Tag: analyzing

Solving Scary Music with Theory

Ever turn the page in your lesson book and go, “AACK!”? This happens to my students once in awhile. They look at it and their eyes don’t know what to do with it.

Sometimes I direct them to the backwards practice technique, and other times I help them analyze the piece.

What does it mean to analyze a piece?

It can mean a couple of things. Back in college theory class, it meant to figure out the chord structure of the piece. There are more things you can do:

  1. Find the form of the piece (ABA or sonata form, for example) to see how the melody repeats.
  2. Find all the common finger patterns – scales, chords, arpeggios, grupettos, roller coaster scales, finger wiggles, repeated notes.
  3. Find how the phrases might be the same, only slightly ornamented.

How do we analyze the piece together?

Usually, I start at the beginning. We look for the common finger patterns. I point out the patterns and have the student name them.

After the first phrase, I start looking at whether the melody repeats. At the beginning of a new phrase, I check to see if we’ve already done it. Then I point out to the student that it’s the same as before.

Results

After we talk through the piece, the students feel better. It’s not so scary. They say, “I play my scales and chords every day! This piece is so easy!”

Conclusion

Theory is the math of music, and it helps us make sense of it when it’s confusing. I know that theory lessons can be boring or frustrating, but they help make the music easier.

Being Lazy Can Be Productive

Being lazy can be productive. I know that I’m opening up a can of worms with this statement, but bear with me. I consider myself lazy. Not a sluggard, but lazy.

Definition of Lazy vs. Sluggard

I am unapologetically a Christian. I know what Proverbs says about being a sluggard. I can hear my dad quoting, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of your hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a thief…” Proverbs 24:33

As with everything, laziness has a spectrum. A sluggard is an extremely lazy person. Someone who is so lazy that they won’t even try. There are no standards of living. As long as there’s food and shelter, everything’s fine. It’s the very bottom end of the spectrum of lazy. I’m not saying this is good at all.

Laziness, in general, is just having a goal of not doing anything as much as possible. The goal is the couch or the recliner.

How Can Laziness be Productive?

The goal is the couch or the recliner, so if something needs to be done, it will be done as efficiently as possible – the fastest, the easiest, and the same quality of work as if I did it the traditional way.

I will spend an extra 5 minutes planning something out so that I can save one minute of doing the task. That seems counter-productive, but what if I have to do that task again? I already spent the 5 minutes figuring out the fastest and easiest way to do it, so that will pay off in the long-run.

Think about all the inventions people have made over the years to make life easier. That even applies to our instruments. Do I *really* need a C# trill key? Hopefully my next flute has one.

How Does This Relate to Music?

My normal practice routine is centered around my version of laziness. I make sure that I do scales, technical exercises, and etudes because they help me learn the repertoire faster. I go into that information in more detail in the linked articles. I call it dividing and conquering.

Another thing I do to increase efficiency is I analyze my music before I play it. I note all the scales (even the modes), the patterns, the form etc., in my head. I know that it helps some people to write it down in the music, but that gets to be too much information on the page for me.

Last but not least, I use a ton of different practice techniques to help me learn my music faster. Here are a bunch of them. I’m always adding more to my list. Sometimes I make them up and sometimes I learn them from other musicians. They’re a way for me to go around, over, or under a wall, rather than try to go through.

Everyone Needs a Lazy Friend

People who aren’t lazy just do things the way they’ve always done them or were taught to do them. Lazy people spend the extra time to figure out the fastest and easiest way to do everything, all the way down to washing their hands. I’ll be your lazy music friend. My goal with this blog is to help you practice faster and easier than you did before.