Category: Uncategorized

Often, the difference is that the natural musician really listens – listens to the quality of a sound and not just whether it’s in tune, listens to fellow players when jamming, and listens to themselves when practicing.

This week, we interview a music teacher and an up-and-coming indie rock band who both embody this “listening” philosophy, and give you some clarity on that nebulous word “tone” – and how to listen for it.

But first, please turn your attention to the past month’s exciting new offerings here at Musical U…

April’s Arrivals

This past month has seen the introduction of some incredibly exciting and long-anticipated new material here at Musical U, as well as a slight change to how getting a membership with us works.

Here are a few hints to pique your interest…

We introduce a fantastic tool to get you going with improvisation: the almighty Improvisation Roadmap! Things are brewing over in the Instrument Pack department also, with the release of new Resource Packs for piano, guitar, bass, and singing. And finally, we’ve recently introduced a new system for joining Musical U; a system that will ensure we can give each new member the attention and support they deserve.

Head over to What’s New in Musical U: April 2018 to get the full information on our new content, and how you can sign up to Musical U with our new system!

Using Your Ears

If we are taught to speak before we learn to read and write, why are we ever expected to be able to read music before we can play? After all, the point of the language of music is to freely express and communicate!

This week on the Musicality Podcast, we speak with Donna Schwartz, one of the world’s best-known online saxophone teachers and the co-host of the Everything Saxophone podcast. In this in-depth interview, Donna discusses her teaching philosophy – one that places the emphasis on imagining the music before you even play it, or “listening first” – and the musical benefits it yields.

Feast your ears on Listen First, with Donna Schwartz to learn about how Donna extends this M.O. to every facet of her teaching and playing.

Donna’s first instrument wasn’t the saxophone – it was the trumpet! Like many beginner musicians, Donna had trouble getting some of the basics down at the start. For her, it came down to something as simple (and essential!) as the embouchure that a trumpet player needs to produce sound. The trumpet is a great instrument to pick up, and learning how to produce the basic buzzing sounds required to play can give you a leg up. Aaron from The Black Trumpeter takes us through some basic buzzing exercises.

We’ve talked about performance anxiety several times on this page, and it seems to come up on a regular basis. And for good reason… many musicians struggle with playing in front of other people! No matter how prepared you are, the critical days and hours before a performance can make the difference in your ability to perform. Gina walks us through her pre-performance routine with some great suggestions that will help you feel more comfortable and perform your best.

Donna had an unorthodox teacher who required her to sing before playing any of the passages in her music. This is not only good for ear training, but can help make you a more effortless and expressive performer. And before you ask, yes, this counts for “non-singers” as well! Lauren from Jam with Lauren discusses the benefits of singing before playing a musical piece.

No matter how much you practice a piece of music, learning to listen to others is just as important for your musical growth. Donna shared her insights on how she would go through the literature to find recordings that she could study before playing any piece. Many musicians would agree that learning to listen is one of the most important aspects to growing your musicality. Music House School provides some suggestions on how you can evolve your listening skills.

Chemistry with CNVS

All the chops in the world can’t help you if you’re missing that crucial element that makes a band a band, and not just a group of musicians playing together.

That element, of course, is chemistry.

Mexican indie rock band CNVS is known for their high-energy, melodic tunes, strong visual aesthetics, and dynamic musical interaction during live shows. After two years of writing and production, the band is finally about to release their much-anticipated debut LP, appropriately titled Gran Copiloto, or “the best sidekick you’ve ever had”.

In Musical Chemistry, with CNVS, the band’s lead guitarist speaks with us about their group songwriting process, and how they stay true to the music in the age of branding and social media.

It was a pleasure to hear CNVS’s story in this interview. We are always interested to hear how musicians were able to make the transition from playing in the garage (or basement…) to becoming accomplished recording artists. For a step-by-step guide to making this transition, we turn to Bree Noble from Female Entrepreneur Musician.

How does a band come up with their song ideas? There is no one answer to this, as the dynamics in every band can be quite different. For CNVS, most of their original songs came as the result of jam sessions. Music Industry How To provides insight into why bands should jam, jam, and then jam some more.

We first discovered CNVS through a cover song that they produced for an earlier album. Covers are not only fun to play, but they are also a great way to get exposure and to jump start your songwriting. Playing other musicians’ music is just one of the tips that Graham from Speed Songwriting suggests for kick-starting your songwriting habit. Take a quick read and get writing!

CNVS credits their music and success to remaining true to themselves. In an industry with so many copycat artists, this is refreshing and can certainly be heard in their music! Jason Chapman, a musician with a similar ethos, reveals the path that his music has lead him on in this fascinating interview.

All About Tone

With the plethora of musical terminology for us to learn, things can get extra wonky when you have a word with multiple meanings.

