Musicality World

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/blues-music/
There’s no other musical genre quite like the blues. Steeped in lyrical emotion and sultry melodies, it’s easy to understand why blues music has had such a deep and lasting impact on the music of the United States, the UK, and beyond. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/blues-music/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/developing-your-rhythmic-ears/
Today, we’re taking a peek into the world of rhythm. First we’ll touch on some basic learning techniques, then we’ll see how wild some artists get when exploring rhythm! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/developing-your-rhythmic-ears/

Do we really need such a thing? With so much popular music based in three or four chords, there’s really no end to the scads of songs we can comfortably learn with just a few chords. If you’re familiar with the Roman Numeral system, common chord progressions such as I-IV-V or I-V-vi-IV are everywhere.

However, there’s always that one song with a few extra chords. Where resolution is more complex. Where the chord progression takes you on a roundabout journey back to the tonic, rather than going for the obvious.

Listen to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude”:

As you can see, there’s a bit more going on here than just the standard three chords. At the end of the line “Then you begin to make it better”, a seventh chord appears to contribute a “build” before the chorus. This is a secondary dominant, spotted in the wild!

The secondary dominant adds interest and emotion by resolving to the dominant chord of any chord that is not the tonic. This creates the musical illusion of moving to a new key. It is especially popular in jazz music and was even used in traditional classical music. Songwriters in rock and jazz music today use the secondary dominants to add a little bit of gravity, interest, and nuance to their writing. You can find secondary dominants scattered across popular music.

So what is a secondary dominant, and how does it relate to the dominant? How are secondary dominants used in music, and how can you apply them to create this sought-after tension and release in your own music?

What is Dominant Function?

In music, harmonic function describes the mood that certain chords and chord movements lend to music. Typically, in popular and classical music, the songwriter or composer tries to resolve to the dominant or tonic of a key.

The V chord is called the dominant chord. If you need to brush up on common chord progressions and chords, check out these great resources:

• What is Chord Ear Training?
• Chord Training How-to: Chord Progressions
• Chord Progressions Ear Training Exercises
• Theory Review for Dominant Chords – Jazz Guitar Lessons

Dominant function refers to the feeling that the dominant chord of a key brings to music – that of instability and a drive to resolve to the tonic. Dominant function keeps the chord train going in one direction – towards the tonic of the key. This brings about a release to the tension created.

This release can be created through a cadence. A cadence is a chord progression ending a section of a piece or a short phrase. We often refer to the term chord progressions, as well.

In popular music, the chord progressions often end in a very simple cadence called the perfect cadence, or more familiarly, a chord progression ending in V-I. Phamox Music provides a fantastic summary of commonly-encountered cadences and how they contribute to resolution.

A chord progression ending in V-I is the easiest way to resolve almost any progression satisfactorily to the listener. Other chords like IV or vi may be used (or their corollaries in minor keys), but in the end the vast majority of music that you hear on the radio will resolve to I. This is basic Western harmony.

For example, in the key of C Major, most chord progressions will resolve in I (the C major chord) or V (the G major chord). You can hear this over and over again in most of your favorite tunes.

In this video you will hear twelve chord progressions common in pop music, classical music, rock, and jazz. Notice how many of these chord progressions resolve tension by moving to I. Even if there are other chords between V and I, tension will be resolved through traditional harmonic function:

Here are twelve very popular chord progressions:

• I – V – vi – IV
• vi – V – IV – V
• I – vi – IV – V
• I – IV – vi – V
• I – V – IV – V
• vi6 – ii – V6 – I
• I – vi / IV – ii – V
• vi – IV – I – V
• i – VI – III – VII
• I – IV – ii – V
• vi – V – IV – iii
• I – V – vi – iii – IV – I – IV – V

Notice how each will resolve to I (the tonic) or V (the dominant).

The Secondary Dominant

But what if we told you that technically speaking, there is more than one dominant in each key?

Wait, what?!

Um… how?

