Chords too hard? You're not the only one who thinks so!

https://theperiodicalukulele.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/new-ukulele-movement-reshapes-chord-structures/

Make up something!

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/health/brain-on-jazz-improvisation-improv/index.html

Not limited to Jazz or music improvisation - make up anything you want (why not pick a topic you enjoy?).  Make up new words to familiar songs (for the occasion).  Improv comedy -- don't be afraid of it.

from the article:

Fingers graze a keyboard, poised to play. A trumpet rises to the lips. Drumsticks perch in the air, ready to fall. The improv begins, and this combo of jazz musicians instantly creates a piece of music that has never been heard before.

As each instrument hijacks the melody, the song is reinvented in ways even the musician doesn't understand.

Revered jazz trumpeter Miles Davis put it this way: "I'll play it first and tell you what it is later."

For neuroscientist Dr. Charles Limb, jazz is pure creativity in action.

"When you hear great jazz, like John Coltrane or Miles Davis, it has this jaw-dropping quality to it, and what's been described as 'a sound of surprise' takes place," Limb said. "And you think to yourself, 'Wow, that's not just phenomenal music, that's phenomenal neurobiology.' "

Could jazz improvisation be a key to understanding how the brain invents? Could that creativity be studied? An accomplished jazz musician himself, Limb was the perfect scientist to tackle the project.

Learn an instrument, and see Fireworks!

Learn an instrument and play it. Yes, "even a ukulele!.

nice example of fingerstyle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PiMSY9oIGQ

and
https://youtu.be/7TUZm1gTX00

\

Now we just need a forest, orchestra, talent, and lots of practice.

Deliberate Practice -again

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/06/01/479335421/practice-makes-possible-what-we-learn-by-studying-amazing-kids

==============from the article:--------

Practice Makes Possible: What We Learn By Studying Amazing Kids
Download   Transcript
June 1, 201612:00 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
CORY TURNERTwitter
LA Johnson/NPR
What made Mozart great? Or Bobby Fischer? Or Serena Williams?
The answer sits somewhere on the scales of human achievement. On one side: natural talent. On the other: hard work. Many would argue that success hangs in some delicate balance between them. But not Anders Ericsson.
Ericsson has spent decades studying the power of practice, and in his new book, Peak: Secrets From The New Science Of Expertise, co-authored with Robert Pool, he argues that "talent" is often a story we tell ourselves to justify our own failure or to protect children from the possibility of failure. He writes:

This is the dark side of believing in innate talent. It can beget a tendency to assume that some people have a talent for something and others don't and that you can tell the difference early on. If you believe that, you encourage and support the 'talented' ones and discourage the rest, creating the self-fulfilling prophecy. ... The best way to avoid this is to recognize the potential in all of us — and work to find ways to develop it.


To underscore his point, Ericsson engages in a systematic takedown of the myths of famous prodigies, including Mozart and Paganini.
Masters of their crafts? To be sure.
Hard workers? Clearly.
Naturally gifted? Not so fast.
"I have made it a hobby to investigate the stories of such prodigies," Ericsson writes, "and I can report with confidence that I have never found a convincing case for anyone developing extraordinary abilities without intense, extended practice."
Because the word "practice" is a big tent capable of hiding habits both good and bad, I spoke with Ericsson, who is on the faculty at Florida State University, about what he considers the path to mastering a craft, whether playing tennis or trombone. He calls it "deliberate practice."


