A Sticher in Time

I just found an amazing free music educational resource for your mobile device.

Introducing Sticher!

Sticher is a free app available from the iTunes store, and both the blackbery and Android Market app store.

The amazing feature about this app is that it enables you to listen to thousands of podcasts and radio shows on your mobile device or satellite radio without having to download the mp3 file. This saves valuable memory space allowing your mobile device to function more quickly.

Sticher and Pandora radio are my first two apps on my Android Thunderbolt.

I love keeping up with the latest music educational trends while waiting in line at the store, bank, or dreaded post office.

I am also happy to announce that the musicteachers911 podcast is now available on sticher and is the #1 music education show on their search engine!

Long Live Sticher!!!!

Good gigging,

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Know Your Audience

Before you can have a conversation with someone, it helps to know a little about them first. Being aware of their like s and dislikes will make your visit a much more enjoyable experience for both of you. The same is true of communicating your music to your listening audience.

You wouldn't normally discuss rap music to a nursing home resident any more than you would the Big Band era to teenage rappers. The topic is mostly foreign to them and your reaction from them would generally be less than positive. The same is true of your song choices, dress, pace, and overall demeanor when performing at different venues for various audiences. A little homework prior to your performance to familiarize your self with your crowd will benefit everyone involved and could tip the scales in your favor when deciding if your get a call back for a repeat engagement.

Make sure to "read the crowd"while you are playing to see if they are enjoying themselves. Are they listening or talking, texting or net surfing their phones? When did they respond to you and when were you "tuned out"?

If you are playing challenging music, you might not have the opportunity to gage the crowd. This is when video recording yourself, making sure the audience is in the camera's vision, will really pay off afterwards.

Meaningful conversations involving listening and reading body language as well.

Good Gigging!

Larry Marra

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www.musicteachers911.com

True colors

When performing in an ensemble. It is very important that everyone not only is balanced with regards to dynamics, but also with the amount of playing blending with the group. Here is how I grew to understand my relative role as a session musician in various ensembles...

Have you ever looked at a collection of fine paintings and really studied how the artist used a single color? Let's study the possible use of yellow for example. The amount of yellow the artist selected is dependent on the subject of the painting. A desert sunset would use much more yellow than an seascape would.

The same is true of how much and how loudly you play in a particular song. When I am playing in a big band setting, I understand that the focus of the composition is the horns. I treat them as if they were the vocalists and play more aggressively using more keys to thicken the texture and carry the harmony during the solo sections, but barely playing at all (softly and use open chords) during the tutti sections. With a ballad using a vocalist, I play much more supportively as the role of the horns are to quietly support our intimate combo feel.

Smearing lots of your tone color on every song with no concern for balancing the other colors of your ensemble makes for a very boring collection of tone paintings.

By concentrating on the overall quality of the tone colors and textures with respect to the changing nuances of the music, you will be on your way to creating your own masterpieces in no time.

good gigging!

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Spring Cleaning

With the ending of another school year, May is the perfect time to get your students to help with the annual Spring cleaning of the music rooms. Have a few go through your ensemble library and check for any torn or marked up parts and make sure that they are in their proper alphabetical order. I have a cabinet with a separate drawer for brass, woodwind, strings, and percussion parts and tools that must be reorganized now that the pressure of contests and concerts are over. Excel spreadsheets are made and must be checked-off to insure all the music books and equipment are accounted for. Empty all the shelves and pull everything away from the walls to get those dust-bunnies that grow while we are in those "teaching moments". With the dismal economy still looming over our school budgets, many districts have cut back the custodial staff to the bones, making anything more than emptying waste cans a luxury.

Getting the students involved in making the music rooms bright, shiny, and attractive will give them a sense of pride and ownership for your program. You will feel more like coming to work as well.

good teaching!

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Don't forget to shift gears

With this being the beginning of Holy Week, I would like to address this post to all the musicians and music directors who are also employed as worship music directors for a local church.

Most church chancel choirs and praise band members are composed of adult volunteers who generously donate their time and energy to enhance the worship experience.

Make sure that you "switch gears" and not approach your directing as you would a professional band or classroom environment. The habit of demanding perfection from HS or dance bands os a hard one to curb and is much easier said than done.

I am lucky as I have a sound engineer (named John) who helps me "keep it real" during our church rehearsals.

When I get too caught up in the rehearsal moment and focus my concern on the music and not the overall experience for the musicians, I can tend to be a little blunt and impatient. This is especially true during the insane worship schedule during Holy Week. When this starts to happen, John gives me a certain "look" that conveys the subliminal message, "Relax Larry, these are just volunteers that don't have to be here, or take this". I am very grateful of this and usually stop the rehearsal and lighten up with a little mood altering pleasant banter with the members.

I wish you and your church ensembles many blessed worship experiences this week but caution you to remember that the musicians, as well as the music performances, are the reason that you are there.

good gigging!

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

As the State, so goes the Nation

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has directed counties to prepare a Rapid Response Plan to help displaced teachers cope with job loss and find new employment. Hardest hit will be the fine arts.

The Ohio Education Association — representing 130,000 unionized school employees — predicts a dire scenario.

An analysis by the OEA estimates 10,860 Ohio education jobs could be eliminated in fiscal year 2012, based on Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget, the loss of stimulus funding and phase-out of state tax reimbursements.

write makes right!

Have you ever called up a tune during a rehearsal or performance and counted off the wrong tempo? Have you ever forgotten a certain keyboard or guitar effect setting? Well, I have many times until I accepted that; even the weakest pencil trumps the strongest memory. I now keep a journal of tempos, styles and tone/effect setting for every song in each of my ensembles repertoire. I also download the virtual document onto my smart phone so that I can glance at my notes prior to counting off the next song. If the tempo is one that I don't use regularly, I have an app on my smartphone that is a metronome.

It's better to take a second and check your notes and tempos than take a few minutes to perform an entire song incorrectly.

good gigging!

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Let them eat cake? NOT!!!

Last Sunday, while preparing the Church sanctuary for our Lenten contemporary Christian Praise and Worship Service, our praise team was invited to partake in an impromptu 40th wedding anniversary celebration beforehand. The parlor was filled with the aroma of a delicious sheet cake.

Our drummer, a young 20-something, decided to enjoy the few pieces of said cake containing hundreds of extra calories of processed white sugar with his extra-large black coffee minutes before the service.

What resulted was as surprising to him as it was to us......

He was so hyped up on sugar and caffeine, that every tempo was blazing fast. The first song even included a surprise drum solo that I don't think our drummer had any control over. After the first chorus, a flurry of sound erupted from his drum set so overpowering, that everybody else just stopped and watched him solo for around two and a half minutes.

Lesson?

Be careful what you eat and drink prior to any musical performances. Moderation is the key.

good gigging!

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

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Cheers,

Kenji Crosland

Sad but true....

Cartoonist, Mike Peters, commentary on Ohio's collective bargaining.