Category: Science/Technology

A Five Step Model For Refining Technique

~ wilktone ~ Leave a comment

Ask a bunch of brass teachers how to make changes in instrumental technique and you’ll get a lot of contrasting advice, but if there is a consensus of sorts it seems to favor developing a good sound concept and allowing the body to figure itself out. I’ve written many times about why I feel this approach is not ideal, including looking at research that investigates how we learn and develop motor skills. The trouble with utilizing that research to design teaching and practice strategies for musicians is that a large part of that research is tested using skills that are new to the test subjects. What is the best way to make changes or refine a skill that is already developed? I recently came across an article published in 2016 in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology that takes a close look at that question and offers a five part model for making corrections to a skill already learned.

We do need to keep in mind that this article is specifically looking at athletics and not music performance and pedagogy, but I think that the psychology between instrumental technique and athletic skills is similar enough that we can use the same strategies. With that caveat in mind, here’s a look at the five part process for refining technique.

Step 1 – Analysis

Yes, the first step is to analyze the musician’s technique. Right off the bat some brass teachers are going to flinch when they read this. For many, analysis is seen as a bad thing and it leads to “paralysis by analysis.” I find this attitude silly, to be honest. If you or a student is freezing up when playing mechanics are getting a close look for how efficient it’s working then you’re doing the analysis wrong in the first place.

The analysis step is vital for a couple of reasons. First, we need to be able to assess if playing difficulties are due to a mechanical issue in the first place. Furthermore, the analysis process should identify the precise cause of a technique flaw in an objective manner. Too many brass teachers are too quick to assume that the issue is being caused by incorrect breath control or maybe a poor sound concept. Those things can result in inefficient technique, but there are other areas in brass mechanics that also need to be analyzed and addressed.

One point the article mentions that I think is important here is that the athlete’s (or musician’s) technique should be analyzed separately from an attempt at correction. In other words, the musician’s attention should not be on the playing mechanics being addressed while analyzing the technique. It’s best is the coach (teacher) is the one doing the analysis. It’s notoriously difficult to analyze your own issues, so if that’s necessary it’s probably best done by recording your playing and doing your analysis away from the act of playing your instrument.

Also addressed in the article in this stage is getting the athlete (musician) to buy into the process here and recognize that there is a technique flaw that needs to be dealt with. Since there is typically a drop off in performance that happens during the next stage due to the technical refinement being new it’s important that the musician understand why the change is necessary, what specifically to change, and how to make that change.

Step 2 – Awareness

The goal in this step is to deautomate the instinctive inefficient technique. When the habitual way of playing the instrument isn’t working properly it needs to be replaced by the correct technique and that requires the musician (or athlete) to be aware of the technique in the first place.

To deautomate the aspect of technique requiring refinement (hereafter termed the target variable), athletes are required to consciously apply a narrow and internal focus of attention (cf. Wulf, 2013), which enables access to the relevant movement component within the memory trace (Christina & Corcos, 1988). If control over the target variable remained largely subconscious, as is thought ideal for performance (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Swann, Crust, Keegan, Piggott, & Hemmings, 2015), it would be difficult to see how any long-term changes could be initiated. Indeed, Rendell, Farrow, Masters, and Plummer (2011) have demonstrated the limitations of implicit strategies in this particular context. More specifically, athletes counting the number of tones overlaid on music soundtracks (i.e., an effort not to think about the movement) during netball shooting practice to a higher than regulation ring led to an eventual lower ball flight trajectory instead of an intended higher trajectory, despite athletes not being aware of any change taking place. In short, a conscious focus seems to be an essential precursor of effective motoric change.

Implementing the Five-A Model of Technical Refinement: Key Roles of the Sport Psychologist – Howie J. Carson & Dave Collins

The bold emphasis in the above quote is mine in order to highlight the difference between this evidence based strategy compared to the approach many brass teachers take where they intentionally keep their students awareness off the specific mechanical skill. Traditional brass pedagogy skips this step.

One reason why I think many teachers intentionally avoid the process of helping a student become aware of their playing mechanics is that there is almost always a drop in performance when a change in motor skills is made. Where many brass pedagogues assume this decline is an indication that the awareness is making the problem worse, sports psychologists see this as a necessary step in the process. Music students need to be aware of what the purpose of this stage is and be realistic in their expectations.

The authors recommend contrast drills as providing good benefits in this stage of the process. Practicing this way involves spending some time alternating between the old and incorrect way of playing and the new and more efficient way.

Contrast drills challenge athletes for two main reasons. First, a movement component that has been under largely subconscious control must return to consciousness (i.e., executing an already existing technique under a different type of control); second, athletes must consciously manipulate their movement to achieve a new technique. As such, executions are performed with an imbalance of control and require a high degree of concentration and motivation. Using paradoxical training interventions (i.e., asking an athlete to purposefully make an error; see Bar-Eli, 1991) as one way to explain the intended outcome (see also Carson, Collins, & Richards, 2016), contrasts between techniques enable the coach to “reframe” the situation and the athlete to realize what is required to make the change, that is, to fully notice the difference.