In no situation is this truer than with the word “tone”, a musical chameleon that has wildly different meanings depending on the context it’s used in.

In About the Word “Tone”, we discuss how the term can be used to describe a note, a frequency, or an interval, and give you some context for helping determine which one applies in a given situation.

Pitch, frequency, tone… how many terms are we to have for our musical foundations?! It can be confusing for any musician, no matter how experienced, to navigate the complex world of musical terms and expressions. Bharat from Euphonic Space discusses the difference between pitch and frequency in his helpful illustrated lesson.

Perhaps even more important than the individual tones is the relationship that pitches have with one another. We often express these relationships as intervals, which is the distance between two pitches. When grouped together, intervals form chords. Hear and Play discusses some essential intervals in chord formations to help enhance your musicality.

We discussed whole tones and semitones during this episode on tone. When placed together in the correct order, tones and semitones will form what is known as the diatonic scale. DamProg Music provides a closer look at this special pattern.

Many musicians will tune to a specific tone. In the orchestra, this is typically A = 440 Hz. Learning to tune your instrument – and therefore the notes that you are playing – is one way to improve your intonation. For some more tips on increasing your intonation, this assortment of tips from band directors will take you a long way.

Feast Your Ears!

The most important tool for a musician isn’t that fancy vintage Les Paul, or even your hands.

In the same way that your hands can be trained to perform a variety of feats on your instrument, your ears can be trained to help you learn some incredible skills: improvisation, playing by ear, sight reading, and jamming effortlessly with others, to name a few.

Best of all, ear training is complementary – practice one skill, and you’ll find you’re improving on others, too – and your hands will follow suit.

The post April’s Arrivals, Using Your Ears, Chemistry with CNVS, and All About Tone appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-space-between-hearing-and-singing-intervals/
At Musical U, you’ve learned some of the basic principals of solfege syllables and how to determine the tonic. Now let’s discuss intervals. Recognizing the distinct sound of different intervals and being able to sing them back accurately in solfege will go a long way with developing transcribing skills. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-space-between-hearing-and-singing-intervals/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/get-familiar-with-the-minor-pentatonic-scale/
Similarly to the major pentatonic scale, the minor pentatonic is a staple of rock and blues guitar. While the two scales share notes, the use and overall sound of the minor pentatonic scale is quite different from the natural minor scale. Learn more in this guide: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/get-familiar-with-the-minor-pentatonic-scale/

What does “tone” mean in music? This multipurpose word can actually take on some very different uses depending on the context it’s mentioned in. Learn about how “tone” can refer to a note, a frequency, or an interval.

Listen to the episode:

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

Links and Resources

• Interview with Donna Schwartz
• About Chord Tones
• How Frequencies Work
• About Whole Steps and Half Steps

Transcript

Let’s start with a question: what do you think of when you hear the word “tone”?

Imagine you’re talking with a musician friend and they use that word? What would you expect them to be talking about?

In our recent episode with Donna Schwartz we talked about “tone”, for example her struggles to get a good tone on trumpet or how she now helps saxophone players develop a good tone.

From the context I’m sure you understood what we were talking about. But that word “tone” can be tricky!

In this episode I’m going to share 6 different meanings the word “tone” can have in music – and there are probably even more. I’ll do my best to be clear and specific – but please keep in mind that often the way musicians use this word is fuzzy. So if you’ve heard the word used for a blend of these things or with a meaning that isn’t quite what I’m describing, please know that this is not a precise thing with official definitions! In fact that’s the main reason I wanted to talk about it on today’s episode, so that you’re equipped with several clear, specific definitions of the word “tone” and can use that to understand it wherever and however it’s used.

I’ve roughly grouped the 6 meanings into two categories. Three are about a “tone” as a sound itself, and three are about “tone” as a quality a sound can have.

When I started planning out this episode it quickly got out of hand! There’s a lot to cover. So we’re going to discuss the first three now, and then the other three in a future “Part two” with a recap.

Let’s get started.

1. Tone means “a note”

Perhaps the simplest of meanings, many musicians use the word “tone” interchangeably with the word “note”. For example they might say:

“I’m learning to play tones by ear”

or

“I understand the rhythm but I’m struggling to figure out what tones are being used in the melody of that song”

or

“Bar 13 is tricky, sometimes I play the wrong tones”

In fact we’ve used the word like this here on the podcast, when talking about the concept of “chord tones” – which just means the notes belonging to a chord.

Personally I don’t love this use of the word. Some people use it just to mean the pitch of a note and others to mean the note as a whole. I think it’s clearer to use the word “note” to mean a musical sound with both pitch and duration (and possibly other characteristics) and if you just mean “pitch” use the word “pitch”. It’s not a big deal, but as we’ll be discussing there are several other more specific meanings of the word tone, so I find it tends to confuse people when it’s used in this very broad and general way to essentially just mean “note”.

