When getting into song composition, one of the most important things is to not be afraid of the finished product.

 

Many people find song writing difficult because it is personal and sometimes we have a fear of having our songs heard in case we are judged or people don’t like what we have created.

 

I think it’s important to forget about all of that and don’t judge the songs you write – just write them.

 

Some you will love, some you will throw away, but the point is just to produce work and not be scared to write something that isn’t perfect.

 

Like everything, the more you compose, the better you will get at it.

 

In this article I’m going to give you some ideas on how to approach song writing and I will throw in some examples along the way to illustrate what I am talking about.

 

Just remember there are many ways you can approach composition and there is no right or wrong method.

 

 

1. Free Improvisation

 

Free improvisation is a great way to get original song ideas.

 

If you haven’t done free improvisation before, please read this article and do it a few times before you attempt to write a song from it.

 

You will find that, at first, this exercise is not as easy as you would think.  So just get to a place where you feel free to accept every note you play.

 

What I suggest is that you record a two-minute free improvisation and from there isolate any ideas you like and develop them into a song.

 

You can spend as little or as much time as you like doing this, and it can be especially fun when you are working with music programmes where you can add drums and other instruments.

 

Here is my Improvisation:

 

 

And here are the two ideas I have chosen to build on:

 

 

I think this is a particularly good way to write ambient music but I would like to hear your ideas on this and it would be great if you could post your experiment to the blog!

 

2. Using a Chord Progression From A Song You Like

I think you may be surprised at how many songs share the same chord progression.

 

Often, you wouldn’t know because of the variation of keys, melody, instrumentation, style, time signature, tempo and production.

 

You will be surprised at how original your song will sound if you take into account all these aspects of music and write your song with an inventive approach

 

I am going to take a well-known song (and chord progression) and change it for you to form an original song.

 

The song is “Let It Be” by the Beatles.

 

I am going to change:

 

• The tempo
• The Form – change the order in which the musical sections appear
• The style – dance music as opposed to pop
• The instrumentation – electronic as opposed to accustic

 

Here’s the original song:

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the beginnings of my new song:

 

 

3. Writing A Blues

 

The Blues has a set 12 bar form.  Please refer to this article for more detailed explanation.

 

As demonstrated in this “Joanna’s Diary” it is a great form in which to express ideas.

 

If you’re still not sure about the Blues, you can also read this article which will explain why it is a great form of music to get to know and compose in.

 

Have a listen to the various examples I have put in the article to hear how different your ideas can sound.

 

 

4. Writing Lyrics First

 

Sometimes lyrics just come into your head and not far behind them will be a melody line.

 

If you get these lyrics and a melody line, record them on your phone or any type of recorder, then it is just a case of finding the right harmony (chords to support the song).

 

If you don’t play an instrument, I suggest going to someone who does and ask them to help you find the sound you are looking for.

 

Collaborating is a great thing to do and often gives you the best work.  As they say, “two heads are better than one”.

 

Of course, you have to be able to communicate well together too, so find the right person.  It could be your teacher or a friend or an acquaintance.

 

5. Choose a Chord Progression

 

Sometimes you’ll just be mucking around on your instrument and come across a riff or a chord progression you like.

 

Make sure you record these little snippets.  Keep them in a file and use them to begin to write songs.

 

Sometimes you may be lucky enough to find that a few of them go well together and over a period of time you have a song already put together.

 

 

 

I hope you find this article useful and I look forward to hearing your songs.  Send them in if you like and I can post them on the blog.

 

 

 

I feel like time is in overdrive…

 

Just when I feel that I have nothing to share I realize how much has happened in the last week.

 

My main focus has been the food therapy and it’s helping my husband, which is fantastic.  So much of my time is spent prepping for each juice and meal, but somehow I am managing to keep it all together.

 

I had a great guitar lesson, I am amazed each week that I’m not sacked for lack of practice, but I do improve, and now I can see the beginning of a song.

 

I can’t wait for holidays in a few weeks just to get lost in the free time of music and guitar. My fingers no longer hurt and I can start to see how the flavor is added with different strumming types.

 

I also had our first choir meeting and it was great.

 

Beat boxing is a real challenge, but one that I am totally in for and I loved the diversity of the group and unassuming nature of it all.

 

The sounds are really challenging and all of a sudden I can see just how polished ones sense of rhythm can become.

 

We attended a wedding this week, where I was asked to take the photos it was really good fun!

