Practice Routines to Prevent and Manage Pain

By Travis Fisher

As I was practicing a piece some years ago, I suddenly lost strength and dexterity in my right hand pinky. It was a subtle change, but playing the piano requires rather subtle motions and it's not hard to tell if something is off. The pain continued subtly and gradually over weeks and months to spread to my arm and shoulder and back and eventually seemingly throughout my whole body. "Whyyyyyy!" I would moan, with narrowed brows and a sad face, massaging the tension in my arm and neck after having to stop playing piano.

Well, the pain persists to an extent and while I still don't have a perfect answer to why, I feel I may have arrived, through reading and experimenting, at some techniques for dealing with it that work for me. These suggestions may be of interest to those already experiencing pain, but also as preventative measures for those who are relatively pain-free and wish to remain so. I encourage students of all ages, whether in pain or not, to implement the following into their practice routines:

1) Stretch Before:
Stretching before playing loosens the muscles and prevents strain. Ideally one should get their blood flowing a bit before stretching. Do some jumping-jacks or run up and down the stairs! Flail around and wiggle even! Once your blood is flowing start stretching out your fingers, wrists, arms, shoulders, even your hamstrings if you've got time. (Stretches are basic stretches that apply to all sorts of activities so resources abound!)

2) Prepare Mentally and Physically
When we are out of tune with our bodies, it is easier to slip into awkward positions that might cause strain. Before playing, sit with your instrument in silence and feel your body. Now play (or sing, if the voice is your instrument!) just one note. How does your body feel? Play two notes. Try three, or five. How do those notes feel? Try to be aware of your body as a whole and beautiful music-making organism. Feel the connection between the tip of your finger to your elbow, to your shoulder. Approaching practice with this mindset feels better not only physically, but the quality and effectiveness of practice tends to improve greatly also.

3) Stretch Afterward
Stretching afterward is equally as important as stretching before! Make sure to give yourself at least a few minutes to loosen up those music-making muscles and tendons.

4) Practice Away from the Instrument
Finally, an excellent way to prevent and/or manage pain is to practice away from the instrument. Allowing yourself a quiet space in which to lay and practice mentally can be just as effective as physically practicing. Mental practice may perhaps be difficult for younger, beginning students so I don't stress it as much, but I do like to mention it and have them be aware of the concept, which I think will become more and more useful the longer they pursue their studies. The ability to practice away from the instrument is a special technique that requires practice itself, and will be discussed in further detail in a future post. For now, think about how the mere thought of biting into a lemon can make your mouth salivate! Mind-power! The same power can be applied to mental practice.

So, some techniques for preventing and managing pain: Stretch before, prepare physically and mentally, stretch after, and practice away from the instrument

Learning Piano Improvisation

By John Hart

There are basically two main ways to play the piano, and BOTH are very important:  sight-reading and improvisation. Sight-reading is the skill that the majority of teachers (and schools) emphasize because it enables the student to reproduce the music of the masters. Like learning to read, sight-reading music requires many years of diligent practice to achieve competency.  Unlike sight-reading, improvisation skill can be developed quickly--overnight in comparison!  A student can get started knowing only the first 7 letters of the alphabet and where these are on the piano.  After that is accomplished, here are the steps that I teach:

1. Learn to play a scale.  (We also start with C major because it uses only the white keys.)
2. Learn the 7 triads of C major (in and out of order).  Note:  Their hands must be strong enough to play 3 notes at once.
3. Learn to add a single bass note with the left hand (the root) while playing a triad with the right.
4. Learn to play simple progressions with 2 hands in root position (i.e. I, IV, V, I)
5. Learn to play the inversions of the primary chords (I, IV, V) of C major. (This means playing the notes of each triad in a different order:  CEG, EGC, GCE)
6. Learn to play from one inversion of a triad to the next in “close position”, which makes the music sound more beautiful because chords are now more localized and continuous with each other.
7. Learn to play all the triad position of the scale in “close position” along with a single note bass.

These same steps are then repeated for all major and minor keys going around the circle of 5ths:  C, G, D, A, E, etc.  I believe anyone who learns music at the keyboard in this way will soon be able to play a chord chart or make up their own music, even if they are not yet very good at sight-reading.

Near Ancestors of the Guitar: The Lute and the Oud

By Michaud Savage

As I discussed last month, there is a lot of history involved with the guitar. This month, I've chosen to look at some of the near ancestors of the guitar, focusing mainly on the lute and oud. The lute is an instrument still used today, but is mainly used for recreating medieval and Renaissance music. The oud is considered to me a much older instrument, with some of it's documentation going back 3,500 years ago in ancient Persia. Both the lute and the oud existed with popularity from the Medieval through the Renaissance eras, although they were more largely embraced by different regions of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Now, if you say “oud” aloud and the say “lute” aloud, what do you hear? Take a moment to try this a few times and name a couple of key differences between the two words. Also, describe the biggest similarity you find. During the Medieval times, the oud was brought to to Europe by Crusaders, where Europeans adopted the instrument and began to develop the bracing system of the instrument. The oud continued to flourish in Arabic culture, whereas the lute has only begun to return to popularity since the coinage and codification of Early Music in the Twentieth-century.