What is the essence of deliberate practice?
The most optimal way to improve your performance is to find a teacher who has been teaching other people to reach the level of performance that you want to attain. This basically means that teacher will be able to tell you the most effective ways to improve. A good teacher will also be able to find suitable units of improvement, so you don't push yourself more than you can do.
Just start out, 15 or 20 minutes [a day]. Especially if you have a mentor and, ideally, a teacher. That teacher will be able to help you set reasonable expectations.
I need to ask the question that everyone asks you: Is talent a myth?
The idea that some people are born with gifts is a very counterproductive view — that your task as a high school student or college student is that you're supposed to go around testing things to find your gift. Because I have yet to find anybody who finds their gift.
What Robert and I are arguing is that it's much better to think of something you want to attain and then get the help of teachers and parents to start you on the path of creating that. On that path, you may decide you want to go in a different direction. That's fine. But you haven't simply been waiting around for something that would allow you to instantaneously become good because that's never happening. And I think the process of really seeing how you can improve is something that will transfer even if you try to improve in some other domain.
You talk about how playing a sport or an instrument doesn't mean the player is improving. What is the difference between playing regularly and deliberate practice that leads to improvement?
My favorite example is: Say you're playing doubles in tennis. And you just miss a backhand volley. Now, the game will just keep on going, and, if the same situation emerges a couple of hours later, you're not likely to do much better.
Now try a thought experiment — practicing with a coach. That coach allows you to stand by the net, ready to do your backhand volley — and then makes it increasingly more difficult. Eventually, he forces you to run up to the net to do it and then embed it in regular rallying. You can improve your performance more in those one or two hours with a coach than in five to 10 years of regular practice with your friends.
This is America, and we are obsessed with the stories of child prodigies. Do you believe they're simply kids who've practiced a lot?
Well, I've been doing research for over 30 years, and I've been looking for cases where somebody discovered that they just had this innate ability to do something really well. And in every example I've studied, once you look closer at what was happening before, you find a series of practice activities, many of them meeting the criteria of deliberate practice.
In Mozart's case, most people aren't aware that Mozart's father was a pioneer at designing training for young children to master musical instruments. He worked intensively with Mozart from age 3. So, when Mozart started to perform, he had been in training for several years and was being trained by someone who was very motivated to help his son reach a high level.
So practice is key to most prodigies' success — but so are parents?
Exactly. And that is one thing I would recommend to parents — that it is a pretty unique opportunity to be able to spend time with a child developing some kind of activity together. Now, there are abuses, where parents really push their children to perform. But, if you take the view that you're really trying to help the child develop this ability and become increasingly more able to monitor their own learning so they will eventually become independent, that is something that I think would be very beneficial for the parent and the child.
In education, there is a lot of attention right now around student "grit" or resilience. When you look at prodigies, what is it that motivates these kids to work so hard and reach the levels that they do?
I think there are some recent biographies — of [Andre] Agassi and others — that really show that, in at least a few of these cases, the parents were putting enormous pressure on these children. And I think that is not appropriate.
I believe, however, that there is a way of helping a child get enjoyment from the mastery and the development of an ability. And I would argue that the young musicians who are most likely to succeed as adult musicians are the ones who acquire the ability to enjoy their own music-making. So they can sit down and play music for their own enjoyment.
So, at some point there is a shift, from "I'm doing this because I am motivated by the approval or disapproval of a parent" to "Wow, I am very good at this, and I enjoy doing it"?
When I've been talking to the parents of prodigies, what's interesting is that the kids really enjoy playing in front of audiences. When they perform well, they get a lot of respect and other social benefits that are key to understanding why they're willing to invest [so much practice time]. It's well known that, before a public performance a child is much more motivated to practice and work on things that will translate into a better performance.
In all sorts of activities, there are these sources of motivation and enjoyment that, the more a parent or teacher can help them access, that will provide them with the motivation to master something that may be difficult. But it's only a temporary difficulty, and then they will be able to enjoy the fruits of that effort.


Let's talk about what this means for those of us who, over the years, have convinced ourselves that we're simply not good at something. My editor told me just the other day, "I'm just not a math person."
Let's look at adult activities that are consequential. Say you're starting a new company; being able to make budgets and other things is going to become important to you. When that becomes important, you'll have the motivation and willingness to do the training that will allow you to reach a high level of proficiency.
I believe one of the problems with traditional education is that, with certain kinds of math activities it's hard to see how they will actually benefit you as an adult. So, I think education can be transformed into being more skills-based, where students will be able to see how, by learning certain skills, they'll be able to do things that they couldn't do before.
One lesson of your research seems to be schools telling students that "Take our word for it, you should know this" isn't good enough. Because motivation is key to student learning.
Yes, and once you're repeating facts and procedures, you're not forced to understand and integrate that knowledge in a way that allows you to use it. And I think helping students to see how they can actually use this knowledge in a useful way motivates them to understand it and learn it in a more meaningful way.
I remember personally when I was in seventh or eighth grade, I decided I didn't want to memorize things. In history class, that presented problems. The way I solved that was to go to the library and read two or three books on the historical period. That allowed me to answer all the questions without memorizing. I could infer and relate things that were related to me in a meaningful way. That was really important to me.

learning and practice -

https://superiorviolins.com/blogs/beginner-tips/how-to-learn-any-musical-instrument-by-mastering-emotions

A basis in music theory can give you better insights into patterns and structure to the music, instead of memorizing every note by rote.

