She just won't practice! How to make practice fun...

I've been dealing with some students who've been having some really hard times practicing.  I have one student who decided she wanted to play guitar, after some questioning, mainly because piano was becoming too hard. 

Once a student passes the "Twinkle, twinkle little star" stage, the piano becomes a little harder to do.  There are separate rhythms and finger positions in the two hands.  Admittedly, it's a lot to process especially when you feel like you should be able to.  So, as a parent, it's best that you don't say negative things like, "you should be able to do that by now..." or "..you're not doing so well anymore.." or anything like this that may not seem damaging but it's pretty much death to the child's ego. 

I'm not saying that you should give false praise, however, it is best to reward the effort.  So, here are some things that you, the parent, can do to make practicing more fun.

1. THE PRACTICE JAR - Get a class container, paint measurement lines on the jar and paint some beans.  Each time that the child practices, place bean in the jar.  When the beans reach one of the measurement lines, he or she gets some type of prize or reward.  It could be their favorite candy, a trip to their favorite place, or the prizes can change. 

2. SING A LONG - Many of the songs have lyrics, so sing a long.  While your child practices, come sing while they play, when they're ready.  Mom or dad singing the song is "the prize" for playing the song correctly.

3. SWITCH IT UP - Most of the time, practicing can be boring because it's the same song, the same way.  Sometimes, it's best just to get it out.  To get the notes, and then play it like you want, however you want and as loud as you want.  As the teacher, I can come and make sure they know and understand the "written way" but sometimes it's just fun to bang on the piano and get through the song.

Doing a couple of these or all of these will make practicing more fun.  Typically, I stop stressing practice so much when the student is losing interest and we focus more on "fun" music that they know to get the interest back, and then we'll return to the scholarly work of music after the interest has returned while maintaining the interest level with songs and activities. 

Remember, music doesn't have to be boring!  There's music value in Pop, Hip Hop, Folk and all other styles. 

Shake what ya mama gave ya...

Yes, shake it like you gon lose it tomorrow!  Well... maybe going to the corner and bustin' out in the percolator isn't the exact image you would wanna attach to your business.  However, the premise of using exactly what you have in your toolbox is the idea.

When you actually take a step back and look at all the tools at your disposal, ask yourself a serious question, are you using them ALL?  Seriously, are you using all of the things that you can use in order to make yourself successful.  Most of the time, the answer is no.  We are bombarded with so many free offers, given coupons every time we check out at CVS or Target, that we get sick of waiting for them to print out, or we throw it away when throw away the bags we received.

Not only do we waste water, electricity and food.  We also waste business resources that can give us that leg up in our hustle.  For instance, did you order cards from Vistaprint?  Did you notice that they probably gave you $100 in Google adwords and a credit for Fotolia?  I bet you haven't activated either one of them.  And if you have, you probably didn't use the free "Google keyword tool" to choose the best keywords for your ad.  Things like this can boost our business.

So, go to your email account and just search your email for the words "offer", "free", "activate".  Click on the email, just to see what it is.  Don't do anything crazy and get a virus on your computer, make sure that it's actually attached to something that you bought.  You may look through and see you have some free stuff that you're not using that can help you in your business this holiday season.

Check you later.

The mountains that block our way...

The key to good business is a mindset.  You don't always know what is going to happen in your life, and you honestly cannot always be prepared for it.  You can try, but there's no guarantee of you actually being prepared.  Was Blockbuster prepared for the pure surge of competition from Netflix?  Was the auto industry ready for a partial collapse of the financial system?  We can try and lay out contingencies, which is highly preferred when doing business in this decade, however all of those contingencies can fail.  So, the only thing that we have to lean on is our ingenuity.  

The second point about mindset is to remember that worrying about the future does nothing.  It does not help you prepare better when you are nervous.  It does not help you write more clearly when you focus on the problem.  The advantage of having foresight is to be able to create alternatives to those obstacles, because if anything is certain about this life and business, it is that obstacles will occur.  It is impossible to avoid obstacles in life.

Just recently, I reactivated my websites to start my real estate business in my new home of Atlanta, and I needed to move some domains that I bought earlier in the year to my new website.  It literally took two hours out of my day, because I have very little web programming training.  I eventually figured it out after a few YouTube videos and about three cups of coffee.  In that moment, the obstacle was standing in my way and about to cost me money.  I could've given up, purchased more domain names, and kept going.  However, I decided that it was a learning opportunity, because of it, I learned how the DNS manager works, and I also discovered that I have $100 of free Google Adwords that I've never used.  

