Wednesday, October 26, 2016

How much is ENOUGH?

It's the question that is asked a lot. Even to myself. How many hours do I need to put in? Is this enough?

The short answer is, it's never enough. Most of us won't ever be perfectly satisfied as musicians. It's the nature of the work. There is always more we can, and would like to do.

At the end of the day it's not too difficult an equation. The more constructive hours we put into something the better we are at it. We have all heard of the 10,000 hours. If you want to be a good musician, the best part of your life should be spent doing that. You have no choice. Want to play the saxophone well? Then a good number of hours most days need to be spent playing the saxophone.

The key to this in my experience, is not necessarily pushing yourself to work more, but time management. We all have lives outside music. Families, other work, chores, relaxation time etc. Cutting those is not always the best solution. However, if we look into how we structure our days, we will find there is plenty of room for improvement. Have a look at the amount of time wasted. In this day and age there are lots of ways to be distracted and it is increasingly hard to stay focused. Not only that, simple management of  daily routine can add hours to your practice time. Looking closer at those is probably for another post.

Health is another big factor that is underestimated. Many musicians find themselves not taking proper care. Eating, drinking the wrong things and then wondering why they are unable physically to do the work they need. It's another huge topic, but simply looking after oneself can easily add to the amount of time you have to spend doing music.

Ultimately we can only do what we can do, and we should be satisfied with that. There will always be people who are better and can find the time to work harder. If you want to be accomplished in music do as much as you can, but be clever and sensible about it. There are many ways to achieve the same goal.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Why sound is really THAT important

We all know that practicing sound on the saxophone is very important. It's what identifies us as musicians, it's what speaks to the audience before we've completed a phrase or rhythm. A single note from a famous player is often enough to identify them. It's how we absorb music on a basic level. If we are uncomfortable with the sound of someone we are listening to, it's hard to identify musically with them.

Another reason sound is so important, is to do with the type of performances we find ourselves in. One day we may be playing acoustic, without amplification, the next in an auditorium of hundreds. A small club, an outdoor festival, a church, the list is endless. Add to that the different types of amplification equipment and microphones available to us, it's unlikely that two performance scenarios are the same.

Playing in diverse conditions is a big challenge. It's rare that we are totally comfortable with the set up that we have. Musicians are endlessly commenting on the "sound" of a particular gig, how it was good, bad or indifferent.

In order to be more comfortable with all this, it's very important to be able to build from the bottom up. Your individual sound has to be rock solid or you will not cope. On those days where everything goes right, all will usually be well, but how about when it doesn't? Most of us are not fortunate enough to travel with an engineer and the same equipment, so it's vital that we are able to adapt to all kinds of situations, and this is only possible if we are comfortable with our own sound first.

There are always going to be days when even that is a challenge, but working on our own sound helps to minimize these possibilities. It takes some of the variables out, and allows you to adapt much easier to difficult situations.