Notenspur Music Trail opens fall 2008. It’s a 4.7 km signposted walking trail through musical wonderland. Sort of a pilgrimage to experience the homes and churches of an exceptional musical city. Leipzig was home to so many greats, poets as well as musicians and artists. But the city excels in nurturing music.

This relatively small area–the centrum being only a few dozen blocks or so, is lush with memories and memorabilia of J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldy, Clara Schumann, Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg, Gustav Mahler, et al. In amongst the plazas are the Leipzig Opera House, the ultra-modern Gewandhaus, and other cultural buildings.

Here are some photographs from Leipzig for your visual pleasure. Sample the music of the composers, educators, and performers who bloomed in Leipzig. All photos by The Good Musician.

Thomaskirche–Bach’s final posting. He is buried in the kirche.

A statue of the man himself, courtyard at thomaskirche.

One of these days I’ll learn how to mess with sizing images…

Post from: The Good Musician

I happen to adore Bollywood, it reminds me of the sumptuous saturated colors of 1950’s musicals of my childhood. Operetta under the stars on a Dallas summer evening was a treat for the family, following a dinner at the original El Fenix downtown.

Back to The Kite Runner. I always check out the music credits, and saw the composer was Spanish. Interesting. Then I remembered that there is an Arabic musical tradition in Spain from the time of the Moorish occupation, and it made perfect sense.

None of the three movies are in any sense musicals from the American version of the 50’s. The Battle of Algiers was filmed in documentary style, with the sounds of real life. Water was as well, with the sounds of life in an Indian nunnery for widows…of all ages. In TKR, contemporary popular music contrasts with classical Mideastern forms and instruments.

TKR introduced me to Islamic pop, Sami Yusuf, and a gorgeous palette of original music by Alberto Iglesias. Iglesias also wrote the soundtrack for Volver, The Constant Gardner, The Dancer Upstairs, Talk to Her, and Bad Education. The best Spanish flicks of the decade.

Check ‘em out.

Post from: The Good Musician

1. Show up. This should go without saying, but you’d be surprised at how ditching just one lesson can mean the difference between a so-so musician and a good musician. Even if you can’t play or sing, you can talk through the music with your teacher.

2. Be prepared to play or sing on the dot. Arrive early enough to soak your reed, warm up your instrument, or vocalize–whatever you need to do to be prepared to get right to the music. Make the most of your time with your teacher–focus, listen, respond–if you want to chat, do it before or after the lesson, not during.

3. Complete your assignment for the lesson. If your teacher asked you to run a particularly tricky passage until it’s fluid, make sure you have practiced enough during the week so the phrase lays naturally in your fingers or voice and you can move on to new material.

4. Remember that your teacher wants you to improve musically. Don’t take criticism personally–it’s all about growing as a musician. Mark your music so you will know what to work on for the next lesson, and make sure you understand your next assignment.

5. Impress your teacher with supporting information you’ve found during the week on other pieces by the composer you’re studying, some tidbit about the life of that composer, or similar works by other composers. It adds depth to your musical knowledge and understanding, and you just might surprise your teacher with some juicy dish!

Keep in mind that practice makes possible–don’t worry about the perfect. If musicians were perfect, there would be no room for learning and growth. It would get pretty boring with no challenge to improve. I’m sure you’ve heard musicians who are technically proficient, but have no emotional connection with the music or their audience. Do your best every time you pick up your instrument or open your mouth–it’s all about building on good habits and communicating with your peeps.

Post from: The Good Musician

Post from: The Good Musician

The Good Musician is hosting this group project and here’s my personal list:

1. Billy Joe Armstrong

Seriously, the kid has to play the same 4 chords in over 30 sngs at a concert. He’s got fame and money, but musical monotony will catch up sooner or later.

2. Janet Jackson

Besides having your name pulled into dirt by your brother, having to play second fiddle all the time whilst reminding everyone of Mister popstar pedophile thanks to inherited resemblance ain’t no sweet life.

3. Michael Jackson

Need I say more?

4. Britney Spears

Sigh.

5. Amy Winehouse

You know, I actually appreciate people who just are “themselves”, but Amy Winehouse has never shown me the necessary respect for her own music. She may have it, but she sure doesn’t make me feel that she takes anything in life seriously. And thus again we spin into discussion about childish musicians.

6. Joseph Haydn

This fine man lived through the entire span of the Wiener Klassik era of music and beside Mozart, heavily influenced it. The poor guy worked for the count of Esterhazy, who was one wicked guy: He’d have an orchestra ready to play at all times, and he never wanted to hear the same symphony twice. So Mr. Haydn here ended up composing over 100 symphonies, only the last few of his being highly remembered as the London symphonies (which he didn’t write for the count). Mr. Esterhazy desperately needed an iPod.

