Quick Lessons – Don’t Be Good, Be Lucky
26 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Alto Sax, Employment, Jobs, live music, Music Event, Practice, South Africa, Useful Info Tags: alto sax, concert, employment, info, instrument, job, music, practice, sax, saxophone, South Africa
It’s the most obvious part of being a gigging musician, especially if you’re a soloist.
ALWAYS SIGN A CONTRACT!
Whilst I was in Africa I set up my own solo act. I’ve been doing it for three years and I have always drawn up my own contract. If the client doesn’t sign it, then there’s no sax at their wedding. So how did I manage to forget that this time?
Now it looks like the gig will be cancelled, meaning hours of practice and music hunting have gone to waste. I cannot emphasise just how much I was kicking myself. Until I got a little email from my client.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We will, of course, forward you a cancellation fee of 50%”
It helps to be good at what you do. It also helps to be a jammy little bugger.
So, take my advice, and remember that contract!
Links to free score downloads
22 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Free downloads, Links, Music download, Music Teacher, Networking, Practice Tags: download, free, info, music websites, practice aid, solo, websites
I’ve spent the morning looking for free downloads and found some stuff I thought I would share. I should add that I have been looking for simple piano scores to popular songs rather than classical piano. There are some fantastic free sites out there for piano music http://www.freesheetmusic.net been a good place to start.
Sites like the following promise a lot but are either hideously complicated, broken, or not what they advertise.
http://www.sheetmusicengine.com
www.8notes.com - this site is just confusing. If you go in through the main web page and follow the free links you can access a limited number of free gif files. However, if you follow a google link for a specific song, you’ll end up playing for it.
http://www.free-scores.com - This one goes under the ‘hideously complicated’ heading. There seems to be a lot of content but finding something useful is very difficult.
My most useful site for popular music has been http://www.pianofiles.com/ The listing here isn’t huge but it is varied and comprehensive.
Just as an aside there is a fantasic(ish) blog called http://truepianotranscriptions.blogspot.com/ It contains full transcriptions of possibly many piano pieces. However, there is no index of blogs, no blogger info, no list of pieces. It’s like an idea almost realised.
But by far the most useful overall has been:
There are hundreds of free Midi sites out there. True, you do need a MIDI player. I have been opening the files in Sibelius which instantly creates you a full score.
Obviously I’m not the only one to have this idea so here is a selection of other bloggers who have made lists of free sheet music sites:
http://truepianotranscriptions.blogspot.com/ - A blogger who started played in Januray 2010
http://thepianostudent.wordpress.com - A brilliant resource directory
http://worship1.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/tough-times-small-budget/ - Links to a website for free Gospel sheet music
Today’s Musicians have to be Computer Nerds
19 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Computer, Music - reader opinion, music news, Music Teacher, Networking, Saxophone Tags: computer, download, employment, file converter, info, instrument, laptop, music, music websites, sax, saxophone
I don’t consider myself to be computer illiterate; also I don’t consider myself to be a computer nerd. Recently I brought myself a new laptop. I installed Office, Sibelius, ITunes and all the other software I need with no help. I regularly create CD’s for my bands and students to use to learn from, so I am familiar with burning programmes. So why the hell can’t I get my own sample tracks to work?
I saved them to a multi-use CD off the old dinosaur laptop, thinking I could then simply add them to the new pc. Nope. They have converted to Audio CD Files and nothing wants to admit they exist or play them. When I go on the net to convert them the downloadable converters don’t want to know as it’s a multi-use cd and the online converters all insist they don’t support that type of file.
This leaves me stuck.
It also got me thinking. Since when did I have to understand formatting in order to pick up a gig? I can’t imagine Mozart (or more likely one of his scribes) saying: “oh hang on a moment; this is written on the wrong type of paper, therefore I can’t go any further.” But, because my file is in the wrong format that is exactly what has happened to me.
