First person to guess the original melody gets a free standard edition of Absolute Pitch Power. Post your answer in the comments.
The term hacker has been used to refer to someone who breaks into systems or wreaks havoc with computers as their weapon. But among the tech crowd, the term hack refers to a “quick-and-dirty” solution to a problem, or a clever way to get something done. And the term hacker is taken very much as [...]
The diminished scale is an extremely creative tool. Due to the diminished chord’s symmetrical structure of stacked minor thirds, we have two options of diminished scales: half step-whole step and whole step-half step.
A major benefit to this scale is that you only have to learn it in three different keys since it repeats itself every [...]
Loading ...From Music ‘can reduce chronic pain’:
US researchers tested the effect of music on 60 patients who had endured years of chronic pain.
Those who listened to music reported a cut in pain levels of up to 21%, and in associated depression of up to 25%, compared to those who did not listen.
Not that we need any [...]
Lost? Get some direction. Use Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies to tell you what to do next.
From: How to be an expert
The only thing standing between you-as-amateur and you-as-expert is dedication. All that talk about prodigies? We could all be prodigies (or nearly so) if we just put in the time and focused. At least that’s what the brain guys are saying. Best of all–it’s almost never too late.
MusicHack #2:
Talent = [...]
From Ottmar Liebert:
“The extraordinary Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was said to occasionally have held a piece of paper to the window of his place in Rio de Janeiro to trace the line of the mountains onto music paper. That would then become a theme for his next composition.”
Ear Training Hack #1. To get an accurate account of absolute pitch, it is important to measure the results of a pitch recognition test.
Accuracy is necessary to demonstrate absolute pitch. But before you demonstrate absolute pitch, relative improvements of pitch recognition can be demonstrated–but only if they are measured.
If you test at 10% pitch recognition, [...]
Preston Reed is now a blogging musician and people are talking:
preston reed is blogging.
Dead Cool or Who is Preston Reed?
Watching Preston Reed
Blog Measurement – Sunday’s Random Thought
This return to the theme need not always be literal. It can be conceptual, i.e. not included in the composition but still finished in the mind the listener.
That’s a [...]
I got excited about my previous creativity hacks and busted out a number of ideas for a hacks series. So stay tuned for songwriting hacks and ear training hacks and stay connected to my MusicHacks del.icio.us bookmarks. Because you’re going to help me write them…you’ll see why soon
Did you know that you can [...]
Morgan Freeman to Play Duke Ellington in Upcoming Film:
Actor Morgan Freeman will play bandleader Duke Ellington in the upcoming film The Jazz Ambassadors, according to Variety.”
I’m a huge Ellington fan. I’ve been listening to him since I was a little kid. And I had a sax teacher in high school who gave me a mixed [...]
To make marathon playing sessions easier on your mouth and to soften your sound for classical playing, buy a pack of cigarette papers. Before you play, fold one in half, put it in your mouth and let it soak for awhile. Then fold it across your bottom teeth. It will form a buffer between your [...]
I just came across a list of commonly used hand signals used to communicate key signatures, section changes, and a whole lot more while in the heat of the moment at a gig. Check it out.
=> Musical Hand Signals
about grahamI'm a songwriter and recording artist who sings, plays keyboards, and explores the vast world of sound hoping to find some magical moments along the way. I'm also a Mac geek.
Listen Up, You Twits: The Twitter Jazz Network http://ff.im/-hs5QT 12 hrs ago
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