The Mindful Musician

By Nathan Pulse

Hi everyone, this month I've decided to write about something that is VERY important to all musicians, not just brass players.

Mindfulness is a term you may have heard before. Oftentimes people seem to think that it means being aware of the feelings of others, however, this is not quite true. It really is more about being aware of your own feelings and emotions at the present time. The exact definition from the Cambridge Dictionaries Online is "the practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, which is thought to create a feeling of calm". Now you may ask me, "What does this have to do with music? Isn't this about meditation and not about performing on stage? What are you talking about you crazy person!?"

For the mindful musician simply replace all mentionings of body, mind, and feelings, and replace them with the word sound. If you are mentally aware of the sound that you want to produce then you will be able to reduce performance anxiety and be totally in the moment during your performance. We've all had the issue of being distracted while playing a solo, the moment where we make eye contact with someone in the audience and suddenly we make an error and have a hard time recovering quickly. A mindful musician is singing their piece in their head before they even walk on stage, and they are so in the moment that they are unaware of anything but the sound that they want to produce. If you've already put in the hours of good practice, and you know your piece well, then the only thing to do is to focus on the sound in your mind and allow your body to reproduce the mechanics of playing that it already knows how to do. Getting out of our own way by eliminating any thought but the sound that we want to produce.

Now, this isn't to say that you shouldn't be paying attention to the other musicians on stage with you. You do need to be aware of tuning and balance within your ensemble. It simply means that you need to be aware of the exact sound that you want to make before you start to play, otherwise you're running the risk of playing something incorrectly or differently than you might want. A little extra focus goes a long way.

The Parental Role in Musical Development

By John Hart

The fact that you are reading this article right now means you want music education to be an important part of your family life.  To assist you in your quest, here are a few do’s and do not's when it comes to music instruction:

1. Don’t force your child to start an instrument against their will. Instead, Lead them towards it gently through repeated exposure to various kinds of musical experiences, and then introduce the idea of lessons as an exciting opportunity.

2. Don’t expect that your child will practice regularly without any input from you. Show an interest in their lessons.  Help them set up a realistic practice schedule, and provide rewards as appropriate for goal accomplishment.  (Even short, regular practice is better than no practice at all.)

3. Don’t allow music lessons to become an end in themselves. Give your children opportunities to perform forfamily and friends, and even play in recitals if possible.

4. Don’t compare your children’s musical abilities. Show your child you are proud of the way they have met their goals.

5. Don’t let your child be the sole-determiner of what music they will listen to. Early in life, expose your child to great music from a variety of musical genres, and let them see you enjoying music too!

6. Don’t treat music as a lesser subject. Discuss music instruction in such a way that children see it as important as any other subject.

7. Don’t ignore the condition of your instrument. Be aware of when your instrument is in need of tuning or repairs.  This makes playing the instrument more pleasing and communicates that you place value on learning the instrument.

For more information on this topic, visit Music Parents Guide.

The Music Shortcut

By Destin Smith

Do you remember when you were little and your parents gave you a brand new picture book. After flipping through the pages you decided to take a blunt crayola crayon and add to the pictures in the story. Unfortunately, your parents probably didn't appreciate your artwork as much as you did. Today we add markings to text all of the time. It's called annotation.

Annotation is not just for English class, it is a very important part of music studies as well. You may feel like writing in your music can be destructive, but in actuality, it can be very beneficial to music literacy and practice. I often relate writing notes in your music to an "app" on a smart device. When you write notes in your music, it creates a shortcut in your brain to connect specific information quickly and efficiently. When you click on the "Instagram" app or "Facebook" app on your device, it directs you immediately to the web page you desire. Technically, you could also open up a web browser like Safari or Google chrome, type in the web address, load the page, login in and finally get on your account. Both end in the same result, but one is more efficient.

The great thing about writing in your music is their is no set way of doing it. You can choose whatever symbols, picture or signs you want or circle, highlight or underline any important aspect of your music. It's important to concentrate on parts of the music you are having trouble with. For example, if you are struggling with remembering to add the appropriate dynamics to a piece of music you are working on, you can circle the dynamic signs to help them stick out when you are readings through the music.

Their are so many things to remember when you are reading through a piece of music that it is important to create shortcuts and triggers for your brain to latch on to. This will result in a better and more efficient practice. There is an old saying that goes "Work smarter, not harder." So go ahead, take out that pencil and mark up that music!