During the renaissance era, an instrument called the “vihuela” or “viola da mano” emerged, which as you may have guessed, is a near ancestor of the violin, viola, bass and cello family! This instrument was built similarly to a lute, but had extra strings added, totaling 6 and had a tuning similar to how it is tuned today. However, the vihuela didn't last very long, as soon after it's development came the baroque guitar, the first guitar-like instrument to be identified with the name “guitar.”

There's a little history lesson for you, now go play some music!!!

Happy First Anniversary!

By Andrew White

Well, today is February 8th and AWSOM is officially a one year old business! What an amazing first year it has been, with so many great things to look back on, great reviews from students, some fantastic stories, and multiple outstanding recitals! And with all the wonderfulness, we have also learned some great lessons that will help AWSOM continue to grow and thrive in its second year.

Our first year saw us teach just shy of 5,000 lessons, an incredible feat! This coming year, we have plans to teach 8,500 lessons by increasing our teachers from 3 to 6. Our first year saw lessons being offered on piano and guitar with John Hart and Michaud Savage joining our school as Seattle’s best teachers. This coming year, we have plans to introduce violin and trumpet lessons to our growing mix of instruments. Also in the plans are many exciting competitions, a new Youtube channel with music tutorials, a growing online lesson program and much more!

One thing that we don’t plan on changing though is our commitment to excellent teaching in the comfort of your home. We hear from families every day, astounded that there is a music school that will come to their home to offer lessons, and all for a reasonable price. While the year ahead will see continued growth for AWSOM, we don’t plan on changing our small family like style to the way we run it. We want you to know as always that if you have any questions or concerns, you are more than welcome to contact your teacher, Andrew, or Kim in the office at any time.

We are thankful to each of you who are currently learning with AWSOM, you have all truly made this a fun filled first year for our music school. There’s many music teachers in the Seattle area, and it is an immense privilege that you have chosen us to learn music with. Thank you.

Here’s to a very exciting year ahead together!

Andrew White and The AWSOM Team

A Brief History Of The Guitar

By Michaud Savage

I've been fascinated with the guitar for a long time, and my interest with it's most recent history most greatly engages my curiosity.

The guitar has been around in it's current conception, of fixed frets and 6 strings, reaches back to an ancestor in the 13thcentury, the the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) and the so-called guitarra moresca (Moorish guitar). There were continued developments in the construction and bracing of the guitar as time progressed, and so also developed it's role in performing groups, orchestras, and also smaller ensembles.

During this time, pianos as we know them today did not exist in the same way, and the only comparable chordal instruments at the time were harpsichords- which were extremely delicate, temperamental machines difficult to transport and required frequent maintenance. Technology in the guitar was developing in such a way that it became the common practice for soloists to travel with a guitarrist as an accompanist during the 13th century into the 18th century. Today, this is very seldom the case, as pianofortes (commonly called 'pianos'), have also evolved to say in tune more reliably.

However, do make note that pipe organs were a common feature in most cities much before the guitarra latina existed, but was exclusively used for religious music. Due to the portability of the guitar, there is a very different history behind it- arguably, a much more recreational and sea-faring one.....just to start a list...

More history next month!

Memorizing with Imagination

When I was eleven years old, my mother gave me a very interesting book to read entitled, The Memory Book, by Harry Lorraine and Jerry Lucas.  I learned there are memory experts who have discovered ways of memorizing anything, including people’s names, faces, and even long lists of numbers, using mnemonics.  (A mnemonic is a way of coding meaningless information so it becomes meaningful in your own mind.)  One key element of using mnemonics is humor. Memory experts say that we tend to remember things better if they are funny, absurd, or grossly exaggerated.

Here’s how we can apply this principle to learning the names of the piano keys.  Make each note come alive—to turn it into a “concrete” object-- and even better yet, turn it into a story!  Here’s an example I borrowed from another piano teacher.  Visualize the 2 black keys as a cage and the 3 black keys as a forest:

 “Here is a cage. Inside this cage is a sleeping Dog. Sitting on the side of the cage is a Cat, who is trying to steal the dog’s dinner. The cat is hungry because he has no more food in his Empty bowl on the other side of the cage. A sneaky Fox sneaked out of the forest and stole the cat’s dinner! Next to the fox is a frightened Goat. The goat is tied to an Apple tree. Flying high above the apple tree is a Blackbird. The blackbird is too scared to land in case he is eaten by the hungry cat.”