2. Tone means a pure single frequency

The second meaning of tone is the one typically used in a scientific context like when analysing audio files, or by studio engineers who think in terms of frequencies.

For example they might say:

“Can you play a 500 Hertz tone so I can test this speaker?”

or

“We’re getting a sustained high pitched tone on this recording, there must be interference leaking in from somewhere”

or

“We can test the resonance by comparing the volume of a 1 kilohertz tone and a 2 kilohertz tone which are input at the same level.”

In those cases “tone” means an audio wave which has a single frequency component. We won’t go deep into audio frequencies here but just to quickly give you the idea: Pitch and Frequency are similar, they both measure how high or low a sound is – but musical notes from an instrument or our voice have a single pitch – but they actually have a ton of different frequencies which is a big part of what gives them such a rich sound.

When a sound only contains a single frequency it’s called a tone. For example you might have heard of a “sine wave” which just sounds like the simplest possible long beep sound. Here’s an example:

That is just a single frequency, it’s the A 440Hz that orchestras tune up to. And that is what scientists and audio engineers would call a “tone”. That’s a nice, clear definition.

3. Tone means a particular interval

The third way “tone” is used to mean a certain sound is in the world of musical intervals. One of the things that can trip people up when first learning to recognise intervals by ear is that each one can have multiple names. Some of these come from music theory allowing different interpretations, but others are just differences by country or tradition. The word “tone” is one word used for a particular interval

So you might hear a musician saying:

“I think the final interval in that tune is a tone, not a semitone.”

or

“I’ve nailed major vs. minor thirds but I sometimes mix up minor thirds and tones.”

or

“The major scale goes tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.”

The word “tone” is used to refer to the interval of a “major second”, also known as a “whole step”. On a piano keyboard or guitar fretboard you go up two steps – because it uses two of the smallest building blocks we use, called “semitones”, “minor seconds” or “half steps”.

To hear a tone using this meaning means hearing two notes – these might be one after the other or both together. For example here are several tones played one note after another:

and here are a few played both notes together:

Okay, so those were our three examples of “tone” meaning “a sound”:

• It can be used very loosely to just mean “a note”
• It can be used to mean a sound that’s a single pure frequency, or
• It can be used to mean a particular interval, two notes played one after the other or together, also known as a “whole step” or a “major second”

The next three meanings are when “tone” means a specific quality or aspect of a sound. We’ll be covering that in a future “Part two” episode soon!

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

The post About the Word “Tone” appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/practical-value-music-theory/
There’s some debate among modern musicians and songwriters about the value of learning music theory. Dave Isaacs joins Musical U to lay out a strong case for an understanding of music theory. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/practical-value-music-theory/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-ultimate-guide-to-minor-keys/
While major scales have their place in the joyful, the bright, and the hopeful, minor keys are the mastermind behind the music that tears at your heartstrings. Musical U brings you this comprehensive guide to minor! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-ultimate-guide-to-minor-keys/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/solfege-do-re-mi-isnt-childs-play/
Have you ever felt a melody go in one ear and out the other? Thankfully, not all is lost. In fact, hundreds of years ago, a system was developed to enable musicians to recognize and transcribe those sought-after melodies.Learn more about Solfege with the Musical U team. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/solfege-do-re-mi-isnt-childs-play/

Enter CNVS, a five-piece indie band that has been making waves in Mexico’s El Bajío music scene with their emotive, melodic brand of rock music that has been praised by critics and audience members alike.

We first caught wind of CNVS when we heard their incredible cover of Juan Gabriel’s “Yo No Nací Para Amar”, a song they released as a tribute to the late Mexican pop superstar.

Recently, Musical U had the chance to talk to the band’s lead guitarist Isaac about their upcoming record, the music scene they hail from (and what makes it special), and of course, the driving force behind the group’s striking musical chemistry.

We all know each other from at least a decade of playing within the same music scene in our hometown of Querétaro. After everyone in the band went into a definitive hiatus with their other projects, CNVS started rehearsing and composing songs, and recorded our first EP in 2016.

Pastas, our bass player, has been a recognized producer since 1999, making his mark in around 60 productions so far. Our vocalist Santi got his degree in sound engineering in SAE London, before building his own studios here in Querétaro. Vidal was a self-taught punk who picked up the drums out of teenage angst, and has been developing his style ever since. I play lead guitar and I received classical education in a local academy. I had a very good teacher that taught me a lot of the harmonic theory, major and minor scales through jamming with each other – something that we use a lot in our writing process.

95% of all of our writing comes on the spot in rehearsals – what starts as a warm-up jam ends up being the core of a new song. Everybody lends their talent. That is what we love about playing together: it just comes easy and is usually emotionally charged.