Well, every scale degree of key has a dominant of its very own… making for a total of seven possible dominants in every major key.

We have a special name for this – it’s called the secondary dominant, and it can be described as the dominant 7th chord of a non-tonic chord in a key.

So what is a secondary dominant? And how does it function in a song?

Well, sometimes you want to add a little interest to your music. You can find secondary dominants in almost all musical genres, but you run into them most in jazz music (check out LearnJazzStandards’s podcast episode on secondary dominants in jazz), classical music, and even film music.

Let’s take a moment to listen to “Hey Jude” by the Beatles again:

You can hear the secondary dominant function at the end of the line “Then you begin to make it better.” There is a slight build there that resolves on the first beat of the chorus. Listen to that section a few times and listen for the chord progressions underneath the verse.  

Finding Your Way Home

If you understand that chord progressions essentially are just trying to get back to the tonic of the chord, much like an Uber driver trying to find your house in an unfamiliar neighborhood, then you can understand the concept of Secondary Dominants.

A secondary dominant is like the Uber driver that makes a couple of stops before eventually finding your house. Like going to a different house on the same street. So they are close, but not quite there. Then they eventually find the right address – and voila! – they are at your door, or rather, the tonic.

For example, in the key of C, the G Major Chord is the Dominant Chord. Listen to this example. You will hear the C Scale, then the chord progression C-G-C-G-C. Listen to how G resolves to C, creating balance and resolution.

Building up from there, we find out that we can use the D7 chord as a Secondary Dominant built on G. The D7 is built: D-F#-A-C.

In this example, you will hear C-G-D7-D7 (Arpeggiated)-D7. Listen for the intervals and distinct sound of the D7 in this context. Notice how it creates tension and is unresolved.

If you notice, the F# and the C create an augmented fourth. This is called a tritone.  Listen to the D7 Chord, then the tritone. Notice how the tritone creates harmonic tension:

The tritone naturally wants to resolve. The F# of the secondary dominant D7 chord resolves up to the G in the dominant chord. The C of the secondary dominant D7 chord resolves down to the B in the dominant chord, landing on the G Major Chord in C Major. Listen to the resolution of the tritone. First you will hear the tritone resolve, then you will hear D7 resolve to G:

Now we are temporarily in G. At this point we can modulate (or change keys) into the key of G, or move back to C Major for the final resolution. For more info, The Jazz Piano Site details the concept of modulation and shows you simple ways to modulate.

Using the Circle of Fifths to Find Secondary Dominants

Things can get a little bit confusing when you’re dealing with dominants of dominants, so a great tool to have is a visual aid.

We can understand secondary dominants by using the Circle of Fifths. The Circle of Fifths is a tool that is essentially built up by starting on C, then moving up progressively by fifths until you end up back at the beginning at C again. The key signatures are made into a wheel. This is an incredibly valuable tool for musicians:

You can use the Circle of Fifths to find Secondary Dominants. Just travel around the circle to find the dominant of a note. For example, following the progression above, you know that E is the dominant of A, which is the dominant of D. This means that E7 can be a Secondary Dominant in the key of D Major. The E7 will resolve to A, which is the dominant chord in the key of D Major. Let’s practice using the Circle of Fifths.

Circle of Fifths Exercise

Looking at the Circle of Fifths, answer the questions below.

1. What is the dominant Chord in the key of A?

2. What is the dominant Chord in the key of G Flat?

3. What note is a fifth above G?

4. What note is a fifth below A Flat?

The Secondary Dominant in Music

Once you open your ears to secondary dominants, they emerge in many corners of music. We will first listen to a secondary dominant chord progression in isolation, then examine it in the context of some popular songs, and then try our hand at identifying them within pieces of music.

Hearing Secondary Dominants

Let’s start off by listening to some basic chord progressions using secondary dominants. Try to listen to how the chord progressions provide some release from the tension created. Listen for augmented chords (tritones), and how they resolve to the dominant.