Implementing the Five-A Model of Technical Refinement: Key Roles of the Sport Psychologist – Howie J. Carson & Dave Collins

Again, we can compare the emphasis on conscious manipulation of the technique recommended above to the more popular idea in brass pedagogy of discouraging any conscious manipulation of playing mechanics.

Step 3 – Adjustment

In this stage the goal is to make the specific change in technique. The musician (or athlete) becomes familiar with the new technique and how it feels and works when correct. The authors recommend feedback be provided to the student in the form of both recorded trials with the new technique as well as through questions, primes, and verbal instructions that guide the preferred technique.

Contrast training is adjusted in this stage so that the old versions of the playing technique are phased out in favor of the new and correct way of playing.

It has yet to be investigated, but we feel that attempts to unconsciously shape the new behavior, through solely implicit, constraints-based coaching, for example, are less likely to generate effective outcomes such as long-term permanency and robustness under stressful conditions. This may well necessitate a change of behavior by the coach if they are devoutly convinced by this approach, and the psychologist can help greatly by supporting the necessary approach.

Implementing the Five-A Model of Technical Refinement: Key Roles of the Sport Psychologist – Howie J. Carson & Dave Collins

The above quote notes that there are many athletes and coaches who favor an unconscious approach at this stage, but the author’s feel that this approach is less effective in the long term. I agree with their assessments here, but will reiterate their point that further research is needed in this area.

Step 4 – (Re)Automation

Only after the conscious adjustment is made to playing technique do the authors recommend working on making this change automatic. At this stage continuing to break up the playing technique or motor skill into individual steps becomes detrimental in situations of stress (i.e., a performance or audition). Instead, in this stage we finally begin to make the new way of playing internalized.

Music teachers frequently coach their students through mental imagery and analogy. I’ve often pointed out that this is a double edged sword. It’s not helpful in the earlier stages, but at this point it is a necessary step. It’s at this point where the teacher helps the student to perform the technique without conscious effort on playing correctly. This is the stage where the implicit approach takes over.

Step 5 – Assurance

In this final stage the goal is to generate complete confidence in the athlete (or musician) in the unconscious execution of the corrected technique. The student gets regular reassurance from the coach or teacher that new change is working correctly. Assessing the new technique through challenges involving physical fatigue or otherwise “pressure testing” the student is valuable in this stage. This is the point where the musician or athlete just concentrates on the end goal of making good music or putting the ball into the basket.

Final Thoughts

The authors note a specific pet peeve of mine in the typical strategy employed by most brass teachers, separation of the psychology of performing with an accurate understanding of motor skills.

First, there is a distinct need for sport psychology and motor control knowledge to be reconsidered in unison. Unfortunately, in our view, this separation has been driven by too narrow a focus in each case—emotion and cognition in the former and co-ordination dynamics in the latter. Bridging this gap, recent efforts have been made to examine the effects cognition over elements of the movement execution. Carson and Collins (2014, 2015) recently termed this study “psychomechanics” and have explored relative states of automaticity through use of intraindividual movement variability as an indicator of such control (e.g., when executing golf shots with a ball or as intentional practice swings; Carson, Collins, & Richards, 2014b). In short, planned training designs must address not only the development of task-specific cognitive strategies but also how the execution may be embedded with relative permanence and pressure resistance (cf. Carson & Collins, 2016).

Implementing the Five-A Model of Technical Refinement: Key Roles of the Sport Psychologist – Howie J. Carson & Dave Collins

Tip of the hat to Noa Kageyama of the Bulletproof Musician podcast and blog for posting about this article.

The Science of Swing

~ wilktone ~ Leave a comment

NPR posted a report on their web site yesterday called “What makes that song swing? At last, physicists unravel a jazz mystery.” It’s an interesting look at swing groove and how physicists who happen to be amateur musicians approached answering the question, what is swing?

Still, a precise definition of swing has long eluded musicians and scholars alike. As the Big Band era jazz trumpeter Cootie Williams once reportedly joked about swing, “Describe it? I’d rather tackle Einstein’s theory.”

Fittingly, physicists now think they’ve got an answer to the secret of swing — and it all has to do with subtle nuances in the timing of soloists.

What makes that song swing?

When I read that my first thought was, duh! Of course it’s soloist timing, and their relationship to the rhythm section groove. What could science actually say about this? It turns out the devised a pretty subtle experiment that helps answer the exact question of what a soloist does to swing hard.

But since the 1980s, some scientists and music scholars have claimed that the swing feel is actually created by tiny timing deviations between different musicians playing different types of instruments. To test this theory, Geisel and his colleagues took jazz recordings and used a computer to manipulate the timing of the soloist with respect to the rhythm section.

What makes that song swing?

They then played different versions of the recording with different timings to jazz musicians and asked them to rate the performances. By a large margin, the musicians preferred one set of timing over another, even though they couldn’t pinpoint what it was that was different. They then analyzed classic recordings by important and influential jazz musicians and discovered that they were manipulating their time in the same way.

What was that difference? Read the article or give the report a listen. Did you agree with the majority opinion on which manipulated recording sounded better? Can you notice the difference?