 

There is something so magical capturing that split second on film….. At the reception Pete gave a speech and it’s Maori tradition that a song be sung afterwards as an offering.  I sang “Just Like a Star” unaccompanied.

 

I was not entirely sure if a song about arguments was appropriate, but it’s a true reflection of marriage, the extremes of good and difficult and everything in between.

 

What was amazing was that no longer did I get the heart runs, panics, and all of a sudden I realized that I was actually quite comfortable singing.  I wasn’t stressed about the lyrics, and I was enjoying myself.

 

Afterwards a friend of the groom took my hand and told me that my singing was beautiful which meant so much to me.

 

I’ve been working on a gospel song “Joyful Joyful” and that might have been a good one for a wedding, oh well maybe next time…

 

I remember being completely overwhelmed with the thought of ever being able to sing  it through, but now I feel that I am progressing through each part and am looking forward to working on it again soon.

 

I also realized how much I love recording, I actually miss it.

 

Singing lesson was great this week.  I enjoy a double lesson, there’s an immediacy as I know that this will be it for the week so I really make the most of it.

 

While I messed up the times this week so missed the first half hour it was just so great, we worked on recording “Joyful Joyful” and it’s really starting to come together.

 

I am so thankful for being thrown in the deep end with recording as I can really hear my actual voice.  It sure does change each week, but the opportunity to connect with that part of myself is such a blessing. Particularly this song, as it really is a gift to God. I dig devotional singing and can see how amazing that experience of channeling prayer can be.

 

I notice myself starting to move around with the music and it helps me.  I also notice that I am less fussed about having Lisa or anyone else watch me for that matter.

 

I’m sure all these amazing juices are helping me to be more present in my body, somehow I am more earthed, more centered.

 

At present I am really having to be quite focused with everything that I do as I have a very full plate at the table.

 

It’s a challenge, but I am rising to it and feel myself moving through a rapid time of expansion again.

 

Speaking of which, I must dash to catch enough zzzzz for tomorrow.

 

Sweet and lingering dreams!

 

Lisa’s Reply

 

Hi Joanna

 

Hope you slept well…

 

It’s interesting that despite lack of practice you still keep improving on guitar.  This is for two reasons.

 

Firstly, when you are learning something for the first time, there is a lot of new skills and information.  You are coming from nothing to something, so anything you do will be pretty amazing.

 

But also, the fact that you are going to your lessons every week, choir, singing and guitar means that you are putting at least four and a half hours into your music development every week which is pretty huge for a beginner and therefore it’s not a fluke that you are improving. Whatever you put into music, you will get back.

 

Rhythm is the most important aspect any musician and singer needs to develop.  It’s great that you are starting to realise the complexity of time.  As you get better at rhythm, you begin to feel how much space there is between beats and how accurate (or not accurate) you can become.  Then you begin to become aware of “feel”, how a rhythm can be straight or swung.

 

Beat boxing is a fantastic skill to be learning both for your singing and your guitar as it will definitely aid your rhythmic ability and it’s almost like learning another instrument!

 

Having to do the rapping part of your song “Joyful Joyful” was a great learning curve as well because you became aware of the rhythmic value of words and syllables and the importance of really moving your mouth.  Speaking of which, here is your recording:

 

Joyful Joyful (recorded 30 July 2011)

 

It’s a great big step that you are comfortable with performing now.  I think that getting you to dive straight into recording at the beginning of your lessons with me has been a big benefit for all the reasons you mention but also because the pressure of recording is much like the pressure of performing, so you’ve had a lot of practice here.

 

I too, am hearing the development of your voice and it’s come a long way since we began these entries.  It’s always important to look back and see how far you have come.  I think you are entitled to feel a great sense of achievement.

 

The reason I do music now, apart from enjoying the performing and teaching, is to bring me back to my body.  It has great therapeutic value for me as you are realising it has for you.  This is the best way to approach your practice, knowing how good it will make you feel.

We began this Series by watching a video on one of the world’s latest prodigies, Emily Bear and I posed the question, “What could we assume of her future?”

 

One thing I have learned from researching this Series is the difference between a prodigy and a “gifted” child.

 

A gifted child may be able to play a Bach fugue but someone who is a true prodigy is able to embellish the music with depth and emotion.  In their performance they demonstrate an understanding of the music far beyond what we would expect a child to be capable of.

 

I think you will agree that this is the common thread of all the prodigies explored here.

 

Now, I’d like to digress, just for a moment, and tell you of some interesting work I had some years ago.

 

When I was living in London, every year for about three years, I would sit on the jury of the Coroner’s Court.

