UD Guest Lecture

Yesterday, I was asked to give a lecture to the University of Dayton Music Education students. The topic was to be "classroom management". To prepare for this, I looked at a file I created that contained all the "classroom tips" for the musicteachers911 podcast. There I was happy to find over a hundred tips. I just printed out this list. As long as I talked at least 30 seconds per tip, I would be just fine. As it turned out, I expounded on a few key points and completely skipped over others. Attending the class with the students, was Dr. heather McLaughlin, an ethnomusicologist from Canada. She is currently teaching at a college in New York, but was in Dayton  interviewing for a staff position at UD. Several times during my presentation, she raised her hand in interjected wonderful insights that gave a new perspective to the points I was making. I was very glad that she chose to attend. I spoke with her briefly after the session and invited her to contact me later about being a guest on the musicteachers911 podcast soon. 

As I was speaking, I got in touch with my passion for teaching again. The timing for this event couldn't have been better, as I was to leave UD and travel directly to Tipp City. There I was to give a overview presentation for Macmillan Publishing to their music staff. Getting up in front of a class again was just the spark I needed to pump some fresh energy into my textbook presentation. More on Tipp City next post. As it is, I need to get busy and get the next podcast episode ready for iTunes.

Music Music Music!

Last Saturday, I was asked to play the bass with a nine piece jazz band for a wedding reception.

Let me preface this post by saying that I usually play the piano with them. The bass player is vacationing in Florida. It was easier for the leader to find a sub for me on piano than a sub for bass. I must say that the pianist that he got to replace me did a marvelous job at covering the part. He had a different style of playing than  me.

I thought it was refreshing that I finally found another pianist that knew to stay away from the lower keys when playing with a bass.

 The event lasted four hours. Here is where I would like to interject that: whenever I booked a gig that lasted over three hours, I would stipulate that the band would be fed. Since I was not the band leader for this, I packed two ripe apples in my bass case and an energy bar in my shirt pocket for the last hour. The band leader offered to pick me up and transport me to the gig provided that I help him set up for the entire band. since the band leader is a close friend of mine, I agreed.

The event was to be held in an abandoned car dealership and was quite lovely. I was introduced to the mother of the groom who informed me that the buffet was indeed open to the band. Crab-cakes and shrimp appetizers won out over the apples hands-down.

The leader asked if I would set up on the right of the drummer with the pianist on the left side. Since I pack a 30 foot cord for the bass, it made sense that the amp be positioned there, but I walk over and looked off the pianists music.  One pet peeve I have is that the piano music is often 10 to 14 pages long per song. This is far too much for the music stands to hold. I decided not to use the bass book at all and totally look off the piano parts. I know it was wrong, but I had to secretly laugh at the horrible time the pianist was having finding and negotiating the sheet music from the book and the music rack. I was loving not having to touch a single page of it.

The regular vocalist couldn't make it and sent a female vocalist in his place. The band leader had not auditioned her and took the vocalist word that she would be fine. She wasn't. 

Don't get me wrong. Her voice is lovely and she can sing wonderfully. The huge problem is that she is a gospel singer and hadn't hear of any of the songs we were singing as she doesn't ever listen to secular music. 

oops.......

I found myself singing the vocal lines to her moments before the leader was counting off the song. 

Never use anyone for a performance that you haven't investigated thoroughly!

In spite of this, the crowd was happy and the gig was a success.

When the bass player comes back, I dread the thought of wrestling the piano charts again. I am just going to have to suck it up for the good of the entire ensemble.

Happy New YOU!

I was contacted to run a contemporary Christian Praise and Worship Band and play keys at a rather large church on the Sunday between Christmas and News Years Day. I was the only professional musician in the group. The band consisted of drums, bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards and nine singers.

I arrived an hour early to meet the very competent sound-engineer. This was a relief as a bad mix can toast a great band.

After introducing myself to the band, I quickly deduced that they were pretty solid musicians. All the songs were traditional Christmas Carols, but the band wanted to perform them as hard rock tunes. They had heard of me and were eager to listen to any suggestions that I was willing to offer.  I can assure you that this doesn't happen every day!

