When we needed a sturdy, portable music stand a few years ago, we bought a Hercules…folding music stand, that is. I’m a big fan of Manhassets when space is no issue (and we own several!), but when it just has to fold, Hercules is our stand of choice.
Another Hercules in the Family!
We needed another folding music stand recently when our family had to head in different directions to cover two gigs at once, and I didn’t even think twice before buying another Hercules BS100B. I wrote about the first one in this linked article, and it continues to serve us well. Many stands lose their ability to stay positioned correctly with age – if they ever were able to do so in the first place – but the little Herc does so without complaint. Bad stands can ruin a gig, while good stands do their job so well they may as well be invisible. That’s the BS100B.
One piece of advice: the EZ Glide locking mechanism takes a bit of getting used to, as initially it seems to be either too “sticky” or too loose. Just like my car’s AC, though, eventually I got it adjusted to “just right”…and I’ve pretty much ignored it ever since.
If you’re looking for an excellent folding music stand, check it out. Many places carry them, including Amazon, Musician’s Friend, and our advertising friends at Guitar Center (please see ad in right column). I hope it works for you as well as they have for us!
Keep playing,
Mark
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What do you do when life drops a plateful of challenges in front of you? What if the music – or at least the music-making – must stop for a bit? Well…you adapt. :-)
As mentioned in our last post, there are numerous things you can do to get your music fix, even if you can’t directly feed your playing addiction. We’ve been making our way through a few techno-medical challenges in the PartTimeMusician (PTM) command center, and while they’ve certainly made things a bit more interesting around here, we’re making our way back to a more normal (whatever that is!) balance of music-listening and music-making as we go along. We’re also beginning to put the technical hurdles in the rear-view mirror, and by this time next week, they should be nothing but a humorous footnote in the logs. Well, that’s the plan, anyway. :-D
For those who have contributed to the backlog of material that is crying out to be shared with our greater PTM family, thank you! And thank you all for your patience, kind thoughts, prayers, and common love of making music. As often as it’s said, it’s true: it’s all good!
Keep playing,
Mark
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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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Tags: better, keys, life, music, never too late, nothing, something, success, two
Band, Bass Guitar, Brass, Ensemble, General, Gigs, Guitar, Inspiration, Learning, Orchestra, Percussion, Piano, Strings, Venues, Woodwinds | Mark March 6, 2011 | 
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We often speak about being hooked on music, and our tagline above refers to our need to perform it (even alone, to ourselves) as a “playing addiction”. Turns out, we’re right. I know, I’m as surprised as you are. :-)
Okay, I’m not really surprised…and you probably aren’t either. But validation is nice, no? This article published by our friends at ars technica and conducted at McGill University delves into the science of it all, concluding that the intoxicating effects of music – literally, to an extent – are the result of a dopamine rush we get from music. I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone (the butler did it – doh!), but this tidbit really caught my eye:
“Not only that, but the scientists noticed that various parts of the striatum responded to the dopamine rush differently. The caudate was more involved during the expectation of some really nice musical excerpt, and the nucleus accumbens took the lead during ‘the experience of peak emotional responses to music.’
In other words, just the anticipation our favorite passage stimulates the production of dopamine. ‘Our results help to explain why music is of such high value across all human societies,’ the writers conclude.”
You read that right: just thinking about a passage that gives you chills (when you hear it) can give you chills. Music is powerful stuff. :-D
Think about that when you’re juggling too much, running too fast, and wondering why you continue to try to play during those unusually hectic weeks. When it all comes down to it, we all need a healthy addiction…and it doesn’t get much healthier than good music.
Keep playing,
Mark
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Almost every musician has one or more pieces that, once heard, they will never forget. Some people even take up an instrument specifically because of a particular selection. While some of our non-music-playing friends may not understand this, it’s something everyone with a “playing addiction” can readily comprehend.
Today’s quote speaks directly to this:
“Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.”
Sir Thomas Beecham, British conductor (1879-1961)
If you have a particular piece that began your musical journey or has inspired you along the way, pick it up and play it from time to time and let its magic wash over you again. And when you get a chance, share it with someone else. They just might get caught up in the magic, too. :-)
Keep playing,
Mark
Additional information:
Wikipedia article on Sir Thomas Beecham
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Tags: British, conductor, difficulty, facility, great, magic, memory, music, quote, Thomas Beecham
Quote of the Day | Mark January 25, 2011 |
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