Piano and Music Videos

A dream for many music conservatory students is to become an orchestral musician. The industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades but there are still plenty of orchestras and possible job openings. But what is it like? What are the hours, the demands, and even the general lifestyle?

The sad thing is that there are very few jobs in North America that pay a living wage for an orchestral musician. The competition for these jobs is extremely fierce and you will often audition with hundreds of other possible candidates for a single position. Despite the dozens of orchestras around the country, most of them have become part-time jobs. In order to support themselves; a lot of orchestral musicians turn to teach or freelance performance to supplement their income.

As for the full-time positions in orchestras, you must be ready to compete against hundreds of other musicians at every single audition. It might sound discouraging but for a lot of musicians since just making it to the quarterfinals of an audition is a monumental achievement. A lot of success really relies on knowing how to audition. Just because you’re a great musician doesn’t make you great at taking auditions.

By and large, the people who end up getting jobs with orchestras have made a career out of auditioning. All of these musicians must be willing to travel to any available auditions and spend the majority of their time learning and being instructed by coaches on specific repertoire. This can be incredibly expensive and time-consuming; all of these musicians must have a system of support in order to work for their goals. Whether it’s teaching or performing freelance, these musicians must find a way to support their passion beyond just auditioning and practicing.

So what is the life of an orchestral musician like? Well even though it can be very glamorous and incredibly fulfilling, it’s a very demanding job. You have to remember that there are literally hundreds of other people that would jump at the opportunity to have your job; this means you have to keep yourself in top-notch condition. Even if you have time off from the orchestra you will have to practice every single day to stay in shape and learn your parts.

While it’s incredibly challenging to find and keep a job in an orchestra it can be richly rewarding. Many people spend their whole lives in pursuit of this and never actually achieve full-time success. Sometimes the freelance and part-time work are all they will achieve but it’s nothing to scoff at. Getting paid to play music is a complicated endeavor and it can truly take a lifetime to achieve success. But for a musician, it is the path to take.

This is a very common question and something that is extremely important when it comes to music lessons. Whether it’s for budgeting or attention issues, the idea of a shorter lesson can be intriguing to many parents.

If you find yourself thinking, “I’m not sure my child can even pay attention for thirty minutes”, then it’s probably best you don’t have them take music lessons until they are older. If they can’t be attentive with someone guiding their work for thirty minutes, then how can you expect them to practice on their own? It’s probably best to hold off on lessons for the near future and come back to it when they are ready. There isn’t some magic age at which children are ready for music lessons but if they are old enough to go to school and do homework on their own, they could be ready for music lessons with a private teacher.

There are always some exceptions to the rule. If you have a young child starting lessons then maybe thirty minutes is the best option – or better yet having two thirty minute lessons each week. It’s also important to have personal involvement with them outside the lesson and help them through their practice sessions. Once they are of school age and can handle homework, you probably won’t need to sit in with them on a regular basis. It’s also important to be encouraging to them; don’t fret over simple mistakes as learning and practicing music should be an enriching experience and you want to avoid harsh discipline.

Another concern for some parents is that longer than thirty minutes could be too intense for some children. The truth is, it’s exactly the opposite! Let’s say you have a student who has issues with something like rhythm or hand position and it’s going to take some time to resolve. As a teacher, having a shorter timeframe to fix something like this will produce a much more hectic and frantic environment in which you are racing against the clock.

When it comes to thirty-minute lessons, there is not much time to achieve anything other than correcting wrong notes and assigning new material. It’s not until you get into 45-60 minute lessons where you can actually begin to analyze and explore the finer points of technique and study music theory. The longer lesson also allows for the teacher and student to build a better rapport with one-another which enhances the learning environment. After all, the most important part of a music lesson is the time you are not with the student – the independent practice time at home.

Your job as a teacher is to show the student what to do on a daily basis that will improve their playing – how to practice. You can’t be there every day so the little time you have must be spent teaching them how to work on their own. In this sense, the most important part of a student’s week is the time they spend away from their teacher. If a student can learn to work on their own and improve through self-correction and productive practice techniques, this is the mark of a very effective teacher.

So why are thirty-minute lessons so popular? It’s simple economics. Most music teachers will advertise cheap lessons as a way to get people interested. After all, a $25 lesson sounds a lot better on your wallet than a $50 lesson each week. The truth is, thirty-minute lessons are most often a compromise.