Example 1: C-E7-Am

Listen to the resolution of this Secondary Dominant chord.

Example 2: C-C7-F

Listen to this common chord progression using the Secondary Dominant.

Example 3: C-Am-B7-C

Notice the different use of the Secondary Dominant in this chord progression. Notice the unique musical color of this resolution.

Hearing Secondary Dominants in Music

Listening for the Secondary Dominant seems difficult because it has a somewhat familiar function to other popular chord progressions. However, there are a few key things to listen for to help you truly hear the secondary dominant.

1. Listen for a buildup of tension in a song

2. Listen for 7th chords

3. Did you hear a tritone resolving?

4. When the buildup releases, does it land on the tonic or on another note?

5. After the release, does the song seem to have modulated to a new key or sounds like it has landed on a new tonic temporarily?

6. Does the resolution seem less satisfying?

7. Does the song return to the original key?

An important term to know is tonicization. What is tonicization? It is creating the sound of a new tonic within a song. The new chord functions as the new tonic in the scale. For example, if the original song is in the key of F but ends up sounding like it moved to the key of C temporarily, that is tonicization. C is not the tonic of the song. The tonic is F. But because of the chord progressions, possibly the use of a secondary dominant, the song temporarily sounds like it has moved to a new key.

You will find secondary dominants in the music of the Beatles, Queen, Billy Joel, Bruno Mars, and Leonard Cohen.

Here is an example of the Secondary Dominant in the “Easy Come, Easy Go” segment from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at [0:32]:

Follow the Chords in “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen to hear the use of the secondary dominant. Can you hear the tension and release created by the progression G-E7-Am? Listen to this section a few times to really intone the unique sound of the Secondary Dominant:

Identifying Secondary Dominants

Before you start working on these exercises, take the time to play out some of the secondary dominant chord progressions from earlier in this article on an instrument. Learn how to really hear the unique chord quality created by the tritone, the 7th, and the resolution of the chord. By listening for this chord function over and over again and playing it on an instrument, you will find it much easier to really hear the secondary dominant in the examples below.

Exercise 1: Identify the Secondary Dominant

Below are some simple chord progressions. Listen to each example carefully, then decide which example has the secondary dominant. Be sure to listen for how the chord progressions resolve in terms of tension, release, and tonicization.

Exercise 2: Listen for Secondary Dominants in Music

Now it’s time to see if you can recognize the secondary dominant in a musical example. Below is a short musical example with rhythm section. Listen to the chord progressions carefully. Did you hear the secondary dominant? Where was it?

Exercise 3: Jam Time with Secondary Dominants

Pull out your instrument and take a moment to jam out with this old-time Charleston backing track that uses secondary dominants. If you are a singer, then vocalize with the track. Can you hear how the 7th chords function as secondary dominants?

How to Use Secondary Dominants in Songwriting

When songwriting, composing, or jamming with your band, use secondary dominants to add a little bit of tension in a uniquely colorful way. Need to modulate to a new key? Use a Secondary Dominant to help you get there using dominant function.

Need to create some tension? Use a secondary dominant for an intriguing buildup. Secondary dominants are a popular feature in dramatic soundtracks in film.

In this example, the soundtrack starts with simple movement between I and V, or Em and Am. Then, it moves into a more complex chord progression using the secondary dominant. Notice that while the section using Em and Am resolves, it is very repetitive and boring, almost like it’s standing in place.

Give it a listen. A simple breakdown of the track is below.

Breakdown:

00:00 Synth Intro
00:02 Em-Am-Em-Am
00:14 Em-A7-Am-D7-G7-Em
00:32 Em-A-Em-A
00:41 Em-A7-Am-D7-G7-Em
00:54 Em Outro

Songwriting Practice

In this exercise you will experiment with the secondary dominant Chord. You can write an instrumental section or write for vocals using a lead sheet. If you aren’t great at writing out music, just jot down the chords while sitting at a piano or using a guitar. The point isn’t writing out sheet music, but to learn how to use the Secondary Dominant in your songwriting.

