Tag Archives: music lessons

How to Get Jobs Playing Music

When it comes to making money as a musician there is no one-size-fits-all solution but there are some general tips that can help you find work actually playing music.

It’s always important to remember that the music business is a business. A lot of times people will feel complacent towards the business end of it and that can be a recipe for disaster. Many times students will practice in conservatories for hours every single day hoping that if they are good enough someone might “discover” them. Sadly, this is not the case.

There are always more musicians available then job positions out there. Without proper networking nobody will ever know you even exist. You have to get yourself out there, you should find other musicians to play with and talk with. This is not just a suggestion; it is really something that all musicians should do.

When you are around other musicians you will quickly realize that most of them are looking for that person who has the jobs. Don’t be afraid to be that person. It’s actually easier to start your own musical group then to go find others to hire you. Jobs are scarce in this world and many people who are becoming successful are the entrepreneurial types who create opportunities and unique business models on their own.

If you’re starting out on your own with a group of musicians you have to make sure you do your part in advertising yourselves. Definitely utilize social media but beyond that you need to network within the field you are interested in. For example, if you want to have a group of musicians who plays weddings you should not only have your social media presence but you should network with fellow professionals. Go to wedding planners, floral shops, dress shops, photographers, videographers, caterers and any other businesses you can think of that are involved with weddings. Make a point to meet with them and ask if they have anyone they recommend for music. Maybe they do but maybe they don’t. Give them your business card and tell them you would be happy to recommend them to any potential clients you come across. You will find that many people are very receptive to this idea and if you actually get them any referrals they may very well try to return the favor.

You have to remember that separating yourself from the crowd is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to business and networking. People love working with or recommending someone who can benefit them as well. If you are offering someone the opportunity for more business, you will most likely have their attention right away.

Another great thing to do is to find networking groups of musicians and meet with them. You can find these online or sometimes through schools; a great place to start looking is meetup.com and seeing if there is a local group in your area.

You should also see if there is an opportunity to perform at charity events. Donate your time and talent to something worthwhile and people will see you as someone who is important in the community. This can also be a great opportunity for networking as well because you will place yourself in front of a new group of people and get to perform for them. Every opportunity there is to get your name out there and in front of potential clients should be seized upon.

And remember, this is an ongoing process. You absolutely have to work at this every day of your life. You should be on the phone, sending emails, and doing whatever you can to further your business and name throughout the community. And don’t be afraid to try something new!

How Many Musical Pieces Can you Practice at a Time?

This is a great question and it’s something people don’t often consider. Most of the time people are used to the lesson plan of learning a new piece during the week – if you’re just starting it will probably only take you a week to learn – and then starting another piece the next week. The question is, what should you do with those older pieces and when you advance further in your playing, is it possible to work on two pieces at the same time?

When it comes to learning new pieces, it’s always a good idea to continue to practice the pieces you’ve already learned. It’s not worth forgetting about them. If you’ve taken the time to learn them, you should continue to reinforce them and expand your repertoire as much as possible. It’s much better to have a few pieces of music in your repertoire that you can play extremely well and as you continue to practice your older pieces you will be able to play them easier and more effectively. As you continue to learn new music and continue to practice all of your pieces you, will expand your repertoire very quickly.

Once you get to a certain point you might have too much music, which means that you might have to start dropping older repertoire to have the time to learn new pieces. This is a good place to be. It’s always great to have a solid repertoire you can refer to and once you begin to learn and master new pieces you can simply replace older ones you no longer like as much or you don’t think showcase your talents as well. Later you may revisit these pieces.

Instead of playing exercises, try playing your older music It can be more beneficial than simply practicing just exercises and it will allow you to refine your playing even more. I highly recommend playing older music as warm up exercises. You will become intimately familiar and comfortable with the music.

Once you advance to a certain level of music, it’s going to take you a long time to learn and master a new piece. If you’re entering competitions or playing recitals you will have to learn a lot of music all at the same time. It’s beneficial to practice each of your pieces at least thirty minutes to an hour a day – and many times you will have to practice much more than that. Learning one piece at a time simply isn’t feasible for a schedule like this and you will have to learn more than one piece at a time in order to keep yourself current with your music and the goals you’ve set for yourself.

So the short answer is yes, you should always practice more than one piece at a time, especially your review pieces in your repertoire because it only expands your personal music library and enables you to have many pieces on a high level at the same time. I know some people who simply learn a new piece each week and drop the older ones they were learning – they never have a piece that is on a high level they can simply play at a moment’s notice. The bottom line is that if you are to perform concerts, you must have a substantial repertoire under your fingers even though you can’t keep everything you’ve learned on a high level all the time.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What Do Two Dots do to a Note?

Welcome back to our two part series on dots and notes. Last time we covered What a Dot Does to a Note. Today we are going to discuss what two dots do to a note.

Last time we talked about how adding a dot to a note adds the value of the next faster note. So what do two dots do to notes?

