Category: Strings

Cello Wars: A Fun Farewall to the Year!

As we prepare to celebrate the passing of one year and the arrival of another, I hope everyone in the PartTimeMusician (PTM) family can take a moment to reflect, anticipate, and smile at what we hope the future brings our way.

The past year brought challenges for all of us – you…you…you…and me as well. But somehow, we made it through. And the year ahead brings with it much promise. There will be time for scales and studies, exercises and etudes, practices and performances once the new year begins! For now, though, we here at PTM wish you a fun-filled, safe New Year’s Eve with this slightly-geeky ode to Star Wars and orchestral musicians.  :-D

May your light sabers stay sharp and your pitches stay true,
Mark

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Musical Stylin’

I was sent this video by a friend (thanks, Augie!) and just had to share it. While there are various styles of music, and we typically favor one (or a few) above the rest, this group demonstrates in a fun-yet-very-impressive way that they really aren’t as far removed from each other as we might think.

I’d never actually heard of this group before, but I’m told they may have played here on a recent tour of the US. You can be sure I’ll try to catch them on their next trip across the pond!

If you get a chance to see the MozART Group – or any other live music, for that matter – by all means, do so! There is much to be said for a live performance in terms of ideas and inspiration, and it keeps the music flowing – both for the artist(s) you’re seeing and for you as well! Until then, there’s always YouTube.  :-)

Keep playing,
Mark

For more information about the MozART Group, please visit their website here: The MozART Group.

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THE Two Keys to Success in Music (and Life)!

I was chatting with a friend of mine recently and he passed along some advice so simple, yet so profound, that I felt it just had to be shared. With all of the excellent advice out there for the current or aspiring Part-Time Musician (PTM) – and I’d like to think we’ve passed along a good deal of it! – it just doesn’t get much better than this.

It’s Never Too Late to Start

However old you are now, whether 8 or 88, you’re at the perfect age to start playing an instrument. If you don’t already play the instrument you’d like to play, for Heaven’s sake, START NOW! What is holding you back…really? Fear of committing to…doing something you’ve always wanted to do? Fear of…not being very good until you’ve progressed a bit? The cost of…investing in your personal growth and fulfillment? Short of physical inability (five year old + double bass = bad idea), there is no good reason for putting it off. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START PLAYING THE INSTRUMENT YOU LOVE!

Something is Better Than Nothing

We’ve written previously about “micro-sessions” for practicing (click here to see article), but to cut straight to the chase, any quality time is better than no quality time…even if it’s just a few minutes each day. You won’t get to Carnegie Hall on five minutes a day, but you could learn a few tunes over the course of a few months, work on tuning and intonation, throw in a few embellishments, and amaze just about everyone you know – including yourself – with your progress in less than a year’s time. Yes, you’ll improve faster with more time and thought invested; but begin with whatever you can and adjust as appropriate. SOMETHING REALLY IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

These same principles apply to anything in life (fitness, learning a language, reading, etc.), but they hold special importance for us as PTMs. Remember these keys and apply them, and someday, you just might amaze yourself with what you can do.

All the best,
Mark

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The Effects of Classical Music on an Open Mind

Growing up, I didn’t listen to classical music. I suspect that there may have been a classical radio station on the dial – or at least one that sometimes programmed classical music – but that isn’t where my thinking lay at the time. In hindsight, I missed out on a musical treasure trove. Ah, the tragedies of youth.  :-)

I wasn’t alone, of course. This article in the Kansas City Star summarizes a similar epiphany encountered by (former) pop music critic Eric Silbin. Once he heard the Bach Cello Suites, he was hooked. In his words:

“It was like being hit by musical lightning. I was really struck by the intensity and beauty of this music, which was so different from anything I had heard before”

Mr. Silbin hit the nail on the head. When I ambled into classical music, I was amazed at the depth it contained compared to my daily diet of pop, band music, and contemporary compositions and arrangements. It was the real deal, and even though I was unfamiliar with classical music as a whole, I could immediately appreciate its beauty and complexity – at least at a basic level.

