In music, “practice makes perfect”. However, knowing that “perfect” might involve hours on the piano, it is understandable that many are put off starting on an instrument at all.
Too often I meet people who would like to play a piece from their favourite composer/songwriter/pop artist who think that they can get away with doing the bare minimum and still expect good results. Life as we know, does not work like that. Ultimately, you can never be really good and excel at something you haven’t worked at consistently. And the key word here is WORK.
The process of going through the passages in a piece of music many times over, the recognition of mistakes, the repetition of it all until it becomes second nature – all this is effort and concentration-based. It would be easy for any teacher of any skill to sugar-coat the truth and tell students/pupils that achievement of that skill is quick and easy. It would certainly be more attractive and get more clients too! However, it is always best to recognise from the start that there’s no such reality as ‘something for nothing’ as long as you realise this truth, know what you want, are passionate about it and then make a determined effort to overcome any obstacles in your learning, you will see positive results.
Here are two common problems people face in practicing and some tips to keep you motivated and focused:
Procrastination: Yes, the problem is even before we set fingers on the keys! Most of us have at some point felt like putting off that task for yet another time even though we know in the back of our minds, it is important and must be done, sooner or later. In the case of piano practice, here is a tip to help you break down that psychological barrier: break it down. Aim to focus for just FIVE minutes on whatever you have on your agenda to work on. Focus intently doing as much as you can. You’ll soon find 5 minutes passing by quickly and you becoming immersed in whatever you are learning.
Impatience: this is really the core of it. Getting to the piano and starting practice is one thing, but the ability to maintain a positive outlook when things repeatedly go wrong (as they sometimes do) is crucial. You must develop a focus by taking each practice section and asking yourself OUT LOUD what is was that went wrong. The reason for this is that hearing yourself comment on what you are working on, concentrates the mind, more than thinking inside your head. It directs your focus if you need to make notes and corrections.
The other method is writing things down. Physical act of writing what you’re learning will help you retain the information. Too often, I’ve met people who’ve told me they ‘went at a piece many times and didn’t get anywhere’. The reason for this is what I call ‘unfocused repetition’. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, is (according to Einstein and others) ‘insanity’. In the case of piano practice, repeating a passage many times over and yet making the same mistake each time, only leads you to a) form the mistake as a habit and b) frustration. So make sure you are taking short pauses now and then to make slight corrections, notes and other insights when repeating a section of music many times – it’s the quality and quantity that counts.
Try and create games/challenges for yourself, no matter how simplistic they may be. Furthermore, reward yourself for winning at the game or achieving your goal. I had one pupil who would line up 5 of his favourite sweets on the piano stand. He would practice 5 scales. Each time he got one of his scales perfect, he would take one sweet and eat it! Whatever works for you, have a strategy for making your practice fun and effective. The psychology of achievement and the other payoffs can be huge.
Finally, note down or record your successes, even going as far as using a video/audio device. This keeps your motivation at sky-high levels, reminding you of what you are capable of.
To say that a particular Christian band or artist is “the best” is obviously subjective, but my job is to research what’s out there with great detail in order to provide you, the listener, with what I believe is the best new Christian music on the scene. First let me begin by saying that there is a lot of new music I like, but I must admit that the majority of it isn’t that exciting. If you are like me, you probably have thought, “why can’t Christian artists hold up quality wise with some of the top secular artists/bands?” I don’t really want to listen to secular stuff because the message just isn’t there, yet outside of a few Christian acts like Mercyme and Casting Crowns, I just get bored rather quickly. The lyrical content is usually spot on, but I’m just not inspired by the music like I am when listening to the classics like The Beatles or any great secular act.
When it comes to new releases, I find that on the first few listens I am fooled into thinking that it’s new and improved, but then it wears off on me quickly. Again, there is a lot of stuff for sure that is very cool and certainly creative, but if this is God’s music, it should be far better than that. I can assure you that I have listened to a majority of all the new music out there and have a very good grasp on what’s hot and what is mere window dressing. There are so many bands and artists out there fighting for airplay and it is usually the case that the ones who are outside of the main CCM circuit hold more depth.
We can’t deny that music can affect our state of mind, influencing our daily life, and the reason for this is mysterious. We always look for a music that is something livelier while doing some physical work or exercises or out socializing on a larger group and keep listening to relaxing music for a nice and quiet romantic dinner. An increased rate of car accidents ican be caused by listening to fast music while driving and based on recent studies the Mozart effects claim to increase intelligence. We might have heard of farmers who increase their production by playing music to their animals. Below are the main aspects of music and their facets in turn that influence our daily life.
Tempo and rhythm
Pitch Melody and Harmony
Tempo and Rhythm and its combination has an immediate physical impact on our perceptions. The rhythm of an object suggests more or less frequent movement to qualify the repetitive nature of the underlying beat, even though the tempo of a piece of music might be slow and relaxed. A high frequency of notes can suggest a degree of contained excitement within that relaxed state. Music tends to have a steady tempo to it, often measured in beats per minute. Most of the music based on simple observation is in the range of 50-200 beats per minute, the same as the extreme range of our heartbeats. The music tempo of the piece of music roughly equates with the heartbeat associated with the corresponding state or emotions.