Hopefully someone will read this post, think I’m a computer moron, and provide an answer. If you’re out there, please do that. If it reduces me to the rank of computer idiot, that’s fine. Usually I don’t need a pc in order to blow down a saxophone.
My Best Teaching Aid – Bonnie the dog
17 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Animals, Dog, music news, Music Teacher, Name, Practice, Saxophone Tags: animal, dog, instrument, minor, music, pet, practice, practice aid, saxophone, scales
It’s all over You’ve Been Framed. Little Johnny gets out his recorder and the dog goes nuts. Or little Suzie picks up her violin and the cat runs a mile. I am, predominantly, a saxophone teacher which means that ever year I get new students who need to be taught which way to hold the thing and which end to blow in. Like everyone else (you and I included) the first few lessons tend to be evil honking affairs about as musical as a stepped on frog. Through it all, though, Bonnie will sit in the corner of the music room and have a nice kip.
She’s not a small dog, being half Labrador and half Alsatian. I had worried that she would intimidate my students but, bless her, she’s so happy to see each and every one of them that she instantly puts them at ease. For the kids that don’t practice this must be great because they can come and see their teacher and get a big hug from Bonnie before confessing that they didn’t actually learn D minor this week.
One thing always confused me though. Bonnie kept silent all the time I was teaching but as soon as I started to practice she’d begin to sing. What the hell?? Is she self conscious of her singing ability? Does she not like my sax? Is she respecting my students? All these things and more were running through my head as I tried to play Harlem Nocturne – The Woof Chorus.
Then came Gustav. A mature student who’d been teaching himself for about two years and came to me to work out theory as much as anything. He had a nice tone, full range and a good feel for the music. Bonnie thought he was great but still sat in her corner watching the lesson, not a single howl escaping her furry muzzle.
Three months later Gustav had a break through. He arrived at the lesson keen to show me what he had achieved that week. I was impressed, he’d broadened his tone considerably in that time.
Then Bonnie joined in. Gustav’s face fell a mile, “I thought I was doing so well,” he said “but now the dog is singing it must be awful.” But for me it all clicked into place. “No,” I said, “she only sings when she likes it.”
From then on that became a bench mark. Every student asks the same question; “when will I be able to play well?” and thanks to Bonnie I always had an answer. “When Bonnie sings you know you’re doing well.”
Sadly Bonnie has retired from teaching and gone to live on a farm with my parents (that’s not a metaphor, she really has.) Never again will I have a teaching aid quite as good as she was.
Altissimo – Not for the faint hearted
15 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Master Class, Practice, Saxophone, Useful Info Tags: altissimo, practice aid, sax, saxophone, Snake Davis, websites
Its loud, screechy and bloody hard to do. It will take hours of practice until you feel like your back to the days when you first started to learn to play the sax – you remember those days right? When the cat refused to come home and the dog wailed constantly.
You can buy any number of books telling you how to perfect this skill. There are thousands of webpages dedicated to it.
http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-altissimo.html is a good one to get you started.
Every article I have come across has four main points to it.
- Practice, practice, practice
- Strengthen your embouchure
- Learn the fingerings
- Hear the notes you want to play
Disinfecting a Saxophone – Part 2
13 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Alto Sax, music news, rock'n'roll, Saxophone, Useful Info Tags: cleaning, rick n roll, sax, saxophone
Thanks to everyone who responded via facebook or twitter. There were some great ideas and a few unusual ones (I’m not sure Listerine would have really worked but thanks for the thought.) The overwhelming response was one that, now I think about it, makes perfect sense, but it’s something I never would have thought of. Milton baby bottle steriliser. However, it wasn’t a one hundred per cent success. I am sure that my saxophones have been cleared of flu so in that regard (which is really the only important one) everything is good. But, it did have the rather unfortunate side effect of dying my Vandoren T75 Jumbo an alarming shade of snot green. This looks particularly stupid with its still back mouth piece cap. It must be something to do with the resin composite because the Keilwerth Jazz I use on my alto stayed back. It hasn’t effected the tone, though, so its not the end of the world.