The point is not to boast about my resolve as it relates to insignificant barriers.  The point is that the little things that stop you and feel enormous in a moment are no different from the large things that impede you and make you feel like you are powerless.  The obstacles will be different, but your conviction and drive must be the same.  It must remain steady through the varying degrees of mountains that come your way to stand in front of your path.  If you chisel long enough, your mountain will become a pebble.  

I remember I found an old philosophy book in my house, and I read a bit of "The Energies of Men" by William James.  I don't know all of his views of philosophy and psychology, but one thing stuck to me in particular.  It spoke about how we as people give up long before our will has actually even reached its end.  He said that people find themselves giving up typically when they feel the first signs of discomfort, however when they push through this, they find themselves energized once more ready to complete the challenge and more.  This particularly struck a chord with me because I experience this every time I work out, and at least once even before I work out.  That same experience can be had across many different efforts.  You may find yourself thinking how hard it's going to be to take on this task, and not even try because of the mental discomfort that you felt just thinking about it.  

If that has ever been you, and you have ever pushed past that block, then I say that you should continue pressing pass.  Nothing in life is going to be easy, but your will as a man, or a woman will carry you through if you believe in yourself enough.

Disruptive Technologies

Technology is a constantly evolving industry. There are always things that replace what was previously being done as developers constantly work to improve on what was done before. These are called disruptive technologies, those that disrupt the current market's way of doing things. A very disruptive technology that has changed the world forever was the creation of peer-to-peer sharing on the internet, as it relates to the music industry. This technology was most famously made popular by the sharing giant, Napster. This technology disrupted the current flow of the music industries marketing plans of creating albums and selling them to the market.

In the creation of the peer-to-peer sharing, first becoming popular among colleges, the technology saw the large group of people who did not have much money to pay for an entire album of music, which was then around $18 compact discs being sold in most stores, like Sam Goody, FYE and other large retailers. This technology gave the power to listen to music prior to purchasing or actually forgoing the purchase all together for music from artists. As more and more students became involved with the sharing, the technology became more useful, as the computer made it very easy for people with the music already downloaded into their shared folders to allow for downloading to others. It gave people who looked at art as belonging to “the people”, however entirely ignoring the copyright laws in place to protect the intellectual property of the creators.

Looking to the Innovation and Commercialization Process, the initial technology concept started with the first peer to peer file sharing, would be the Napster concept of the central server based model (filesharingz.com, n.d.). This model was that in order to find a file, one had to search the Napster database itself. The file sharing technology went through changes over the years, and has now developed into what is currently being used by BitTorrent , the company that has taken the place of Napster in peer to peer file sharing, where the downloading is much more difficult to shut down than the first generation “Napster” concept. Due to the low need for funding for this project, mostly happening over the internet, the growth of the technology only needed people to help it grow, and most of these people were young students when beginning their projects in the early part of the 2000s. The companies who feel slighted by the growth of these peer to peer networks have constantly been trying to curb the disruption caused by these networks. For the past thirty to forty years has been the sale of the album, which this technology has now been instrumental in its decline. However, most of the speed bumps in the growth of these technologies have been the lawsuits and efforts by lawmakers to shut them down.

However, to overcome these speed bumps, there have been companies that use this type of technology to either develop new systems that preserve the copyright holders rights as well as meet the needs of the market. One such technology is iTunes, which has used a file sharing type of technology to sell music for slightly less than one dollar per song, and sometimes even for free. There are also other services like Spotify which uses peer to peer interaction to allow users to listen to music, talk about it and purchase. In conclusion, these types of technologies are emerging and making the music industry drastically different than the virtual monopoly that stood from the 60s – the 90s. What would be the most useful file sharing technology that could be created that could assist in the re-establishment of the album as the dominant product of the music industry?



References:

FilesharingZ. (n.d.). Filesharing History. Retrieved from
http://filesharingz.com/guides/filesharing-history.php
Schroeder, J. (June 30, 2011). Wiki Article “Peer-To-Peer File Sharing”. History 250.
Retrieved from http://history.msu.edu/hst250/2011/06/30/wiki-article-peer-to-peer-file-sharing/
Allen, K. (2007). Growing and managing a small business: An entrepreneurial perspective (2nd
ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Prototype Cover

Just say NO!

In the music industry, it doesn’t matter who your audience is, old, single, married, young, broke, etc. There are moments in your career where you need to say no. Can you sing on this track? NO. Can you play at my club? NO. Can you…? NO.

However, this is not to just be a jerk and act like you’re bigger than you really are. I’m speaking to people who have done their time singing at the birthdays, the dive bars, the talent shows and have good practice on stage presence and performance. This is for the musician who is building a brand. For the newly seasoned musician, it’s time to start building your image in the public eye. Cause remember, once you start accepting the scraps that you’re giving, then that’s what people will believe you’re worth. So, when you’re trying to develop who you are as an artist, ask yourself two simple starter questions.

