Advising the young on preparing for music school: Part 1

Learning to practice healthily 

This week I had the pleasure of advising a student on how to prepare for post-secondary studies in music. 
 
He asked me about practicing at the Olympic level, so to speak. I practiced, age 43 for 4 years and logged about 5000 hours. I completed my Grade 10 and ARCT, the highest levels of classical piano, at the time, offered by the Royal Conservatory of Music. I currently spend one to two hours a day on the drums. The big ambition of my aging years. So, I know something about practicing.
 
We start with warnings: Injury from over practice and neglecting physical fitness. If you are an aging professional musician, you’ve likely had some firsthand experience with pain or worse.
 
Two stories: 

The real reason musicians are dropping out of music schools | CBC Music
 
Still Battling an Illness, Jarrett Ends His Silence - The New York Times (nytimes.com) 
 
Steps before practice:

• Physical fitness: Stay fit, take care of yourself. Avoid contact sports, musicians are athletes. Most just don’t know it. 
• Listen to music all the time. Mostly to music of our time. My best guess: 70% new, 30% last century.

 
Steps on the bench 

• Increase time 10% a week to a max of 4 hours. There will be added time practicing away from the instrument. This is the recommendation of Gerald Klickstein author of “The musician’s way”.
• Practice time is broken up in multiple units to avoid repetitive strain injuries.
• Stretching is sooooooo important before and after. Be sure the muscles are warm before stretching. Get some professional qualified advice. 
• What to practice?
  • Technique: scales, chords, arpeggios Playing with intention, playing to sound beautiful. 
  • Classical piano programs: Keep the hands alive
  • Repertoire development: The musician with the deepest repertoire, or those who know the most tunes wins!
  • Sight reading, a cornerstone skill of the professional.
    • Musicnotes.com “Singer/Pro” exploring the music of our time
  • Repertoire review
  • Learning the “tunes of the day” Top 60 Tracks For Wedding Dinner Music 2020 | Wedding Forward. You need to know the music of “ordinary people” to keep your feet grounded.

 
Away from the bench

• Listening is practicing. Deep listening, “what’s going on here?”
• Composing, “develop a book of tunes”. This is your intellectual capital; It is your ticket in the marketplace. This is what will make you a living wage.
• Transcribing styles you are unfamiliar with. This gives you musical range!
• Reading books on entrepreneurship, business practices, marketing, and most importantly, Sales. It’s called the music business!
• Working in a digital environment: DAW

 
End of 1st lecture. To be continued next week.
 
David