There are still classical pieces I don’t like and times I listen to other music; after all, good music spans all types…and so does bad.  :-)  But like Mr. Silbin, Bach and his fellow composers enchant me. Especially Bach, and especially Pablo Casals’ recordings of those aforementioned cello suites. If you haven’t heard them, click this link to check them out:

J. S. Bach: Suites for Cello, 1, 2 & 3

Keep in mind this is one man, on one instrument, recorded around 70 years ago. Personally, this is one of my all-time favorite CDs.

Whatever you play, keep playing! But don’t be afraid to branch out in your listening and playing. There’s treasure out there, folks! Don’t leave it undiscovered.

All the best,
Mark

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Citation/ticket for bass players

As a bassist, this one was just too good to pass up. Feel free to share with your bass-playing friends, as all bassists (by nature) have great senses of humor. We have to; we hang with drummers.  ;-)

All the best,
Mark

BASS PLAYER OFFENSES

NAME OF OFFENDER – ___________________________
INFRACTION DATE – _____________________________

MUSICAL OFFENSES FINE

[ ]Playing loudly during warm up $10
[ ]Sound-checking amp with funk slapping $25
[ ]Loud cursing after mistake $10
[ ]Playing high and fast after mistake $20
[ ]Practicing 2-handed tapping between tunes $20
[ ]Asking for “E” tuning note $25
[ ]Playing E anyway when horns tune to Bb $50
[ ]Playing written-out walking line $50
[ ]Failure to play written walking line $75
[ ]Writing note names over ledger-line notes $50
[ ]Writing beat numbers under dotted figures $50
[ ]Playing eighth notes $5 each
[ ]Playing sixteenth notes $10 each
[ ]Playing above 1st octave immediate dismissal
[ ]Dragging fast tempo $75
[ ]Dragging ballad tempo $100
[ ]Blacking out during ballad $200
[ ]Ignoring drummer’s tempo $100
[ ]Following drummer’s tempo $250
[ ]Asking to borrow Real Book for All Of Me $1000

UPRIGHT PLAYERS

[ ]Showing up before first downbeat $25
[ ]Playing audibly $25
[ ]Faking changes $25
[ ]Slapping $150
[ ]Missing tutti lick, then mentioning vintage of bass $25
[ ]Excessive sweating $25
[ ]Pedal point double-stops during horn solo $50
[ ]Asking leader for a solo $30
[ ]Accepting solo when offered $50
[ ]Taking second chorus $100
[ ]Playing solo arco $400
[ ]Pretending to check tuning after playing out of tune $100
[ ]Playing “A Train” ending on every tune $200
[ ]Playing extended “A Train” ending on every tune $500

ELECTRIC PLAYERS

[ ]Checking hair between tunes $15
[ ]Experimenting with odd meters $25
[ ]Missing root at end of blistering fill $25
[ ]Playing with a pick $50
[ ]Tuning during ballad $30
[ ]Playing Jaco groove on samba $75
[ ]Playing Jaco samba groove on ballad $150
[ ]Attempting last word on final chord $50
[ ]Achieving last word on final chord $100
[ ]Long gliss down to final note $200

EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS – ELECTRIC

[ ]Forgetting strap $10
[ ]Changing strings after every set $15
[ ]Using electric tuner $15
[ ]Setting up mic “just in case” $75
[ ]Forgetting to turn amp on $40
[ ]Bringing amp larger than 1 person can carry in 1 trip $50
[ ]Asking horn player for help moving amp $25
[ ]Bringing custom-made bass $100 per string above 4
[ ]Bringing more than 1 bass $100 per extra bass
[ ]Skull decals on bass $150
[ ]Bringing fretless bass $500

CRIMINAL BAD TASTE

[ ]Telling bone player about all the gigs you get $10
[ ]Asking bone player about their day gig $10
[ ]Sitting behind drums on break $10
[ ]Quoting “Birdland” $25
[ ]Practicing scales during break $25
[ ]Practicing scales during drum solo $50
[ ]Practicing $150
[ ]Beginning a sentence with “When I was a guitar player…” $50
[ ]Casually mentioning to Musical Director of cheap theater that you are “into sequencing” $10

