Let's Go Back to School

Aimless on Campus

     For most people, school has started or is about to start. It's an important time: summer is over and it's time to get back to the books. I'm sure most musicians will be in a music program, perhaps even a new and unfamiliar one- this is a truly exciting time! If you're like me, however, you might find yourself not in a school's music program (out of personal choice, or availability, or funds, or so on). You might not have an available practice room on campus, and you might wander around the buildings for the hours that you're not in class, wanting to play that saxophone (for example, of course) clutched firmly in your fist.

     Well, as it happens I'm not doing all that much for school this semester- just the one class. I'll be in the community band, but that isn't until later. I do still practice, or need to anyway, but as you may have guessed, I haven't been able to find a place to play, as the college's band practices once a week on stage- there isn't a band room. I have hours of time with which to use for basically anything, but music is pretty much out of the question as my saxophone is built to be pretty darn loud. I suppose though that the good part about this is that I have no excuse not to do my homework.

     Anyway, if you're like me, then I'm sure you've got to be itching to play by your second day spent aimlessly wandering the campus. Therefor, I suggest we put our collective heads together as we think of ways to keep practicing on campus (and by that, I mean I'll write a blog post about what I think).

An Empty Classroom

     Probably the most interesting suggestion I've had- one which has been reverberating within my mind for some days now -was from my old instructor with whom I still play. He said that back in his day, which had to of been under ten years ago, he would find a classroom nobody was using and would play in it on his down time. What makes this a good idea, and what makes me hesitant about it? Well to start, my saxophone- as I said earlier -was made to be loud: I have a metal mouthpiece fitted. If there are classes going on anywhere in the entire hallway it would be too loud. I would feel pretty bad about that, especially because I've gotten into practicing my upper altissimo on my soprano sax. Then again, there are a lot of abandoned classrooms when I'm on my six or so hour break. Some are pretty nice too.

    I've also considered playing in a courtyard or field (like in a bad movie or something). My campus has some pretty huge outdoor spaces. There's actually a couple of fields with nothing but deer and geese in them where nobody would be able to hear me or be bothered for miles, but to be honest, I would probably get more ticks on my legs than a dog does in its lifetime: the places are pretty overgrown.

     Someone at the school told me to join the radio club. Our school has a nice radio station, and they're actively looking for any musical talent to broadcast. I wont even go into the micing difficulties for the saxophone, because even though this is a pretty cool sounding idea, my goal here is to find a good way to practice- and to practice effectively. This is just like the game room: I hear that there's a piano on which many people often play- where I could jam with someone (potentially). Alas and again, this isn't exactly practicing.

     For now, my situation seems hopeless, but I'll continue to bring my saxophone to school. There's always something to do, and there's always somewhere to play, so I'll remain diligent as always. But to be realistic, in my situation I can practice in the local high school after hours anytime I want. I suppose my point here is that if you're in a situation where your campus has no practice room and you're not a member of the official band, then you should get creative with your practice locations. Claim a spot that wont get in the way of any one's activities and start your practicing.

Let's Change Perspective

How Do You Think They Feel?

     I always write this blog from the perspective of a student of music simply because that's what I am. I do tutor kids occasionally in music and the saxophone, but I'm still a student myself. In this post, however, I want to talk about what instructors must go through and what it is they do for their students, because while learning the inner functions of music may be difficult, teaching it is a whole other thing.

     Probably the most basic part of teaching music, or anything really, is to know about your subject completely. In order to ask a good question you must first know the entire answer. You've got to have a complete knowledge of what it is you're teaching to your student, and you need multiple ways of explaining it. Everybody learns and understands information just a little different than everybody else. This makes instructing a room full of individuals very challenging.

     One-on-one tutoring gets easy enough after a while. At first you need to get to understand the student, and you need the student to get to understand you, but after this everything falls into place as a routine comes to form. Group instructions, such as a community concert band or school concert band, is something different. Some bands are huge while some are smaller, but all have more than one person, making band instruction a challenge. While I've never done this, I have instructed a section, so I can tell you for sure that getting multiple people to understand your instruction completely feels impossible. I imagine band instructors have to be the kind of persons who aren't easily frustrated- otherwise nothing would get done.