A-I Can Blog, But Can It JAM? Exploring AI Blogging Music

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So I’ve been getting a lot of my blog posts linked from ScionAv.com lately, but there’s definitely something off about those blog posts. For one thing, they are linking to my brass embouchure posts, but they are about woodwind playing. Then there’s the writing.

A clarinet, which was invented in the 16th century, can be found today. This wind instrument has a simple sound that is sonorous and bright. Because of its versatility, the clarinet can be used in a wide range of styles, including classical and jazz. Despite his outstanding clarinet playing, Paquito looks and sounds a little like an alto saxophonist. An opera singer’s soprano saxophone sound is much brighter and more sax like than one of his.

Huh? I didn’t know that an opera singer’s soprano sax sound is brighter that Paquito’s. I learned in that article that it’s nice to learn how to “finger reeds.” I also learned that the difference between clarinet and soprano sax are “not so much in the speed of the vehicle as they are in the distance.”

Emily Palmer, over at that web site, is clearly using AI to write her blog posts. If you want a laugh or just to be confused, go over to her blog and give some posts a read. What I find really interesting is that according to this page, she is/was a creative writing minor. She does play violin pretty well, though.

I figure that I’m missing out here. These days I usually post something once or twice a month. I’m generally too busy with other projects to do much more, but if I used AI to write my blog posts too, I could crank out the posts just like Emily does (I think there’s about 10 brand new ones just posted today!). So here is an AI generated post for your enjoyment and inspiration.

AI blogging music has taken the world by storm in the last few years. As a blogger, I am always looking for new ways to innovate and create unique content. AI blogging music has been a great way to do just that. In this blog, I’ll explore what AI blogging music is, its benefits, applications, services, and challenges. I’ll also share some tips for creating AI blogging music, examples of AI blogging music, and the future of AI blogging music.

What is AI blogging music?

AI blogging music is a type of music created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI blogging music uses algorithms to generate musical compositions that are similar to traditional music. The algorithms are designed to create music that is both unique and familiar. AI blogging music can be used to create both instrumental and vocal music.

The process of creating AI blogging music begins with a set of data that is used to generate musical patterns. The data can be anything from audio samples to patterns of notes and rhythms. The AI then uses this data to create a composition. The composition is then modified and refined to create a finished product.

AI blogging music has become increasingly popular over the last few years due to its ability to generate unique and creative music quickly and easily. It has been used by a wide variety of artists and professionals to create music for movies, video games, and other media.

Benefits of AI blogging music

AI blogging music has a number of benefits for bloggers and other professionals. One of the main benefits is that it can be used to create unique and creative music quickly and easily. This can be especially useful for bloggers who need to create content on a tight deadline.

AI blogging music can also be used to create music that is similar to traditional music, but still unique and creative. This can help to create content that stands out from the crowd. AI blogging music can also be used to create music that has a specific purpose in mind, such as creating a certain mood or atmosphere.

Finally, AI blogging music can be used to create music without requiring the user to have any musical training or experience. This can make it easier for bloggers and other professionals to create music without having to learn music theory or spend time practicing.

AI blogging music applications

AI blogging music can be used in a variety of contexts. It can be used to create music for videos, podcasts, and other media. It can also be used to create soundtracks for games and apps. AI blogging music can also be used to create music for live performances or events.

AI blogging music can also be used to create background music for podcasts and other audio content. This can help to create a more immersive listening experience for the listener. AI blogging music can also be used to create music for videos, such as intros and outros.

AI blogging music services

There are a number of services that offer AI blogging music. These services can provide users with access to AI blogging music libraries and tools to help them create their own compositions. Some of these services also offer custom services, such as creating specific pieces of music for a particular project.

Some of the most popular AI blogging music services include Splice, Amper Music, and Jukedeck. These services offer a variety of features and tools to help users create their own AI blogging music.

Challenges of AI blogging music

Though AI blogging music has a number of benefits, it also has some drawbacks. One of the main challenges of AI blogging music is that it can be difficult to create music that is truly unique. AI blogging music can often be repetitive and predictable, as the algorithms are designed to generate music that is similar to traditional music.

Another challenge of AI blogging music is that it can be difficult to create music that is appropriate for a particular project. AI blogging music can often be too generic or too specific for a particular project. This can make it difficult for users to find the right piece of music for a project.

Finally, AI blogging music can be expensive. Many AI blogging music services charge a subscription fee or a per-use fee. This can make AI blogging music cost prohibitive for some users.

Tips for creating AI blogging music

If you are looking to create your own AI blogging music, there are a few tips that can help. First, it is important to have a clear idea of what type of music you want to create. This will help to ensure that the AI blogging music is appropriate for the project.

It is also important to experiment with different algorithms and data sets. Different algorithms and data sets can produce different types of music. This can help you to find the right type of music for your project.

Finally, it is important to listen to the music you create and make adjustments as needed. AI blogging music can often require some tweaking to make it sound just right. Taking the time to listen to the music and make adjustments can help to ensure that the music is appropriate for the project.

Examples of AI blogging music

AI blogging music has been used in a wide variety of contexts. One of the most popular examples is the song “Glorious” by the EDM artist Marshmello. The song was created using AI blogging music and has been praised for its unique sound.

