Musicality World

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/open-your-ears-to-winter-holiday-music/
Warm up your holiday celebration with this 5 song set filled with great music! 🎄🎶 https://www.musical-u.com/learn/open-your-ears-to-winter-holiday-music/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/open-your-ears-to-some-yuletide-a-cappella/
Happy Holidays to all of the Musical U family! Liven up your celebrations with some Yuletide Acapella 🎅 🎄https://www.musical-u.com/learn/open-your-ears-to-some-yuletide-a-cappella/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ear-training-possible-impossible/
Feeling frustrated in your music education? We hear this a lot at Musical U, and can relate to the anxiety that musicians can feel. Learn ways that we have found to help you break through and get the results you desire. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ear-training-possible-impossible/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/music-production-mixed-3-ways/
Ear training skills are only useful for playing your instrument, right? Not even close! Learn how composer Sabrina Peńa Young found this skill useful in music production and mixing. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/music-production-mixed-3-ways/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/discovering-minor-chord-progressions-minor-chords-part-one/
Who loves minor chords! 👍😀 Learn more about how to use minor chords in your music with this in-depth article from Musical U. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/discovering-minor-chord-progressions-minor-chords-part-one/

This week, we’re looking at some merry tunes that snuck their way onto Christmas albums without being Christmas songs themselves, celebrating one Musical U member’s journey, and looking at some non-Christmas music that will lift your spirits this holiday season. It doesn’t stop there: for those looking to practice their covers of “White Christmas”, we’re including a great tutorial for creating backing tracks to play along and practice with.

Last but not least, this week, Musical U guest-starred on the world’s largest trumpet community: Trumpetland! Our own Adam Liette gives players advice on incorporating ear training into their daily practice routine on their website.

Christmas Misfits

“Deck the Halls”? Check. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”? Check. “White Christmas”? Check. Wait. What’s that track on your favourite Christmas album that… doesn’t sound like a Christmas carol you’ve ever heard before?

To spice up their Christmas releases, many artists cleverly incorporate some festive tunes into their albums that have nothing to do with Christmas. Sure, some may sing of snow, but many of these tunes are just so jubilant and homely that they need not mention anything related to the holiday season at all.

The 15 Best Non-Christmas Songs That Appear On Christmas Albums showcases these merry misfits, with everything from blues to Bob Dylan covers to numbers from musicals!

This was a fun exploration into songs that sound like Christmas songs, but have nothing to do with the holidays. Why do we confuse this in our ears? Are there certain elements to music that make them sound… Christmassy? ClassicFM has the answers.

We all know and love many of these classic Christmas (and non-Christmas) songs of the holiday season. But what if you want to mix it up a little bit? The Nerdist has compiled this wonderfully entertaining list of contemporary pop holiday songs certain to spice up your playlist.

Music, CarlyA2Z’s Way

The conservatory is a place whose hallowed halls will give you an excellent, structured music education.

However, it’s certainly not for everyone, and sometimes, achieving your goals means taking your musical journey into your own hands.

For CarlyA2Z, the mindset of conservatory teaching wasn’t meshing with her musical sensibilites. After almost giving up music for good, she stumbled across Musical U on a Google search.

For Carly, it turned out to be the perfect tool for working towards her specific goals while ensuring that her musical practice was a positive emotional experience. To learn how she keeps track of her accomplishments while keeping self-doubt away, and how she personally uses the tools of Musical U to meet her musical goals, head over to Musical U Member Spotlight: CarlyA2Z.

Like many musicians, CarlyA2Z struggled with thoughts of quitting music. This can be difficult to deal with for both musicians and music educators alike. In an insightful podcast episode, James Divine details how to change the mind of the student that wants to quit.

Musicians can often doubt their own abilities, and feel like they don’t belong. This is true no matter how successful you are. Remember that this is completely normal and there are ways that you can figure out how to get these thoughts out of your head. For some practical advice, Nick Ruffini at Drummers Resource has recorded this outstanding podcast episode on how to overcome imposter syndrome.

We talk a lot about the importance of having a mentor here at Musical U. Having someone to guide you through the difficult times can be extremely beneficial to your overall musical growth. Adam Ivy has some great advice for those that want to pursue personal mentorship.

Finally, having a practice journal has proven to be a great resource that has improved CarlyA2Z’s musical progress. You can download a practice journal from our friends at the Musician’s Way. Once you have this powerful resource, learn how to best manage your practice journal system with renowned bassist Jason Heath.

Merry Non-Christmas Music

Singing about the usual suspects such as Santa Claus, Jack Frost, and the black sheep of the reindeer family is all fine and well, but who said songs have to even mention Christmas to get you into the holiday spirit?

