A. and I were in Southern Oregon visiting her mother, along with her two brothers and one niece. We enjoyed musical fun all weekend long. This issue of Musician’s Motivator is about the many ways music infiltrated our vacation.

The Jazz Singer

Friday night, we heard a concert in the park, singer Greta Oglesby, with piano and drum accompaniment. Greta sang a wide variety of tunes; from Minnie the Moocher and Summertime to Proud Mary and Hannah’s Hips. The performance was free, sponsored by the local theater company with which Greta is also acting. Minnie the Moocher calls for some audience participation on the chorus:

Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi (Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi)
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho (Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho)
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee (Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee)
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho (Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho)

Queen of Hearts

A game of Oh Pshaw! in the “in-law’s” home tends to be crazy wild with laughter, jokes, and bursts of spontaneous song.

“Deal the cards, R.” ”Just one this round, right?”

I sing, “One is the loneliest number they you ever knew.” Brother B. adds harmony, “Two can be as bad as one. It’s the loneliest number since the number one. oh.”

The game continued.

Out In The Country

We visited the family-owned tenanted-home in the country. The tenants are a sweet family of five who are also spontaneous performers in their own right. After touring the land, we made our way back to the house and gathered into small groups conversing.

Niece E. and I discovered the electric keyboard tucked into a corner of the great room. We turned it on and experimented with the different sounds and “instruments” that were programmed into the machine. Just below the keyboard were some small African hand drums, rattles, and tambourines.

Flower Drum Song

Tenant J. brought out the big drums: a doundoun from Mali, a songba, and a kingkin; pitched from low to high respectively. He gave us a mini-lesson in African drumming, which he is studying. In Africa, when someone begins drumming, others will join in singing and dancing. The music, the song/story, and the dance are intricately woven together. You wouldn’t have one without the others.

J. got me playing a dum-ba rhythm, then he improvised a high drum part. Our dancers, A. and R., got their happy feet going.

Opus One

Back at “Mom’s house, we played duets and trios. B. on mandolin, “Mom” on violin, and I on clarinet.

My transposing skills were not flowing as I would have liked. So… I improvised; sometimes harmony below, sometimes a descant above. And B., talented fellow, sang harmony while he played his mandolin.

Another day, “Mom” and I played some lovely clarinet and violin duets by Bartok.

Sweet Ride Home

You’d think we’d be all music-ed-out by the ride home. But we weren’t! A. and I played one of our favorite road trip games. Check it out.

Using the melody from The Mockingbird Song, we take turns improvising lyrics that fit the melody and rhyme. Like so:

1st person: hush little baby, don’t you cry
momma’s going to buy you a deep blue sky.
and if that sky should turn to grey…

2nd person: momma’s going to buy you a game to play.
and if that game should lose its pieces…

1st person: momma’s going to buy you a visit with your nieces.
and if those nieces should move to Greece…

The lyric format is that momma will always get you something pleasant and in the next line, some problem occurs with the pleasant something.

We sing and get real creative with our imagination. It is a barrel of monkeys, for real. Hmmm… what rhymes with monkeys?

Hey Hey We’re The Monkees

Raise you hand if you remember the TV cartoon, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?. Wow! That’s almost everyone. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that almost every 1970s TV cartoon was about a group of teens who were in a rock band together? The Archies, Scooby Doo, Josie and The Pussycats. And let’s not forget The Monkees, even though they were not a cartoon.

To close up this harmonious holiday review, I will leave you with this bit of bumper sticker wisdom I picked up on the ride home. It may be helpful to you when you are faced with an important decision.

What would Scooby Doo?

Extra points to those of you who recognized the song titles in each subhead.  The headline, of course links to this post, here’s the song link.

A few weeks ago, I took a call from Lee. He had a favor to ask. “Meg, can you fill in for me at band rehearsal tonight? I’m not feeling well.”

I had just listened to a great story on Ted Talks by a woman who said “Yes” to everything. It was a bit of an experiment to see where it would take her. Pretty far, it turns out. (Can’t find her talk. Darn.)

