I believe I developed a personal style as a player in spite of my education. This might sound like a flip statement, but it’s taken many years to understand. I’m grateful to have had the training I did, but I didn’t fully understand how working to become a professional could also slow the process of […]
5 essential rules for accompanists
There’s an art to being a good accompanist. To do your job well as an accompanist you have to be essential but invisible, because your role is to make someone else sound better. Whether you’re backing up a singer in a band or supporting your own singing as a solo player, there are essential things […]
Guest post: speaking of practice…
This week, “Speaking of practice…”, a guest post from drummer Robert Crawford’s drumbad blog. I had a drum teacher named Bill Roth. I took lessons from him when I was 15 for only about three months because for the 15-year-old me, he was old and said lots of weird stuff. I later went back to […]
What you know and why it matters
You don’t need to know everything to play the music you want to play. But when you know more it will help you play more things better, and thanks to the internet it’s easier then ever to find new information. There was no shortage of information before the digital age, of course, but now it’s a […]
Finding community, playing together.
Music is a group experience, whether it’s a group of people playing together or an audience listening. When we practice we get used to playing alone, and if you play for your own enjoyment you might not have even thought about playing for or with anyone. Some people never play for anyone’s ears than their […]
What listening to new music can do for your playing
Listening to new and unfamiliar music can really stimulate your playing, even if you don’t actually try to play it. Many people only listen to music they already know. Sometimes it’s simply the comfort of the familiar, or nostalgia of some kind. And old song can be an old friend and a reminder of things past. […]
