But there’s plenty of new stuff to see at the new location of the Graham English Official Site. See you there!

The answer comes in dynamic skill theory. I bring this up again and again because I get a lot of emails from students who are learning how to train their ears and they all have similar challenges. They are not willing to silence their critical “adult” voice and just play with music.

Students will tell me they need a more grounded approach (more mature). Or they will tell me it must be step-by-step (completely abstract). Sometimes they tell me that they won’t gain anything from an exercise after only reading about the exercise (how would they know?).

Just play!

You can’t skip stages of development. You have to begin at the sensorimotor stage, progress through the representational stage, and then you can arrive at the abstract level. It can’t work backwards.

If you’re asking an abstract question when you need to begin from the beginning, I might refer you to this post. Don’t make the mistake of working backwards when learning new skills. It just makes your journey longer and more difficult.

The site has some great video on the power of rhythm, music therapy and Parkinsons’, amusia, and more. There’s also a mind-blowing excerpt on NPR.

I’ll be seeing him on speak on the fifth of November. If you have any questions you would like me to ask, please let me know.

We could talk about motivation or anchoring overwhelming desire to the thought of writing songs, but one sure fire way to develop a consistent songwriting practice is to make it an unconscious habit.

Here are 5 tips to help you develop the habit of writing songs.

• Write nothing but song titles
  If the thought of writing a chorus, a bridge, and multiple verses is overwhelming to you, then just write some simple song titles. For song title inspiration, read my post on The Astonishing Hit-Making Magic of Song Titles.
• Write for the garbage can without feeling guilty
  The 80/20 rule will tell you that 20 percent of your writing will make the cut, 80 percent won’t. If you write 100 words a day, 20 of them might be useable. So if you need 100 words to complete your song, you need to write around 500 words. That’s why I write for the garbage can.
• Schedule songwriting appointments
  Think of something you do everyday that requires little effort or self-motivation, like eating when you’re hungry. You probably don’t need to schedule your meals in a calendar. You eat when your body tells you that you’re hungry. That’s the kind of habit you’re looking to develop with your songwriting. It’s automatic. But to get to that level, it might be useful to schedule your songwriting sessions and never break them. Keep it up for thirty days and see if you don’t get “hunger pangs” when you haven’t written anything for more than a few hours.
• Edit older songs
  Sometimes tinkering with an old song feels better than starting a song from scratch. If that feels like the case for you, then follow your desire to tinker. You’ll still be exercising your songwriting chops. Now, if you have an aversion to writing new songs you’ll need to look into your reluctance. But you can do that after you’ve developed a strong songwriting habit. Who knows, it might just disappear on its own.
• Transcribe your favorite songwriter’s songs
  Rewrite the lyrics to your favorite lyricist in long hand. Pretend you’re in their head and creating the song from scratch. Transcribe melodies, hooks, chord changes, anything to immerse yourself in the art and craft of songwriting.

As with all tips, they don’t work until you do them. Go schedule some time to write now!

(Inspired by Freelance Folder)

A couple tips gleaned from his blog:

• Mental Rehearsal: Harness the language of the right brain and the subconscious and practice doing it right in the mind first.
• Record Yourself: Something I advocate in Turbocharge Your Playing.

Canadian art-pop singer, Jane Siberry, sells her music through an honor-payment system. The Freakonomics blog points out how her variable-pricing scheme ends up bringing in more cash than if she were to sell it through iTunes. BoingBoing calls her “the gold standard for a digital artist’s business.”

If you’re looking for a [tag]Music 2.0[/tag] business to model, this is the one.

I’ve been coaching some of the best musicians and I’ve been learning exactly what makes them tick. I’m working on revealing everything you should know. But before I do that, I could use your help.

I want to hear what you really need to know right now that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your musicianship. Exactly what challenges you’re facing, what information would be most valuable to you, and what’s been hardest for you to overcome.

Here’s the deal: if you give me a few moments of your time and input, I’ll gratefully give you a FREE gift. I’ll share some never released patterns that the greatest soloists use to burn on the bandstand. Some real head turners! It’s my way of saying, “Thanks” for contributing.

All I need to know is: what do you want to know most about improving your musicianship? It could be anything at all… even if you think it’s silly.

Just answer the survey questions (many of them are simple and easy multiple choice) and type your most important questions in the little boxes below… ask me whatever question will help you the most and I’ll make sure to include it in the near future.

