Overcoming Sheet Music Addiction

or Confessions of a Sheet Music Addict

The last few weeks have been pretty important for me in overcoming one of my SECRET FEARS . . . performing WITHOUT sheet music.

I know it doesn’t sound that frightening or serious, but its a big deal to me. I did my undergraduate degree in vocal performance, so I’m no stranger to performing memorized songs where someone else is accompanying (I memorized whole opera roles for heaven’s sake). However, adding that extra layer of accompaniment, strumming and fingerpicking on my not-very-simple homespun ukulele songs (I did my graduate degree in composition and its not uncommon for me to use a dozen different chords in a song) has been truly terrifying and has stopped me from pursuing more live performance opportunities than I would’ve liked to. This make me sad.

So why not just use a stand? The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain uses sheet music! Fine, when I’m doing a cover or performing with a group, but I just can’t bear the thought of performing my own music with a stand between me and the audience. It’s hard enough to connect with a group of strangers on a set of completely unknown songs without the additional barrier of a music stand between you and the audience, let alone without the task of dividing your attention between the score and their faces. Honestly, even in music I’ve written, I can’t help but lose my place glancing back and forth like that and I should know the music better than anyone; I wrote it.

I’ve been playing uke for a little over 5 years now (got my first uke as a present for Christmas of 2010) and I finally am beginning to feel like my skills are at a performable level for self-accompaniment. I also feel like it is time to take it to the next level. I’ll be doing a 30-minute set of original, mostly never-before-performed songs at Thanksgiving Point’s Tullip Festival this coming Saturday (April 16, 2016) at 11am . . . and I won’t be bringing a music stand with me. So, what am I doing to work toward this goal?

REALIZATION

For a long time I labored under the assumption that if I just played a song enough times that eventually I would have it memorized through sheer repetition; that’s how I memorized songs at the university (keeping tally marks at the top of a score to tell me how many times I’d done a particular piece). Well, this was NOT working for me with self-accompaniment on the ukulele. In fact, I found as long as kept my eyes on the score I wasn’t memorizing the chords OR the words no matter how many times I repeated the song. It turns out my brain has figured out that if I always have a visual reminder then there is no need to commit the information to memory. Dang lazy brain! I just have to admit it, I am a recovering sheet music addict.

CHANGE OF TACTICS

Here are some steps that I believe are helping me in my recovery:

1. I’ve sung these songs a lot of times. I can perform all the chord changes and accompanimental patterns flawlessly while singing emotively. This was a necessary first step, I needed that familiarity, but now is the time to move on.
2. I stopped looking at the score and struggled through the songs passage by passage. Often I would forget which chord belonged where. When I made a mistake I would back up to the beginning of the phrase or section and go through it until I could do it right a few times in a row. Then I moved on until I came across another trouble spot. In this way I was eventually able to ‘connect-the-dots’ and make it through whole songs.
3. I created cards that just showed the chord change patterns for an entire song with no words, melody or notes on strumming/fingerpicking. I did use these a few times and I think they helped me see the patterns in my own music better. Recognizing a pattern is very helpful to the brain in memorization.
4. I timed all the songs and then ordered the songs and printed out a ‘set list’ for the upcoming performance. I am carrying this set list in my wallet and am making sure my ukulele is with me whenever I’m out an about in case I have a few moments to go through one or more songs.

In a few weeks, I’ve gone from having just one of my songs memorized to ten songs near ready to go. I’m still making mistakes and need to do a lot more reps of my set list in the coming week, but I’m encouraged by the progress I’m making. Hopefully, the distractions of live performance in a park setting won’t prove too much for me and turn this all into a disaster, but I have hope and recently read an interesting article on stage fright that had some pointers I think will really help. Here’s hoping I’ll ‘break a leg’!

CONCLUSION

It turns out the memorization process for me is just a brutal slog and I have to be disciplined enough not to go running back to the music unless I really can’t figure out a section. If you have any tips or ideas, things that help you memorize music, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Thanks!

Review: Ukulele Aerobics by Chad Johnson

This is a review of Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced by Chad Johnson that I posted on Amazon . . .

