Sheet Music: Raining, from Joey Stuckey's MIXTURE album

The sheet music for Raining is available HERE over at MacMusicGuy.com. 

Raining is a piece from MIXTURE, Joey Stuckey's jazz guitar album that I "co-everythinged" on with Joey. It's a simple little tune that on the record features an excellent recording of a thunderstorm. The guitar plays all three layers during the piece, but there are a ton of pads behind the lead lines.



The sheet music has all three lines notated, plus the chord progression. This would be good for a keyboard ensemble, for practice reading open score, or for improvising to based on a chord progression.



I've also posted a "How To" video on the keyboard setup and programming - I'm calling it the "MIXTURE How-To" series.

I know - real original name.

Check them out!

You can also keep up with
what's being posted
for each individual song over on the
"All the Songs" page
on the MIXTURE blog.

Teaching......

I swore I'd never teach.

Really!

After earning my undergrad degree [in Piano Performance] I was so burned out I swore I'd never teach. I couldn't see myself teaching in ANY capacity whatsoever. Ever.

This is exactly why I say the I am living proof God has a sense of humor.

At this stage of life I have taught at the collegiate level piano, music technology, music theory, sightsinging, music appreciation, and directed choirs and show choirs - as well as intro to computers. At the middle school and high school level I've taught keyboarding, web design and computer applications.

I currently teach at a college PLUS a local music store.....and have several computer clients that I am constantly teaching.

Yup, here I am - living proof God has a sense of humor!

What's a lesson like?

I had one teacher in Grad school who would sit back and just listen to my playing. He'd sip on his coffee, make few comments, and then I'd play the next piece. This went on for 2 semesters, which is why I switched teachers in mid-degree. it caused quite a stir.

I switched because his teaching style did NOT mesh with my learning style - I MUCH prefer a conversational hands-on approach- and that is exactly how I teach.

For me a piano lesson is more of a "rehearsal" - the student and I will work through the issues with the piece they are trying to learn. During that conversation we'll discuss the music theory aspects of the piece - form, chords, melodic phrase construction, for example - as well as technical issues (fingering...) and musicical aspects (articulations, phrase shaping).

I ask a lot of questions - intending for the student to discover the answer (I really like those "Oh, Yeah" moments when the light bulb goes off). It could be something as significant as noticing that the composer re-used melodic material later in the piece to as simple as starting on the correct note.

That's what I think a lesson should be like. Your opinion?

Piano vs. Keyboards - what's the difference?

What's the Difference - from teaching, learning, and Musician's perspective? Some semi-random thoughts.

1. There's nothing like playing a well-maintained concert grand. NOTHING.
2. But few people have access to a concert grand, much less a well-maintained one.
3. The new Roland V-Piano is supposed to come close, though. At roughly $6,000 it's a lot cheaper than a quality grand, but you're going to have to invest in some amps and speakers.
4. Keyboards/Synths give me capabilities that a piano doesn't - different sounds, etc.
5. I play a Piano and a Keyboard differently - even when the keyboard has a great action (like my Roland RD-700 sx).
6. I'd suggest learning the Piano, and integrating the "keyboard" part of it as a part of the process. To play keys you need to learn how to work your buttons, how to change what you play depending on the sound you're using, and how to improvise a part while looking at a chord chart.
7. Best way to learn how to change your touch? CLASSICAL PIANO music! (especially Classical, Baroque, and Romantic eras).
8. To Comp (i.e. accompany) you need to know your chords and scales. Those are the tools that let you combine bits and pieces into something interesting that fits the song.
9. This is true regardless of the style - rock, jazz, pop, urban, country, world.......
10. You still have to practice - every day is best.

The MacMusicGuy

New video performance

This is a performance of "I Surrender All" that I did at Vineville North in July, 2007. This was a jazz improv version - inspired by the thought that this traditional church tune sounds kinda mournful - but the idea of surrendering to Someone who is perfect is pretty cool, and should be cause for celebration!

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Making a CD: Lessons learned

Now that it has been a couple of months, what have I learned? What would I do differently?

1) This was definitely worth the time involved. not so much from a monetary viewpoint, but from a PR (the parents really appreciated it) and from a "cool" aspect (the kids thought it was cool I knew how to do this. Greater cool factor = greater opportunity to teach them)

2) It really brought home the fact that having equipment does no good by itself. You have to take the time to learn how to use it. I had all this stuff (that I use for other purposes), yet it took some thinking to figure out how to make the CD happen.

3) There are easier ways to accomplish this same thing. There are direct - to - CD recording decks out there (or even the Alesis Masterlink). In that case you can record the performance straight to a CD, and even hand the student the CD right there. It's the CD equivalent of sticking the cassette recorder in front of the piano and pressing "Record". You could even get a set of preprinted blank CDs (Diskmakers sells them) that have your studio's logo on them with room to write the student's name on them.

You lose the ability to edit, though.