BASIC STUPIDITY

[ ]Wearing old Buddy Rich tour shirt $10
[ ]Wearing new Whitesnake tour shirt $20
[ ]Asking when the rock set starts $20
[ ]Continually asking “where are we?” $25
[ ]Continually shouting “Yeah!” $25
[ ]Asking bone player where “1″ is $50
[ ]Taking cellphone call during 4′s $100

~BASS PLAYER OFFENSES~NAME OF OFFENDER – ___________________________
INFRACTION DATE – _____________________________

MUSICAL OFFENSES FINE

[ ]Playing loudly during warm up $10
[ ]Sound-checking amp with funk slapping $25
[ ]Loud cursing after mistake $10
[ ]Playing high and fast after mistake $20
[ ]Practicing 2-handed tapping between tunes $20
[ ]Asking for “E” tuning note $25
[ ]Playing E anyway when horns tune to Bb $50
[ ]Playing written-out walking line $50
[ ]Failure to play written walking line $75
[ ]Writing note names over ledger-line notes $50
[ ]Writing beat numbers under dotted figures $50
[ ]Playing eighth notes $5 each
[ ]Playing sixteenth notes $10 each
[ ]Playing above 1st octave immediate dismissal
[ ]Dragging fast tempo $75
[ ]Dragging ballad tempo $100
[ ]Blacking out during ballad $200
[ ]Ignoring drummer’s tempo $100
[ ]Following drummer’s tempo $250
[ ]Asking to borrow Real Book for All Of Me $1000

UPRIGHT PLAYERS

[ ]Showing up before first downbeat $25
[ ]Playing audibly $25
[ ]Faking changes $25
[ ]Slapping $150
[ ]Missing tutti lick, then mentioning vintage of bass $25
[ ]Excessive sweating $25
[ ]Pedal point double-stops during horn solo $50
[ ]Asking leader for a solo $30
[ ]Accepting solo when offered $50
[ ]Taking second chorus $100
[ ]Playing solo arco $400
[ ]Pretending to check tuning after playing out of tune $100
[ ]Playing “A Train” ending on every tune $200
[ ]Playing extended “A Train” ending on every tune $500

ELECTRIC PLAYERS

[ ]Checking hair between tunes $15
[ ]Experimenting with odd meters $25
[ ]Missing root at end of blistering fill $25
[ ]Playing with a pick $50
[ ]Tuning during ballad $30
[ ]Playing Jaco groove on samba $75
[ ]Playing Jaco samba groove on ballad $150
[ ]Attempting last word on final chord $50
[ ]Achieving last word on final chord $100
[ ]Long gliss down to final note $200

EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS – ELECTRIC

[ ]Forgetting strap $10
[ ]Changing strings after every set $15
[ ]Using electric tuner $15
[ ]Setting up mic “just in case” $75
[ ]Forgetting to turn amp on $40
[ ]Bringing amp larger than 1 person can carry in 1 trip $50
[ ]Asking horn player for help moving amp $25
[ ]Bringing custom-made bass $100 per string above 4
[ ]Bringing more than 1 bass $100 per extra bass
[ ]Skull decals on bass $150
[ ]Bringing fretless bass $500

CRIMINAL BAD TASTE

[ ]Telling bone player about all the gigs you get $10
[ ]Asking bone player about their day gig $10
[ ]Sitting behind drums on break $10
[ ]Quoting “Birdland” $25
[ ]Practicing scales during break $25
[ ]Practicing scales during drum solo $50
[ ]Practicing $150
[ ]Beginning a sentence with “When I was a guitar player…” $50
[ ]Casually mentioning to Musical Director of cheap theater that you are “into sequencing” $10

BASIC STUPIDITY

[ ]Wearing old Buddy Rich tour shirt $10
[ ]Wearing new Whitesnake tour shirt $20
[ ]Asking when the rock set starts $20
[ ]Continually asking “where are we?” $25
[ ]Continually shouting “Yeah!” $25
[ ]Asking bone player where “1″ is $50
[ ]Taking cellphone call during 4′s $100

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