7. Ringo Starr

Being one of The Beatles is probably in itself a torture, as you can prepare for getting your hair torn out upon landing in America. But being a Beatle and being that guy in the back who plays the drums and no-one cares about anyway – that’s probably no fun.

8. Sean Callery

I think life as Sean Callery could be a happy one. Yet I fret from the notion of having to handyman together a fresh background score for every episode of 24 as much as I do from playing a guitar with no frets and only one string. Life can get heavily boring and tension-packed at the same time if you have to keep on mixing down electronic foreboding sounds to make people anxious about terrorist attacks on Jack Bauer. Still, great music, Sean. But dontcha get tired?

9. Scott Weiland (right)

I used to listen to a lot of Velvet Revolver when they published their first album. Yet, now, after having heard Mr. Weiland sing live (ugh) and read his drug stories, AND seen how thin he is with his slightly anorexic problem, I think I don’t want to be him. I’d like to be Slash though.

10. This guy playing guitar hero

Post from: The Good Musician

Photography by carf.

I often wonder what the best way is to teach my little brother, age 10, music.

The boy goes to piano classes, and he’s actually quite talented, being able to read music quite fleuntly and playing all major and minor chords with ease after little more than a year of training.

During this time, I did find ways to contribute and help him on his journey, and there are a few tricks you may find useful yourself.

1. Gift them music.

I bought my brother a colorful storybook of The Magic Flute by Mozart, which included a CD that comprised the most popular pieces from the opera (like this one we’ve covered). He immediately took interest in operas and spent a good week hooked on his iPod with his frightful arias and powerful quintets.

Gift them music, even if it’s just an iTunes gift card.

2. Install the listening habit.

This is really hard. But it goes hand in hand with the previous tip: By giving music you’ll entice them to listen to music on their on. In fact, a trip to a good, peaceful CD store can work wonders on his or her curiosity.

3. Pick an instrument together, showing full range.

I think when it comes to choosing an instrument, you need to weigh in the child’s preferences with a good pinch of your own opinion. I say this because kids often like to go for electric guitars and drums, not because they like the instrument or know whether they’ll enjoy playing it, but due to obvious reasons like the media.

Still, don’t force them to learn anything, nor let them go wild, because they might just loose interest after a month.

4. Practice together at least once weekly.

As a musician myself, I could help my brother in places liek practice routine and technique. I’m not a great pianist, but the rules of slicign music up for practicing apply everywhere.

Sitting with a kid and motivating it while actively coaching is important if done right: Don’t condemn, criticize or try to know better. The teacher is there for that.

5. Engage with the teacher.

I found that some of the best tips of how to improve my brother’s piano skills came from his teacher. Since I had some basic knowledge of how things worked in the music teaching world, I tried to ask him what I could do on my part. Useful tips included timetables, a practice diary and actively searching for pieces my brother wanted to play (like Happy Birthday and Silent Night).

I think that, under the line, the most important thing you can do is to support your child’s musical endeavors by building it into the daily routine, making it a larger chunk of your kid’s hobby. But: Don’t try to intervene too much, or you might end up messing around with the teacher’s plan. Bad thing.

Just find ways to motivate kids and the rest will come naturally: After all, everyone loves music if they can see progress!

Post from: The Good Musician

Read the full NMPA letter. [via ControlRoom]

In a gist, the RIAA is trying to suck all musicians’ blood by cutting rates.

This is so totally deja-vu when compared to the 2007 WGA Strike. I mean, come on guys, artists need to live, too! And without them, hell, you don’t need a rocket science degree to figure out why they’re important!

The Good Musician rolls around the room in rage.

Post from: The Good Musician

The piece is “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and I encourage you to listen to the whole work if you can, because of all pieces, O Fortuna isn’t necessarily the best , in my humblest of opinions.

Enjoy, and have a great weekstart. The video here shows the aforementioned piece as the finale, preceded by the ominous “Ave formosissima”.

Also check out Sir Simon Rattle’s excellent conducting (he actually stops doing anything and lets it flow at one point) and watch for the percussionist enjoying it thoroughly . No wonder, it’s a great piece for percussion, and they put him right in the middle for all to see.

VIDEO TEMPORARILY REMOVED – TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES…

Post from: The Good Musician

Michelle Bennett over at “A Singer’s Life” shares a thought and an anecdote on rehearsing, and when it might be too much. Notably, she mentions relaxation:

So, when is enough enough?

Perhaps when, like the singer above, you have performed a role upwards of 100 times?