What does my music sound like?

I mean, this may seem like too simple of a question, but it’s seriously one of the best to ask. I remember a friend of mine, who’s very successful in the industry now as an A&R, tells me all the time, “It starts with the music”. So, close your eyes, listen to one of your finished songs, and develop an image of the creator in your mind. How does that person talk? What does that person personify? What is he/she wearing? …No, not like that. This is not supposed to turn you on. I tell you, some of you vain people. You look in the mirror and start getting all hot…. Anyway…

The image is very important, but it needs to be in line with what you sound like, even if you create a variety of music. Wear that music in your walk, your talk, your words, your clothes, your everything. That music is supposed to be you. Think about every time you hear a voice before you see a person. Then how jarring it is when that person doesn’t match that voice. Then think about how relieved when the person does match the voice. It all starts with music, the marketing, the look, the presentation, etc.

Does this fit my standard?

Ok, as musicians, yea, we all get those opportunities to play. And if you haven’t learned by now, all venues are not created equal. I have literally played at places where there are man-sized holes in the floor. If someone fell through, I’m not sure who would’ve gotten sued. Also, the sound is an issue too. I’ve played at places where the PA system would die, with only three microphones running through it. Talk about a set-killer.

After you’ve listened to your music, develop your standards with your audience in mind. Realize that you, as an artist, need to perpetuate a standard. Have something in your production or presentation that is steady. Make that something about the quality, the quirkiness, the whatever, but make sure your standard is set. However, also ensure that your standard is realistic and fair to venue owners. You need their support as much as you need the fans. And if you have to compromise that fair standard, then… JUST SAY NO!

Three to the chest

Written: Oct 29, 2011

So, I was on grooveshark this morning, after finding out that the songs from my former band, Juanita Place, was on there… awesome… I decided to go to Billboard and see what is on the Billboard singles charts. I am in the process of writing several songs and making more connections in the industry. It’s going well so far. However, in my morning study of the music industry, I noticed several similarities in the music. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad thing, but it is very interesting when putting music together and in composing. Today, October 29, 2011, included in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop singles charts is Beyonce “Party”, Lil Wayne “She Will”, Big Sean “Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay”, and Jay-Z & Kanye “Ni**as in Paris”, among others. This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it in order, but that’s not the point of this post. The common denominator in the music it appears is three things.

The first of these things is the kick drum being big enough to hit you in the chest. The kick drum on these songs knocks the wind out of you if you have a woofer. It’s the kind of kick that will blow the clothes off a woman, which I guess is the point of some of this music. It’s used obvious in control with one of the songs on the top 10, Wale featuring Jeremih and Rick Ross “That Way”. In this song, they pull the kick back in certain spots to add contrast and give the song more musical life. This is also true for the urban ballad, “Wet the Bed” by Chris Brown featuring Ludacris. One thing is for sure, to truly enjoy the musical value of this music, you need to have a system that can belt out the bass so your soul can feel it.

The next common aspect of the song is the snare. The snares in these songs are pretty a uniform high pitch piccolo. This is the snare you normally here in the marching bands, but a synthesized sample of course. The snare is the typical hip-hop snare. The songs don’t sound the same without this type of sound. The difference can be heard when you listen to something like “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe. The snare is “Poison” is considerably lower in pitch and can change the tone of the song entirely. A low snare is also used in “Love Bomb” by N.E.R.D. Pharell has a tendency to mix styles and use different sounds when creating his music, hence how his sound stands out among other producers so well. A person can almost turn on any song produced by The Neptunes and immediately recognize that it is his team.

The last of the three is that the main melody is usually played by a synthesized brass or string section. This stands out to me because I am a pianist first. So, my mind automatically plays everything on the keys. The other instruments come second. However, when creating music, I have to translate the music from the piano to sounding good on the brass or the strings. So, its best when creating music, to think of the melody first, then think of the underlying chords to embellish this melody with some thickness. This is hard for people who learn music through chords (piano players), versus people who learned music through rhythms or melody (drummers, DJs, horn players, etc).

So, those are the common elements, the foundations for the popular R&B/Hip-Hop music of the millennium. You need to have that kick that’s going to knock you down; the snare that makes you move as the main rhythm embellishment and being very high pitched. Finally, the melody is typically played on some string or brass section. For all you producers, make sure these elements are in your music, if you’re making urban music. These will the backbone for your songs. Everything is another topic, because the other things are just as important as these elements. Until next time, kick it hard enough for me and you. Axé.