 

This Court examines the circumstances of someone’s death and it is the jury’s responsibility to determine whether the case warrants further investigation by establishing whether the deceased died in an accident or if someone could be at fault.

 

 

After listening to many stories of accidents, I came to this conclusion…

 

The events that actually line up to a person meeting their ends in an accident are so intricately well organised that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to replicate them.

 

I can understand you asking “What could this possibly have to do with child prodigies?”

 

And my answer is this:

 

Emily Bear, Mozart, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder were born into circumstances that could support and encourage their natural leaning toward music, which is somewhat of an “accident” or “miracle”, depending on which way you look at it.

 

Therefore, the possibility of a child becoming a prodigy could be quite common, but what is not common, is that the child also receives the conditions conduc

ive to developing their talent.

 

It is a misconception that prodigies just magically toddle up to the piano or stage and do their thing.

 

We can see in all the stories we explored that each child has worked extremely hard, sinking thousands of hours into developing their skills, their art, and their craft.

 

So this is another quality possessed by prodigies:

 

as children they are able to focus their attention for long periods of time in order to learn and become proficient at what they do.

 

I would go a step further and propose that:

 

prodigies tend to be conformists who are able to submit to authority.

 

This was certainly the case with Mozart and Michael Jackson, perhaps not so much with Stevie Wonder, who seemed to come to music in a more natural way.  However, we could possibly conclude that in his case music was the way he found he could connect to the outside world while being confined indoors and, as a blind person, treated more as an outsider by society.

 

Many of you who have children or work with them will have observed the absolutely incredible facility they possess for learning.  This is because, from the time we are babies until we reach adolescence, our brains undergo a series of “critical periods” for learning certain skills.

 

“In general, a critical period is a limited time in which an event can occur, usually to result in some kind of transformation. [For example, there are critical periods for babies to bond and develop language skills]…

 

“It is a time in the early stages of an organism’s life during which it displays a heightened sensitivity to certain environmental stimuli, and develops in particular ways due to experiences … If the organism does not receive the appropriate stimulus during this “critical period”, it may be difficult, ultimately less successful, or even impossible, to develop some functions later in life”.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_period

 

We could therefore conclude that musical child prodigies are able to exist because of a series of events.

 

1.         A child is born into a stimulating musical environment.

2.          During this time they are tutored and work/play very intensely at their instrument.

3.         Their personalities suit these conditions and they enjoy what they are learning.

4.         Their brain passes through several critical learning periods, which make their musical skills easier to accomplish and learn at a deep level.

 

This only leaves one question and that is of the emotional quality of the prodigies’ performance I talked about earlier in this article.

 

To that I answer that a child is as capable of expressing intense and meaningful emotions and if this expression is encouraged and validated, they will be able to communicate this human quality in their music.

 

The time that someone is a child prodigy is a short-lived period and a time when they are a novelty but, as we know, all children grow up.

 

Adolescence and adulthood is fraught with many difficulties for all of us, and it is no different for the prodigy, so no conclusions to be made here as to whether being a prodigy makes adult life more difficult.

 

I could hazard at a guess and say that perhaps the transition is more difficult for a prodigy because as they get older they become less “special” and must survive on the merit of their art alone.

 

Therefore, for all the prodigies studied in this Series, I think their most amazing feat was not their prodigy status but their ability to continue their original and creative work throughout their lives.

 

I am sure there are many children who, with the same start, are not able to do this or choose not to.

 

Mozart, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson therefore are like the accidents that I heard about on Jury duty.  Their circumstances magically aligned for them to become legendary in the field of music.

 

I also feel that had they come to music later in life and dedicated themselves as much as they had as children, they still would have produced meaningful work.

 

We must also remember that there are many people, like Albert Einstein, who were not considered child prodigies.  On the contrary, his report cards from school stated words to the effect that he would not amount to anything.

 

When we strip away the age factor and just look at how these people achieved what they did, there is nothing surprising here.

 

They all worked incredibly hard to gain the rewards they received, they also happened to love what they did and were good at it, probably because they loved it!

 

My conclusion, after researching this subject, is that I no longer wish I had been a musical genius but perhaps, given the right circumstances I could have been!

 

I think really it is a magical “accident” that everyone is born into the circumstances they need for leading the lives they have and it all comes down to our individual decisions on how we use those circumstances because much of the time we can’t change them.

 

And for Emily, I cannot begin to guess what will become of her but I wish her all the happiness life could possibly bestow and I look forward to hearing her music for years to come.