=============from the article: ===========

How to Learn Any Musical Instrument by Mastering Your Emotions

by Michael Sanchez June 27, 2017 7 Comments

If you want to learn a musical instrument or have been struggling to make progress on your current instrument, this article should be very helpful for you.

Learning how to play any musical instrument is a process that takes time and no matter how much you practice - you have to work at managing your mindset. 

Knowing how to manage your mindset and emotions will save you time and stress when you are feeling overwhelmed, as everyone who decides to learn music goes through both positive and negative emotions.

The goal of this article is to help you be more prepared when negative emotions come your way...

If you follow my points closely, you'll have a much better chance of limiting your discouragement and preventing the ultimate disappointment of quitting the instrument that at one point or other (hopefully still), you wanted so badly to learn and master. 

Starting Music and the Importance of Mindset

Most people who have interest in learning a musical instrument have one thing in common...

They are extremely excited and emotional about the thought of being able to play!

Maybe you are a parent who loves the thought of your child being exceptional at music - or an adult who loves the thought of developing a new hobby...

No matter what your situation, you can probably envision all the fun and reward you would get out of playing music well, and reaching the point of no return.

So why do so many students and parents have the passion for wanting to learn music but only a percentage actually stick with it?

The answer to that question in most instances is not because of their lack of talent...or age...or lack of time (I've heard many excuses).  

Reading between the lines, the most common reason I see comes down to the person's mindset, and how the brain evaluates progress.

This doesn't just happen with students...

I've seen many mindset mistakes with parents as they can prematurely evaluate the progress of their child (commonly related to their child's dedication/commitment level). 

If my mom would have critically evaluated my commitment level at age 13, I would not be a teacher today and have an entire business dedicated to teaching people violin...let's just say I went through a stage where I loved sports a little more than music. :)

Unfortunately most beginners of all ages have no idea how to properly evaluate themselves and commonly let emotions get the best of them. 

Thinking back to a sample set of violin students - about 9/10 of them had a negative outlook on how they play, compared to the 1/10 that thought they were doing much better than they actually were. :)

Tip: Having a private teacher is helpful because the teacher can help manage emotions and give the student a clear picture of how they are actually doing. A good teacher will not only show what you are doing wrong, but also encourage you to see progress from a healthier perspective. If you don't have access to a teacher, the next best thing is being a part of a learning group of some kind. Here is a Facebook group we manage of mostly adult learners with interest in learning violin. The group is highly encouraging and can definitely help keep your spirits up. You'll find us teachers here at Superior Violins doing our best to interact with the group and answer any questions they might have. 

Evaluating Progress in 6 Month Increments

Unfortunately, our brains are quick to judge musical ability (too much American Idol on TV).

Here's the thing...even if you are right that you don't sound good at this point in time - you might have a healthier perspective if you only evaluated yourself based on how you were doing 6 months ago. 

I like to refer to this as blocking the mind for 6. :)

This is what I ask my private students if they expressed concern for their progress on any shorter-term level...

"Wouldn't you say you sound a lot better today than you did 6 months ago? Maybe that song that gave you so much trouble during that time is much easier to play now than it was then?"

When I ask a student this question, almost every time I hear a positive response...and you know what that does?

Encourages the student to continue learning as they are seeing the big picture - not just the day-to-day or week-to-week headaches.

This is not sugar-coating anything...or being unrealistic...

It's allowing the process of positive progress to outweigh the negative...which will come out on top over time. 

So why 6 months?

A 6 month evaluation of your abilities is a much better span of time because it allows yourself to overcome discouragement that always happen.

You might relate to having not just bad days, but bad weeks. This is totally normal...

Evaluating in larger time spans allows process to take place. You can get through the tough weeks and ultimately see progress because for every one bad week, there is likely two good ones. 

Now of course if you never practice, and just let your instrument collect dust, you aren't going to be happy with your 6 month evaluation...