Another example is the song “Rise” by the DJ duo The Chainsmokers. This song was also created using AI blogging music and has been praised for its innovative sound.

Finally, the song “Tron Legacy” by Daft Punk was also created using AI blogging music. The song was praised for its unique sound and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Future of AI blogging music

AI blogging music is becoming increasingly popular and is only going to continue to grow in the future. As AI technology continues to improve, so too will the quality of AI blogging music. This will make it easier for bloggers and other professionals to create unique and creative music quickly and easily.

The future of AI blogging music also includes the potential for AI blogging music to be used for more than just music. AI blogging music could be used to create visuals, such as animations and videos. This could open up a whole new world of possibilities for bloggers and other professionals.

Conclusion

AI blogging music has become increasingly popular over the last few years and is only going to continue to grow in the future. AI blogging music can be used to create unique and creative music quickly and easily, and can be used in a variety of contexts. There are a number of services that offer AI blogging music, though it can be expensive. If you are looking to create your own AI blogging music, there are a few tips that can help. Examples of AI blogging music include the songs “Glorious” by Marshmello, “Rise” by The Chainsmokers, and “Tron Legacy” by Daft Punk.

Stop using AI to write blog posts and start creating your own unique and creative AI blogging music today!

So there you go. If you’re interested in starting a blog and using AI to write your posts, I used Writesonic to generate the above post.

Physics and Music

~ wilktone ~ Leave a comment

Like many musicians, I have an interest in the physics of sound, but not a formal background in the science. I recently came across this great YouTube video of Dr. Robert Astalos and Dr. Tracy Doyle giving a talk on physics and music at Adams State University (I taught there back in the early 2000s, although at the time it was Adams State College).

Dr. Robert Astalos, associate professor of physics, and Dr. Tracy Doyle, professor of music, provide a uniquely collaborative view into how music works via “mediums”, and why tones sound different on various instruments, utilizing the underlying principles of physics.

They go over a great discussion and demonstration of the harmonic series and how instruments, such as the euphonium, flute, and guitar, play over the harmonic series. There’s a discussion of tuning systems too. There’s a piano performance by Dr. Bill Lipke, who has been teaching at ASU since I was teaching there (it was sure cool to see a familiar face in this video).

While I didn’t learn anything that was completely new to me, the nuances discussed and the demonstrations were fascinating to me. I was particularly interested in the wave demonstrator that Astalos used to show how the standing wave gets subdivided to play over the harmonic series.

Don’t Get Medical Advice from a Music Teacher

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I’m not going to link to the web page in this post. I don’t really want to bring more attention to it than I’m already going to do. If you really want to find it, I’m sure that searching the internet will get you to it. But I often see this happen – a music teacher giving medical advice about maladies that seem (to them) to be related or somehow connected with brass playing, even though the music teacher is unqualified (and probably wrong).

So let me start with my usual disclaimer any time that I discuss heath issues. I’m not a medical doctor and I’m not qualified to offer medical advice. I won’t be giving you any medical advice here, beyond the suggestion that you should consult with a medical professional for health issues. I would never trust my doctor, dentist, or some other medical professional to suggest how I can improve my tone or which alternate position to use, that’s not their area of expertise, it’s mine. So why should a music teacher feel that giving students medical advice is OK?

This part of the website is to provide information for musicians who suffer from physical conditions, especially those symptoms known as asthma, Bell’s Palsy, and focal dystonia. For some readers, the solution that I’m offering will sound too good to be true. They may even get angry, convinced that no single process can solve such seemingly different conditions.

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

It’s not that I’m convinced no single process can cure the above conditions (which is doubtful) as much as I’m upset that the above individual is acting in an irresponsible way. This person should be ashamed. If a student decides to forgo real medical advice for a serious condition because the student believes the above garbage there can be real harm. Asthma attacks can kill. What a non-expert thinks is Bell’s palsy could actually be a stroke. There are serious consequences here.

I’ve been down this road before…

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

Yes, this person has been criticized for offering misinformation about health and medicine before. Rather than consult with a professional about it and get facts straight, this individual chooses instead to double down and continue to mislead students.

The bottom line is, I don’t make claims without first doing research and obtaining evidence. 

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

This individual doesn’t provide any citations or links. “Research” isn’t about looking on the internet for information that supports your preconceived ideas, it’s about subjecting a hypothesis to an honest test in an attempt to falsify your idea. If it withstand scrutiny, then you might be on to something. If it doesn’t, then you need to revise your hypothesis. If you have evidence in the way of citations, then put them in your essay. Don’t make outrageous claims and that you say are based on “research” and “evidence” unless you provide them.

Out of curiosity, I looked up what research on the benefits of playing a musical instrument says about treating asthma with playing a wind instrument. The problem with searching the internet (or even an academic library) is that you’ll find a lot of references to journals of dubious quality. This is an issue in all academia, music research included. “Publish or perish” run rampant through academia, so many predatory journals have sprung up over the past couple of decades that publish poor quality research or are biased towards a particular viewpoint. If you want to find a “journal” that supports your position or a quack who agrees with you, it’s not too hard to do so.