 

 

Steveland Judkins, was born in 1950 in Michigan USA.

 

He has since become one of the most influential musical figures of our time and although he may be world famous for his Oscar Winning song “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, for me, his most outstanding songs were written in an earlier period of his life.

 

Stevie was born six weeks premature. Because of this, the blood vessels in the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front, causing the retinas to detach, resulting in blindness.

 

His mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, was overly concerned with Stevie’s health and kept him indoors much of the time, where he was surrounded by music from the radio as well as a piano, drums and harmonica to play.

 

By the age of 8 he had become a proficient on all of these.

 

At age 12, he was signed to Motown Records and made his recording debut. The CEO of the record company, Barry Gordy, renamed him “Little Stevie Wonder” and, understandably, later the “Little” in this name was dropped.

 

Like Michael Jackson, by age 13 Stevie Wonder had a major hit with “Finger Tips (part II) and from that point on, Stevie has done nothing but compose and record some of the most memorable songs of the 20th Century including:

 

• “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”
• “Tears of a Clown” (co-written with Smokey Robinson)
• “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
• “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”
• “Superstition”
• “Sir Duke”
• “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing”
• “Living for the City” and many more

 

It is not only Stevie Wonder’s compositional skills, his singing and instrumental performance which is captivating. His lyrics have a depth of emotion and meaning, which are able to reach into the souls of everyone who listens to them.

 

I love these lyrics from “Have A Talk With God”
and I think it’s important not to approach this from a ‘religious’ point of view but a simple and human point of view:

 

There are people who have let the problems of today
Lead them to conclude that for them life is not the way
But every problem has an answer and if yours you cannot find
You should talk it over to Him
He’ll give you peace of mind
When you feel your life’s too hard
Just go have a talk with God

Many of us feel we walk alone without a friend
Never communicating with the One who lives within
Forgetting all about the One who never ever lets you down
And you can talk to him anytime He’s always around
When you feel your life’s too hard
Just go have a talk with God

Well He’s the only free psychiatrist that’s known throughout the world
For solving problems of all men, women, little boys and girls
When you feel your life’s too hard
Just go have a talk with God
When you feel your life’s too hard
Just go have a talk with God
When your load’s too much to bear
Just go talk to God He cares
I know he does

When you feel your life’s too hard
Just go have a talk with God
thank you
thank you very much

 

Stevie Wonder has also been instrumental in embracing new technology and has always been on the cutting edge, blazing a trail for his peers.

 

“His command of the new generation of electronic keyboard instruments made him a pioneer and an inspiration to rock musicians, the inventiveness of his vocal phrasing was reminiscent of the greatest jazz singers, and the depth and honesty of his emotional projection came straight from the black church music of his childhood.” http://www.biography.com/articles/Stevie-Wonder-9536078

 

A trail blazer in many other ways, Stevie has always stood up for himself, most notably when he was granted full creative control and the rights to his own music with Motown Records (a first for any recording artist up until that time).

 

He is also a major activist for peace and for the Civil Rights movement and won his campaign to make Martin Luther King’s Birthday a national holiday. He wrote “Happy Birthday” for this event.

 

Stevie Wonders’ personal life has been far less tumultuous than Mozart’s or Jackson’s. He has married twice and fathered seven children but there are no tabloid court cases, losses of finances or outlandish behavioral patterns that he will be remembered for.

 

In 2005 Stevie Wonder achieved a lifetime achievement Grammy Award (having already won 22 Grammy Awards) and in 2008 the Library of Congress awarded Wonder the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

 

**********

 

I’d like you to think about the case studies I have presented in this series and see if you can come to any conclusions about prodigies.

 

I have certainly been thinking about them and will tell you of my conclusions in the final part of this series.

 

Here are some of his albums I recommend:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t long ago that I wrote this article about Amy.

 

I think it was quite obvious that she was in real trouble here, but I still can’t say I’m not shocked by this final chapter.

 

We all live in hope that such adversity and addiction will be overcome by individuals we love or admire (or anyone for that matter).

 

Very unfortunately, this wasn’t to be and I can’t help but regret that we didn’t get to hear more of Amy’s music as she grew.

 

Here is a short video of Amy when she was just becoming known.

 

 

I  have read in some articles that she will be remembered for her addictions rather than her music, however, I don’t agree with this.  I do think Amy’s music outlive the disturbing current images and it certainly deserves to.

 

So, in this final farewell to Ms Winehouse, let’s remember the best of her and let’s hope I won’t have to post another article on this blog in remembrance of a brilliant talent who died way before their time.