Naturally, I replied to Lee, “Yes.” It was the first rehearsal by the group in preparation for their July concert. We were all sight-reading. I came home all pumped up and happy. Playing great band music with a group of talented musicians does that to me.

Keep On Yessing

Since then I’ve been saying yes a lot more. Just a few days ago, Dan asked me to fill in for him on tenor at another rehearsal. More fun was had by all.

About the time Lee called me, I was talking with my friend, Poeina, about her upcoming CD that she was recording. Since I had worked with her before, I felt comfortable creating my own “Yes.”

“If you have any sax parts that you need covered, Poeina, I’d love to record with you again.”

“As a matter of fact, Meg, I do have a tune that I could use you on.” I ended up recording both alto and tenor sax parts on a tune for her disc. This saying yes thing sure produced some great results.

A Bell Of A Sale

I headed out on my walk Sunday morning, hoping to get to the top of Mt. Tabor and back. At the traffic light, I saw this simple sign: “A bell of a sale (with an arrow pointing to the right)” Intrigued by the sign, I said “Yes” and turned right.

Just a few blocks from my home, I discovered a musical yard sale.

Discarded and unused tanks, from stand-alone propane tanks to hand-held fire extinguishers, have found new life as musical instruments. Ray Banfe, retired demolition worker, cut, soldered, and painted up these tanks of various sizes to create bells. A softball glued to the end of a foot-and-a-half length of rebar became a striker.

Handing the striker to me, Ray instructs me to “hit it low and hard.” “Yes!” I said and did.

The Bells of Banfe

What a beautiful sound – deep and ringing. What pitch is that, I wondered. I went home and brought back my tuner. Turns out Mr. Banfe has a collection of bells that produce pitches spanning an octave and a tritone, aka a diminished 12th. Check out these short bell movies.

Big bell movie, 9 seconds. D-bell-iPhone movie, 5 seconds. combination bells movie, 11 seconds.

Ray says he’s not a musician. I politely disagree with him. We are all musicians. And we humans naturally find ways to make music whether intentioned or not. Ray Banfe aptly demonstrates that.

On a Sunday walk through the neighborhood, I say yes to a curious sign and discover the bells of Banfe! Not only are we all musicians, but music is everywhere!

Questions to Ponder

1. Where are the opportunities to say “yes” in your life?
2. How will you express your inherent musician self this week?
3. Where will you be surprised by music?

Thanks for reading. The next issue of Musician’s Motivator will be out on Wednesday, July 14, 2010.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

1. Inspiration On A Nature Hike
2. What’s Your Musical Genealogy?
3. Taking Your Music On The Road

I Negotiate

I start out by talking to myself.

“If you get your horn out, you can play anything you want. You don’t have to do longtones or scales. You can play (insert favorite song of the moment) instead.”

“Just play for eight minutes. Set the timer and play until the timer goes off. Then stop!”

“Listen to that new CD you just bought. That will be inspirational. Listen to it with your horn in your lap all put together and ready to play. Simply listen to the beautiful, awesome music.” (The inspiration works and with my horn all ready to play, I only have to put it to my lips to get going.)

Sometimes I Guilt-Trip

More self-talk. This time with the voices of the nuns in my head.

“You’ve got that gig on Thursday. You want to keep your chops in shape, not to mention play well and not embarrass yourself. So practice!”

Impose A Deadline

This one has some guilt flavoring to the self-talk, but mostly it’s remembering why you are playing in the first place.

“OK. You’ve got the concert on the 22nd and eight tunes to learn. There are 25 days until the concert and I can – I will practice that music for 30 minutes on 17 of those days.”

Then I lay out a schedule of what to practice and when. When I see the plan all written out with clear steps how I will accomplish my goals, I get excited to enact the goals (read: practice) and relieved that I don’t have to do it all at once. I know that by following my plan of piecemeal learning, I will be prepared come concert time.

Here’s an example of three of those practice sessions.

