Musicians Warming Up

Every once in a while I come across a piano teacher or musician who think that they need to stretch their hands or run scales to "warm up." The myth behind warming up is that you are able to isolate a body part such as the hands and move them to warm them up.  If that were true, the blood that you think you warm up in your hands while moving them, because of circulation, doesn't stay there.  It circulates throughout the rest of the body meaning "cold" blood is coming back into the hands.  Furthermore, you are not warming up the blood or muscles, the blood is already at its maximum temperature.  The real issue is circulation.

A danger in moving cold hands or other body parts is that the elasticity of the muscles and tendons are compromised because they are in a contracted state and if you try to move cold body parts fast, you can cause damage to the tissue such as micro tears and pulls to either the muscles or the tendons.  Slow movement and in the medium range of motion is always advised when the extremities are cold.

When the body is cold, the blood is kept near the core vital organs and circulation is slowed to the extremities such as the hands and feet. That makes our hands and fingers feel cold and stiff.  Stretching is not a solution and our teachers and coaches have been teaching this mistruth about stretching for years.

When you stretch beyond the mid range of motion you are creating micro tears in the muscle tissue or tendons and the body's response is to rush blood to that site to both immobilize and repair the damage.  This process gives us the sensation of "warming up" when in reality we are damaging our tissue structures. Whenever we move, we must only move as far as the mid range of motion, not the extreme where we will stretch, tear and damage tissue.

There are actually two categories of muscle, fast twitch and slow twitch.  Musicians should take the time to learn which ones are which and how to utilize them in their craft.  Even so, forcing fast twitch muscles to move fast or to stretch them when they are cold and in their contracted state could damage them.  Think of your muscles as being like warm gravy.  The gravy can easily pour out of the bowl when it is warm.  Now put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour and note that it no longer pours fluidly.  You can't just run a spoon through the gravy to warm it up, it needs to come out of the fridge and be warmed totally.
  
If you have a teacher or coach who prescribes stretching and isolation exercises to warm up the body, find another teacher.  It is not their fault that they have been given erroneous information themselves from their own teachers, but, their ignorance on the subject can cause you permanent damage.  Ignorance is not bliss if it results in tendon, nerve or muscular disorders.  That is like going to a mechanic who says that your tires are bald but you can probably get away on them for another few months. He may be the best mechanic in the world but he is risking your life.

If one wishes to truly warm up the body and consequently the hands, one needs to sit in a warm room so that the whole body warms up, not just the part they are going to use.  Another solution is to do some mild whole body movement to get the blood pumping throughout the circulatory system.

There are mini steppers on the market for under $50 that a musician can take to a gig with them and use in the green room before a performance. After doing twenty minutes or about 2,000 steps on one of those, the blood will be circulating efficiently throughout the whole body and one may even break a small sweat.  You won't have to warm up your legs because you've already been walking all day and, movement that is well known such as walking is as simple as the brain turning on and off a switch.  One doesn't need to warm up to remember how to ride a bike.  The brain just knows what to do, like flicking a switch.

Conditioning is important, too.  If you can only do three minutes on the stair stepper before fatigue sets in then you're not going to achieve a full body warm up in that amount of time so, it would behoove you to do this every day so the body is conditioned to work at that level without fatigue.  One doesn't want to go on stage exhausted and weak.  It is also advised to be hydrated before, during and after this simple body warm up procedure.

I'll not endorse any particular brand but you can find mini steppers on Ebay, tax and shipping free. Read the user reviews on Amazon to find a brand you think you can trust.

Owning our Mistakes, Honoring our Mistakes, Everybody Makes

I recently performed a concert with a young artist who is going off to college to study opera.  He has dreams to then move to Europe to live and perform music.  Not only does this young man have a deep and rich bass voice but, he was also a pleasure to accompany.  Rarely do I get to play for someone who can both lead and follow an accompanist at the same time.  Many singers will either hijack a piece and force the accompanist to blatantly follow them or in contrast slavishly follow the accompanist.  When I encounter a singer who is neither a leader nor follower but does both, that is when music happens and a pleasure to work with. 