But when you are in the trenches of working on a musical instrument and have been only playing for a few weeks or months - this is a very good mindset to have.

By the way, these principles apply to someone that has been playing 5...10 or even 20 years. I've had my fair share of experienced students that also get way too down on themselves. 

You should say to yourself...

"I'm not going to judge myself until I've played this song or tried learning this concept for 6 months..."

or...

"Even though I've been not playing well the last few weeks, I do see that 6 months ago I was at a certain point - and now I'm much better!"

Just that positive evaluation of yourself can make all the difference in the world in how far you go with playing any musical instrument...

Through my decent sample size of students (about 500 I've taught privately in 5 years)...I would say 95% of the students that quit, I'd label as they quit prematurely...

They were either too "down" on themselves, or had too high of expectations of how many hours they needed to practice...

I've saved a lot of students from going down this "doomsday" road, but not everyone has listened to me...if only they could have experienced how good they would have gotten with just another 6 months of continuing through the process that everyone has to go through...

It's much less about raw talent than you probably think...

Tip: One of the most important parts of the process of learning music is developing a solid routine. Make yourself a practice goal today that you feel you can sustain weekly for the next 6 weeks. Be realistic based on your schedule, time availability and do everything you can to make that goal for 6 weeks straight. If you are really busy, I recommend practicing anywhere from 60-90 minutes per week to start. I wouldn't recommend going more than 150 minutes per week as that can lead to not building a solid routine and being disappointed in yourself (bad mindset). 

The Importance of Music Fundamentals

Every musical instrument has proper "form" that is vitally important to understand, work on and master over time. I like to refer to this as the skill of mastering technique and fundamentals on any instrument. 

If you want to learn a musical instrument as quickly as possible, mastering technique and fundamentals is extremely significant to see exponential success. 

Take a look at a few of my students below who I worked very close with on fundamentals and technique. I was very articulate with both of them and did everything I could to help them have perfect form from the start. The first student is age 5 (playing 1 year at point of the video), and the other student is age 12 (playing 3 years at point of the video). 

 

Now you know why I emphasis technique so much! This is very good progress for their ages and ability levels. These students could easily play into college someday or farther...as long as they continue managing and working on their technique.

Keep in mind that not just kids can establish good form, but also adult students of all ages...age is just a number and I find adults can actually do better than kids (with fundamentals) as they are generally more dedicated and willing to work on the things needed to achieve success throughout the week. 

Tip: Never let age deter you from anything I've said in this article. Adults tend to struggle most with positive mindset so the mindset of you thinking something is not working with your body to achieve success is just a falsity. 

My grandfather is 93, has arthritis and still practices 3 hours per day...wouldn't you say he has to have a pretty strong mindset to continue?

I've also had an 89 year old start with me from scratch. He flew planes until he was 78 so that just tells you his personality...:)

Mastering Fundamentals on the Violin

When it comes to learning the violin, there are many ways to master fundamentals which ultimately will help you avoid developing bad habits. 

Tip: If you have never let someone watch you play or taken private lessons, it's extremely challenging to know exactly what bad habits you might have with playing the instrument. I highly recommend doing at least one private lesson every few months, so that you can know where your focus points should be with drills in your practice sessions. 

If you can't get to a private lesson, send us a video and we can do our best to help. We have a team of four of us (all violin/viola teachers) that help students through our two websites (the one you are on now as well as Violin Tutor Pro). All four of us enjoy chatting with students and helping them out as much as possible!

As a teacher, I recommend quite a few different drills to students which helps in building proper mechanics by mastering muscle memory. Here is a free checklist which can help you identify which habits you might need to focus on most. I also put together a video with one of my students if you are interested in understanding each of these fundamentals deeper. 

Once you identify which bad habits you have on the violin and what needs to be worked on - I've developed a good resource for working on fundamentals through my Fiddle for Dummies book video library. Everything in chapter 5 focuses on drills for building proper habits (wall index drill is one of my best). 

Just in case you didn't know...the violin and fiddle are the same instrument that only differs in how it's played. Technique for learning both the violin and fiddle are similar so all the drills I have included apply to both styles of playing. 

So if you only get one thing from this article...

You need to be working on drills! 

Knowing Drills < Applying Drills

Let me explain how knowing a certain fundamental or drill is less effective than actually applying drills and improving your fundamental foundation...