1. Write a short 16-measure tune in a pop or rock style using only the I, ii, IV, V, and vi chords in a major scale (lyrics are optional!)

2. Play through the tune several times

3. Listen for natural tension and release in the harmony

4. Now replace at least two chords with a secondary dominant chord progression in that key (these can be at the end of a phrase or verse, or as a transition)

5. Play through your new chord progression

6. Experiment with moving the secondary dominant throughout the song

7. Now replace four to eight chords with a secondary dominant chord progression

Bonus: If you feel like you are getting the hang of writing with secondary dominants, try to modulate to a new key using the secondary dominant. Instead of moving back to the original tonic of your tune, stay in the new established key. If you want to add even more flavour to your creation, try experimenting with altering dominant 7th chords, as described by Davide Pannozzo.

Once you are comfortable adding in secondary dominants into your writing, share your new creations with your friends and jam through them. Practice improvising and experimenting with harmony.

Further Exploration of the Secondary Dominant

Now that you’re acquainted with the secondary dominant, you can practice hearing and using this harmonic function in music. Don’t worry if it takes a few times listening to the examples in this article to truly “hear” the function and tone color of the Secondary Dominant.

To learn more about secondary dominants and the music theory behind them, check out these great resources:

• Roger W. Petersen – Secondary Dominants
• Move Forward Guitar – Chord Progressions with Secondary Dominants
• Music Student 101’s podcast episode on secondary dominants

To best internalize Secondary Dominants and unlock their power, keep your ears out for them in the music you listen to – chances are, there are more than a handful of your favourite hits that use them. If you’re a songwriter, experiment with using it in your writing. Enjoy a little bit of dramatic musical tension!

The post Hearing Secondary Dominants appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/three-ways-to-boost-your-daily-music-motivation/
How can you get motivated to practice today? The Musical U team has these strategies to get you moving! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/three-ways-to-boost-your-daily-music-motivation/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-develop-your-new-songs-theme/
When you’re writing a new song you’ll often start out with the seed of an idea. This could be a melody, it could be a chord progression, it could even be an overall idea of the sound of the song.

How can this seed be developed into a full theme? https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-develop-your-new-songs-theme/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/6-simple-steps-play-by-ear-solfa/
Playing music by ear can seem mysterious. If you want to learn, wouldn’t it be great if there was actually a clear and logical process to it, rather than seeming like a magic trick?

The good news: there is! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/6-simple-steps-play-by-ear-solfa/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-play-chords-by-ear-roadmap/
Have you wished you could hear a song and instantly know what the chords are? To be able to pick up a guitar or sit down at a piano and play along – or maybe improvise a solo over the top?

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-play-chords-by-ear-roadmap/

In this roundtable-discussion episode, the members of the Musical U team discuss the idea of “keeping it simple”, with anecdotes from their musical lives to illustrate the benefits of this mindset.

Listen to the episode:

This month only get the first 100 episodes AND MORE with the Musicality Podcast Power Pack!

Free Worldwide Shipping
Exclusive bonuses!

→ Learn More ←

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

• Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One
• Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two
• The Musicality Podcast Power Pack
• Roadmaps at Musical U

Transcript

Christopher S.: Hello and welcome to the Musicality Podcast. My name is Christopher Sutton, I am the founder and director of Musical U. And this is a special episode because we’re trying something a bit different.

As said at the end of Episode 101, which was the second of our two-part celebration for hitting Episode 100, we had an amazing round-up of guests contributing their answers to “What’s one thing that could help people tap into their inner musicality?”

And listening to all of those contributions, I wanted to do something to follow up on them. Because there were some really fascinating common themes across those experts. As well as being incredibly varied and different and interesting and unique, there were a few things that came up several times.