• Hindemith March. Letter I to the end. Fast repeated tonguing. practice with m.m. start half-note = 63 and work up to half-note = 80.
• Hindemith March. Listen to recording. mark letter I with time-stamp. Play Letter I to the end with recording.
• Hindemith March. Letter F. Triplet runs. (unison with clarinets) work out fingerings. Practice 2 beats at a time, gradually put together all eight measures. work up to tempo half-note = 80.

Sing, Hum, Whistle

When you don’t feel like practicing, another way to ease into actual practice is to come at it sideways. I may start whistling or humming as I do some other task, like housework.

Whistling and humming are hands-free activities and require no special equipment. They get me in the mood. Now that the studio and waiting room are vacuumed, I am raring to get practicing. Whistling while I work has stimulated my music muscle. Singing or simple hand-on-lap drumming could serve the same function, too.

I Get Moving

I take a walk. I am fortunate that I live close to one of the best city parks in Portland, Mt. Tabor. Within eight minutes of walking out my front door, I can be on the park grounds and on a trail to the top of this extinct volcano.

The exercise is good for me physically and, surprise! It is also good for me mentally and emotionally, too. I return from my outing feeling better – more alive, happier and ready to make music.

Well, how about that! I just wrote my ezine.

Thanks, Anita, for your creative response to my whining this morning. “What do I do if I don’t feel like writing my ezine?” You said, “Write about what you do when you don’t feel like practicing.”

Invitation

We all have those times when we don’t feel like doing something.

• What do you do in those moments?
• How do you inspire yourself?
• Where do you find your motivation?

Comment on this post at Grace Notes Music Studio blog.

Thanks for reading! The next edition of Musician’s Motivator will be out on Wednesday, May 12, 2010.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

• How To Develop A Curious Practice
• Dive Into The Unknown
• Head And Heart Of Music

Held in the intimate Tabor Space Commons in Southeast Portland, our audience enjoyed performances of Für Elise, Jump, Jive & Wail, Telemann Fantasies, and more.  

You can view the complete program and listen to audio recordings of the music at MegGrace.com.

When stage fright rears its head, rise above it with this easy, anyone-can-do-it remedy.

Stage fright. Just thinking about performing gets many musicians tied up in knots, fretting and worrying about their interpretation of the music.

You’ve practiced and practiced. You’ve learned the new skills for this piece of music. You’ve even tried on the outfit you’ll be wearing to make sure you can play in heels!

Still, comes the day of the recital and your stomach is full of butterflies. You’re afraid you’re going to blow it.

It’s a feeling, not a fact.

My sister would say fear is just a feeling, not a fact. And she would tell me to feel it and clear the feeling; let it move through me rather than stay stuck and cause harm.

That helps to a degree. Thanks, Susan! And I’ll take it one step further.

A gestalt view

Take a breath.

As Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy once said, “Fear is excitement without the breath.” A simple breath transforms your fear into excitement and propels you onstage.

Now your performance is ignited by your passion and interest in the music. Your nerves are parlayed into presence.

Opportunity to breath

Ten days hence, my students and I are performing in the Spring recital, Sonata Improv. Sunday, April 25, 4 PM, Tabor Space. Each of us has added an improvised section to our selected solo.

And by improvisation, I mean creating music in the moment of the performance. Sure, the potential for stage fright is there. Amazingly, a simple breath can turn fear upside down.

Yes and No

Are you saying to yourself, “Is that it? just breathe?!” Well, yes, and no.

Yes, a calming breath can help in many nerve-wracking situations. Remember, breathing is from the latin word inspirare – to breathe in is to inspire and breathe out is expire. so breathe in some inspiration and calm excitement.

No, I wouldn’t leave you with just one suggestion. My second remedy is to listen to some music; something calming… like this.

Breathe by Meg Grace © 2010

Here is a bonus piece; some calming music I wrote this morning.

The 4 instruments are acoustic guitar, sitar, Japanese shakuhachi flute, and flute. The one minute 28 second file is 1.5 MB to download. Have a listen and — breathe.

How do you turn fear on its ear?