I usually go to a new band experience and lay low until I get a feel of their social dynamics, but felt that this crew was ready for some new  direction. This was such a welcome feeling for me.

I listened to what they had rehearsed. It sounded a lot like Old country and Western swing (bouncing the alternating quarter and eighths as triplets). Not exactly what I felt was hard rock at all.

The drummer could play a rock beat, so I started with him putting down a solid beat in 4/4 using all straight eights on the cymbals.

I then told the bass player to lay down the tonic of the chord using straight eighths just like the drummer.

The rhythm guitar player was shown a blues lick that sounded like the beginning of the old standard, "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown".

Add my directions to the overdriven lead guitar telling him to play whatever he wanted (he was very young and couldn't believe his ears when I told him to ROCK OUT!!!) He said that he never gets to do this.

The singers felt the new groove and started to wail unlike the first run-through.

After adding a catchy hook to each carol, the band was ready for the service.

OK, I know that I usually have a "don't let this happen to you" lesson for each new post. I can honestly say that this one was a breeze. I always kept a watchful vigil just in case something would go wrong so I never let down my musical guard.

I don't know what was more fun, watching the band have a great time playing in a rock style, or seeing my little daughter dancing in the aisles to the band during the service.

this posts lesson....

genuinely enjoy when a gig is going well and....

Happy New YOU!

larry@musicteachers911.com

Always be prepared!

I was hired to play bass at the Dayton Convention Center with the University of Dayton Big Band for our City of Dayton Parks Christmas Party. In order to do this, I needed to drive to UD and pick up the bass amplifier. The director said that UD has a dolly that I can use since the school is on Winter break and won't be needing it. 

The parking attendant at UD was very nice and allowed me to park fairly close to the music building, but it was still a fairly long trek. I went inside an looked at the amp. I don't remember it being this heavy or big!

I found the music secretary and asked where the dolly was. She said that they don't have a dolly, but a square board with four casters. I put the amp on the board and it fell off as soon as it started rolling. I picked it up and started carrying it out the door. Thank heaven, two young men who are music education students recognized me from my guest lectures and came over to give me a hand to the car. I knew that I still had a long haul from the Convention Center visitors lot to the stage, so I left UD and drove straight to Home Depot and  bought the nicest dolly they had!

The new dolly rolled behind me so smoothly that I forget I was pulling an amp that weighed almost as much as I do.

The gig was a huge success. I think that I enjoyed playing a little more than usual because I was aware that I wasn't going to have to carry the amp back to the car.

Two lesson were learned this gig. 

1. I left for UD in plenty of time to allow for unforeseen circumstances like having to swing by and buy a dolly.

2. Don't depend on someone else to get your stuff to and from the gig. The UD boys were a pleasant surprise. If they hadn't of helped, I would have had to carry the amp alone.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Powered keyboard

Yesterday, I was asked to perform a couple of engagements during the Christmas season. The first was to supply keyboard accompaniment for Chris Haines on trumpet at a Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Xenia, Ohio. 

The place was decorated professionally and I couldn't believe how lovely it all was. We were led to a large room with an enormous tree that I found out later was over 12 feet tall. Unfortunately, with houses built before 1900, every room only had one outlet in the floor and it was being used for the Christmas tree. I had to think quickly as we only had four minutes to set up. I plugged the keyboard right into one of the strings of lights on the tree! It was the first time I ever had utilized this type of "green energy" to power my rig. The gig was a success and we were off to the next venue. We left Xenia for Beavercreek to provide music for our local Christian Radio station, WFCJ-FM. Chris and I are in Joshua Jazz. It is a Christian Jazz Combo that includes piano, bass, drums, alto sax, tenor, sax, trombone, and Chris on trumpet. We were pre-recording the show to air on Christmas Eve. The special guests for this show were the Stivers High School Handbell Choir directed by Cissy Matthews.  The stage was set up right in front of Macy's department store, and the decorations were amazing! This Mall has two stories so the upstairs balcony was packed with fans of the radio station looking down from above. I was so sleepy afterwards, but the guys decided on all going out to Longhorn steakhouse afterwards. It was after 11 when Chris drove me past the Greene Mall on the way to drop me off and wanted to drive around that mall to see the outside decorations. Since it was a Thursday gig, I didn't have to get up early for Church or anything, so I slept in until after 10 AM. Lesson today is to schedule an afternoon nap when I have two gigs on the same night.

