The Good Musician

Here’s a fun round of lists we at b5music have been sharing the past week: Name the ten musicians you would not want to switch places with!
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 …read more

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CNN reports on Friday that pop-singer Britney Spears has been taken into medical custody for drug and psychological tests.
Frankly speaking, I’m elated. The woman has messed up her life, and it’s time higher forces took care of the poor girl.
Loyal readers of TGM will know how much I despise this “Good Musician”, and here’s why. She doesn’t exhibit the least of respect for her own music.
I’ve never seen play a single instrument (show me if I’m wrong), her concerts and records are always heavily computer-assisted with strange effects, so I won’t go as far as to call her “music-making” real …read more

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It’s the end of a turbulent year, a year in which I had to choose not to study music, and where I had to begin a life of practicing alone, and giving up concerts sponsored by my school.
In the new year, I have a few goals I want to achieve, to keep my musician-being going at a healthy rate.
Here are The Good Musician’s new year’s resolutions:

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This is Part 3 in the Competencies Series. See also Part 1 (Personal Comeptence), Part 2 (Social Competence) and Part 4 (Practical Competence).

What sets Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits apart from you? Well, he was lucky.
Most famous musicians were lucky somewhere down the road. But so was Britney, and I will not begin calling here a musician just yet. As a musician, Knopfler was a heroic master of the guitar, and played so well not only because he practiced for hours a day, but because he had a great intrinsic knowledge of musical theory.
Music theory and the entire science …read more

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This is Part 1 in the Competencies Series. See also Part 2 (Social Comeptence), Part 3 (Scientific Competence) and Part 4 (Practical Competence).

A good musician has a great personality. Unless you can convince your crowd of your competence, you won’t convince at all.
Also, you have to be at total peace and happiness with your instrument and your progress towards mastering it.

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Picture this: You walk out in front of an audience, everyone’s got that expectant glare on their face and your inner conscience says ‘Hello’ with a screaming “Oh my god, lord, mother mary, buddha, I didn’t practice enough!”
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 …read more

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“I used to be quite haphazard with my practice routines, until I tried using a diary.”

How does your practice routine look? You get down with your instrument when you feel like it, open up the page of some piece you want to play and start playing? Do you just grab that guitar and start jamming about scales?

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Don’t deprive your children of the so-called “Mozart-Effect“. Engaging in music activates your brain like almost no other activity, studies say. Harness this power and encourage your children to learn music.
But many parents go about in a very wrong way. After 10 years of playing experience, I can tell what should’ve been better in my kiddy days. Points to consider when introducing your child to music:
1. Implement the 5 Pillars of Good Musicians
Don’t just make him or her play an instrument. Show them the different aspects of music, build on the 5 pillars and explain to them how it’s …read more

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Catch a pen and paper. Jot down 5 musical bands or artists, from any genre, in no specific order, however they come to your mind.
Let me show you mine:
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Louis Armstrong
Britney Spears
John Lennon
Mark Knopfler
Pretty strange mix there. I don’t even listen to all of them, and yet they populate some part of my mind.

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Music. It moves us all, and some of us enjoy creating and recreating it. Many of us are young, and dream of storming the stages like on American Idol, others are thinking f digging out that old dusty saxophone or western guitar and give it a spin again. Worlds separate amateurs and professionals. What makes a musician more than just another musician? Why is Bob Dylan so good? Why is Yo-Yo Ma such a famous cellist? Here are five aspects that shape every musician.

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