The second part of the work comes in production, where we try to get the sounds right that fulfill the purpose of each element in the song.

Well, what is also interesting is how Santi (our vocalist) comes up with most of the lyrics right on the spot. We start jamming with each other as he starts mumbling words with the melody and between breaks. He often has all the lyrics in his phone before the day is over.

Every member of the band has their own influences, but as a unit we can name a few alternative rock from the 2000’s, 1940’s blues, hip-hop beats, reggae, and some strange figures such as Bowie and Moondog.

Personally, as a guitar player, I tried to bring some of the elements of the 1950’s trios or boleros that my grandfather used to listen to as I was growing up (Los Panchos and Los Tres Ases to name a few).

I would describe it as an ever-changing experiment. We are not attached to any particular genre or style, so we pretty much do what we want – just five friends jamming until we hit the right notes and develop something interesting to play.

Sometimes, what is interesting to play as a band is not as interesting to hear as an outsider, so I believe we are blessed to have a growing audience that feels the way we do and enjoys our tracks.

Chemistry is what keeps this band together. Sometimes I feel every member in the band is in a different place in their personal life. Some of us have kids, so we don’t hang out so much, but when we are in the rehearsal space or playing live in front of an audience, we have just one identity –  something that unites us as brothers in arms.

I believe that is the core of that tradition you are talking about. Mariachi and Banda music ensembles try very hard to achieve a single identity by dressing the same and even have choreographed dancing. We just try to feel it each night we perform as we did when we write the songs, and hopefully our audience can feel it too.

I believe it is a good exercise for any musician. I once read in one of David Byrne’s books that he often wrote songs by starting with someone else’s vocal melody, changing the words, and at last changing the core melody to one of his own.

For us, it was a challenge we did just for fun. Juan Gabriel was one of Mexico’s most beloved singer-songwriters, and we did the cover just months before his departure – so by releasing the song into social media, it felt like a tribute. I don’t see us doing any covers anytime soon, but I can tell you that doing this cover did give us some elements and material for our next album that is coming out soon.

It’s interesting, because though I don’t think there is any specific style I can point out as “the Bajío sound”. There are a lot of genres that are getting carried to another level such as post-rock (check out Ex Replica), punk (check out Druk), and jazz – check out Filulas Juz:

It’s just refreshing to show up to a gig and see all these diverse styles reaching new audiences.

For us, it’s about working with the right people. We are blessed that in our hometown we can find such talented people that also happen to be our friends and like the stuff we do. We often let them have creative direction in that department, because we know we are in good hands.

Art in all of its forms is very important in today’s music scene, as it has been for decades. However, today it feels more important than ever, as you only get one chance to make an impact. We are fed with constant stimuli via social media, so I believe that bands are always concerned (with good reason) with making the most impact they can and not just get scrolled past. It can lead to some beautiful art, but it can also lead a band to be more focused on their social media than creating music or playing live. For us, the key is to work with the right people and keep CNVS true to itself.

Yes! It is going to be called Gran Copiloto, which refers to the best sidekick you can possibly have in an adventure – this could be the guy that plays the best music on road trips, or the love of your life that took you on a trip to Iceland. We are currently in the final stages of mastering, and it will see the light at the beginning of February. It will feature tracks in English as well, and you can already check out our first single, “Memoria”:

It is our first full-length production, and took around two years of writing and production. It was recorded and produced by ourselves in the two studios owned by members of the band (NOMO and ANTIGUA), and mixed and mastered by David Parra (the live engineer for Café Tacvba) in Mexico City.

When playing live, I would say to try to keep things interesting by adding other elements to the mix in your shows. For example, we are working on some stage plots, animation, and lighting elements to make our live shows even more special.

Even more importantly, just keep practicing and have fun. Always stay true to the music – if you feel proud of the art that you have created, let go of whatever endorsement you think you might need. 

A Musical Alliance

There’s so much to take away from this interview, but what was particularly apparent was CNVS’s emphasis on rapport, both within the band and with the people they work with to achieve their strong sound and aesthetic.

Though synergy can be a hard thing to pin down, you’ll immediately feel it when it’s there.

It occurs through a shared love of making music, good communication between band members, and of course – a shared goal to work towards.

The post Musical Chemistry, with CNVS appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/hearing-chord-progressions-i-iv-v-in-major-keys/
With the ability to hear and identify chord progressions, you can walk into a host of musical situations and play along by ear. Last time we took the first step by learning to identify the chord roots in the bass line: tonic, subdominant, and dominant. Let’s talk about these progressions in major keys. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/hearing-chord-progressions-i-iv-v-in-major-keys/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-ways-spice-scales/
Scales can be a real sore spot for musicians but they don’t have to be. There are a variety of ways you can make scales more interesting to practice. This can let you get the benefit of scales practice – without the boredom! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-ways-spice-scales/