There was one moment however when he began to sing the wrong verse at the end of the song.  He stopped and corrected himself, everyone knew he made a mistake.  Many musicians learn and memorize their music from rote by practicing them dozens of times over until it is "memorized."  That method can set up many traps and things to go wrong without notice.  Rare is the musician who eats, drinks and sleeps their craft so that they are one with the song. 

I once played the show "Nunsense" for a year and a half, performing six shows per week.  All the musicians in the pit had the score memorized.  One evening, Mother Superior accidentally sang the wrong lyrics and without a second thought, all the musicians looked at one another and we all seamlessly jumped to the spot where she was.  After her verse was over, knowing that she skipped an important lyric, Mother Superior walked to the edge of the stage, looked down and said to the pit "Vamp boys."  Then she proceeded to tell the audience that she skipped a verse and said to the pit "take it back to the second verse" and we all flipped our pages, she counted us off and it was magic to have a mistake a living and breathing part of the performance.   

At my concert last weekend when my bass started to sing the wrong lyric and melody, I knew exactly where he was and was prepared to jump to that spot because I was prepared for the possibilities.  When I practice music, I jump around on the pages, mixing and matching beginnings and endings, playing the piece in different keys, different styles and in general, exploring the possibilities of the work.  This helps me to learn it and to be prepared for whatever may go wrong or, in other words - own the song.  I thrive on these challenges.

My suggestion for all musicians, especially singers, when you practice with your accompanist, don't just practice the song the way it is "supposed to go."  Play with it.  Try different rhythms, accents and styles.  Without notice, jump to a different section so that the accompanist has to find you.  If your accompanist can't do this, find a new accompanist.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to make music with someone who is not a "musician."  Music should not be something which is regurgitated from a page or set in stone.  It should be a living breathing expression of our selves and spirit.

The worse thing for a musician to do when they encounter a bump in the road is to stop.  Don't train your mind to stop.  Don't practice making mistakes.  Train your mind to be flexible and prepared for the possibilities.  I once worked with a great singer who during rehearsals would stop every time she made a mistake.  That practice manifested itself when she made a mistake on stage, she didn't know how to recover and everyone in the audience knew it.  It also made rehearsals unbearable for me.

If one were to tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, chances are we are not reciting a memorized version of the story but, extemporizing, improvising and re-living the story pretty much in our own words.  If we make a mistake, we don't stop, go back or apologize.  We effortlessly and almost invisibly correct it on the fly and continue with the story.  Nobody would even notice.  Music can be like that too if we are not a slave to notation, propriety or our egos.  The purpose of telling the story is to tell the story.  The purpose of music should be to tell a story, not put on a concert.  Janis Joplin once said that she doesn't put on concerts when she sings, she makes love to the audience. 

This is what making music should be about. That is the difference between an amateur, professional and artist.  Very often amateurs can also be artists and very often, professionals can be mere amateurs. 

Where are Our Artists Borne Today?

Having had the opportunity to work with young musicians for a few decades, or more, I have noticed that they are becoming more technical and less artistic.  Although many vocalists do a noble job at emulating their favorite pop singers complete with scoops and runs, they lack the passion, life experience and awareness of the emotive qualities which created those artistic expressions in the first place.   If someone has never experienced pain and loss, how could they effectively sing about, and with those emotions thereby touching their audience who have experienced those feelings?

I accompanied a singer who sang the song "Here I am, Lord."  I asked the singer if he knew who and what the song was about and what the circumstances of the song were and he said that he didn't.  Again, although he performed a nice rendition, it lacked meaning and substance.  When we came to the refrain, I tried to force a ritard and a change in timbre but he wasn't even listening to me and emotionlessly crashed through the transition.  Though, he had nicely placed runs and scoops.

That particular song is about Isaiah, being whisked up to heaven in a dream and witnessing a massive choir of angels singing praise and adoration to God.  Isaiah knows he is a lowly sinner and not worthy to be there but  the overwhelming glory and majesty of the scene causes Isaiah to have a metanoia moment.  God was seeking a helper and it just so happens that He made His plea right there in front of Isaiah immediately after Isaiah was offered forgiveness for his sins.  While God’s righteousness and forgiveness were still fresh on Isaiah’s mind, God says, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah then bravely musters the courage and says "Here I am, I will go."