This is particularly a problem with journals that are specifically devoted to so-called “complimentary and alternative medicine” (CAM). Do you know what medical professionals call complimentary and alternative medicine that has been proven to be both safe and effective? Medicine! There’s no need to separate it unless you’re trying to brand your treatment, which is what CAM really is – a marketing term not a medical one. But here’s what one article in a journal devoted to CAM has to say about asthma and wind instruments.

The literature search identified 867 citations, from which 8 (three RCTs and five nRCTs) low and high risk of bias studies were included in the review. All RCTs used music listening as a form of complementary treatment. One RCT of the low risk of bias indicated positive effects on lung function in mild asthma. In two others, despite the decrease in asthma symptoms, music was not more effective than the control condition. In two nRCTs a decrease in asthma symptoms was reported as an effect of playing a brass or wind instrument; in two nRCTs the same effect was observed after music assisted vocal breathing exercises and singing. Mood improvement, decrease of depression and anxiety were also observed.

The paucity, heterogeneity, and significant methodological limitations of available studies allow for only a weak recommendation for music therapy in asthma. This study highlights the need for further research of mixed methodology.

Do asthmatics benefit from music therapy? A systematic review, Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Volume 22, Issue 4, August 2014, Pages 756-766

The bold emphasis above is mine. If a journal devoted to CAM, like the one I quoted from above, is finding only weak results then you have to be a particularly stubborn or ignorant crank to claim that trumpet playing will treat or cure asthma. Or, more likely, you’re not really searching the literature well and simply looking for things that already support your preconceived notions.

Continuing with our misinformed music teacher:

Common health conditions, as labeled by the medical community, are frequently only a side effect of a hidden, more primary cause. Further, when you make a correction at the level of the primary cause, the side effects typically disappear.

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

Again, this individual offers no citations, but I’m not sure that the above criticism is even accurate. Medical professionals are very much interested in helping patients with correcting the cause of symptoms. I think it’s pretty well understood by doctors that curing a disease or disorder involves finding the cause and eliminating it.

In the case of our sample trio of conditions – asthma, Bell’s Palsy, focal dystonia – what is the cause? Ask a medical doctor. He will say, “We don’t know the answer to that yet.” The best he can offer is symptom management, in the hopes that somehow the body eventually heals itself. Of course, from his frame of reference, that means drugs, which not only don’t ever cure anything, but actually lead to the creation of more problems. As the old alternative health saying goes, “the body is not crying out for more drugs.”

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

It is true that medical science doesn’t always have all the answers about what causes the above listed disorders, but they have good ideas and I trust the judgement of scientists who have devoted their education and careers to learning more about disease and how to cure them. Sometimes managing symptoms and allowing the body to heal itself is the best treatment. Symptom management may be a stop gap in some medical cases, but if you suffer from asthma, for example, a prescribed drug may just save your life. A music teacher who actively discourages taking medically prescribed drugs is behaving recklessly.

Regardless, just because the causes of a particular disorder like focal dystonia isn’t understood by medical science doesn’t mean that a music teacher has a better idea. In fact, I imagine that a music teacher has a much less chance of understanding medical issues.

My day job is still [music] teaching. However, an increasing amount of my time is spent investigating the brain.

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

This individual has no business pushing crackpot ideas on neuroscience, no matter how much “research” this individual pretends to be doing. At what point should a music teacher be believed over someone who spent 8-10 years in school studying medicine, a year of residency, and multiple years or decades of clinical practice or scientific research on neuroscience?

As it turns out, a high percentage of chronic health issues actually stem from the negative mental environment created by a single, correctable brain condition – hyperpolarity of brain functioning.

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

Again, there are no citations provided for what “high percentage” of health issues are caused by “hyperpolarity.” This is getting dangerously close to blaming the victim for health issues that they have no control over.

Note: Hyperpolarity of brain functioning is not taught in medical schools. Nor will you find it in any medical literature. In short, it is not recognized as a medically treatable condition.

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

This person doesn’t define “hyperpolarity of brain function.” A brief search for scholarly articles on “hyperpolarity brain” actually comes up with a number of hits. I haven’t bothered to read any of them, but it actually appears that hyperpolarity is recognized by medical schools. Here’s a link to a definition and short video explaining hyperpolarity and membrane potential put together by Dr. Marc Dingman, who actually earned his PhD in neuroscience, unlike our misinformed music teacher.

So, the advice I give you regarding hyperpolarity can in no way ever be misconstrued as “medical advice.” This is as close as I get to offering a disclaimer. 🙂

No citation on purpose – don’t go to this web page for medical advice

That above quote is what pushed me over the edge and prompted this rant. It’s incredibly disingenuous. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Suggesting someone who has been prescribed drugs for a serious medical condition does more harm than good and then later stating you’re not offering “medical advice” is devious and reprehensible.

Elsewhere, this same individual wrote, “I do not have – nor do I want to have – a medical degree.” If you’re not willing to put in the hard work and learn to understand medical science, then you have no business talking about it. Particularly when it is contrary to the advice of those who have put that time in to become certified medical professionals. You might think, what’s the big deal? I invite you to look through this web site and understand the harm it causes. This person is openly advocating that prescribed medication for asthma and other maladies “actually lead to the creation of more problems.” Do not believe anything this person says about health! To be honest, I don’t really trust much of this person’s ideas on music either, but at least crazy ideas about music don’t end up killing people.