And so what I wanted to do was just get a few members of the Musical U team together to talk through some of these topics that came up again and again. And so today, I’m joined by Adam, Sara, and Stewart. That’s Adam Liette, Sara Campbell, and Stewart Hilton from the Musical U team. And before we dive in, I’ll just ask each of them to say a quick “hello” and maybe share what they do at Musical U and outside of Musical U.

Adam, why don’t you go first?

Adam Liette: Hello, my name’s Adam Liette. I’m the Communications Manager here at Musical U. I’m also a classically-trained trumpet player and a self-taught guitar player.

Christopher S.: Awesome. And Sara?

Sara Campbell: I am the Resident Pro for piano here at Musical U. So you can find me on the piano forum there. And outside of Musical U, I am a piano teacher and voice teacher and a music business coach. So it’s keeping me busy nowadays.

Christopher S.: Definitely someone that wears a lot of hats. And Stewart?

Stewart Hilton: I’m Stewart Hilton. And you’ve probably seen me popping up all over the Musical U member site in many different discussions, and in your email box, and all over. Outside of Musical U, I play guitar with a tribute artist who does five different tribute acts. I play with a band on the side from that and also play at church. And in my spare time, I have a wife and sleep.

Christopher S.: (Laughing)

Sara Campbell: (Laughing)

Christopher S.: I like that sleep was last on the list. I think we could probably all relate to that.

Cool. So there are several topics we’re gonna be going through in the next few episodes. And the first one that jumped out to me was the importance of keeping it simple.

So this is something, I think, we’re often prone to losing sight of in music. And I was very aware of this as we were putting together the Musicality Podcast Power Pack, and I was listing out the hundred episodes and all of the topics we’ve covered and all of the guests we’ve had.

And part of the challenge of that project was – how can we make this digestable and accessible to someone who isn’t just gonna be overwhelmed by getting all of this stuff all at once.

And so I loved that this was the theme that came up with several of our contributors for Episodes 100 and 101. We had, for example, Bill Hilton who said that “you don’t need to be a good musician to make good music.” That one really resonated with me.

He was talking about how we think we need to be a virtuoso, in terms of technique. But actually, you can make really effective music very simply.

Casey Von Neumann mentioned this, too. And David Reed talked about improvisation, where a lot of people think you need a high level of ability. But actually he was pointing out this is something that can be part of your music playing from day one.

And Forrest Kinney talked about how you just need to sit down and play and listen. And it can be an adventure. And I think that mindset really helps you remember that music can, and maybe should be simple, at the heart of it.
I have a few thoughts on this myself. But I’d love to kick off with someone else. So I’m going to put Stewart on the spot and ask you: where has this come up in your musical life?

Stewart Hilton: It’s really come up, I would say, with the tribute artist that I play for. It came up in a surprising way. Because when he called me the first time to do a few shows, he said, “Oh, by the way, on three songs I do wardrobe changes as Elton John. So you’ll be soloing for five minutes.”

Christopher S.: (Laughing) Wow.

Sara Campbell: Wow. That’s a long time.

Stewart Hilton: That’s a long time. Adam will understand this. Back in the 80s, there was a lot of shredding on the guitar – guys who play at a million miles and hour, arpeggiate for every mode, plus some from other planets.
That was not me. I was never, kind of, a show guitar guy. I was more kind of like, you know, blues-y feel. Not that shredding isn’t feel. But I was just never really that type.

So when he told me that, yeah. I broke out into profuse sweat and other things. And then he must have caught on that I was a little nervous. He said, “Look, just keep it simple. It was a lot of what we talked about in our improv road map. Keep it simple, start low, build things up.” And I have done improv before with another band. But- five minutes.
So at that first show, we broke into it. And I felt like I was prepared. We were doing- I think it was “Benny and the Jets.” And I built it up and got it all the way through, and I felt like- when you’re doing solos, you feel like you’ve given your story and you’re done. And I looked over and he still wasn’t on stage. To which, I looked at the drummer, and thought, “Oh. I have more to go.”

But the big thing was, I guess, learning to keep it simple over time. I finally have slowly gotten to learn that. And it’s a great skill.