 

Goodbye Amy.  Rest In Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

As I delve further into exploring the lives of past child prodigies, I am finding it interesting to note many similarities between them, which I will summarise in the last part of this Series.

 

But for now, let’s look at the life of another child prodigy, this time of our era, Michael Jackson.

 

 

 

He was born in 1953, the sixth child of eight, to a working class family in Indiana.

 

His father, Joseph Jackson, was also a musician, a guitarist, who performed with an R&B band.  But with the responsibility of eight children, he also worked in a steel mill to provide for them.

 

Believing strongly in the musical talent of his children, he began moulding them into a band, which Michael later joined at the age of 5, soon becoming the band’s lead vocalist.  They became known as the Jackson 5.

 

If you watch any of the early footage of Michael at this age, it is undeniable that he has an amazing command of emotion in songs as well as an incredible stage presence, which is why he is considered to be prodigy.

 

It would be a mistake to think that talent was all it took for Michael to become the man we all knew as the King of Pop.  From this very young age, his father rehearsed the group for endless hours and was extremely strict and sometimes violent with them.

 

“Joseph  acknowledged in 2003 that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.[8] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he also credited his father’s strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.[6] Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993. He admitted that he had often cried from loneliness and he would vomit on the sight of his father. Jackson’s father was also said to have verbally abused Jackson, saying that he had a fat nose on numerous occasions.[9] In fact, Michael Jackson’s deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant especially with his father, and to remain child-like throughout his adult life are in many ways consistent with the effects of this chronic maltreatment he endured as a young child.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson

 

The Jackson 5, began to open for big R&B artists such as Glady’s Knight and the Pips and in 1968 the band was signed to Motown Records.

 

With their burgeoning career the boys and their father, now their manager, moved to Los Angeles and recorded their first album, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5”.  They also began working more on their dancing.

 

When Michael was 13, he began his solo career while still working with the Jackson 5 and won his first no. 1 single with the song, “Ben”.

 

For several years, the group toured and even had a successful cartoon series based on them because they were so popular.

 

During his early 20’s Michael began to emerge as a talented songwriter and in 1979 released his album “Off The Wall”, produced by Quincy Jones.  The songs from this album include “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You”.

 

His next solo album, which has become a musical landmark, “Thriller”, was released in 1982.  This album stayed on the charts for 80 weeks and was in the number one position for 37 of those.  It also won twelve Grammy Award nominations, winning eight and.  In a performance of “Billy Jean” (one of the songs from the “Thriller” album) Michael’s dance-step creation, “the moonwalk” was televised for the first time.

 

His next album in 1987, was “Bad”, which included now famous tracks such as “Man in the Mirror,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and the title track.

 

Michael’s life after these musical milestones becomes a lot more about his personal affairs rather than his music and I won’t go into them in this article.  However, there was much controversy about, his looks, his plastic surgery and allegations of child abuse, which resulted in a long-standing court battle from which he was acquitted.

 

By 2005, his reputation had been destroyed and he had limited finances despite his unprecedented  musical success.

 

In 2008, after becoming somewhat of a recluse, Michael Jackson announced that he would be staging 50 concerts that were to be his “final curtain call”.  The tickets these sold out in just four hours.  He was 50 years old at this time and there was much speculation as to whether he would be able to handle the rigors of this tour.  However, Michael was confident.

 

On June 25^th, 2009, Michael suffered a cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home and died.

 

The tour never eventuated and if you have seen the film “This Is It”, a collage of the rehearsals for the concerts, you will agree this is a great shame.  This film so far has made more than $260.8 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing documentary of all time.

 

Since his death, it has been established that the cause of Michael’s heart attack was drug induced and there are standing allegations against his doctor for administering these drugs.  The case is still being heard.

 

In the next instalment we will look at Stevie Wonder.

 

Other resources: http://www.biography.com/articles/Michael-Jackson

 

prod·i·gy

[prod-i-jee]

–noun, plural

1.a person, especially a child or young person, having extraordinary talent or ability: a musical prodigy. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prodigy)

 

Emily Bear has been compared to Mozart.  At six years old she had already played in the White House several times for the President of the United States and has the piano skills many of us could only dream of.

 

Refreshingly, this child is not at all precocious and I think all would agree that she is the real deal.

 

She is nine years old now and has been invited by Quincy Jones to appear in a concert with him this month.

 

For me, the outstanding quality of Emily’s playing is not her technique (though I don’t question this at all) but the fact that her music is imbued with true emotion and “soul”.