Purveyors of misinformation like the individual I’m complaining about deserve to be marginalized. Their b*******t needs to be called out for what it is. If you are looking for health advice, talk with your doctor, not a music teacher. Especially not this one.

Washington Post March for Big Band

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Today is Independence Day in the United States. For the past few years the Asheville Jazz Orchestra has performed an annual celebration around July 4th. Yesterday we played this year’s concert and premiered a brand new big band arrangement I just completed of Washington Post March, by John Philip Sousa. Here’s a midi realization.

As always when you use a computer to realize a piece of music intended for acoustic instruments, you’ll have to use your imagination. I could spend a lot more time cleaning up the playback and making it sound better, but that’s more work than I feel is worth for something intended to be played by real musicians. But you will get the general idea and it makes a decent demo.

When I compose my big band music I generally start with some hand written sketches first and map out the whole arrangement. Once I have the overall form and sections planned out I’ll get my score set up in Finale. Rhythm section parts and soloists I usually use Band-in-a-Box to create, export them as a midi file, and then import it into Finale. I can then copy and paste what I need into my big band file. I find it particularly helpful to have a bass part going while hearing back my horn voicings. Sometimes little quirks or errors in the importing process end up sounding pretty cool to me and make their way into the actual chart.

“Greasing the Groove” for Brass Practice

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There’s an approach to weight training that I’ve been reading about that I think might have some benefits for brass musicians, particularly those who have limited practice time due to demanding work or family schedules. The basic idea is to do fewer repetitions of weight training, but to do so frequently. It’s sometimes called “greasing the groove.”

…Tsatsouline advocates lifting weights for no more than five repetitions, resting for a bit between sets and reps, and not doing too many sets. For a runner, this would be like going for a four-mile jog, but taking a break to drink water and stretch every mile. Tsatsouline’s book suggests spending 20 minutes at the gym, tops, five days a week. In this way, he claims, you grease the neurological “groove,” or pathway, between your brain and the exercises your body performs. It’s not exactly the brutal routine you’d expect from someone billed as a Soviet weight lifter. But Tsatsouline contends this is the most effective way to build strength.

Lift Weight, Not Too Much, Most of the Days, Olga Khazan

This is obviously not a new idea for music pedagogy and practice. We already know that it’s better to practice 15 minutes a day (every day) over the course of a week than to spend a similar hour and 45 minutes one day over the week. It’s also pretty well established that our brains learn and retain information better with spaced repetition over cramming, but the concept that it’s better to train strength and/or motor skills this way often alludes our thinking when we apply it to brass practice. While many brass teachers advise students to rest as much as you play or never practicing past the point of fatigue, it’s really easy for us to get so focused on practice that we practice on tired chops, leading to reinforcing bad habits or even injuring ourselves.

What does “greasing the groove” look like and how can we apply it to brass practice?

One way to grease the groove is to just do the exercise whenever you think of it. Ben Greenfield, in Beyond Training, describes how he would do three to five pull-ups every time he walked under a pull-up bar installed in his office doorway. By the end of the day, he’d have performed 30 to 50 pull-ups with minimal effort.

Lift Weight, Not Too Much, Most of the Days, Olga Khazan

I usually have one of my trombones out of the case on a stand at all times. When the horns are in my cases there’s an extra step to take it out and put it together before I practice. It’s not a lot of work, but if your practice time is limited during the day and you want to try this approach it helps to have your instrument ready to go. When you walk by your horn, pick it up and play a little.

These days my practice time is limited on week days due to my wife’s work-from-home schedule, so I absolutely need to carve out time to practice. But in the past I’ve found that practicing for a few minutes many times a day is a pretty effective way to keep my chops up. Practicing in this way you will never be playing while tired, so you won’t be resorting to those bad habits that can creep in when our chops are spent (excessive mouthpiece pressure, squeezing the corners too tight, etc.). It also can keep you mentally fresh every time you pick up the horn and play so that you can focus on what you’re practicing better.

Of course this isn’t the only way to practice and if you want to be able to play 2-3 sets of lead in a big band without tiring you’ll want to spend some time practicing over longer periods of time, but depending on your schedule “greasing the groove” might be a better way to practice. In normal times I usually have regular rehearsals and gigs that keep me playing for 2-3 hours with less breaks, so I don’t feel like I need to practice for hours at a time. I can usually maintain endurance by playing those rehearsals and gigs. “Greasing the groove” during these times does seem to help me build and maintain my correct playing form so that when endurance does become a factor I’m much more likely to play efficiently and it’s not usually a problem to play for long periods of time. In fact, I strongly suspect that for a few minutes at a time many times a day could improve your endurance even without playing your horn for hours at a time. And if you do have longer periods of time set aside for regular practice, resting as much as you play and spacing out your practice sessions over the day is good advice too.

Try it out and let us know in the comments how it works for you.