Many top teachers will offer lessons longer than thirty minutes. Some of them might even insist on longer lessons. Remember that the quality of the teacher is paramount in providing a better learning experience. You might pay a little more but the results could be well worth the extra time and money.

Welcome to the first of a four-part series on the eras of classical music. Today we will be discussing the Baroque era.

The Baroque era pretty much extends from around 1600 to the mid-1700s. What distinguishes this era of music from others?

Baroque music, much like the art and architecture of the time, is very ornate. There are a lot of different textures and the music is very linear. The music often has several lines of music that intertwine. One of the paramount musical forms is the fugue – which has a subject and counter-subject that develop in an intricate fashion.

It’s very important in Baroque music to not favor the top line of music as is typical in other periods of music. Baroque music is much more like a tapestry of sound – it should all blend together well. I perform an example of this in the video above with the fifth French Suite of Bach. Notice how even though there is a melody, I allow the other parts to have equal say.

The other thing that is a vital component in Baroque music is keeping a steady beat. There is little give and take as in other period styles of music; you should be very clear and be able to hear the lines and allow the counterpoint to come through. You should also employ a minimal amount of pedal when it comes to the piano. When you are playing with other instruments, articulation is vital to getting a clear sound and style.

This is a really interesting question. We have music from centuries ago so it might be easy to think that we pretty much have all the music there must have been created in human civilization (or at least close to it) but this is far from the truth.

For most of history music was not written down. We really have no idea what people played in antiquity – which is really a shame to never be able to know what songs they sang or what beats they played.

Music was actually written down as far back as the 6th Century B.C. in ancient Greece and Rome. The writing in this time was a bit more of a reminder on how to sing the songs rather than precise notation but it was certainly the beginning of writing down music in a digestible form.

The modern system of music notation had its roots in the 11th Century which grew from Gregorian Chants or Plainsong in the church. This is a process of taking liturgical text and singing it. To remind people of how the song is supposed to be sung – the sections where it goes up or down or certain embellishes – there would be squiggly lines and other ornamentations added to the text to direct the singers.

Eventually Guido d’Arezzo decided to draw a single line to make a reference for pitch. Notes would be drawn above and below the line to designate higher or lower pitches. This system was eventually refined and evolved into a more modern system which contained four lines.

If you have the chance you should really check out what notation for Gregorian Chants looks like. It’s very evocative of modern notation but not quite there; there are no bar lines or rhythmic accuracy like we have in today’s notation.

It wasn’t until the end of the 17th century that modern notation began to flourish.

This is a very common problem for many performers and it can be a challenge to overcome. Learning the correct playing methods for different room acoustics can be tough but I’m going to give you a few tips to help you out.

I performed a concert recently at the Laguna Beach Art Musuem. The room was incredibly loud – it was in a museum gallery with wood floors and a tall ceiling. The sound reverberates incredibly well in that room and with too much volume it can be overwhelming to the audience. So how do you cope with something like this?

This question is very important because it’s something we all consider from time to time – using shortcuts to gain traction in our development as musicians. The thought of using a device outside of playing music to improve as a musician might sound attractive, but is it really effective? And more importantly, is it safe?

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this question is Robert Schumann. Schumann went through painstaking efforts to try and strengthen his fingers (his fourth finger specifically) using different devices he created. He ended up with disastrous results; he destroyed his hands and was unable to perform ever again. Schumann was a little unorthodox with his techniques in strengthening his fingers but it’s a cautionary tale for all of us.

Are there any devices you can use today that will safely enable you to strengthen your fingers? Yes but they won’t be the ultimate solution to your problem. When I’m on vacation sometimes I will bring some stress balls – those spongy balls you can squeeze in your hand to alleviate stress – that will allow me to keep my hands in shape when I’m away from the piano for an extended period of time. However, these won’t necessarily increase your hand strength to the point of making you a better pianist. However, it can help you to maintain muscle tone when you are away from your instrument. Make sure you find something that will create some resistance for your hands but not something that will involve a lot of stress or pressure on the muscles in your hands, wrists or arms.

There is no substitute though for simply practicing and playing your instrument. Sitting at your desk and squeezing a stress ball will not make you a better pianist. If you practice your music consistently you won’t need to strengthen your hands as it is something that will occur naturally over time.

It is a good idea though to have something in place when you leave your instrument for an extended period of time. Be careful not to jump right into virtuoso music as soon as you get back on the piano – you could end up seriously injuring yourself! This is where something like the stress balls can help keep up your strength even while you’re away from the piano.