Zat you Santa Claus?

Last week, I was asked by the Fairborn Civic Band Director, Gary Johnson, if I would help him with their Winter Concert by playing the snare drum. Gary and I went with the Dayton Philharmonic this summer to sing at Carnegie Hall. We got to spend a lot of time at Central Park together between rehearsals. He was the band and Choir director at Belmont HS in Dayton for many years and we became fast friends. He now started teaching general music in Fairborn and loves it. 

The concert was wonderful!

The arrangements of the carols were done very tastefully, so I enjoyed listening to the music as I played along. 

Then, Gary asked me to be the Santa and enter during the last song to give candy canes to all the audience members.

I arrived a half hour early and met two children who were sitting alone in the back of the auditorium. They were 14 year old Jennifer and 10 year old Peter. I asked them if they were staying to watch a family member perform with the band. They said that they lived across the street and were bored, so they thought they would hear the concert. I asked them if they would mind helping me with my Santa costume. They had marvelous attitudes. They laid the costume out on a table and took the shrink wrap off the candy cane boxes. 

I informed them that, after the song "Frosty the Snowman", to meet me backstage and help me get ready. They were so helpful! Peter asked if he could ring the jingle bells and announce me to the crowd. I thought it was a great idea. 

I came in Ho Ho Ho-ing and gave everyone in the audience a candy cane. After the concert was over, The kids thanked me for allowing them to help. I smiled and pointed to the Santa bag which was still full of extra candy canes and told the that the rest were theirs. They thought I was kidding, but I couldn't have been more serious. 

lesson one, don't ever miss an opportunity to make a positive impact on a child or refuse to help a friend in need.

Signals crossed

I was contacted by University of Dayton's temporary Gospel Choir Director to play the bass guitar for their Winter Quarter Concert Dec. 7th. She sounded very young, but seemed competent. She indicated that she would mail the sheet music and a CD of the tunes. I got them the following day.

I had played their Spring  farewell concert for the regular Director, Professor Donna Cox,  just before she took her sabbatical.  It was a fantastic concert and the choir was excellent, so I was happy to help with the Winter Concert.

The new director indicated that they were having two rehearsals prior to the performance. hey were Tuesday Nov. 25th and Dec 2nd at 6 PM in the Theatre and Music Building. I grabbed my bass and heading out for the first rehearsal only to find the building empty and not a soul in sight. I had worked with their pianist, Mary Carmen,  on several occasions and called her to find out what the problem was. She informed me that the temporary director cancelled the rehearsal but didn't inform me. Needless to say, I was not happy. The next day I called the number that the director gave me only to find out that it was the Music Dept. Office which was closed for the Holidays. The following Tuesday I set aside the evening for rehearsal but decided not to go until I had confirmation. 6 PM came and went with no word from her. At 8:30 I did get a call from her wondering why I wasn't at the rehearsal that night. I told her that I went last week and she didn't inform me that she had cancelled. She did apologize, and said that she would keep me better informed next quarter. As this was their last rehearsal before the performance, I can only assume that they will not be using a bass for the concert.

The lesson here is to keep in constant contact with everyone involved with your performances. Had she called me prior to Nov 25th about the practice being cancelled, I would have attended last nights practice. As it was, I was not going to drive all the way to UD again without confirmation. 

The three magic words for this post is:

Initiate, Communicate, and then Validate!

It is better to over contact someone about a concert than under contact them. Try to leave nothing to chance.

I hope that she will remember this in her future dealings with her accompanists.

Outside gig in November?