External Focus to Optimize Playing Technique

~ wilktone ~ 1 Comment

To paraphrase Dr. Gabriele Wulf, a central question for music teachers is: How can learning playing technique be facilitated and how can musical performance be optimized? In her article, “Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 15 years,” Dr. Wulf addresses what research into motor skill development published between 1997 and 2012 tells us and offers some practical suggestions that teachers and musicians can use in their practice.

I’ve discussed similar concepts before. My most comprehensive attempt was A Review of Implicit and Explicit Learning Strategies in the Development of Motor Skills and its Application To Teaching Instrumental Technique. In that paper I discussed the difference between implicit (goal oriented) and explicit (detail/technique oriented) instructions and what the literature tells about those two extreme pedagogical approaches. My (inexpert) findings from that research were that if we rely only on one or the other, the implicit approach where one focuses on the goal of good sounding music will work better than spending time on the details of how technique is developed correctly. That said, it’s not an either/or dichotomy and much of the literature acknowledges that both approaches happen in teaching and learning and the there should be some sort of balance between the two. Wulf’s 2012 article on attentional focus and motor learning was published the same year I did my research and wrote my paper.

That’s a slightly different topic than Wulf’s article, but I have come across her work before and posted about it here. In my post Golfing Focus Applied to Music I considered the idea of keeping the musician’s focus as external as possible. In that post I discussed some thoughts about an interview she gave for a golf podcast and how her suggestions to improve golf performance might be applied to music pedagogy and practice.

Here is the paper abstract.

Over the past 15 years, research on focus of attention has consistently demonstrated that an external focus (i.e., on the movement effect) enhances motor performance and learning relative to an internal focus (i.e., on body movements). This article provides a comprehensive review of the extant literature. Findings show that the performance and learning advantages through instructions or feedback inducing an external focus extend across different types of tasks, skill levels, and age groups. Benefits are seen in movement effectiveness (e.g., accuracy, consistency, balance) as well as efficiency (e.g., muscular activity, force production, cardiovascular responses). Methodological issues that have arisen in the literature are discussed. Finally, our current understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the attentional focus effect is outlined, and directions for future research are suggested.

Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 15 years – Gabriel Wulf

I do feel that some of the criticisms I noted in my review of implicit and explicit instructions also apply to Wulf’s paper. For one, an awful lot of the research she sites in her paper were written by her or with her as one of the listed authors. On the one hand, it’s a sign that Wulf is considered one of the experts in her field, but if you’re looking for a consensus opinion it is also a sign of a potential bias. Not having read most of the papers she reviewed I can’t really say if any criticisms or confirmations she covers in her article are valid, but as I recently have been reminded, you can often tell what side of an argument a paper will come down on merely by looking at the authors. Wulf’s research seems to suggest that an external focus is always better, in spite of that not being a universal suggestion.

That said, Wulf does address the research that conflicted with her own findings and discusses potential issues that might cause the differences of opinions. And she also acknowledges that at times it is essential for us to attend to the details of technique. The trick is to make the focus of attention as external as possible, rather than focused internally on the motor control. One study she cited came up with a creative way to teach golfing technique with a more effective external focus. An important part of the golf swing is apparently how and when a golfer shifts weight towards the front leg. The study, “Carry distance and X-factor increases in golf through an external focus of attention,” compared golfers instructed with an internal focus (shift your weight to the left foot) and an external focus designed to elicit the same mechanical procedure (push against the left side of the ground). As expected, the external focus worked better.

All but one of the papers and articles Wulf cited were unrelated to music, but one study with piano students was discussed.

Duke, Cash, and Allen (2011) examined attentional focus effects on music performance. Music majors were asked to perform a keyboard passage, which consisted of 13 alternating sixteenth notes (A and F) that were to be played as quickly and evenly as possible. All participants played the sequence under four conditions: with a focus on their finger movements, on the movements of the piano keys, on the hammers, or on the sound of the keyboard. On a transfer test that involved the reverse tone sequence, a focus on the more distal movement effects (sound or hammers) resulted in greater consistency than either focusing on the more proximal effect (keys) or the internal focus (fingers).

Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 15 years – Gabriel Wulf

My takeaway is that when technique is addressed in teaching and practice that some creative approaches to keeping the attention external is more effective than focusing on fixing the mechanics with an internal focus. Considering trombone technique as an example, here are some of my ideas on creating an external focus to achieve a specific motor skill.

Breathing

Arnold Jacobs and some of his former students had some great ideas about making the breath technique external. Jacobs was pretty adamant that he didn’t want students to think about “filling up the lungs” or otherwise thinking about the expansion that happens with inhalation. If you need to take in more air in an efficient way he advised paying attention to the feel of “wind” moving past the lips. Concentration on the belly expanding is a very internal focus. Moving it to the lips is a little less, but still internal. So how can we think about inhalation in a way that is more external?

It’s necessary to be a little creative here. I like to draw on mental imagery. Rather than feeling the inhalation at the lips, imagine that your breath is drawing in air from across the room.

For the blowing I’ve been borrowing from ideas I’ve gotten from Sam Pilafian’s and Patrick Sheridan’s book, The Breathing Gym. There’s an exercise in there where you imagine blowing the air as if you were shooting an arrow, throwing a dart, and tossing a paper airplane. So, for example, to help a student keep the air moving smoothly through a phrase you can have them visualize floating a paper airplane on the air flowing out of their bell.