I am sure each singer has their own individual strategy concerning preparation and rehearsal. However, what I am learning more and more is that it pays to relax.

Did I rehearse enough? When is enough? Why do we ask ourselves this question?

Being nervous is healthy. It brings together all your concentration and resources and focuses them to that one task. But often, nervousness can swerve into panic, and that’s when your concert turns from joy to misery. Rehearsing enough is one thing, over-rehearsing is another. Today, I will just share with you 6 things I watch out for to build my own confidence before a concert.

1. Mentally see the sheet music.

Try to imagine the piece as sheet music while you hear it mentally. This is especially important if you’re playing by heart, in which case you should sit down with just the sheet music a day or two before a concert. Read through it like a book, and hear the music in the back of your head.

2. Do a dry run for your hands

Try playing the piece without actually producing sound. This is difficult for many instruments (like vocals), but on a guitar, try playing right and left hand separately (it’s much harder than it sounds), on a piano, don’t really stroke the keys, on a trumpet, don’t blow.

3. Play the piece completely, like at the concert, around half an hour before showtime.

And then, don’t touch your instrument in that half hour. Instead, go drink water, talk to other performers, or just meditate. Don’t go near the music. 5 minutes before the beginning, run through the first few bars mentally. Not more. The rest will flow naturally.

4. Plan ahead of concerts.

If I know I have a concert in a week, I set up a game plan for that week. I usually tell myself the concert is two days earlier and try to get top form by that day. Then in the last 48 hours, I won’t play parts of the piece anymore, only the entire piece without breaks. Keeping a plan ahead of time eliminates the “I didn’t practice enough” feeling.

5. Have a drink.

This one’s tricky, but it helps me. Having a good swig of beer or champagne at the bar before a concert always gives me a more relaxed approach. But beware, results may vary.

6. Have a concert strategy.

I might go more into detail on this in another post, but laying out a strategy for your concerts is good for eliminating surprises and getting a routine. I always carry my bag packed the exact same way, I always go to the bathroom at the same time before a concert, I know exactly what dress I’ll be wearing that day. And it’ll be ironed and ready.

There are plenty more ways to prepare, these were just a few. What are yours? For more practice and concert tips, subscribe today!

Post from: The Good Musician

To celebrate the launch of this blog and b5media’s Music Channel, we’re giving away some cool prizes.

What’s up for grabs?

* 3 iPod Shuffles
* 3 MP3 players with preloaded MusicIP software
* 3 iTunes Certificates (worth US$25 each)

Read on to see how you can win.

Step One:

1) Check one or more of our new Music blogs and choose one topic that appeals to you. Create a 3-song playlist relating to that topic. For example, if you like the Crooners, pick your Top 3 Crooners songs and share it on your blog.

OR (more suited for this site)

2) Blog about “The Good Musician” (and/or others) on your own blog. Do a review. Give suggestions. Write about the topic with tips, lists, etc. Or simply offer a welcome.

Step Two:

Submit the permanent link to your blog entry by email to shai@b5media.com with the subject line: MUSIC CONTEST ENTRY. You will receive a confirmation of your email entry. If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please feel free to resend your submission. Deadline for entries: 20th July 2007.

Step Three:

Watch out for the list of eligible entries in the next few days. If your entry is eligible, then you will see your entry in one of our highlight posts.

Step Four:

b5media will hold a raffle draw. Prizes will be assigned randomly to those who get picked during the raffle. Winners will be announced on the b5media blog and each one will be notified accordingly.

Basic Rules/Guidelines:

1) Make sure you include the correct link/s to the b5media blog/s of your choice in your entry.

2) One blog is eligible for one entry only. If you have multiple blogs, you can enter each blog accordingly, but duplicate posts will not be permitted. You must create an original entry per blog.

3) Please make sure that you can be easily contacted via email. If you win and we can’t contact you within 7 days, you forfeit your prize.

4) Blog entries should be no less than 75 words. There’s no maximum length.

5) b5media bloggers and Channel Editors are not eligible to enter this contest. We have our own internal contest!

6) Gambling, adult, and illegal blogs will not be eligible to enter either. Sorry.

7) Winning entries are final and winners should claim their prizes by confirming their mailing address within 7 days. If there are unclaimed prizes, we will draw more names from the eligible entries list until we give all of them away.

b5media reserves the right to make reasonable amendments to contest proceedings and outcome.

NOTE: If you submitted an entry and you don’t find yourself in the ‘eligible entries list’, please make sure that you followed all the guidelines/rules above.

A total of nine (9) prizes will be given.
All winners will be announced on or before the 25th of July.

I look forward to some of you reviewing this blog, and some of my new friends here at b5media. Comments are always appreciated.

Post from: The Good Musician