 

This is what makes her so special.  There are plenty of “prodigies” of the same age as Emily but I haven’t yet come across one who feels the music as she does.

 

It is obvious from this clip that Emily has a very supportive family who have the means to encourage her talent, but my question is, what can we expect from her in the future?

 

I thought it would be interesting to look at some famous historical prodigies to maybe have a guess at what will be in stall for Emily.

 

The first person who comes to my mind is Mozart.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756.  He, like Emily, composed music from the age of 5.

 

Also, like Emily, he had contacts.

 

His father, Leopold, was a composer and experienced music teacher and while Nannerl, Mozart’s older sister, was having music lessons, three-year old Mozart would look on, enthralled by what he was witnessing.  Nannerl recounts from her memoirs:

 

He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. [...] In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier. [...] He could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. [...] At the age of five, he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart#Family_and_early_years

 

Leopold dedicated himself to his children’s education and gave up his composing when his son’s prodigious talent became obvious.

 

Both Mozart and his sister were musical prodigies and from the age of 7 until 17 Mozart, his sister and father traveled to Germany, England, France and Italy playing concerts for royalty and meeting fellow musicians and composers.

 

This was not at all a glamorous period as traveling was uncomfortable and primitive and the family often suffered illness.  Leopold promoted Mozart heavily in Italy with the hope that he would gain employment there but this did not eventuate.

 

At the age of 17, Mozart became employed as court musician for the Prince-Archbishop in Salzburg, however, within three years, after many successful compositions, Mozart became restless and discontent with this appointment.  One of the reasons he wanted to leave was his low salary (I see things haven’t changed all that much for musicians!).  He also longed for more exciting artistic opportunities such as composing popular Opera.

 

Unfortunately, after resigning his position, Mozart found it hard to gain employment.

 

This was not for lack of offers but Mozart didn’t want to follow the conventions of employment for Court composers.  He wanted to be on the cutting edge exploring new artistic avenues.

 

Mozart who soon fell into debt, having to pawn his valuables to keep afloat.  Eventually he was forced to accept a job his father found for him in Salzburg.  Mozart was 23 at the time and he stayed in the post of court organist and concert master for two years before departing to Vienna where he decided to settle as a freelance performer and composer.

 

This move went well for him though, on a personal level, Mozart had quarreled with his father over his departure from Salzburg.  He finally had his independence but at a great emotional cost.

 

Soon after moving to Vienna Mozart had established himself as the “finest keyboard player” in town and achieved great success with his compositions and Operas.

 

In these years too, Mozart studied the works of Bach and Handel, two of histories great composers and musicians, and also became friends with Joseph Haydn who is quoted as saying to Leopold:

 

“I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (6th ed.)

 

However, despite his talent and successes, Mozart’s career began to worsen by the time he was 28.  He had not saved any money, in fact he had lived a affluent lifestyle in this period, but between 1788 and 1790 Austria was at war and the general prosperity of the nation dropped considerably and the aristocracy was no longer able to support the arts as they had previously done.

 

Mozart also had a family now.  He had since married and fathered children, (six in all, only two of which survived).  He also fell into debt and, according to records, it is also assumed he suffered from depression at this time.

 

He tried to relieve this crisis by traveling in the hope of creating more income from performances, but this did not alleviate his financial situation.

 

A year later, his situation did improve and Mozart began to write more, including some of his most famous works such as “The Magic Flute” and the unfinished “Requiem”.

 

Near the end of his life Mozart became bedridden and suffered pain, swelling and vomiting.  He died in 1791 aged 35 and was buried in a common grave according to Viennese custom.

 

If you are interested in Mozart’s story and would also like to view an entertaining film about his life I recommend “Amadeus”

 

********

 

In the next articles we will look at Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and see what it is like for the child to grow up in the spotlight.

 

 

 

I love singing!

 

Wow, it wasn’t till this week’s lesson that I realised how much has been happening in my life.

 

It was great to learn how to do my own warm-up on my keyboard, so now I am no longer limited to the car. In fact it was just great to be sitting at the piano really.

 

I realised, while learning to play one of my songs on guitar, that unless I know how to play it automatically, I am fully focused on  playing the guitar and so have no hope to be present with how I might be singing it.

 

The biggest thing I realised this week was:

 

Know your lyrics!  Know your lyrics!  Know your lyrics!

 

I forgot my lyrics folder today, which was fine, as really I should already know the words, and yet when it came to recording I would stop and blank out.