How many parents who give birth to their newborn child have had that same moment where they were holding this tiny new miracle in their arms, having a metanoia moment and made the decision to dedicate their life to that child and give them everything?  How many children have lost a parent to a disease and then dedicate their life to promoting awareness and fighting that disease?  How many children lost a basketball game and immediately go home and begin practicing to improve for the next one?  And, how many singers sing this song, devoid of understanding and and its attendant emotion, and how many of their listeners tune them out because they know the singer is not trying to impart a message but is merely a carbon copy performer? 

There are several reasons why our youth are uninspired and are simply copycat technicians.  One of the reasons I'd like to address is that they don't have the performance outlets we used to.  The Beatles claim their success was due to being able to perform from 1960 to 1962, seven nights a week while in Germany.  It was the opportunity to perform night after night where they honed their performance skills, song writing skills and musicianship. 

Many a jazz musician such as Art Tatum and Fats Waller used to play a gig from seven to midnight, then go to another club to play for a few hours more, then hit yet another club around three a.m. and sit in with other musicians until five a.m.  Their life was consumed by music and other musicians and nothing stood in their way to live a life abundant with music and people and experiences.   They sought to live a life of music and not to seek what music could give to them.  They didn't make music because they were happy, they were happy because they made music.

When I was a teen, I was lucky to live near four bars and restaurants whose owners gave me the opportunity to go in and play whenever I wanted.  I was usually paid in free food and wine.  Nobody enforced the alcohol laws in those days.  I wasn't a drinker as my childhood friends could attest for when they stole liquor from their parents liquor cabinets, I rarely partook.  In the bars however, I did drink whatever the customers bought me out of gratitude and respect. 

Being able to play out in a club in front of a live audience was important.  For an improvisatory musician, if you can get a lick out during a live performance, it was yours forever.  One performance was worth ten rehearsals.  Performing coupled with real people in the audience and the interaction between other musicians make a huge difference, too.  While in the bar, if I played "Tiny Bubbles" when Walt entered the establishment, that would yield free pizza or ten bucks in my tip cup.  If I played "If He Walked Into My Life," the bartender would get weepy as it was his mother's favorite song and I'd get a glass of wine or a Mudslide out of that number.  More importantly, when these people two died, those songs held a greater meaning for me and today I play them with great reverence and a sense of loss.  It is those nascent connections which define where artists come from.  It is those emotions coupled with technique and the struggle to overcome emotional roadblocks during performance which give meaning, struggle and purpose to those scoops and runs.  Others copy them from CD's and sing them devoid of root or purpose.  They become mere ornamentation for young copycat singers.

Kids today don't have performance outlets anymore.  Because of DWI laws, smoking laws and a poor economy,  they no longer have these places to cut their teeth and woodshed.  Instead, young musicians imitate those before them who did have those outlets but, the struggle and pain of growth, and paying their dues is gone and they remain mere imitators rather than originators. 

There still are a few coffee houses and cafe's where young musicians can go to sit in or perform but they are far and few between.  If the public were to frequent and support these small clubs, it would give young musicians an opportunity for growth and experimentation.  It is also better for the listener.  Sure you can buy a CD and listen to its perfection in the comfort of your own home but if you attend a live performance, you will be present in the current moment while resonating with the excitement of the performance, you will be fully alive in an aesthetic experience where your senses are operating at their peak, there will be surprises, there are less distractions than at home, you are supporting art and a business, you will be surrounded by other people feeding off the performers kinetic reaction and energy of the performance, the performer will feed off of and respond to your approval and presence.  It will be a win/win/win.   Or, like many of our children, you can be home taking your Ritalin.

Spirit of the Living God

Spirit of the Living God
by Malcolm Kogut / Daniel Iverson
Arranger : Malcolm Kogut

This 1935 charismatic hymn to the Holy Spirit is given a positively captivating treatment here. While the SATB scoring is mostly what one would expect, it is dressed in a piano accompaniment that can be characterized as nothing short of lovely.

Sheet music:
http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=505