Make a comment below or drop me an email: meg@meggrace.com.

Thanks for reading! The next edition of Musician’s Motivator will be out on Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

• We Are A-Mused
• How To Develop A Curious Practice
• Improvisation – It’s Not Just For Jazzers Anymore

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Today’s edition of Musician’s Motivator looks at ways we can build up our creative resiliency.

Try Something New.

Last week, I asked our goddaughter, Bree, what she wanted to do on our weekly date. She suggested a treasure hunt. Great idea, Bree! I don’t think you have to be 14 to appreciate a treasure hunt. We mid-century citizens of the world can enjoy them, too.

I did some googling and found letterboxing.org. This site lists treasure hunts by area (city, zip, neighborhood) and also by date placed. I found one in SE Portland that had been created in August, 2009.

A treasure hunt provides clues for the hunter to decode. In letterboxing, the found treasure consists of a small blank booklet, rubber stamp, and stamp pad. You bring your own personal rubber stamp to mark in the booklet and use the stamp in the found treasure stash to mark in your own log book. Since we were newbie letterboxers and didn’t have our own personal rubber stamps, we wrote messages and drew pictures in the booklet at each found treasure.

Be Creative.

At a future get-together, Bree and I will create a new treasure hunt and add it to the letterboxing website for others to enjoy finding.

Improvise.

My students have been learning how to improvise, as in creating music on the spot! This is in preparation for the Spring recital, Sonata Improv. Each musician will prepare a solo, a fully-notated piece of music; and add an improvised section to the piece.

Improvisation is such a daring act. And yet, not so scary when approached gently. We’ve been working on exercises to get the improv muscle strengthened. Each week, I’m pleasantly surprised at the new musical creations that come out of their instruments. Rather, the music that *they* create!

Keep Learning.

Last Saturday, I enjoyed a performance by Belle Voci, a 24-voice women’s vocal ensemble. They sang a great variety of styles and languages. In addition to English, they sang in Latin, French, a West African tongue, German, Spanish, Italian, and Estonian.

It was the Estonian piece that has stayed with me. Since hearing it, I have undergone a journey of learning about Estonian music. Lauliku Lapsopõli is an Estonian folk song arranged by Veljo Tormis for female voices.

A solo voice begins the piece, singing the haunting melody in a clear, high voice. Soon she is joined by more and more voices layering tight, high harmonies above her. The sounds are exquisite, evoking images of high mountain snow and ice for me.

However, the lyric speaks of summer and birds and ducks, and how the singer learned so many songs.

“When I was very little, al’leaa,
I grew so prettily, al’leaa,
I was but one night old, al’leaa,
just two days old,
mother took my cradle to the meadow,
put my crid on the heath,
put a duck to rock the cradle,
the bird of summer to push me.
The duck had many words,
the bird of summer had lots of songs,
the duck sang many songs to me there,
the bird of summer, it spoke to me a lot.
That is where this child learned the songs,
this crazy one [got to] know the words,
all of them I placed on paper,
all of them I hewed into a book.
That is why I have so many words,

that is why I have lots of tunes.“

Ongoing Process

When I was at the library on Sunday, I checked out a CD of orchestral music just because it had the word Estonia on the jacket. It is the music of Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg, performed by the Estonia National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi. Trying something new.

How are you flexing your creative muscle? By trying something new? By continuing to learn? By improvising? All of these? Oh, that’s great to hear!

Thanks for reading! The next edition of Musician’s Motivator will be out on Wednesday, March 24, 2010.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

• How To Develop A Curious Practice
• The Amateur of Music and Beginner’s Mind
• Head And Heart Of Music

The song I wrote first was about that dog. Portland Skyline Listen.

Some other songs:

• Portland Skyline Melody only
• the second one: Portland Skyline
• the third one

And that’s how it all started.

Once Upon A Time…

Once upon a time there lived an instrumental music teacher who had recently joined and sung in a choral group for the first time in her musical life. It was an exciting time for her! She enjoyed learning a new instrument (voice) and the experience of making music with one’s own body. Also new was the memorization of all the concert music. That part was not so exciting and caused some small distress.