 

But what is also amazing is how much my voice has changed again.

 

It’s so incredible to watch one’s self unfold each week – I am so grateful for this experience and just to realise that I am so fluid and in a constant state of flux.

 

My hubbie sweetly reminds me that being a Gemini I am ruled by Mercury which is an incredibly fast bouncing ball of liquid molten metal!

 

Recording is a head trip.

 

I actually have been missing it.  I just love recording and I find it requires me to move to a space that I don’t often allow myself to move to.

 

Lisa intuitively asked me to play with the Theata space I have been learning about while singing and wow, what a shift!

 

It was challenging though to pop in and out to check which lyrics were coming next.  Then a flood of self limiting beliefs were aroused within me.  For example, “I’m going to mess this up.” Or, “I cant remember the words”, “This wont sound very good.” and “I can’t sing powerfully with my cycle……”

 

And yet somewhere within all of this, a new aspect of my voice appeared – and I liked it!

 

How wonderful that I am still moving forward, it’s like the willingness to open allows things to come forth.

 

Last night I made sure that there was music in the house – actually Spanish guitar- hmmmm yummy!

 

We are on a full on food therapy regime with juices almost every hour and specific vegetarian meals.  I’ve been a vegetarian for 15 years and even for me this is the next level up.

 

It’s working though, my husband has colour in his face and for the first time had a smile last night, I could sense the relief that he was out of intense agony.

 

Anyway, I must dash to prepare today’s food, but do so with joyous love in my heart.

 

Oh ps: choir starts tomorrow night, so I’m excited and also thinking “Shit, what have I done!? I hope that I won’t let anyone down….”

 

My sister arrives with her boys for a visit,  have a wedding this week too, school is back and a backlog of work to catch up on!

 

But they do say that you’re never given anything that you can’t handle!

 

Life is good.

 

 

Lisa’s Reply

 

 

I always tell my singers, as I was told, that it’s good to have some musical knowledge and be able to play an instrument, even if it’s only very basic.

 

The fact that you know a little piano means that you are able to stay at home, in your practice space, and do your warm-up by yourself.

 

The more you know of music as a singer, the more independence you can have and even a little independence is good!

 

So I’m glad we did this and maybe in the future we will work on piano and/or guitar some more so that you can support your singing and progress as a musician.

 

One thing that all musicians, including singers, need to do is know their songs inside out.

 

This means being able to perform them without thinking about lyrics, which chord is next or how to get fingers around the fret board or piano.

 

Many people don’t really know what it means to “master” a song but it simply means playing or singing the song is as easy as, say, eating, or riding a bike or driving a car.

 

Only when you have that level of ease, can any real transformation and magic take place in the performance.

 

If you have mastered a piece, you can fully concentrate on expressing yourself but if you are constantly thinking about the technical aspects of the piece during your performance, the music will only be average because you are not fully in the moment or present.

 

So yes, this is why it is very important to know lyrics, where every melody note lies and to have your technique so well practiced that you don’t need to think about it.

 

It was interesting to hear you recording this in your last lesson:

 

Just Like A Star (16 July 2011)

 

And you are right that this is another “sound” you have.  What you want to be able to do is know your voice so completely that you are able to choose which part, or colour of your voice you want to use and consciously choose it.

 

This was a little unconscious but I thought this vocal was interesting, especially when you compare it to the vocal you have in your blues.  (The Gemini Effect?)

 

 

Back on Down Blues

 

When you sing more, you will get to know all the aspects of your voice so it won’t surprise you so much.

 

I also think recording is a great way to become the singer you want to be.  This is because it is not really possible to get a true idea of what we sound like until we sit in the listener’s chair.

 

It’s an important thing to remember because when you are performing and keen to criticise yourself during the act, you have to know that you are not hearing a true representation of what you really sound like.

 

Read this article to get a clearer understanding of this.

 

The thoughts you have written down “I’m going to mess this up” etc are self fulfilling and they are the voice of the Critic, so I’m glad you have been able to express them here.  Part of working with your Critic is to verbalise what it is saying to you.  Then you will be able to recognise it’s voice and choose not to react to those statements but instead stay in the flow of the music.

 

Great that things are starting to look up.

 

It’s also good to remember that our health is everything.  Without it, it will be hard to create our music.  So maybe we should all get into the vege juice!

 

Until next week…..

 

 

I am in the abyss!

 

It feels like all music has been sucked from my life, so much so that time has unfolded doubled in length, width and breadth.