     Besides the fact that there are many individuals, each one of those individuals in a band plays an instrument and resides in a section (corresponding to that instrument), of which there may be many. I get stressed out just thinking about it, but I do find solace in the fact that there are usually senior players in each section that can diffuse know-how upon his or her junior players. Militarily, the instructor is a general while the section 'leaders' are his or her captains. The captains have the general's back, as they help to drive the band forward.

     Inevitably a band is fairly similar to one-on-one tutoring. You can think of the band as one person, so that the single 'person' is instructed by the single instructor. With this, all the information instructed is essentially the same, but with more emphasis on the pieces at hand. Even then, a lot of the time I tutor is to guide a student through pieces.

     With both similarities and differences between tutoring and band instruction, regardless, I feel fortunate to know that any band instructor will have some prime experience with which to teach. In the high school I graduated from, I was very lucky to have a superb concert band instructor. It's instructors like those that make anyone able to be part of a functioning band, and I think we need to give them credit where credit is due: it isn't an easy job.

Let's Practice

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

     The expression "practice makes perfect" is more or less true, but I'd add to that "perfect practice makes perfect", because to practice the same mistakes over and over again without change will not make perfect. This is true to anything that you can practice at. In this case I'll use music, and more specifically playing the saxophone, to make my point.

     In music, there are some very basic things that you should incorporate into your practice: intonation, sound quality and rhythm. Proper intonation, or being in tune or on pitch, can be achieved through a tuning device, which I recommend should be purchased and kept with whatever instrument you play.

You can also tune to a partner or friend. Specifically someone who plays piano would be best, as their instrument is often tuned professionally and makes a good base. Proper intonation is crucial to playing critically: it helps you to be aware of other kinds of mistakes you might make, and allows you to eliminate improper tuning as an issue.

     Similar to intonation, sound quality is important to your basic practice. If you're playing the alto saxophone, make sure that you're playing with the appropriate embouchure- try not to let the instrument squeak too much, and allow enough air to bass through, playing to an acceptable volume. You can take your sound quality up a level by trying out different things to make yourself sound better. This may differ depending on the type of music you're playing. Try playing smoothly and evenly during some concert pieces you're practicing, and then try playing a little more roughly, maybe toss some growling in, as you try some jazzy pieces. Figure out what sounds good to you.

     Rhythm and timing issues are some of the most common among all players. Luckily, it's also one of the easiest to remedy. When you practice, you should always work with a metronome. A lot of tuners have one, but if not there are free ones all over the internet that you can download onto your computer. Check for apps for your phone, if you can, as well, but make sure it's loud enough to hear, and of course look for metronomes on sale out in stores. If you're practicing a piece, adjust the metronome to the beats per minute (bpm) of the selection. Play your piece like this, and you'll be better able to follow your conductor in ensemble practice and concert. You can also use it for rhythm exercises. For instance, you can set the metronome to 120bpm and play along with it, playing different rhythms. Start with quarter notes, then move to eight notes, then sixteenth. Some metronomes will have a setting with which you can set to 120bpm, but click the eight notes for you. This subdivision could help you, and is a good practice tool.

Imperfect Practice Makes...?

     Once you get along in your skill, and you know your way around your instrument, there's a certain amount of goofing off you can do that, in my experience, teaches you things. On my saxophones I often jam with my brother and do some strange and wild stuff. Sometimes we try to do a progression only in altissimo, and see how high up we can go (my record is octaves over the altissimo D). Other times we try hitting semitones and multi phonics that sound pretty bad in our riffs. However, we do this for a reason, other than to laugh and have fun. Doing this actually teaches us a lot. It shows what we can and can not do or what notes we can and can not hit. It shows us that there are certain exceptions to scales and modes that sound good over different progressions. It also makes us learn that there are a lot of things that we can do that aren't necessarily written about anywhere: things that you have to learn for yourself- about styling and phrasing and sounds. Give it a try sometime- let loose.

I couldn't help
myself...