Memorize, Too?

Oh, sure, I’ve sung before – just not in an organized group setting. I sing along with songs on the radio or my iPod. I’ve even memorized songs not realizing I was doing so. I memorize songs easily enough. Like many of you, I know all the lyrics to Don McLean’s American Pie and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – without the karaoke screen prompts!

Singing with Aurora Chorus this term, I am required to memorize 16 songs that we will perform in the Dec. 20 concert. Yes, that is a lot of music, but some of the songs have simple repeated parts. Thank goodness!

On the other hand, this being a choral group, the songs all have words, something I’ve never had to contend with when playing band and orchestra music. What’s more, of these 16 songs, four of them are in a language other than English. I am also singing in Yorùbá, the language of Candomblé (Brazil); in Mbuti, from the rain forests of New Guinea; in Spanish; and in Georgian, (Republic of Georgia).

That’s What I’m Talking About!

You might expect that the songs in these foreign languages would be more challenging to memorize. Not true! One of my favorite songs and the one that has been the most fun to learn, is A jí kí ire ni Èsù, the song in Yorùbá. The melody is engaging. The 4-part voices weave among one another in an intricate rhythmic dance. The harmonies, too, are exciting with minor 7ths and 9ths over major triads, voiced in a such a way that the tonic of the chord sounds like a color tone! It’s a great song and our concert opener.

On the other hand, one of the hardest songs for me to memorize is in English, Song of Stars. It employs ever-changing time signatures, moving from 6/8 to 7/8 to 3/8 and back to 7/8. The tessitura, or vocal range of the song, for the second soprano part is a bit high for me. Yes, I can sing those notes when I am properly warmed up. It’s just not the most comfortable range for me – so far. The text is a prayer of the Algonquin people.

No Meaning

Perhaps the reason I had difficulty learning this song is that it had no meaning for me. In the beginning, I was just singing words, working on getting the rhythm correct and my entrances down. What if I read the words without the music and tried to understand what I was singing?

That helped a little bit. But the truth was, I just didn’t like the song very much. Do you remember what I reported in the previous edition of Musician’s Motivator? You retain new information better and remember it more strongly when you attach strong emotions to the subject matter, in essence, when you care about what you are studying. Well, I decided to find something to like about this song. And quickly, since the concert was just two weeks away!

I found it! I sat and listened to the song, as if for the first time, without any judgments about the lyric or the time signatures or tessitura.

I am an amateur astronomer, a devotee and enthusiastic pursuer of all things astronomical. I have relished the night sky since I was a young child. Then, I wanted to grow up to be an astronaut and explore outer space.

This song is about STARS! It even sounds like stars, with open voicings and an arpeggiated piano playing octaves and fifths. The opening piano arpeggios are tight clusters of root, fourth, fifth, and major seventh. Try that in any key on your piano. Doesn’t it sound like the stars twinkling overhead?

…And She Lived Happily Ever After.

The instrumental music teacher loved singing as much as playing her wind instruments. She sang in the concert, enjoying all the songs, and lived happily ever after.

Now the song has meaning for me and is easy to memorize. Lesson? Remember to bring Beginner’s Mind to my learning.

Are you learning something new? Struggling with a difficult subject in school? Finding something to like about the subject will make the learning more solid and you will retain more. And bringing your Beginner’s Mind to the table will help you be open to the learning along the way.

Share your learning discoveries on my blog or send me an email: meg@meggrace.com.

Some Quotes About Memory

What we learn with pleasure we never forget. – Alfred Mercier
The heart that truly loves never forgets. – Proverb
The true art of memory is the art of attention. – Samuel Johnson

Read the next edition of Musician’s Motivator Dec. 24, 2009.

Event #1: Power Walk Football

Walking on Mt. Tabor this past weekend, I came across a group of boys and men playing football in a small open area under the trees. Well, it looked like football, but … oh, wait, they’re not running; they’re power walking! Hah!
I sat down to watch for a bit. One fellow told me that because the area was too small for long passes and full-tilt running, they got creative and changed the rules — no running or jumping. Power walk only. It looked like a lot of fun and since they were using two-handed tag instead of tackling one another, it was also fairly safe.
I appreciated their resourcefulness and took this memory with me on my walk home.