I'd love to hear from other teachers who have attempted this same thing.

Making a CD: Recording the Audio

At this point I had good quality MIDI files ready, that sounded just like I wanted them to. They represented a fair picture of the student's performances, but were still listenable.

Getting the audio into the computer was actually fairly simple. Remember I have a G3 desktop for sequencing, and a Mac mini that I use for audio - but this can be done with a single computer running the appropriate software (anything that can do both MIDI and audio work, and there are tons of options out there for both Macs and Windows machines).

Essentially all I had to do was to start my audio software recording, switch to the Sequencer program, and hit play. It didn't take very long because all of the pieces were short (the longest was about 2 minutes, but the average was about 45 seconds. These ARE beginning piano students!)

Once the audio was captured, I made sure the audio was normalized (i.e. as loud as practical), and then exported it as an AIFF file.

Naming the resulting files was important, because I had over 2 dozen files to keep track. I used studentName_track number_songname.aif. For example, macmusicguy_1_twinkle.aif

Next time: Graphics. Coming soon: Using the 'net to transfer to a studio, and parent reactions.

What I tell Parents about Digital Pianos

I teach piano in a music store (one of my many "jobs"), and often have parents ask me about their kids taking piano, but all they have is a digital keyboard.

I tell them several things:

1. An excellent quality acoustic (i.e. grand or upright, not a spinet or console) is the best choice - BUT they have price and maintenance issues that many people don't want to deal with.
2. Second choice would be an excellent quality digital - with 88 weighted keys, excellent quality speakers. They will need to add a piano-style sustain pedal and a keyboard stand (if the keyboard doesn't already have one). The downside is that it will last around a decade, whereas an acoustic will last the rest of their lives. (For some, this last statement is a disadvantage of acoustic pianos!)
3. Third choice, and definitely last, is the el-cheapo keyboard that is so common. For some parents, though, all they want to spend - indeed, all they may be ABLE to spend, is $150 on a little dinky one. I explain the limits they are putting on the child - and I require that the keys be full-size. I also explain that the child will outgrow it in less than a year, but $150 is all some parents can spend on the keyboard.

I am also trying to get parents to hook their keyboards up to the computer, explaining the capabilities that gives the child. I have had limited success, because most of my parents have Windows machine, which are difficult to setup for MIDI operation. The Mac side is so much easier, so my Mac-using parents are more likely to take advantage of it.

Performing and Equipment: Some questions

I am beginning to think about replacing my keyboard, and that brings up some thoughts about the place equipment has in a musician's life.

I currently use a Kurzweil K1200 - yes, old and outdated compared to current keyboards, but still definitely functional for my purposes. Plus you CANNOT beat the Electric Piano sounds in that thing!

It strikes me that the equipment you have can serve as either a limitation or an inspiration, depending on the circumstances and your attitude. Bad, limited equipment can indeed keep you from making music - but older equipment that is still functional can still be usable. The catch is that it often takes longer, or mroe effort - which may in turn produce better music.

Musicians have long struggled with their equipment. How many pianos did Mozart have custom ordered? Beethoven had a special piano created with heavier strings that sounded louder, to compensate for his slowly growing deafness.

Good equipment is necessary for a performing musician to work. Good equipment alos costs $ - it's the old "you get what you pay for". I paid more for my Kurzweil than some other competing keyboards, but the thing has lasted well over a decade. It's amazing what having a metal body will do for longevity! (plus I take real good care of it).

Performing: What it Takes

Last week and this week I have had/will have performances with the Grapevine, Joey Stuckey Band, the Earle Barnette Group, and of course tom&co.

This is a plethora of styles and situations. Grapevine is what we called in South Carolina a "beach band" - there are few charts, and everything is done by ear. I was sitting in for their regular keyboard guy - who had moved to guitar because their regular guitarist couldn't make it.

I'll be with the Joey Stuckey band in Cordele playing jazz in a trio setting Friday - with some homemade charts that serve as reminders. They are definitely NOT note-for-note (in some cases, not even chord-for-chord!).

Earle Barnette's group plays a more traditional form of jazz - it's a small ensemble, with charts that look pretty good. Lot's of chance for improv, but not as many as in a trio setting.

................and then there's tom&co, which will have the usual personnel changes that happen week to week, and will have some new praise and worship stuff to learn. We are also rehearsing a new song just written for this summer's Vacation Bible School Xtreme - we have to get it recorded in the next 3 weeks.

So why do I bring this up, I hear you asking? (I have a good imagination.) It points out the necessity to be flexible and good at what you do if you are going to be successful as a musician. The more skills you have - in my case this week, those skills include improv, good ear skills, ability to fake my way out of a musical jam (pun intended), and a facility with my ax of choice (keyboards, especially multiple keyboards).

Those skills, along with my ability to get along with people and my reputation for consistency and keeping my word - mean that the bands will hire me.

It isn't just the musical skills. It's also the people skills.