Christopher S.: That’s super interesting. You’ve mentioned the improv roadmap there. And that was something that was on my mind, was that, in that context, we talk about using constraints to help you feel freer. And how actually, restricting yourself to just maybe playing a single note can open your ears and your abilities, in terms of the dynamics or the phrasing or the articulation or the rhythm. And I love that there you were put on the spot with the constraint of “you must play for five minutes.”

And that suddenly changes a lot, doesn’t it? You know, you’re not going to be taking the same approach to form, or the same desire to cram all of the notes you know into the first bar.

Stewart Hilton: Right.

Christopher S.: You’re going to have to take a different approach.

Stewart Hilton: Yeah. And I learned, and – actually, a guy we interviewed Dave Bainbridge I had asked – I’m like, “Oh my goodness, dude. I’ve got all this stuff I’ve gotta learn. And I’ve gotta come up with things.” And he gave me some good tips. You know- start at the bottom of the neck. Slowly work your way up.

And I got better at it, to which- I did another show that he did. He also does a Rascal Flatts tribute. And at the end of the song, there is an improv moment. And I blew right through the ending. And the band kept going with me, thankfully. And then after, they were like, “oh, yeah. You totally missed the final four count in the ears.” And I’m like, ooh.

Christopher S.: That’s what happens when you train yourself to play a five-minute solo.

Stewart Hilton: Yeah, exactly

Christopher S.: And so what about you, Sara? I imagine this is something you are conscious of, from the teaching perspective as well as being a musician yourself.

Sara Campbell: Absolutely. The first thing that came to mind when you posed this question is that you have to start somewhere. And that somewhere can be really simple. I mean, it comes back to the question, right?

And for little kids- because I teach a lot of little kids how to improvise. I’ve started bringing this into lessons, basically from day one. And once we start doing that, improvisation starts getting a little less scary, if it’s something that- it just is a natural part of the music-learning process.

So with my- it’s interesting, though. Because I still have students in my studio who have been there long enough that when I started with them, we weren’t improvising as much. So I’ve noticed this really big difference between the students who were raised on it versus the ones who we started a little bit later, maybe in the teens years. So they’ve got the teen nervousness going on. ‘Cause that’s a thing.

And when I compare the two, the ones who are a little bit more nervous about it- they feel like they have to create something massively amazing. So if we’re in a group setting and we’re doing improvisation, you can tell that they’re really stressed out. And their improvisation tends to wander. And it doesn’t have much form or structure.

Whereas the ones who are more used to it- they started really simple. Like, hey, I would give them two notes and say, “Here are two black keys. You can play them in whatever order you want, in whatever rhythm you want.” And those are the ones who- they tend to start more simply as they jump into an improvisation.

And if you can start there, and, like, maybe just start with two keys. I’m always gonna be referring to piano. So sorry. (Laughing)

But start with two notes and see where that takes you. So that’s the first thing that popped to my mind.

Christopher S.: Awesome. And such an important underlying point that making it simple doesn’t mean it will be simple forever. You know, sometimes it is just the best way to get started on what will become a super versatile and complex skill for you. But you’ve got to be willing to take that first step.

And I think in a future episode, we’re gonna be talking about the importance of taking small steps forwards, rather than biting everything off at once. And I think this ties in very neatly with that.

Because there are contexts where you have to keep it simple, and simple is the whole mindset. And there are contexts where you just have to accept that you will start simple. And that is the best way to start, whatever you eventually might be.

Sara Campbell: Yeah, Exactly.

You know, you just reminded me. If you start with something very simple, and you just do one or two notes at a time, then say, “You now what, I’m gonna take a third note. And I’m gonna put it in there.”

The importance of repetition is something that I think can be lost really easily when we’re thinking, “Oh, I have to improvise. I must make new things at all times.” But it’s not about making new things at all times. It’s about exploring, “Well, what does this sound like when I change a chord underneath?”- and going at it from that perspective instead.