Sure...many people have awareness of what they are doing wrong on a musical instrument - but many of those "smart" people only "know" - but don't actually practice drills to improve it!

I've been playing the violin/fiddle for over 27 years and if you asked me to play violin the normal way (holding the violin in my left hand) - I would have no problem playing the instrument well.

If you told me to switch hands and now hold the violin in my right hand, the left hand would now have to do all the bowing, which would make me sound terrible...and miserable!

So why is this?

Even though I have the brain knowledge for playing the violin (I understand all the fundamentals and bad habits that I have), I would still struggle to get a clean sound because I haven't developed proper muscle memory with opposite hands. 

No matter how much I know the violin, I would still have to apply drills to achieve success with opposite hands... 

Don't get me wrong...this is not something I plan on working on (learning with opposite hands - what would be the point) but just wanted to explain the concept that head knowledge is only going to get you so far!

Everyone that starts a musical instrument should take significant time to understand the importance of fundamentals and apply proper drills into their practice sessions. 

If you are light on knowledge related to your technique and fundamentals - you likely are more naive than you think about how well you are playing related to your experience level.

When you don't take the time to focus on technique, you begin to whine a lot about things you don't want to happen when you play (terrible sounds, bow bounces etc.) - but they decide to happen at the worst of times...

Every bow bounce and screech you have could be ultimately avoided...yes totally avoided!

By starting to identify bad habits today you are going to sound much better on the violin over time...And doesn't that sound like something that would be super cool?

Defining Realistic Expectations

The way you perceive progress on any musical instrument is going to significantly influence your motivation and the emotion of wanting to practice and continue to learn.

If you set your expectations for learning too high, this will likely cause you to "burn out," as you will oftentimes fall short of your expectations. Let me give you a scenario...

The Beginner Overachiever 

A common situation I've seen over the years is when a student is super-excited for their first private lesson and they talk about how much they want to learn a certain song or style. The first week they practice over 10 hours and are excited to show their progress at the next lesson. Of course, I am happy the student is so dedicated and excited, but am honestly weary of them having the personality to burn out. This type of student frequently overlooks important drills, scales and other techniques that should have been more of a focus in the time they spent practicing. They probably spent their fair share of time attempting YouTube songs instead of following the proven system of what it takes to learn fundamentals. This is a generalization that happens more often than not - I find that it happens most with younger adults than older. 

TIP: Focus on quality practice not quantity practice. Don't over-practice any instrument unless you are more experienced and confident you are practicing properly. Over-practicing can lead to bad habits which will ultimately slow progress over time. It's better to practice 150 minutes per week than to practice 150 minutes per day to start.

How to Avoid Quitting Music

The brain which can have positive emotions to start music can also function as a deterrent for continuing to learn an instrument. That is why managing your mindset is so important when it comes to achieving success with any musical instrument.

Once you decide to learn a musical instrument - you must convince your brain that it's a process that takes time...this will help you not quit prematurely. 

More often than not, people judge themselves too fast and get disappointed in how they sound after a week, a month, or even a few years.

I believe the way our brain identifies disappointment (prematurely) can partially be blamed on our fast-paced society and the concept of wanting to achieve quick results.

Unfortunately learning music doesn't happen as easy as we might want it to - although the process can be extremely rewarding if you allow time and process to take it's course. 

Let me give you an analogy...

If you had an overwhelming urge to get into shape - you would probably want to workout in some way as soon as possible. Unfortunately, just because you are super excited to workout doesn't mean you will magically achieve results overnight.

The key is understanding that the process of getting into shape takes time..A little bit of work each day will ultimately give you the results you are looking for.

So how does this relate to learning music?

So many students and adults quit the violin after just a few weeks because they feel discouraged that after practicing hours and hours - they haven't met their perceived perception of the way they should sound.

These students could label themselves as a failure and ultimately never reach the point where they can see their true potential...why?

They weren't willing to do the things they needed to do to achieve results over time! You must have realistic expectations - or you are only going to allow your mind to bring you so far. 

Hope this article helps!

2017 Town Day

2017 Town Day - at the Sanborn House starting with warm up - if I had a hammer...




https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ocrE0tlpoBPkWyH0mRLo1PR6tW47kmA