Who this book is NOT for: Beginners. The only reason this book got a one-star rating from someone is that it is marketed as an ‘ALL LEVELS’ book, which I consider false advertising (which is why I see it as a four star book). I can say this with some confidence because I’ve taught hundreds of beginning students to play the ukulele and this book would leave most of them in the dust, discouraged and disheartened. Also, this book is NOT for people who prefer to learn the ukulele organically . . . by which I mean ‘one song at a time’ (the book includes drills for skills in seven categories, there are no songs in this book). Despite these drawbacks . . . this is an awesome book.

Who this book IS for: players with a firm grasp of the basics, that have a good number of chords already under their belt, have good practicing skills, aren’t afraid of standard staff notation and are glad to see it side by side with tablature. If this is you, you’re going to get a lot out of this book.

That said, I consider myself an intermediate player with a lot of musical knowledge that translates over from other instruments I’ve learned to play. Even with that kind of background, there’s some pretty tough stuff in this book that you’re going to have to be patient with . . .

The toughest part may be the advanced/tricky chord shapes that are thrown out pretty early in the book (I have a hard time understanding the rhyme/reason for the order in which chords are introduced). But, if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy stretching yourself a bit to make your fingers fit these shapes.

I like what one of the other reviewers said about using each week as a daily round of seven drills. I think people will get a lot more out of the book practicing this way as some of the drills are not going to be mastered in a day.

WHAT I LOVE: There’s stuff in this book I haven’t seen anywhere else, and I’ve bought about twenty instructional ukulele books in my quest to be a better teacher. Also, as a singer/songwriter, it is so nice to be able to pick up new techniques, fingerpicking, strumming, chords, riffs to inspire my own writing.

Ukulele Aerobics can be found on Amazon (link above) or on Hal Leonard’s website: http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=102162

How should I practice? : 3 Top Tips for Making Fast Progress

I’ve thought a lot about this quote, attributed to the great pianist Bill Evans, “It’s better to practice one song for 24 hours than play 24 tunes in one hour.”

By nature, I’m a 24-tune-an-hour kind of guy. I love variety. I love playing through songs. That said, I know there is a better way to practice and make progress. Here are my three top tips for making quick progress on your instrument.

1. Slow is Fast

Everyone wants to play a song up to tempo, even at the beginning. The problem is, we experience time in a very relative way. When things are easy, our timing is pretty spot on, but when things get tough, time seems to warp and we slow down. Sometimes, we don’t even realize we’re slowing down. If you want to test this, try playing a song that has some easy spots and some tough spots and then turn on a metronome and see what happens.

Because of this ‘time warp’ effect in our brains, people often lumber on through the difficult stretches without stopping, usually not realizing that they’ve slowed way down, only to speed up again when the going gets easy. This really messes with our sense of timing, which in itself is an important musical skill that must be developed.

The solution to this problem is to slow down and . . .

2. Put the Tough Spots on Loop

Forget about starting at the beginning every time. You know where the tough spots are in that song you’re practicing. Isolate a difficult passage of the music and put it on loop. Repeat that section slowly, over and over. It may only be a little twiddly-bit or lick, or it may be a full measure or two, or it may be a longer phrase. Isolate it and loop it . . . over and over and over again.

3. Practice with Someone (or Something)

Make sure you’re being honest with yourself. Practice with a metronome and keep looping those tough passages in a slow time. Then, as you feel more comforatable, raise the tempo, little by little until you’ve mastered the passage. Then, merge the passage back into the song. When you’ve got it to your satisfaction and feel you can’t make a mistake (or can’t take it anymore – in which case you can come back to it later), move on to the next difficult section and repeat the process.

One of the reasons I enjoy leading and practicing with my ukulele group, UFO HUM, is that it forces me to do this process with real people which are a lot more fun than metronomes. Alternatively, you can always use drum loops or recording of songs to practice with. The problem in these is controlling the tempo and slowing them down (though there is software for this, its too much trouble for me).

Conclusion

That’s the process I’ve found most helpful making real progress with my instrument: slow down, loop tough passages and use a metronome (or group) to make sure you’re being honest in your timing.

What practicing tips have you found useful? Please comment!
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Want more tips? Visit NPR’s 10 Easy Ways to Optimize Your Music Practice.

Review: The Ukulele Toolbox DVD 1

Here is my review and notes from The Ukulele Toolbox DVD 1 released by Homespun Video.