Christopher S.: That’s a great point. Yeah. And I was recently talking with the chap from bluesharmonica.com, David Barrett, for the podcast. And he gave this great description of how he explains improv and teaches improv. And that point about repetition was a crucial one.

You know, he kind of talked through how- if you don’t repeat anything in your improvisation, you’re kind of telling the listener it didn’t matter- it wasn’t worth remembering. And I think that goes so neatly with keeping it simple. Because we think if we’re doing the same thing again and again, we’re not challenging ourselves, we’re not showing everything we can do.

But the reality is music is based on repetition, you know. All rhythm is about repetition. And yeah. I think that’s a really important thing to pull out.

Stewart Hilton: I have to say that I have taught guitar, and what Sara is saying is – it brings back a lot of funny memories. Because a few guitarists who missed their first kind of pentatonic scale, and now say, “Next week, you’re gonna solo.” And that’s all I give them.

And without a doubt, the next week, what they will do is come back. I’ll play a rhythm. And then they’ll go up the pentatonic scale, come back down the pentatonic scale, up and down. And then you have to start and stop them, and go toward what Sara was saying.

Stewart Hilton: But it’s just funny that that’s the immediate vibe, is going up and down.

Christopher S.: Yeah. Well, I hesitate to say it, in case I get hate mail. But a lot of guitarists never make it that far beyond going up and down the pentatonic scale- if we’re honest. They just do it fast enough that you don’t notice.
Stewart Hilton: And I will say nothing.

Christopher S.: So Adam, as a former metal guitarist yourself, did you have any opinions on that?

Adam Liette: That’s absolutely true. Yeah.

Christopher S.: (Laughing)

Adam Liette: The faster you can play, the better.

But I just had a completely different thought on this subject. And I was kind of transported back to my first day at the conservatory. I’d walk into this hallway just full of trumpet players, which are like heavy metal guitar players- faster, louder, better.

And I had this stack of books. It was like five hundred pages of method books. And I was walking into my first lesson, thinking, “Okay, here it comes. You’re gonna learn to play like these guys you’re hearing in the hallway.” And my teacher said, “Play one note. Play one note.”

And we played a concert F. And he said, “Just hold it. And hold that one pitch. And make it as fundamentally sound as you possibly can.” And I couldn’t do it. I had started adding vibrato. My breath support was all over the place. I wasn’t in the center of the pitch. And he said, “That’s why you can’t play like you want to. Because you can’t play that one note with the very fundamentals of musicianship.”

And so then he turned off the light. So we’re in the basement, no windows, lights off. And I just have a tuner in front of me. So I could see his slides in the tuner. And I just concentrated on centering my pitch and holding it as long as I possible could.

And over the next four years, I mean- that was the fundamentals of what became my trumpet style, and my trumpet tone- was that simple pitch. So I still practice it to this day. And I think it’s so telling- we get all these etudes and exercises and everything, But if we start at that very basic fundamentals of our instrument and our musicality, that will lead us to the next step.

Christopher S.: That’s a really cool- I hadn’t expected to talk about this, but you’ve reminded me that … so much of what you just said is in common with how we approach singing at Musical U. And I think that often surprises people.

Because, you know, if you go to a website to learn to sing, you expect to be taught all the latest pop songs and be taught about vibrato and your vocal range and support and breathing and posture. And we approach it from the very basics.

Christopher S.: So we’re like, “Can you sing one note? Is it in tune?”

Adam Liette: (Laughing)

Christopher S.: And until you can do that, we don’t worry about all the rest. And you know, it’s critical on any instrument. And whether you’re improvising or learning to play, I think there’s such elegance in allowing yourself to focus on just playing one note.

Yeah. I think we get so caught up in the fast flurry of note-reading and note-playing and note-improvising that we forget that- I forget who it was, and I feel a little guilty for that. But someone in one of our interviews recently said- it might have even been in one of our contributions for the roundup episodes.