120-160 is common in some energetic situation since the heartbeat and the music tempo has a strong degree of suggestion. 80-120 is quiet a common tempo, since we crave some degree of excitement from our entertainment. 80-100 is moderately alert and interested otherwise 100 upward is increasingly lively excited or agitated. Ranging from 60-80 beats per minute is calm and relaxes, less than 60 often very relaxed, introspective or even depressed.
Pitch, Melody & Harmony
Pitch on its own affects our perception on how we perceived sounds and music providing a basic scale from high = light, happy, carefree to low = dark, sad, ominous. As part of our evolutionary heritage we tend to find large things more threatening than smaller things. Generally bigger objects make deeper noises whether long column of air or long strings in a musical instrument, big chest, large animal footsteps, or large objects banging together. Conversely smaller instruments, short columns of air, short strings, small animals or objects make higher pitch noises.
Harmony is the combination of tones with different pitches, Even though some are seem to be close to the combination of notes is completely the natural set of different notes produced by something vibrating and easily demonstrated musically of brass instruments. Those “natural “(without keys) instruments such as bugle, octaves, fifths and thirds produced are a series of notes. That is so well together to make “harmonious ” sounds like major chords. String instruments can be demonstrate the lowest notes of the harmonic series by playing the strongest ” harmonics” of the strings which divide the length into fractions like halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, etc. All that varies in degrees within all notes, and their proportions help to make sounds their unique color or tones, is always presented by harmonic.
Repetition is the simplest form of PATTERN. If we see something familiar, then it triggers memories and related thoughts are sometimes consciously and unconsciously. The repetition need not to be exact but “similar” enough to trigger familiarity. The aspects of our intelligence allowed us to adopt in so many different climates and conditions that make the best use of available shelter and resources, to build language and culture to communicate to each other in succeeding generations. It also allow us to appreciate and to create pattern for its own sake in the form of visual and aural arts which human brains particularly seem to have a highly developed and flexible pattern recognition capability.
Meditation is a necessary exercise. Many of us during these modern times incur a great deal of stress in our day to day living. Trance music is a very useful tool to help one relax, meditate, and relinquish stress. This music is created for the specific purpose of relaxing the mind and body. However, as is meditation, trance music is a very personal thing. It must be specifically catered to the individual using it.
We all have our unique mental triggers. Different triggers make each and every one of us react differently. Because of this, some meditation music that works for one person may not work for another. With beat software, anybody can make completely unique music on their computer. This would allow you to create any genre of music, including trance music.
Software allows you to bypass the purchasing of expensive meditation music CD’s. With one low price, usually less than it costs for one CD of meditation music, you can download a quality beat software which will allow you to make as much music as you like for your entire lifetime.
You do not have to be skilled or have any prior knowledge about recording music to use beat software. Modern software is extremely user friendly. Anyone can learn how to produce music in less than an hour. You are not just limited to the production of trance music either. With beat software you can produce any genre of music.
Do not spend anymore of your money on mass produced trance music. This is not cost effective and chances are it will not meet your meditative needs. More and more people are now using beat software, not just the professional music producers. It has been developed to meet the needs of everybody, quality software will have thousands of sounds loaded into it and will produce studio quality music.
Drew Stevyns is a prolific singer song writer who has been singing since the age of two and has developed his abilities as a singer songwriter in quite a remarkable way. It’s a craft that Stevyns has spent years honing. The Maryland native spent his childhood singing in England in church and choirs. Music has always been a quiet intensity that has encompassed the path Stevyns continues to follow today.
After returning to the U.S., Stevyns sustained his musical development by taking piano lessons, singing in his high school chorus, and teaching himself to play guitar. After graduating high school and spending some time in college Stevyns worked a variety of jobs to fulfill his dream of playing music professionally. Before performing professionally Stevyns trenched his way through the seemingly impossible hurdles that every musician faces.
“It’s been a crazy ride! It was very difficult for awhile playing sometimes for money and sometimes for none. Every artist playing their own music is trying to standout in someway, which seems to be an almost impossible task at times. You have to give every part of yourself, everything you possibly can…otherwise what’s the point? The only thing I have ever wanted is to play music, its all I want to do!”
Music has always been a close companion to Stevyns and it shows in his music. In each song that Stevyns writes he tries to tell his story through the words. There is a palpable sadness to Stevyns’ voice that makes his songs impossible to shake, and the music surges, hard-edged yet beautiful and melodic. Stevyns voice is hypnotic in nature and pulls the listeners close in a unique way that allows the audience to feel what Stevyns’ feels. Listeners are able to connect with Stevyns’ music in a very personal and emotional way that few artists’ are able to achieve in a career let alone a single song or performance.
“Every experience you have in life only adds to your repertoire as a musician and in each performance I give, I try to convey that and put that behind my music.”
Evoking a wide range of styles and influences, Stevyns’ music has firmly placed him in a tradition of modern-rock troubadours along with Jeff Buckley and Jim Morrison. Stevyns’ fervor filled voice calls to mind what Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley might have sounded like if he had listened to a few Tori Amos albums- passionate, resonant and sharp.
Stevyns has made a name for himself regionally, nationally, and internationally. The response has been extremely positive and Stevyns popularity continues to grow through a wide range of fans worldwide.
“I am extremely flattered and humbled. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Listen Live here on Reverb Nation… You can find more information about Drew Stevyns on Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter, and Google. Send him a friends request, become a fan and join his mailing list to get updates on his career and upcoming performances. Also check out his Reverb Nation page for information on how to purchase his music and other merchandise.