Event #2: Fifteen Minutes A Day

A fellow sax teacher emailed me about his new goal of practicing 15 minutes per day. He was doing so as a personal goal brought about by his not practicing much (we all struggle with this!) and he wanted to change that. I’ll let him explain.

Hi, my name is John E Brigante. I am a baritone saxophone player. This past January I graduated from Montclair State University (New Jersey) with a BA in Music Education and as you may have guessed my primary instrument was saxophone. Since my senior recital (4/27/08) I haven’t played my horn nearly as often as I’d like to. To put it bluntly, I’ve probably played it 25 times in the past year and actually sat down to practice only once or twice. It seems to me that my skills are fading away. As the old saying goes “Use it or Lose it!”

Well I plan to do something about it….

As of May 13th, 2009 I have pledged to myself that I will change all of this. I am going to practice my ax for 15 minutes a day everyday for the rest of my life. I’m currently on day 7. The purpose of this blog is to document my efforts, successes and struggles. Who knows what the future will bring for this idea but I’m in it to win it.

What a great idea! I am always on the lookout for ways to make being a musician fun, relaxing, and enjoyable. That’s the second idea that is part of today’s burst of inspiration.

Event #3: Band In A Box Rehearsal

My friend, Jon, and I got together to rehearse for an upcoming gig. Except we were only two of the four in the quartet. So how were we going to rehearse without the guitar and drums?
Jon suggested we use Band In A Box (BIAB). I have used the program very little since first acquiring it about four years ago. Jon brought over his super-duper computer speakers and a collection of song files on a portable drive.
We had a great time jamming with the BIAB rhythm section. BIAB lets you change tempo, key, and chords at a click of the mouse. And the BIAB rhythm section doesn’t get tired or slow down! Two hours went by in a flash.
In the days after this rehearsal, I found myself playing more and using BIAB to try out some new improvisation ideas. That’s the third experience contributing to today’s burst of inspiration.

Event #4: Morning Pages

The fourth event is my experience of writing Morning Pages. Morning Pages are a daily exercise promoted by Julia Cameron in her books, The Artist’s Way and The Vein of Gold. She suggests that upon rising each morning, you sit down and write out three pages of … words, writing, anything and everything. Julia writes, “Morning Pages will center you, steady you, empower you, enlighten you. They will comfort you, console you, stimulate you, intrigue you, challenge, irritate, and activate [emphasis mine] you. … Through them you will encounter the workings of your spirituality, the great Creator within, with all its grace, wisdom, and power.”
Julia’s suggested or strongly recommended guidelines are:

1. Write three longhand pages of whatever comes into your head, without stopping. When my friend Kate suggested I write freestyle – that is, leaving out punctuation – my morning pages really began to flow. (Thanks, Kate!)
2. Do them daily. Every day. Consistency is a big part of the practice.
3. Do them first thing in the morning. They’re not Evening Pages, eh?
4. Write by hand. pen and paper. Writing by hand provides a direct line to the source of inspiration, whereas typing on a computer or talking into a recorder, is at least one step removed from that source. The source does not flow through a computer or recorder in the same way it flows through you – a living human being.

The Sparkle

All of these events and experiences came together this morning while writing my Morning Pages. It takes me about 15 minutes, sometimes 20, to write. After completing my pages, I went downstairs into my studio, got out my alto sax and played for 15 minutes. Non-stop. Continuous. Whatever notes, sounds, rhythms came, I did not think or plan. I just played. Much like writing my Morning Pages, only on my sax.
Wow!
Wow! It was beautiful. In fifteen minutes I played many different styles, rhythms, and tonalities. I paused twice to catch my breath. This was totally fun!
Morning Notes. Every morning, after my Morning Pages, I will play Morning Notes. And in the same way that Morning Pages are not intended as literary material, Morning Notes are not intended as compositional material. In describing Morning Pages, Julia says, “Our lines are a musical composition of our and the Universe’s devising. Morning Pages teach us to hear our cues, follow our promptings, enter and exit with grace, play our songs with heart.” The same can be said about Morning Notes. At least, I hope. I’ll let you know.
A daily practice of Morning Notes will impact future compositions and improvisations in that:

• I am open to inspiration.
• I am practicing the act of improvisation.
• Doing it daily is like fueling up at the Inspiration Station. The more you do it, the more ideas are generated.