You might have seen these before:

It’s a little bit more complex than a single dotted noted and the general definition would be adding the value of the next faster note and then adding the value of the next faster note after that one or even more confusingly, adding half the value of the note plus a quarter value of the note. This is a needlessly complex way of explaining this and nobody wants to be doing math in their head while trying to play their music. Let’s take a look at the actual values of these double dotted notes and discuss this:

So let’s break down this concept using a whole note. In the case of a whole note you would add the value of a half note and a quarter note onto the whole note.

Whole note = 4 beats
Half note = 2 beats
Quarter note = 1 beat

Double Dotted Whole Note = Whole note + Half Note + Quarter note = 7 beats

All the note values can be broken down this way. At first it might be confusing but breaking it down into note values is so much easier than using fractions.

So while this isn’t a long lesson today it’s certainly an important and somewhat complex one. I hope this helps de-mystify this subject for you. Just for reference, here is a full chart of the note values when adding a dot or two dots to a note.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions please contact us directly info@livingpianos.com (949) 244-3729.

Should You Take Two Music Lessons a Week?

In the past we’ve discussed whether or not thirty minute lessons are ok, today we are going to discuss whether or not two lessons a week are beneficial. There are a number of things that affect the answer to this question.

The first concern is the age of the student. Sometimes younger students might not be able to sit still for a full hour so two thirty minute lessons a week can be really beneficial. It can also help the students to refresh their memory and keep a consistent flow of learning and practice. I can’t tell you how many times students have come back to me after a week and not practiced any of their material in the proper ways.

For adult students, two lessons a week can actually be a big challenge. The biggest issue with adults is time management. Just scheduling two lessons can be challenge enough. But having the practice time necessary to be prepared after only three or four days can be impossible for many people. If you find yourself with unlimited time then maybe two lessons a week could be beneficial for you.

It really comes down the individual and the amount of time they have to devote to practicing music. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to taking multiple lessons in a week. It’s a matter of what you can and want to achieve with your free time.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Selecting a Meaningful Music Repertoire

This is a very important subject and it applies to all instruments and musicians. Creating and maintaining a meaningful and interesting body of work as a musician is something we all aspire to. This article will provide some tips so that you can build a repertoire that is both unique and personally fulfilling.

When students begin studying music and get a new book they are so excited. As time goes on and you present more books to them they are surprised when you begin to skip over pieces in the book. Students would often ask me why they simply wouldn’t learn all the lessons or pieces in order.

The truth is, once you progress to a certain level you need to be concerned with adding variety to your music; helping you showcase your skills better and develop a diverse set up musical skills. Covering a wide range of styles – even at earlier stages in your musical development will help you become a better and more well-rounded musician.

Once you get to a certain level in your development you must begin to focus on different styles of music or else you won’t advance as a well rounded musician. That’s why selecting pieces from the Baroque, Romantic, Classical and other musical eras will allow you to learn different techniques as well as diversify your music. Each one of these eras is distinguished by unique styles and sounds and learning the differences will help you progress further as a musician while making your studies more enjoyable.

It’s also important to build your repertoire based on the time it’s going to take you to learn different works. For example, you might be able to learn a Chopin Nocturne in just a week or two. But it could take you months to learn and master a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody or other extended work. Each one of these will not only expand your repertoire, but they will challenge you in unique ways. If you only focus on pieces that will take you a short amount of time to learn, you may not progress as quickly. By challenging yourself with harder pieces that may take months to learn, you can gain valuable skills and techniques which will raise the overall level of your playing even if these pieces don’t become a part of your active repertoire immediately. So, if you were learning a Bach fugue, this can be extremely difficult to memorize. A piece like this could exhaust you mentally if you only focused on this and nothing else for your practice time. Instead, you could be learning a Mozart Sonata or a Chopin Mazurka concurrently and you could expand your repertoire and work more effectively by giving yourself a mental break.

Over time you will begin to learn where your strengths and weaknesses are. You will discover where you need to focus your attention developing your strengths and mitigating your weaknesses.

So here are key points to remember in developing your repertoire:

– Choose pieces that offer a variety of stylistic periods.
– Study pieces with a variety of length.
– Study pieces with different levels of difficulty.

Thanks so much for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions or comments about this video or any other please contact us directly: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What is Breath in Music?

If you’ve played music for a while you’ve probably run across this term before and you might wonder what it means. Some people might dismiss it as being a term only applying to music which actually utilizes your breath but that is not the case.

The voice is the first musical instrument and to some extent all music derives from singing. Naturally with wind instruments this directly relates to using your breath but all instruments mimic the same concept. String instruments like violinists, cellists, and others utilize a technique that simulates the up and down of breathing with the bow. This technique should also apply to the piano – where phrases should rise and fall just like a breath does. When starting a new phrase it’s like starting a new breath.

Everything in life revolves around cycles and breathing is one of them. Unless you’re consciously aware of it you’d never notice your breaths but this same type of structure seeps into all aspects of our lives. Every day the sun rises and sets, ever since we were born we’ve been used to the simple nature of breathing in and out, and things like sitting at the beach and listening to the waves crash in and out are soothing things that remind of the cyclical nature of our existence. Music is no different.

But how does this translate to an instrument like the piano? You should really play every line you have like you are singing it. I encourage you to try this, you might be surprised at how much inherent expression it brings out in your music; it will give it character and life.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com