Jonathan Harnum's Blog, page 3

Learn Anything Faster?! This Will Blow Your Mind

Interested in the science and the study behind this, go here. And for Huberman’s full podcast on this fascinating study, go here.

Huberman says below to do the 10-seconds randomly, but I’ve found that taking that time after half a dozen correct repetitions (or less) works best. I also do it any time whatever I’m trying to learn gets worse or I’m getting clumsy with fingers or intonation or anything else.

How Pythagoras Broke Music (and how we kind of fixed it)

Coltrane On What Drives an Artist

A wonderful letter from jazz saxophonist John Coltrane to Downbeat Editor Don DeMichael on the force that drives an artist. From the book Letters of Note: Music

Hear Coltrane’s words read aloud: The Creative Urge – by Shaun Usher – Letters of Note

Here’s an excerpt. Hit the link to read/hear the whole thing. And subscribe to the newsletter; lots of good stuff from Letters of Note. Here’s the clip:

Many thanks for sending Aaron Copland’s fine book, “Music and Imagination.” I found it historically revealing and on the whole, quite informative. However, I do not feel that all of his tenets are entirely essential or applicable to the “jazz” musician. This book seems to be written more for the American classical or semi-classical composer who has the problem, as Copland sees it, of not finding himself an integral part of the musical community, or having difficulty in finding a positive philosophy or justification for his art. The “jazz” musician does not have this problem at all. 

We have absolutely no reason to worry about lack of positive and affirmative philosophy. It’s built in us. The phrasing, the sound of the music attest this fact. We are naturally endowed with it. You can believe all of us would have perished long ago if this were not so. As to community, the whole face of the globe….

As It Was: A Brief History Of The Music Industry (Chart by Chartr)

Source: As It Was: A Brief History Of The Music Industry — Chartr: Data Storytelling (click through for more details)

Time Management for Musicians: Finding Balance

What I learned at Berklee – Bob Reynolds

Voice Techniques: How to Match Pitch

Singing is an essential part of practice no matter what your instrument is. Some of my students over the years have struggled to match pitch, so if that’s you, here are a couple videos to help.

Piano Lessons for Beginners: Learn Some Simple Chords

Piano is SO great for musical understanding. You’d be doing yourself a favor to get started now if you haven’t already.

Get better at music by practicing less?

Trumpeter Brad Harrison has some excellent videos on his channel for trumpeters or any musician. Here’s some good practice advice.

7 Tips for Beginning Musicians

Spend a little time with your instrument every day. All you need is 10 or 15 minutes. Even 5 minutes is good at first. Make sound with it, but explore other things, too, like its slides, tuners, mouthpieces, cleaning stuff, whatever you’re curious about. Watching a YouTube video or three is also practice! Learn all you can wherever you can, but don’t forget to actually make some sound on your instrument, too. Pro tip: leave your instrument out so you can pick it up quickly.Sing. This might seem weird, but singing is one of the best things you can do for your musical ability. If singing makes you nervous, call it “pitch-matching” instead. Find a note (pianos/keyboards are helpful with this) and match the pitch with your voice. You’re training your awareness of pitch. Listen! Listen to (and watch) people play your instrument (hello, YouTube). Watching live musicians right in front of you is best, but YouTube works, too. When you listen, tap your foot or pat your hands with the beat. Pro tip: If you’re watching, don’t just watch: study what you see: how do they use their fingers/mouth/breath? Are they tapping their feet? Ask questions if you get a chance. This is one of the best, easiest, and yet most neglected activity even more advanced musicians forget to do.Forget about reading music at first. Reading music is a complex skill, and a useful one, but at first it can cause frustration and confusion, the LAST thing you want when getting started. Music is about SOUND, and reading music is all about sight. Skip the reading music part for the first few weeks (when you practice), and focus instead on making a good sound, or any sound. Experiment! Pro Tip: Try: lowest & highest soundquietest & loudestlongest & shortestslowest & fastestweirdest soundclean change from one note to anotherseparate notes on your instrumentSet a Goal. Before you start, sit for a minute or two and think of a goal you can reach. Maybe it’s something as general as “practice for 10 minutes.” Maybe it’s trying to do a more specific skill, like “play a note for 10 seconds.” Keep a checklist of things you want to be able to do on the instrument. Check them off when you get them. Pro Tip: Make a goal SIMPLE and EASY to accomplish.Find a mentor. This doesn’t have to be a teacher, though private lessons are a GREAT idea, especially for beginners. A mentor could be someone who is a little better than you. Ask questions, ask them to show you something, and don’t ask another question until you can do that thing.Don’t be afraid to quit. That means trying again another day, not quitting for good. Everybody has bad/frustrating days. Playing any instrument takes a LOT of time, so be patient and if things aren’t going well, just stop for the day/week and try again later. Try something simpler.