For memorizing the lines and spaces, I likeusing “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” for the lines because fudge is more exciting to kids than doing fine.  (The boy in the middle stands on the chair to reach up high to get the fudge.)  For the spaces, F-A-C-E works well, but why leave off “D” and “G”?  I use “Dirty FACE Gross” (dirty for “D”, FACE, then “G” for gross), and I draw a picture of a dirty face just to the right of the staff at the same height as the spaces.

One final note on mnemonics—if the student comes up with an idea that works well, use that!  The best mnemonics are ones that come from your own imagination.

Motivating the Young Pianist

By John Hart

Ever have trouble getting your young pianist to practice?  While there are are some young students who are self-motivated, the majority (in my experience) require some extra help to stay on track. Here are some tips that may help:

Establish a reasonable time goal for one sitting, then set a timer. (Even 10 minutes of practice for a young student would be a good goal). Tell them they are to stay focused until the timer goes off, and then have them record the practice time in their practice record book.  At the end of the week, consider giving some kind of tangible reward for practicing. You know best what would be most appreciated.   As your children mature, more and more of what they will accomplish will be based on intrinsic motivation.

Now consider the time of day that works best for practicing and then establish a regular weekly routine. I recommend that the first practice be just after their lesson, if possible, so that what was taught has a better chance of being retained in long-term memory. Another important time for practice would be the day before the lesson. In general, a greater number of short practice sessions during the week will bring the best results.

Choosing the Right Keyboard

By John Hart

There are three main types of keyboards to choose from--synthesizers, digital pianos, and acoustic pianos. Regardless of which type of keyboard you choose, be sure that it has 88 keys, touch sensitivity, a sustain pedal, and a quality music holder.

A cheap synthesizer is ok to start with, but keep in mind that these are very limiting for a pianist seeking to grow in their ability to express music.  Plan to graduate to a better instrument as soon as possible.

Digital pianos are still fairly portable and typically have better quality piano sounds than synthesizers because the sounds are sampled from high quality acoustic instruments. Some digital pianos even allow for various levels of touch sensitivity.

The acoustic pianos typically purchased for household use are: spinets, (less expensive, but lacking in good tone quality), console pianos, (a little more expensive, but better in tone and expression), and baby grand pianos, (more expensive, larger in size, beautiful in tone, and very expressive.)  It's a good idea to have your piano tuned twice per year, and more than that if it has been moved or subjected to big changes in temperature or humidity. For information on choosing a piano tuner and caring for your piano, visit the Piano Technicians Guild website:  http://ptg.org

Stay tuned also - AWSOM will soon be offering piano tuning exclusively to its students!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

By Michaud Savage

I remember making a decision early on in my decision to learn music, that I was going to be a certain kind of guitarist. Some folks decide to become a rock guitarist, some folks decide to become a jazz guitarist, some folks decide to become a singer-song writer. Each of these are wonderful, beautiful journeys into music, and are full of magnificence and wonder. Truly excellent.

I decided to become a guitarist who plays chords. No melodies, maybe some songs. I felt like it was too hard and like I'd never make it anywhere, no matter how hard I tried. The other kids I was studying guitar with seemed to have such an easier time with the guitar. I had been taking some guitar lessons and failed to practice everything my teacher instructed me to learn, and I ended up feeling discouraged, and I didn't play as much as I did at the beginning. Eventually I stopped.

Later, I came back to the guitar, and with some patience started relearning the chords I had forgotten. They came back to me more easily, and I found that I was able to learn new chords more easily. Even though I had stopped trying, there was still some memory of how to play the chords in my hands. I was amazed! What I learned later, was that the other kids I was learning with were practicing a lot, and were very patient with their learning. Today, I would not be where I am without a slow and steady practice routine.

What To Do When You Get Tired

By Michaud Savage

Sometimes we get tired when we're practicing. Maybe your hands starts to hurt, or maybe you feel like you're not getting anywhere, or maybe you just feel tired after your day. That's all okay, and it's something everyone struggles with at some point. You are not alone on your journey with music!

Firstly, it's okay to take a little break. One of the tricks I do for myself when I'm in a practice funk is to set a timer. For me, I usually set it at 20 minutes, and I'll do it for a lot of reasons. First, it helps me keep track of time and helps give me a sense of whether or not I've been working on something for too long or too short of a time, based on the other things I need to do. Second, it helps give me a short-term goal to reach for when I'm feeling low in spirits, and a little break or reward can help me feel better during long periods of practice. Sometimes on my break I just need to find something to take my mind off of the task at hand, so I can come back feeling fresh with the material.

Secondly, there are plenty of greats who've made use of this technique in practicing with greater focus, and for longer intervals of time. One of my teachers, Peter Mack, introduced me to this technique and it's been working out well for him.

Thirdly, we are only human. Sometimes we need to stop and take a break. And then get back to work. :D

Have fun practicing!!!!