Set Your Tempo!

The dreaded click. My students love when I turn it on. That was sarcasm, if you were unsure. It seems like no one "enjoys" practicing with a metronome. Still, I do like to press the use of it during at-home practice because it helps eliminate rhythmic hiccups and ingrains a more strict sense or "feel" of rhythms when it is not present. So how do you incorporate the metronome into your daily practice?  Turn it on! I know it seems silly, but many of my students simply forget to turn the metronome on when practicing, even when it is sitting right next to their practice area. Some students have expressed a "fear" or dislike of using the metronome because it doesn't seem to help right away. Not being perfectly on with the click can be frustrating for perfectionists but we must remember:  it will take some time getting used to playing alongside a metronome. The more that we use it, the easier it becomes to stay on point.

So now that you're using the metronome whenever you practice, let us talk about setting the correct tempo for practice maximization! Usually your instructor will help with this, either showing you a range in which you can keep the metronome from become a hindrance or giving you exact metronome or tempo markings for the exercise or piece. You want to have it set where you can both play what you need to without mistakes and at a pace where doing so is still a challenge. It is a fine line to walk but it can be achieved through constant use! Set your tempo: use that metronome!

This is just a small example of the many useful musical tools you can learn here at Matt Burk Music Studio. We offer private music lessons for piano, guitar, drums, bass, voice, and songwriting! We encourage you to check out the rest of our website. If you are in the North Dallas area, stop into one of our two convenient locations in Frisco and Allen. Matt Burk Music Studio: Learn, Create, Perform!

Get In the Session!

Once again we're gearing up for another great Jam Session for the studio! As per usual, it will be held at the Jam Station in Plano, Friday, August 16th, starting at 7:30 pm! We're doing two songs, one new, one old: "Since U Been Gone" and "Walk Away Renee." This will be our first Jam Session with students from both our Allen location and our new Frisco location performing! The other instructors and I have been working out the parts, including guitar/piano lead sheet and drum notation written out from scratch! Now I know I've posted about this before but I cannot stress how much of a positive impact it can have to work with others when composing, arranging, choreographing, and writing lyrics. Take, for example, the older song "Walk Away Renee", which is in the key of A for both recordings we've referenced for the lead sheets. Our version will be in G to be more accessible to both male and female singers. At first we had a very simple four-bar intro all prolonging the G major chord. This was fine for at-home performance but I figured it would be a bit more interesting to the players and the listeners to transpose another harmonically engaging part into the intro. Now, I know for some of you this is a bit too much music jargon but the end result will be that the song sounds good and is fun to play! Since we're doing drums from scratch, I wanted to give the performers a lot of leeway in regards to the beats, fills, and cymbal accents. I have begun creating a "skeleton key" of sorts that shows important areas where the ensemble moves together rhythmically or when an accent or fill is absolutely needed. The rest will really be up to the players taste, which I believe helps with improvisation and listening in the group atmosphere. The players must be more aware of what is happening in order to not become lost in the song. Guitar has been smooth sailing with the help of one of our piano/guitar instructors. We've even been able to revise each other's work to keep mistakes at a minimum (and save some ink and paper to boot!) which makes it that much easier to concentrate on the students' performance and fun!

If you are a current student and have been on the fence about performing in the Jam Sessions, I strongly encourage you to sign up! They are very laid back, with no pressure or expectations. We're just there to have a good time and enjoy playing music together. Still not sure? Then just come by and see what it is all about! Not a current student but you're interested in what we do? Matt Burk Music Studio offers private music lessons tailored to the student! We find out what engages YOU and go from there! We offer lessons in piano, guitar, drums, bass, voice, songwriting, and audio production. Matt Burk Music Studio: Learn, Create, Perform!

Mixing the Old and New

I've stated before how many different genres of music that I hear throughout the week at Matt Burk Music Studio. I think the eclectic nature of the lessons keeps interested minds open to sounds and melodies that they might not initially enjoy. This can be seen particularly in the song choices for our student Jam Sessions. The instructors are involved with the decisions and take heavily into consideration the requests and interests of the students. We perform one modern pop song and one classic pop/rock song. This helps the student identify common progressions, repeating  patterns, and influences that perhaps are overlooked during the intense focus of the lesson. The atmosphere during the jam session is very relaxed:  The teachers are there to support our drum, keyboard, bass, guitar, and vocal students. Students are there to develop ensemble awareness, meet new players/peers, and have a good time! Learning from the experience is just a side effect of the overall goal; something I discussed in my last post, "Performance Panic".  The main thing to remember is that we always have something to learn from music from any era!