General observations: Over 2hrs of instruction from the late Bob Brozman. The video has a stream of consciousness, conversational tone. The presentation jumps quickly from concept to concept. Be prepared to pause and run back. If I was just starting out, and new little about music, this video would probably overwhelm me. As an intermediate player, I found much that was interesting for me to work on. One of the nice bonuses you should be aware of is that the DVD has a PDF with all the exercises and concepts Bob introduces for you to print off.

Notes

Tuning the Ukulele (GCEA) and issues

• Guitar tuning issues are magnified because of the smaller scale of the uke.
• Use an electronic tuner, but double check the instrument against itself.
• Practical information on adjusting the nut.
• Fine tune “1 to 1 ratio” peg head tuners with a “Pinto Bean Fine Tuner.”

Right Hand Rhythm

• Brain runs many different ‘software programs’ at the same time, so divide and conquer.
• Whole arm stroke . . . down with thumb and up with first finger.
• Swung rhythm vs Straight rhythm.
• Cutting off notes (muting): professional controls where the notes end. Mute with the fleshy side of the palm.
• Strums with thumb and index, index alone and middle finger alone.
• Triplet: down middle, up index, up middle.
• Practice slow and deliberately at first, but as you speed up be lighter with less effort.
• Use the fingerboard as a landing pad for strumming.
• Trying triplets on various beats of the measure.
• All about cutting, pasting and reassembling these little ideas.
• Four finger roll and four finger roll followed by the thumb (calls it a scroll).
• Arranging the landscape of your songs: aggressive, soft, etc.
• Triplet 2 (whole arm triplet): DOWN up down UP down up DOWN up down UP down up.
• 4 2 3 1 (string numbers) fingerpicking with the thumb and index.
• Fingerpicking partial chords with triplet accents.
• Left hand finger placement for partial chords (6ths).
• Blues turnaround.
• Importance of getting variety, cutting and pasting.
• Pinching strings 4 & 2 and 3 & 1.
• Strumming across different parts of the strings changes tone and accent.
• Use the first part of your practice to focus on right hand rhythm and challenge yourself to come up with interesting variations.

The Key of C

• String science, the Greeks, harmonics and home base.
• Scales all made up of combinations of whole steps and half steps.
• The C scale.
• C and G7 chords.
• Think ahead on chord changes.
• Incorporating melodies into chord positions.
• Cadential G7 (0535).
• Alternate F (2013).
• Fingerpicking 4 2 1 3 2 1 3 2
• Fingerpicking 4 2 1 3 2 1
• Many songs use just C, G7 and F.
• Chapter 15: Putting together a blues progression. C, C7, F (and F7), and G7 plus closing turnaround.
• Embellished turnarounds and alternate chord voicings.
• Playing C, G7 and F with the 2-4^th fingers to prepare for barre chords.
• Getting more leverage for barre chords.
• Relationships of chords (1, 4, 5) vs. Names of chords (C, F, G7).
• Partial chords can suggest the chord you intend.
• Some chord theory on 9ths, etc.
• Basic ‘Slants’ (partial chords) on middle strings: 00 21 43 55 77 98, etc.

The Key of G

• 1, 4 & 5 = G, C & D7.
• Alternate C voicing.
• Short and long slants in the key of G on strings 1 & 2.
• Key of F = F, Bb & C7.
• Cycle of Fifths (Circle of Fifths) and dominant chords as questions: D7, G7, C7, F.
• Practicing more difficult chord shapes.
• Chord progression Bb, Bbm, F, D7, G7, C7, F. Ending Bb, Bbm, F.

Adding Minors

• Taking that chord progression back to C: F, Fm, C, A7, D7, G7, C.
• Major keys and their relative minors.
• A minor: Am, Dm, E7.
• Adding slaps to your strum patterns.
• 4 inversions for most chords.
• D minor: Dm, Gm, A7 (A dim).
• Chapter 31: 16 bar Calypso in Am: Am, Am, E7, Am, repeat, A7, Dm, G7, C, A7, Dm, E7, Am.
• Relative major Calypso progression.
• Sliding fully closed chords from underneath by one fret for swingtime numbers.
• 32 Bar Form: AABA. Examples with two kinds of bridges.

I Love a Ukulele

• Song tutorial.