 

3 weeks of school holidays and an unwell husband have been my focus, added to a potential house move and singing has been forced to the back seat.

 

I’ve been on a fast and cleanse program, which always does amazing things for my mental clarity and overall health.

 

No driving to school, so no practice tape, and my double lesson flew by hardly touching the sides of my internal longing.

 

And yet it’s been an amazing time.

 

I seem to be absorbing so much information about our world and the true reality of things.  So much so that I’m like a juicy peach bursting at the seams.

 

Between the information on health, and the environment that is now coming forth I can feel another time of rapid expansion coming for myself…

 

In the midst of all this, I was presented with a 3 day Theta healing course – just fascinating to know that I am fully responsible for crafting my reality, and that I can quickly and easily reprogram the beliefs that do not serve me!

 

I giggled at the thought of preparing a performance, why not simply go and remove the “I can’t do it” belief I have!

 

And yet another thing to assimilate – am I insane to keeping flooding myself with information in this way?

 

What has become poignantly clear is the undercurrent of my belief systems, and some how, in all this turmoil I feel a new sense of peace and composure.

 

Thank goodness for Dan my guitar teacher.

 

It must be really frustrating to have a student that is not putting in the practice.

 

My C chord actually sounds audible now and each lesson I move forward. I voluntarily cut my nails now and my fingers cramp less each time.

 

For now just keeping the lesson time is all that i can commit to.

 

I’ve had another session with my jaw. Wow, who could believe that so much is held in such a tiny space.

 

We have been working on the singing muscles and practically it feels like I’m being suffocated as the pressure also forces my windpipe into submission.

 

No migraines though and my jaw can now actually open wide.  Watch out Christina A I’m catching up!

 

I am completely bored with the music in my car.  Time to find some new inspiration, well actually it’s time to get my iPhone organized.  I think I shall go and get I immersed in the blues……….

 

 

Lisa’s Reply

 

Well, it certainly sounds like you have a lot on your plate at the moment but you seem to be handling it very well.

 

It is really important for me, as your teacher, to know what is going on for you as this is always reflected in how music is progressing for you.

 

From what you have said, it sounds like, despite everything going on, you are still pretty focussed on music in your life, even if you haven’t been practicing.

 

• You are attending lessons,
• you are aware that you need more musical inspiration,
• you have done all the work on your jaw so that you can improve your singing (and I must say, I am amazed at the results of this),
• you are cutting your nails for guitar and you can feel your muscles developing for playing,
• and you are conscious of how your beliefs about yourself affect what you can achieve in music.

 

I am really glad you brought up the subject of beliefs because what you believe you are capable of has an awful lot to do with what you achieve or don’t achieve.

 

In order to become a musician, you do have to develop the knowledge that you are a master of your music and that you are capable of making a worthwhile contribution to the art form.  If you don’t believe this in a deep way, music will never make you happy, no matter how hard you work at it.

 

I guess some people may refer to this as confidence but I think it has more to do with knowing you have as much right to make music as any other person in the world.

 

Maybe this also links in with self-love as well because learning to accept and love every sound that comes out of us despite our critical voice is the first step to becoming a great musician.

 

I’d like to talk to you more about the ‘singing muscles’ and how you feel a sense of suffocation there.  Mark that for a future lesson.

 

And yes, I can think of nothing better than immersing yourself in the blues.  There’s so much out there that awaits your ears!

 

 

 

I’ve been working on transcribing a song which is to be rehearsed in a new group I’m joining tomorrow.

 

It hasn’t been easy and I know I have a few chords wrong, but I have done my best under the circumstances which are:

 

I have only got a recording from a YouTube video on my computer.  The room is set up so that I have to walk around the piano to get to it.  So in the process of stopping and starting, which you have to do for transcription, this makes it very difficult.

 

This has pointed out to me again, how important it is to have the right setup for your practice.

 

(Those of you who have joined the Newsletter would have received an article on this last month.)

 

Note to self, I need to change my music space to cater for transcribing off the computer.  Then I am sure I would do more of it.

 

I am also transcribing from solo guitar and voice to piano and voice and it’s hard to hear the bass line (essential) and the chord extensions.  It would be easier from piano to piano or guitar to guitar.

 

I haven’t really got the time to make it perfect but I have a basic outline and I have had to make the decision of what is more important to spend my time on.  I have decided to leave it and work more on piano and vocal practice.

 

These are the decisions you will have to make too.  Time is precious and it’s important to make sure you make good decisions about how you spend it.

 

In any case, I will get the chords from the composer tomorrow!