Charlotte Farley has compiled 10 Songs That Sound Like Christmas (But Aren’t) for your listening pleasure. It turns out that merry string arrangements, feel-good riffs, and uplifting lyrics evoke the spirit of Christmas just as well as, say, a reverie about walking down Santa Claus Lane.

With so many existing Christmas songs, certainly the world doesn’t need another one. Or does it?! Nashville Christian Songwriters explore the current repertoire of Christmas songs and challenge songwriters to explore this genre through storytelling. If you want to get inspired to write your own Christmas masterpiece, look no further.

What are some of keys that you need to consider when writing a great holiday tune? We turned to one of the most successful holiday performers in the United States, Jim Brickman, for his advice. Every year, Jim wows audiences throughout the midwest with his fantastic holiday renditions – let him teach you the tricks of mastering this genre!

The Beauty of Backing Tracks

Backing tracks are an incredible accompanist: they’re always right on rhythm, never miss a note, and encourage you to keep going even if you slip up.

Joanne Cooper has put together an incredible tutorial on using the program Band-in-a-Box to create customized backing tracks for improvisation, playalong, and more. In How To Make A Backing Track, with Joanne Cooper, she takes you step-by-step through the process, from finding the chords of your favourite song to inputting them into the software to tweaking the song to your liking.

Whoever thought that we would be able to create such wonderful background music using a regular computer? Technology continues to refine the way that we make, consume, and talk about music. To learn more about the various tools that you can begin using today, take a listen the Music Education and Technology Podcast.

Joanne talked about how a backing track can be a great tool for you to better practice your instrument. One way that backing tracks are used is for improvisation. But, there are some great exercises that will spice up your scale study by using this method as well. Gary Potter teaches how to use backing tracks for scale practice.

If you are already using backing tracks, or have an interest in doing so, remember that you don’t need to limit this technology to the practice room. Having a computer on stage is easier, and more accepted, than ever before. Soundfly has compiled 8 ways to perform with a backing track that inspired us to think more about incorporating this tool into our musical endeavors.

Regardless of your knowledge of music theory, making your own backing track can be a fun exercise. After listening to Joanne’s tutorial, delve deeper into making backing tracks with Better Practice App!

Musical U Around the Web

This week, Trumpetland borrows our very own Musical U Communications Manager and classically-trained trumpet player Adam Liette for a guest article on adding a new dimension to your daily practice by incorporating ear training!

Adam gives invaluable advice for trumpet players seeking to improve their ear in their everyday practice, touching on everything from what scales to focus on to learning to recognize intervals on the instrument.

Head over to Trumpetland to learn 6 Ways To Practice Ear Training In Your Daily Routine, and get on track to playing your trumpet freely and expressively!

Getting Into the Spirit

How will you celebrate music this holiday season?

Will it be by throwing on some festive music, looking back on your own musical journey and feeling pride for all your incredible accomplishments, or making a nice backing track for a holiday song that you’ll serenade your loved ones with?

The post Christmas Misfits, Music, CarlyA2Z’s Way, Merry Non-Christmas Music, The Beauty of Backing Tracks, and Musical U Around the Web appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/7-ways-accelerate-ear-training/
Ready to accelerate your ear training? The Musical U team has compiled 7 easy ways that you can speed up your progress in any of your musical goals. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/7-ways-accelerate-ear-training/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ultimate-guide-to-interval-ear-training/
Have you ever been told that you needed to “learn intervals”? Why is this so important, and how can you get started? https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ultimate-guide-to-interval-ear-training/

A few months ago, my four year-old and I were sitting the car waiting to pick up my kindergartener from school, and I decided to pop in some Dean Martin. Upon hearing the first few bars of the tune, my little guy announced in his tiny-but-loud voice, “This is Christmas music, Mommy! But it’s not Christmas yet! It’s Halloween!”

It’s happened to you, hasn’t it? Sometimes a song comes on the radio, on your Pandora station, or on YouTube and even though it’s not a Christmas song per se, it triggers an auditory memory – all of a sudden, you went from listening to Radiohead to picturing yourself in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa (or whiskey).

What makes a holiday feel like a holiday differs from one person to another – you could say “fireplace”, but that doesn’t play if you grew up in Australia or Hawaii. You could say “church services”, but not everybody attends. The same goes for what sounds like a holiday.

This begs the question: what makes something sound like a Christmas song?

Everyone from country artists to Irish tenors and pop princesses puts their own spin on classics like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Blue Christmas”, so, clearly, there’s as much variety to Christmas music as there are types of Christmas cookies. You could get into different theories on chords or lyrics, but it all boils down to what the listener tends to associate with Christmas.

Since more than half of the most performed Christmas songs of all-time were recorded from 1935 – 1965, it makes sense that most of us might hear big band sounds and doowop harmonies and note a bit of Christmas (layers of strings or brass always seem to do the trick). Add in any lyrics about winter, hope, peace, merriment, or the birth of a king and there you have it: a song, unbeknownst to itself, suited for a Christmas playlist.