In the next issue of Musician’s Motivator, due out on July 9, 2009, I will report on what happens over these these next two weeks as I continue a daily practice of Morning Notes.
Have you experimented with a new musical practice recently? Share your record with me and my readers: email me or comment on my blog.

Live Free Music All Summer

Now that Summer is officially here, I want to remind those of you living in the Portland Metro area (Oregon) that there are live free performances in many of Portland’s neighborhood parks. Check this resource for a schedule of performers and parks for the Summer of 2009.
Get out to the parks and be inspired!

I met Evan Kuhlmann at a Portland Gay Symphonic Band rehearsal a few years ago. As he was a new face in the band, I introduced myself during the break. Evan’s full-time job is Assistant Principal Bassoon for the Oregon Symphony in which he plays the contrabassoon in addition to bassoon. He is also a talented jazz pianist. We had an opportunity to play a jazz gig together during 2008 Portland Pride Celebration.
Portland’s Pink Martini and the Oregon Symphony will perform together for the band’s first live recording with orchestra. I organized a field trip for interested students and friends to attend the May 31 show. I caught up with Evan last month and we talked about taking music lessons, practicing, and working with Pink Martini.

In The Beginning…

Meg Grace: When did you start music lessons?

Evan Kuhlmann: I started taking Suzuki piano lessons when I was 5 and quit about 6 years later. I never took clarinet or jazz piano lessons, but began taking bassoon lessons when I was about 13.

MG: How did you come to choose learning music and specifically the bassoon?

EK: It wasn’t really a choice at first, but I was never forced to play or practice. The reason that I started playing the bassoon was that I was very bad at the clarinet, and it was frustrating me. On the other hand, I never practiced or took lessons. But when I saw and heard the bassoon, I was captivated – I wanted to start playing as early as 5th grade, but it took a while to get an instrument. I loved the sound of the bassoon more than anything, specifically the opening solo in Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

MG: What musical stories do you have from your youth? How was music experienced in your childhood home?

EK: I can sleep through almost any sound, as my parents were both rock drummers playing in tons of bands while I grew up. I remember rehearsals going on in the basement until very late at night, but it stopped bothering me very early on. Even living next to the subway in NYC during college didn’t bother me!

Inspiration for Practice

MG: Where do you like to practice? Does setting have an impact on your practice?

EK: Anywhere really, but I like to have a window in the room. Without natural light, or at least a window, it’s hard for me to be inspired.

MG: What keeps you motivated to practice? Has that changed over time?

EK: A good teacher can motivate students to practice fairly consistently. But also, finding the right pieces, even if they aren’t originally written for your instrument.

MG: So what do you do when you don’t feel like practicing?

EK: I think the best cure is to listen to new music, see a new movie, read a new book, go to an art gallery, go see live music… Nothing inspires me more than seeing how many ways other people approach similar creative questions.

Bassoon Heroes

MG: I have a student who, after putting his clarinet together, always plays the same three notes to start. Do you have a ‘beginning ritual’ when you sit down to play your bassoon?

EK: Definitely, and most of my bassoon heroes do too! For me, it changes depending on what I’m about to play/practice, but I usually have the same goals: to get my fingers moving, cover the range of the instrument, find my sound, find my dynamic range, and of course get in tune.
MG: What are some of your favorite pieces of music?