Alisa's Ideas To Make Piano Practice More Enjoyable

By Alisa D. (10 years old)

"When I first started piano practicing I got bored easily with my pieces, but after this year I've found some tips to clear my boredom and frustration. My first tip is to practice in smaller chunks of time throughout the day. Another tip is if you're struggling on a piece, I recommend you take a break and play a piece you know. Because sometimes, playing something you do like, helps with the harder piece. Another way to help with boredom is if you are bored with your pieces you can skip ahead with your pieces and play a different piece that you were not assigned to.

Sometimes it's hard to feel the need to sit down and practice. So this is what I do to help with that. Keep your piano in a central place so whenever you walk by it you can just sit down and play, also keeping the lid open helps to.

Another benefit is that playing piano helps me with other instruments."

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If you are an AWSOM student - we would love to read your blog posts too! Submit them to hello@awsom.info to be considered. It's a great idea to entertain the kids for an afternoon this summer! A huge well done to Alisa for writing this great blog post! Very informative, interesting and helpful - great work!

How To Introduce Kids To Music!

By John Hart

These days, many parents see the value of introducing their young children to music, but are unsure of when or how to begin. Here are some of the musical experiences my wife and I have had with our children.

Meg and I sang to each of our children while they were still in the womb and kept music playing during the entire birth process. (By the way--research shows that a baby can begin to hear some sounds at 16 weeks, and will turn the head in response to sounds at 24 weeks.) As our children were growing up, we sang a lot of nursery rhymes and praise songs to them, and we also recited Scripture from the Bible. Every night while tucking in our daughter, Laura, we would quote in her hearing the 23rd Psalm. One night, just after she had turned 2 years old, she started reciting it all on her own!   (Thirty years later, we still have the recording of this event.) Our daughters Laura and Emily are now married and have their own little boys. They are singing to them the same songs that we sang!

As our children were growing up, Meg would make up a little song for each of our children about their name. We would sing these songs to them every day, especially before bed. Now they are all grown adults with happy memories of these songs. Our son, Owen, recently told us that his song meant a lot to him, and helped him stay on course in his life. There was also a lot of piano playing in the Hart household. I would often play the piano while our kids were going to bed. They have fond memories of lying on their beds enjoying the music and going to sleep. These happy memories led to music instruction for each of our children. In every case, they came to me asking for it. Some learned enough to be able to play some tunes on their own, while two of our daughters learned enough to be able to regularly play piano for church services!  In my next blog, I’ll discuss other practical ways of introducing children to music.

School Music Programs ROCK!

By Nathan Pulse

Hi everyone! First off, I'd like to share just how excited I am to join all of you out here in Western Washington. Although born in Iowa, I actually lived in Bremerton, Washington from kindergarten right through high school so this move feels almost like a homecoming of sorts.

I started playing the trumpet in elementary school but didn't really start to take it seriously until high school. Everyone who plays an orchestra or band instrument has that moment where they have to decide if they will continue playing in school music ensembles once they reach high school, and I am very glad that I continued on. The great thing about those school music ensembles is that they teach you so much more than just how to play music. They help you think critically, they teach you leadership skills, and they have you constantly working in a team setting.

Hopefully by now it's clear that this blog entry is all about getting the most out of your school's music program. If your school has the option for you to join a concert, jazz, orchestra, mariachi, or marching band then please, please, please take advantage of them. Very few other times in life will you have the chance to play in a musical ensemble five days out of the week, and the education is invaluable. There are always more classes than just band though. I really believe that singing in choir helped my breathing for trumpet playing. Choir also gets you comfortable performing in front of people without being able to hide behind an instrument. If you can sing front of crowd then you can definitely play the trumpet in front of one! Music appreciation is a class that often gets taken for an "easy A", but it can offer much more than that. Learning some basic music theory and history in an appreciation class can help you write your own music in a way that others can read, expose you to music from different cultures across the world, and even show you how music and musical groups have changed the world around them.

Whether your school offers all of these great programs, or only has one or two, always go out of your way to participate in them. You may only have a few chances in life to be exposed to so much music. Take advantage of it while you can.

Music Education & Brain Growth in Childhood

By John Hart

The study of how music affects the human brain is fascinating! Recent studies show that musical training does more than simply increase ones musical ability—it provides tremendous benefits to children’s emotional and behavior maturation, aides in language development, increases their ability to solve multi-step problems, increases IQ, and in some cases helps a children do better on standardized tests!