Well, I was hired to piano for a charity event at the Moraine Country Club. I was scheduled to play from 6-8 inside for a dinner with a seven piece combo (piano, bass, drums, A-sax, T-Sax, Trombone and trumpet). Then I was to move the electric piano to an outside tent to play with the Hauer 18 piece big band until 11:30. Since I was to play for 51/2 hours, I decided to take my best keyboard and was glad that I did. The outside temperature was in the teens! The club had a few tall patio heaters, but they were placed near the dance floor. The stage was freezing and there was a strong cold breeze that kept blowing the music off my music stand. The trumpeter had a few extra clothespins for me to use to secure the music. This is the first time I ever played the piano with driving gloves, earmuffs, and a winter coat! The band sounded great and the crowd loved it! I will remember next time to wear several layers as the year before I had a patio heater next to me and I was hot! I will also remember to layer at inside rehearsals in the winter months as the last UD Big Band rehearsal I had a heavy rugby shirt on and the room was in the 80s.

The next morning, I played with the UD big band at a TWIGS christmas affair. My amp blew a speaker the previous Thursday, and the pianist said that she would bring an amp for me Saturday. I left rehearsal Thursday and drove directly to the Hauer music store and my friend Michael Hauer fixed it in five minutes. I was charged $10. What a great place! Anyway, I left my amp and a 30 foot extension cord  in the car overnight Friday so it went to the gig Saturday morning. It was a good thing that I did, because the amp the pianist brought for me was smaller than a toaster and the nearest outlet was 20 feet away! There was no way a bass plugged into that tiny amp would cut through an 18 piece big band. I ran to the car and saved the gig with my newly repaired amp. The lesson here is to take everything you could ever need to make the gig successful! 

bad rehearsal, good performance

Monday, I had a rehearsal with the Sinclair Gospel Choir and the director placed me right next to a new drummer. He was extremely loud and I couldn't hear the choir or any other instruments. I asked the sound engineer if I could have a monitor, but he said that he didn't have any more. I could see the pianist playing the keys, but couldn't hear a single note. I was in the very back of the stage. The choir was in front of me singing away from me so I didn't hear them either. 

The director kept telling the drummer to play softer, but he said that gospel music has loud drums in it. We told the drummer that we have played music for years and to always do what the director instructs, but he wasn't ready to listen to us. Because of his defiant attitude, I didn't get very much out of the evening. I went home with a headache and ringing in my ears. We met again Friday and I had decided beforehand what I was going to do. 

Friday was a totally different story.

As soon as I got there, I noticed that the bass amp was right next to the drummer again. This time, I brought a thirty foot guitar cable. I left the amp where it was, but sat on the other side of the piano so I could hear the piano and also hear the choir through the pianist monitor. This worked like a charm. The show choir was to perform the second half of the concert and I play bass for them as well. The drummer for this is very skilled at balancing the drums with the other instruments. The show choir rehearsal was fantastic.

Saturday night, I set up on the other side of the piano again and the entire performance with both groups was wonderful. The singers are very accomplished and the audience loved it.

Remember: It is your responsibility to always make sure that you can hear all the other instruments as well as yourself to insure a good performance. Just a simple fix like moving my chair 30 feet made all the difference in the world! 

Wright State U lecture

Last Thursday, I was asked by WSU Professor James Tipps to be a guest lecturer for his Music Education Major class. Since it was very close to Halloween, some of the 24 WSU kids were all dressed up in some very creative Halloween costumes. The hour-long session started at 8 AM, so I really had to alter my teaching style from the previous week when I lectured at the University of Dayton at 10:30. I found myself talking louder, roaming around the room, and asking a lot more questions to get additional involvement from the kids. It didn't take long until the class figured out that this was going to be fun. Thanks to Larry Bohannon, Sales Rep. for Macmillan. I had tons of free stuff such as pens, bags, and sample CD of the K-8 series.

WSU Dr. Ellis requested a sample set of 5th grade texts for WSU last year, so every student had their own text in which to follow my presentation.

This was a lot of fun and it was great being asked to lecture at my Alma Mater. WSU had certainly grown since I attended. I remember having band class in the University cafeteria. Now they have their own Creative Arts Center. 

I just found out that my concert Friday at the Kettering Medical College has been postponed. This give me time to rehearse for the bug Sinclair College Quarter recital next week. I should get the music by this weekend. I bought a new 5 string bass so this should be very fun hitting all those really low notes with the Gospel choir. Interviewing an author of a Contemporary Christian Music Book for the next podcast episode. 

More on this next post.