EK: Almost everything! This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, so I’ll just let you know that the last album that I listened to was Bill Evans’ New Jazz Conceptions yesterday while I was cleaning my apartment and doing taxes. It is a terrific album, I can’t begin to say enough good things about it. [Listen to Bill Evans Radio on LastFM]

MG: What type of music do you listen to when you are not “on the clock” or just for fun?

EK: Again, everything! Sometimes I’m in the mood for anything but classical, as that’s what I do for a living, but there are times that classical is just the ticket. When I have a long drive ahead of me, I like music along the lines of John Adams’ Harmonielehre or Grand Pianola Music, or Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians or Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. The middle section of Roy Harris’ Symphony No. 3 is perfect. It’s like watching the mid-American countryside unfold through a train window. I’m getting carried away, but I guess what I mean to say is that it depends on the situation!

Adult Beginning Students

MG: I work with adults learning the sax and clarinet, as well as youth. What advice do you have for people taking up an instrument in adulthood?

EK: First of all, good for you! It’s never too late, and the saying about old dogs and new tricks is stupid. I think that ensemble experience is essential, as is a good teacher, but often the biggest challenge is finding the time to practice – with distractions like work, family, house, bills… But honestly, I believe that for at least an hour a day, it can all wait. Even if you find yourself playing a melody you love with a tuner and focusing on beauty of sound for 10 minutes, it can be enough.

Playing with Pink Martini

MG: What is it like to work with Pink Martini in preparing for the May 31 show?

EK: We haven’t started rehearsing yet, but I played a jazzy version of Peter and the Wolf with Pink Martini and it was a pleasure to work with them. The band is excellent, from the amazing rhythm section to the lush string arrangements. It should be a great show!

MG: Does playing music for a living ever feel like work? Asked another way, have you ever seen your bassoon as a job?

EK: Honestly, yes. But that’s not just because it’s my job. Challenging yourself to improve at your instrument is never easy, but unlike many other jobs, it is infinitely rewarding.

Pressure to be perfect.

MG: Certainly the Symphony has high expectations and rigorous standards for its musicians. How you do deal with that pressure? Or does it even feel like pressure to you?

EK: It can be a stressful job, there is no time for excuses – especially concerning preparation. But when I feel ready, there’s nothing that stressful about it. You may still be asked to do something you’ve never done before with the music, but if you’ve prepared adequately to begin with, suggestions can seem more like helpful ideas (which they really always are) than complaints about your technique or musicality.

MG: What would you like to share about being a professional musician that I haven’t asked about?

EK: That it’s a full-time job! I spend 20 hours at the hall every week with the orchestra in rehearsal or in concert, but I spend even more hours per week practicing at home, making reeds, studying scores. To me, the mark of an excellent musician is not only how prepared they are but also how well-rounded they are. There are so many different ways to approach playing an instrument, and so many different ways to practice; I feel that I’m never going to run out of things to work on.

Music is a lot more fun when you’ve practiced.

MG: I tell my students that mistakes are welcome in my studio. We all make mistakes. Sometimes a mistake can be a gift in helping you see a new way to do that with which you are struggling. How would a philosophy like that be received by the conductor or other members of the orchestra?

EK: Well, everybody makes mistakes, and honest mistakes are usually laughed off in the orchestra. However, we may only have one chance to rehearse something before the concert and making repeated mistakes due to a lack of preparation isn’t taken lightly.

I’ve heard so many mistakes in lessons (made by myself AND students) that no one mistake is really going to bother me. Even mistakes due to a lack of preparation are just an opportunity for me to teach practice strategies. Often I think that the biggest assistance that I can give a student is to teach them how to practice on their own, since that is the majority of the work they should be doing in an average week. I try to do that in every lesson – leave the student with a clear sense of what they now need to do on their own in the next week and how to do it.

I do start to get concerned when I hear the same note missed week after week. When I was in high school, a conductor once told me “amateurs try to remember, professionals write it down.” And now that I play music for a living, I can confirm that. Anyway, music is a lot more fun when you’ve practiced. You may never really feel fully prepared, but most professionals don’t either. In the end it’s one of those “journey not the destination” things, and that’s alright.