A study by the University of Vermont College of Medicine found that even those who never made it past nursery rhyme songs received some major developmental benefits just from playing. Providing children with high-quality music education as early as possible is one of the most effective ways to ensure their success in life.  "What we found was the more a child trained on an instrument, it accelerated cortical organization in attention skill, anxiety management and emotional control."  (Music.Mic)

It makes sense to involve our children in musical training when they are young, even if they choose not to continue studying music in their adult years.  "Music training in childhood fundamentally alters the nervous system such that neural changes persist in adulthood after auditory training has ceased. "  (Music Advocacy Groundswell)  “Studies have shown that assiduous instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to tensor calculus."  Scientific American (2010)

Studying music actually stimulates the language center of the left brain, which aides in language development.  Other research shows that music studies may even help increase IQ.  Studies from the University of Toronto in 2004 show that children who studied music averaged 3 IQ points higher in a one year period than the control group of those who did not.  It is believed that the reason for this is that musicians tend to use more of their brain while involved with music.  The brain images of musicians show changes in the brain networks, especially those involving spatial-temporal skills—the same skills used to solve multi-step problems, such as those encounter in architecture, engineering, math, art, and computers.  In 2007, Christopher Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy completed a study which included that students who studied music scored 22% higher on standardized tests in English, and 20% higher on standardized math tests.

Getting Over The Wall

By Destin Smith

Greetings! Firstly, I wanted to express how excited I am to join the AWSOM family. I look forward to the wonderful things that are in store for the future of AWSOM!

Have you ever sat down to write a paper for a school assignment and feel your mind go to mush? Have you ever played on a sports team and feel like you are not able to make any progress? This same phenomena happens all of the time in the world of music. I remember playing drums for the jazz band in high school and feeling like I was able to play what was “required” but felt restricted in my ability. I could play the styles, but I almost felt like a robot (insert drum fill here). I know throughout my musical career I have ran into walls in terms of my playing and instead of going over them, or around them even, I would bang my head against them or just lay on the ground for a while…metaphorically speaking of course. As overwhelming as it can feel, the solution for me has been simple, LISTEN TO MUSIC.

I know that seems obvious and you may say, “yeah I have heard that before” but it is so true! It is very important as a musician to expose yourself to all sorts of music. Even in the same genres of music the styles of musicians are different. Have you ever heard somebody pick out an instrumentalist without seeing who it was? It’s easy to get locked in to listening to top 40 pop on the radio or put your favorite Arianna Grande album on repeat as you dance alone singing into your hairbrush….I have never done that by the way. Your music, your artistic expression, is your own unique voice. If you think about it in the terms of visual art, if you are a painter you are always looking at the things around you to be inspired, or looking at the works of others to gain ideas. Music should be the same way. Give your brain more material to draw from and you will see it get you up, up, up and over the wall.

-Destin

Motivating Children to Practice

By John Hart

So you signed up for music lessons, but at least one of your children is not intrinsically motivated to practice. What should you do?  Here are some suggestions that may help:

1.  Give your children the opportunity to hear other musicians perform. Arrange to have them meet the performers and get a taste of their passion for music.  (Be sure to make the link between their ability to perform with the amount of self-discipline it took to get there.)

2. Give your children small prizes for accomplishing small goals, such as mastering a short piece, and larger rewards for finishing a book or performing in a recital.

3. Give ample opportunities for your children to perform on their instrument every week or two. Children have an in-built desire for attention. When you smile and clap for their sincere attempts to please you, that feeds their motivation to continue their musical studies.

4. Discuss other reward ideas with your children's music teacher. (Sometimes a reward from the teacher is very appealing. ). You may even want to consider a small reward or added privilege for the completion of a given number of practice sessions.

5. Before you begin giving rewards, consider what the child currently considers a desirable prize. With young children, this can be as simple as adding a star to a chart or a sticker to a sticker book.  Some like something tasty to eat, others prefer things they can play with, while still others prefer privileges.

Whatever motivators you choose, be sure they are always positive.  Removing privileges for not practicing is a sure-fire way of extinguishing any intrinsic motivation your child may have acquired.  Use extrinsic rewards as a temporary "crutch".  Add privileges and give tangible rewards when necessary and, in time, your children will develop the character of diligence that is in itself a great reward.

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