By the way, these free patterns are only for the first 100 people who respond… so please answer all the questions right now and then click on the “Here Are My Questions!” button.

Thanks so very much for your input, I really appreciate it!

Your privacy always comes first and your email address is never shared with anyone ever.

metaphor
noun
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

If you’re a writer, of course you know what the word metaphor means. But you might not know that the word was first introduced in the year 1447 with the book The Ordinal of Alchemy by Thomas Norton. Alchemists, because of the forbidden tradition of writing down spells and secrets of their art, had to be obscure when transmitting their esoteric knowledge to prime pupils. Thus, the term metaphor was born.

It’s exciting to think of yourself as an alchemist who can turn lead into gold. You’re a wordsmith who takes language and gives it meaning. Aside from the very real gold your final creation can bring you, contributing your art to the world brings gold to your listeners in the form of improved quality of life.

My favorite technique for creating fresh metaphors is the “duh” technique (I learned this from Shane Adams). You start with your first object, cake. Think of the most obvious characteristic of the object, as in the cake is round. This is called the “duh” description. Now take the “duh” description and think of something else that has that quality or characteristic. The cake is round… duh… what else is round? The moon. Now think of a “duh” characteristic of the second object, the moon glows, the moon is distant. Now plug those new traits into the original, the cake glows like a distant moon.

Your songwriting is the language of your soul. Look within and transform the world.

It’s a major upgrade. Logic Studio is a full suite of apps including Logic Pro 8, MainStage, Soundtrack Pro 2, Studio instruments and effects, and the entire GarageBand Jam Pack library. Almost 40 gigs of content!

The user interface of Logic Pro has been completely redesigned. Its new single-window workspace fits the streamlined design of Apple’s other applications. If you’re a GarageBand user, the upgrade will be much easier to manipulate.

MainStage is built for live performance. Keyboardists and guitarists alike will be able to perform with confidence even in the most demanding conditions. It’s a major step to bringing your software instruments and effects to the stage with an interface that gives you just enough information to get the job done.

My major complaint with Logic Pro 7 was the user interface. It wasn’t nearly as fun or easy to use as GarageBand. All of that has changed. I love the new and sexier Apple-centric design.

Watch my introduction to the new Logic Pro 8 template chooser.

If you’re a Logic user and want more tips and tricks, check out Logic Studio Training.

You can find out more about his life and music at his official site and on Wikipedia. His music will be missed but never forgotten.

One of my favorite albums featuring Joe Zawinul as a sideman is Why Am I Treated So Bad? by Cannonball Adderley. The title track features a dirty wurlitzer solo by Joe. To me, the best part is the audience participation. It’s a deep conversation between musician and audience.

Another great track on that album is Mini Mama. The transcription I’m posting below is of Cannonball Adderley’s alto sax solo. This is another soulful blues that gets the audience shouting.

Download the transcription:
Mini Mama Alto Sax Solo

If you can keep the key signatures straight as you play this, then you’re definitely ready to move on to something more challenging.

And hopefully, if you’ve been following this series, you can imagine phrases that aren’t confined to the tonic key.

That was the purpose of this series on playing outside. To stretch your ear and technique beyond conventional tonality. I hope you’ve enjoyed the exercise.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 15

Visit: Absolute Pitch Power Green Offer

Click Here: Absolute Pitch Power Green Offer

Table of contents for Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast

1. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 07-30-06
2. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 08-14-06
3. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 09-26-06
4. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 10-06-06
5. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 12-04-06
6. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 04-09-07
7. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 04-27-07
8. Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 08-20-07

Topics covered:
The pleasure of finding things out, Richard Feynman, Dr. Kurt Fischer, dynamic skill theory, developmental levels, adult learning, ear training, and much more…

Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 08-20-07

Subscribe with iTunes here:

Subscribe with Odeo here:

Subscribe with Podnova here:

Subscribe by RSS here:

Subscribe by email here:

Here’s his own rendition of “Mr. Hi Hat” in tribute to Papa Jo Jones.

Table of contents for Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale

1. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1
2. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2
3. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3
4. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4
5. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 5
6. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 6
7. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 7
8. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 8
9. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 9
10. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 10
11. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 11
12. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 12
13. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 13
14. Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14

Now this pattern is the exact opposite of the twelfth dominant 7 pentatonic scale pattern. Every other note is transposed into the “outside key” but this pattern begins in the outside key and is a full bar long.

Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 14