They said, “A single note can be really beautiful.” Like- you need to remember that if you just stop and you listen to one note, that can be a beautiful thing.

Adam Liette: You just reminded me of- Lesson 2 in the conservatory was sing the note, and then play it. I was like, wait, I came here to learn trumpet. And I’m learning how to sing. But he’s like- until you can sing it, how can you play it? So- yeah.

Christopher S.: This guy sounds amazing. We should get him on the podcast.

Adam Liette: I will try, definitely.

Christopher S.: So the other thought I had on this topic- I think we’ve talked for a bit about keeping the music simple. But where does this come up a lot for us in Musical U, aside from that, is in planning- which is something else that often surprises people as a big part of what we do at Musical U.

Because people come in, and their head is full of ideas and methods and theory and background and goals. And you know, the first thing we do with new members is we walk them through- what are you actually trying to achieve? What is that big picture vision? What is that goal you have in mind?

And then we can break it down from there and figure out what are the steps to get you there. But I think, when it comes to learning music- particularly in this day and age with YouTube within finger’s reach at all times and endless websites telling you different ways to learn endless things on your instrument or in your chosen genre- it’s so easy to be overwhelmed.

And so I just wanted to touch on that point, too. Keeping it simple is essential for making progress in your overall musical journey, quite aside from the importance for keeping the music simple and keeping your practicing simple, and so on. Just the planning, and what you’re aiming for, and the resources you draw on are- like, don’t try and do everything at once. Don’t try and pursue all the goals today. Don’t try and use every resource under the sun and study everything before you do anything.

I think that importance of keeping it simple is really powerful to remember in that kind of planning mindset, as well.

Stewart Hilton: I would agree. And I think that’s what’s great about how we have roadmaps set up. Because versus just saying, here’s all the things. Jump in. We give people a nice way of starting at kind of square root one. You know? And then building onto that, having that foundation, and then building on.

And even though, for some, they make think, “Oh, that’s kind of simple,” there’s some stuff when you read through it that – “oh, wait, I didn’t remember that little part.” And you need that to move on.

And I love watching all of the members go through. And you can see them go back, even though someone will be like, “Oh, you know, some of it was review, but there was a couple things that I didn’t think about before.”
So it’s great that it’s [inaudible 00:27:19] because now I can build on to that. And I think that’s a great thing. And I see it, even where I’ve taught. And I’ve talked to people about guitar.

I have one guy – I was playing golf and this guy came up to me. And he plays acoustic, and he told me he heard my playing. So he was asking me about songs.

So of course, I told him- for a good finger-picking song, play – a little “Dust in the Wind” is great, not knowing his level. And then he came back the next week, and he’s like, “I cannot do that.”

So then we had to go way back. And I gave him some other stuff. But yeah. Long term, and also, the short term, long term goals.

Christopher S.: Yeah. So we’ve had a few episodes of the podcast about goal-setting and planning and road maps. And we’ll put links to those in the show notes. I’ll also just mention that those road maps Stewart’s talking about- we do have previews of them available for free on the website.

So if you are, for example, wanting to play chords by ear, if you’re not ready to try Musical U, you can still go check out that roadmap. And you’ll see how we approach it step by step. And I think that can be very useful, just to give you an example of what it means to keep it simple and do it step by step like that.

Cool. Well, that was a really interesting variety of ideas and stories that that threw up. I think- yeah. It whet my appetite for more of these conversations.

Well, thank you Adam, Sara, and Stewart for joining me for this episode. Thank you for listening. Hope you’ve enjoyed it, and we will see you on the next one.

This month only get the first 100 episodes AND MORE with the Musicality Podcast Power Pack!

Free Worldwide Shipping
Exclusive bonuses!

→ Learn More ←

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 Keeping it Simple appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/start-ear-training/
Every musician knows that training your musical ears is an important part of becoming more musical. But how should you get started? https://www.musical-u.com/learn/start-ear-training/