Embouchure

The embouchure motion is a relatively easy technique to move to an external focus. The specific technique we’re trying to encourage is the pushing/pulling of the mouthpiece and lips along the teeth and gums. The mouthpiece itself is external already, but if we want to follow Wulf’s findings that the more external the focus the better, we can instead focus on the bell of the instrument moving up and down or side to side, whichever matches the individual player’s embouchure motion. If the horn angle should change somewhat while changing registers, rather than think about how that feels at the lips, focus on what’s happening at the bell.

For something like a smile embouchure I like to again resort to mental imagery. If the problem is the mouth corners are pulling back to ascend, rather than focus on what the mouth corners are doing imagine a long spring on either side that is attached to both walls on one end and at the mouth corners on the other end. As the student ascends, those springs are pushing against the corners and keeping them in place.

Tonguing

Tonguing is the most difficult topic of brass technique for me to come up with ideas for external focus. I think the current standard of using the tongue in a vocal manner works pretty well. So rather than thinking about raising the level of tongue arch to ascend the student will imagine saying, “tah-ee.” Another thought I had would be to imagine that there are motion sensors in the tongue that project its movements to a giant, artificial tongue so that they move in tandem. While playing ascending slurs the student could visualize what that giant artificial tongue is doing, rather than focusing internally on their own tongue.

A visualization that seems to work pretty well for me is to imagine that there’s a line of air coming out of the bell that is at the precise level of my tongue arch. As I slur from a middle range note to an upper range note that line of air is raised higher. Again, the point is to move the focus away from the internal (inside the mouth) to the external (on the other end of the bell).

Some of the above ideas aren’t great, but I’m really just brainstorming right now. I’ve been experimenting with moving my focus external in my practice for a while now but I haven’t tried it more than a few times with students. From that small sample I suspect that different visualizations and different degrees of distance in the point of focus will vary from player to player. This jives with some of the research Wulf mentions that the more advanced the subject the more distant the point of focus can be.

One thing I would like to point out is that my examples, and many of Wulf’s, involve someone (a teacher, coach, or other independent observer) knowing and understanding exactly what and how the performer should be doing. With the knowledge of how to play a savvy teacher or performer can come up with methods to affect a specific motor skill using the more effective external focus. At no part in this process does it appear that it’s recommended to ignore the playing mechanics. Interpreting this research as advocating letting the body figure itself out would seem to be less effective than approaching it through an understanding of what efficient playing technique is and working towards that physical goal using a focus that is as external as possible.

And of course it should go without saying that the sound should be the guide for the teacher and player here. The point of moving your focus to the external is to create the habits we want to adopt for good playing. When you’re done working on the technical aspects of performing for the time being it’s good to forget about them and put your attention on playing with expression.

Try it out in your own practicing and teaching and see how it works for you. What other ideas for shifting the focus from something internal to more external can you think of? Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Playing On the Red Blindfold Test – Answers

~ wilktone ~ 1 Comment

Back in October 2012 I conducted a pilot study to see whether it would be accurate to state that one could simply listen to a trumpet player and tell by sound alone whether or not that player placed the mouthpiece with a significant amount of rim on the vermillion of one lip. Since then the plugin I used to collect the participants’ answers is no longer being updated for WordPress and is no longer available, so you won’t be able to take the test that way. Furthermore, the original page I created to show the answers and videos to the participants after they took the test seems to have been lost into the aether. This page is my recreation of that post, but it’s been so long I don’t exactly recall how much I wrote there.

Since I’m writing this up now as a post I’m going to put the results below the “read more” fold. If you’re catching this post from the home page you won’t be able to see the results until you click that link, so try the survey out first and then come back to see how well you did.

All the embedded videos below are the same video with all six trumpet players. I set up each embedded video to start directly on the particular player, however.

Continue reading “Playing On the Red Blindfold Test – Answers” →

Free Software to Separate Vocals and Instrumental Tracks

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I recently came across a web-based app, melody ml, that is pretty neat. If you upload an MP3 file its software will separate and put together MP3s of just the bass part, just the drums part, just the vocals, and all the instruments without the vocals. If you’re a bassist, for example, and you need to transcribe and learn the bass part to a song this could be a helpful tool to allow you to hear the bass bart as clearly as possible. If you’re a vocalist looking to create a practice track you can upload an MP3 and get back just the backing track.

I tried it out with a couple of tracks. “Don’t Change Horses,” by Tower of Power, worked perfectly. I also tried it out with a recording I made about a hear ago, “Grandpa’s Spells,” to see how it would handle something that doesn’t have vocals. It didn’t work as well. The separated tracks were mostly silent and the instruments without vocals track sounded the same as the original track (this track, by the way, is a quartet of piano, bass, guitar, and trombone).

So the uses that you might get out of this app are limited to rock style tunes, at least for now. I hope that this app eventually adds the ability to separate other specific tracks in different genre’s of music. I’d like the ability to use it to separate an instrument solo track or just the horn section for transcription purposes, but for a free, web-based app it’s pretty cool.

Try it out here.