PART FOUR – Objectivity, recording, and less conventional ways to aid learning If you’ve got this far and started really implementing some of the ideas, it’s highly likely you’re already beginning to see some great results from your practise. Now it’s time to quit the guessing game, get truly honest with yourself and introduce some objective…
How to Learn an Instrument (or anything) as an Adult – Part 3
PART THREE – The Tools – Play, Mistakes, Mindset Last week we covered how to really get clear on What you’re practising, Why you’re practising, and how to make sure you do it enough times to really make a difference. In this part we’ll be looking at the importance of play (the fun kind), why…
How to Learn an Instrument (or anything) as an Adult – Part 2
PART TWO- The Tools – Time, Motivation, Choices, Repetition In part one we looked at how your brain and nervous system changes in response to new experiences – in other words how you learn. We looked at the conditions that need to be met for learning to happen. So now we’ve got the basic conditions…
How to Learn an Instrument (or anything) as an Adult – Part 1
Jamie and Sam both start learning drums at the same time. Neither have played before, and yet after three months of exactly the same tuition, Jamie is still struggling with things Sam had mastered in the first few weeks. It’s true that everyone learns at different speeds and has different backgrounds, but I think everyone…
A HARMONIC VIEW OF RHYTHM: PART 3 – ‘How to Actually Use This Stuff’
PART 3 – HOW TO ACTUALLY USE THIS STUFF In part 1 we learnt where rhythm lies on the frequency spectrum, and what that usually means in terms of usage. We saw in Part 2 how we can see the pulse as our ‘tonal center’, in terms of rhythm. Also how subdivisions and rhythmic detail…
A HARMONIC VIEW OF RHYTHM: PART 2 of 3
In Part 1 we looked at where rhythm lies on the frequency spectrum, and what function it serves in comparison with the main branches of harmony. In this part, we’ll lay some fundamental groundwork in terms of rhythmic perception. PERCEPTION OF PULSE AND POLYRHYTHMS What we perceive to be the pulse, is our rhythmic ‘tonal…
A HARMONIC VIEW OF RHYTHM: PART 1 of 3
INTRODUCTION This whole journey started for me with hearing one statement: “Rhythm is just harmony slowed down” From there, with some basic knowledge of physics, you can start seeing a) how this is the case, and b) how you can start applying all the centuries of study on harmonic theory and composition, to rhythmic composition.…
Microtiming: Degrees of Swing, Reverse Swing, and Compound Swing.
Most musicians are aware of the idea of ‘swing’ as off-beats lying somewhere between the triplet grid and the quaver grid. Somewhere ‘in the cracks’ between and Close to but not exactly The way this is usually learnt is by ear, listening & playing along to a lot of music and just absorbing the ‘feel’…
Using Harmonic Polyrhythms
Sharing my thoughts on this has been getting pushed down my to-do list for a long time, and after seeing both Adam’s video and both Dan and Brad‘s blog posts explaining the foundational ideas of it so well I thought it was about time I add to the conversation… First of all a little summary…