So here’s my brief ‘To Do’ list for disinfecting your saxophone after an illness.
- By baby bottle steriliser.
- Boil kettle and allow to cool to luke warm.
- Remove any mouth piece pads and throw them away and decide whether to keep or throw the reeds.
- Using a mouth piece brush scrub the mouth piece and ligature (if metal).
- Add steriliser to kettle water and submerge the mouthpiece, ligature, cap and reeds for the length of time recommended on the bottle (usually around 15 mins.)
- Take all equipment out and rinse under the tap.
- Dry and replace mouth piece pad and reads.
Disinfecting a saxophone
08 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in music news Tags: cleaning, sax, saxophone care, saxophones
I have the flu. Or something similar. Either way its not nice and because I was recording all last week I have probably given the virus to all three of my saxophones. Obviously I must clean them and then wash all the cleaning gear but I was wondering if anyone reading this had any new ideas on making my saxes sanitary again.
Unfortunately I’ve already learned that hard way that resin mouthpieces and boiling salt water isnt a good idea. If you haven’t tried this yet, don’t, all you’ll do is turn your C* a mossy shade of green. I’ve thought about disinfectants such as dettol but do I really want to have to taste that? Because you know that no matter how much you wash it, it will still taste horrible afterwards. Also those bottles come with large ‘do not swallow’ notices.
Boiling water will only do so much, cold salt water wont do much good at all. What else am I missing?
Creative differences
07 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in music news Tags: band, job, rock n roll
I suppose it was daft of me but I always assumed that ‘creative differences’ happened to bands who had had a good run. Bands that had either done a few albums or toured all over the place beacuse surely, I reasoned, bands which are just starting out all have the same concept and end game in mind. But apparently not.
In my last post I eargly wrote about the rock n roll band I play for and how we had been signed for an album. We spent a really great week in the studio and were due in one final day (that being today) for the mixing. Then yesterday Shorty Kennett quit. Which poses a problem in a band called Shorty Kennett and the Goldstars. Creative differences, aparrently.
So if you want to be the lead singer of a gigging rock n roll band based in the Andover area do get in touch. You never know the band could soon be ‘your name here’ and the Goldstars
Recording the new Goldstars album
04 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in music news Tags: goldstars, rock n roll, sax, saxophone
It’s been a while since I found time to write my blog and that a shame because quite a lot has been going on that coul have been shared.
I’ve mentioned the Goldstars before. They are an Andover based rock n roll group that I play sax for. About a month ago one poor venue got terribly confused when tying to book us for a rock n roll show and ended up with a metal band called the Goldstars instead. I’d have loved to be a fly-on-the-wall at that gig. As a result we renamed ourselves and are now Shorty Kennett and the Goldstars. The name seems to be our good luck charm as two weeks later we were signed by Foot-tapping Records and booked to play the two day Jukebox Jive rock n roll festival.
So here we sit, in the studio trying to put Andy (or Shorty as he’s now known) off his vocals and generally marvelling at Big Boy Bloater as he mixes our sound to perfection.
This saturday we are at the Roffay Sports and Social Club in Horsham where we will be pleased to announce preorders for the forthcoming album. You can also follow the band on facebook at www.facebook.com/ShortyKennettGoldstars
Rock and Roll
28 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in music news Tags: band, live music, music, rock'n'roll, saxophone
Today is a very special day. It is my first gig back in England.
The past few months have been difficult as a musician in a new country with out a car. Sadly i’ve been turned down after many an offer purely because i couldn’t get to the venue.
But Andy and The Goldstars have come to the rescue. After some quick negotiating lifts for rehearsal and gigs were arranged and I finally began to feel like a musician again.
So, if rock’n'roll is your thing come to the Working Man’s club in Fairham. We kick of at 9pm.