And so we begin with the tune that started it all:

1. “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head”

From the album Dino: The Essential Dean Martin by Dean Martin

Maybe the Christmas feel is a result of the of the swingin’ horn introduction – reminiscent of so many intros on any Harry Connick Jr. Christmas record. The big band sound, orchestral strings, and cheeky piano fills feel like they came straight down from Santa Claus lane (and every time my youngest child hears this song he insists it’s a Christmas song, so that needs to count for something):

2. “Snowed In With You”

From the album Snow Angels by Over The Rhine

Karin Bergquist’s voice summons the spirit of Billie Holiday on this tune when she sings these lines: “When you come home and all the world’s asleep / I’ll close my eyes and breathe with sweet relief / This world has had you long enough for now / And when I get you home I’ll show you how / I wanna get snowed in with you”. Every line captures the true essence and message of Christmas classic “Let It Snow,” but with a more direct romantic twist:

3. “I’m Gonna Be Warm This Winter”

From the album Christmas In My Heart by Connie Francis

This is a straight-up 1950s pop love song that others have covered over the years (notably Kylie Minogue), but there’s nothing like the original with the authentic girl group sound, rippin’ sax solo, and drama of string overlays. “It’s gonna snow outside / The weather will be cold / But I’m gonna be warm / This winter”. It’s a cute, feel-good song that would fit in perfectly with any tree-trimming setlist (or any Meghan Trainor album – you know you want to hear that girl cover this tune!):

4. “Warmer in the Winter”

From the album Warmer in the Winter by Lindsey Stirling

The intro sounds like it would be right at home in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade while the lyrics sound like a perfect Target or Old Navy commercial selling fuzzy sleep socks and other stocking stuffers. The song is sweet and sentimental without being sappy, and how often do you get to hear a trombone and violin duet? Only at Christmas (Check out Trombone Shorty on this track!):

5. “The Frim Fram Sauce”

From the album All For You by Diana Krall

Krall’s rendition of the Nat King Cole Trio’s classic song lists all the things she doesn’t want and insisting instead on what she does want. Isn’t this what every mall Santa experiences every December, or what parents of picky eaters deal with at every meal? Now think about all of the delicious foods mentioned in the song and you have the makings of a holiday dinner:

6. “For The Beauty of the Earth”

From The Little Women Soundtrack

There are other versions of the hymn out there, but this simple, sweet version appeared in the film adaptation of Little Women, a movie ripe with wintery Christmas scenes. One verse of this hymn contains the following lines: “For each perfect Gift of Thine / To our race so freely given / Graces human and Divine / Flowers of earth, and buds of heaven / Christ, our God, to Thee we raise / This our sacrifice of praise”. The idea of God’s perfect gifts is perfectly appropriate for the Christmas season:

7. “Canon in D”

From the album The Canadian Brass Plays Great Baroque Music by The Canadian Brass

There’s something regal about Pachelbel’s Canon, and Christmas certainly celebrates the royal, with baby Jesus known as the king of kings! Add a fine brass quintet to the mix and you have the perfect recipe for a royal Christmas song:

8. “The Prayer”

From You’re The Inspiration: The Music of David Foster and Friends

This live track, featuring Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee, is light classical pop at its best. It’s just easy to imagine the three wise men and the shepherds following the star with lyrics like these: “Lead us to a place / Guide us with your grace / To a place where we’ll be safe”:

9. “It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way”

From the album Life and Times by Jim Croce

The song begins with a guitar lick that sounds like “Deck The Halls” and then Croce launches into a sentimental ballad about “Snowy nights and Christmas lights / Icy window panes / Make me wish that we could be / Together again”. This song amplifies that shred of hope for reconciliation that we tend to hold on to, and since Christmas celebrates the hope of what could be and what is to come, this tune is perfectly Christmas-y:

10. “Switzerland”

From the album Quill by The Last Bison

The Last Bison refers to their sound as “mountain-top chamber music”. Whether you agree with this description or not, you’ll certainly hear that the guitar, mandolin, and bell sounds, along with the repetition of “Oh, call home” work together to evoke the feeling of Christmas. Plus, the song is about the snowy, peaceful country of Switzerland. Snow plus peace equals the stuff Christmas carols are made of:

Beyond the Christmas Carol

As you can see, what makes something sound like Christmas can range from a jazz standard to a brand new tune by an up-and-coming indie band. Whether you’re a budding songwriter or a professional musician, use this list to challenge yourself: what instrumentation can you add to a tune to make it festive? What lyrics can you develop to convey a subtle sense of holiday celebration?

The post 10 Songs That Sound Like Christmas (But Aren’t) appeared first on Musical U.