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“Skip tracing” is the process of locating a person's whereabouts.
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When I talk to landlords across the country U.S., I’m always shocked at how many prohibit pets. What these real estate investors don’t realize is pets are actually great for business!
Over two-thirds (68%!) of U.S. households own …
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What could possibly go wrong? pic.twitter.com/dP6y4UBScG— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) April 24, 2018
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This week my guest writer is Irish composer and music examiner, John McLachlan. A prolific composer, John has written for many genres, including a substantial collection of pedagogical piano works, some of which have been selected for inclusion in the syllabus of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. I asked him about his music and his compositional process. Over to John…
I began writing pedagogical piano pieces some decades back when I was very busy teaching piano and trying to finish a PhD in musicology, as well as juggling piano practice. This didn’t leave much time to write big serious pieces, and so when students were absent I would quickly scribble a simple piece, with the original idea of bringing the harmonic practice into the modern era. The PhD was on Boulez, Xenakis et al, and my serious music is fairly complex. I was concerned about what young musicians learn and whether it sufficiently stretches their understanding of more modern adventures in harmonic and rhythmic practice.
I showed a few scratchily handwritten scores to Deirdre Doyle, who was then head of keyboard at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, where I was studying, and she said: “Let’s see more of those”.
Things evolved from there. I got positive feedback from other wonderful piano teachers at the RIAM such as Ray Keary, and I changed the focus from being a fiercely revamped post-war version of Bartok to being within the parameters of specific piano grades: I learned to dial down (but not discard entirely) the challenging harmony, rhythm and structure of the pieces.
I was also very much aware as a teacher how the material for beginners varies from nice and clever pieces to dry-as-dust exercises thinly disguised as ‘fun pieces’. But when you try to write music for absolute beginners you soon see how hard it is: it is a great exercise and a big challenge for any composer to stick within a few bars and a couple of five-finger positions, yet come up with something that sounds in any way inspiring! However, models such as Kabalevsky, Grieg and Schumann often show how good pieces can be constructed from a starting point of technical ease, focused in one useful technical area, and with a bit of imagination can really be appealing to play while staying within the technical level set out at the start.
I was also struck by how few early pieces would appeal to late or adult beginners, and how very anodyne they can be, compared, for example, to stories and poetry written for children, which can be ghoulish or bloodthirsty! This is why sometimes my pieces have titles such as ‘the Guillotine’, ‘Caves’ and ‘Night Prowler’. I have a piece called ‘Chop Chop’ which has been selected for Preliminary grade a number of times, the piece was going to be one of those with words written under the tune: “Willy built a guillotine, Tried it out on sister Jean, Said Mother as she got the mop, “These messy games have got to stop!”. But I shrank back from including the words on the score in the end, as I had not asked for the author’s permission, and I figured there was no way the RIAM would use it in that format anyway. But I don’t want to give the idea that my music is all on the dark side! I also found inspiration from sun-soaked travels in Greece with ‘Evening at the Harbour’ and ‘The Meltemi’ (this is a wind that cools the fierce summer heat on Crete). ‘Wheelies’ is about childhood joy in messing about on a bicycle.
Initially, I gathered all the pieces together into a volume that I titled “From the Strings of a Rainbow” (inspired by a poem from St-John Perse), offering a collection of pieces from elementary level to advanced. Then some time later I pared back the difficulty with a volume I called “Fifteen Easy Miniatures”. Just this year I reassembled the various pieces, including many written after those volumes, into three new volumes: ‘First Flights: ’14 playful pieces for piano beginners; ‘Further Flights; 15 easy repertoire pieces from grades 1 to 5, and Lighter and Darker: 5 repertoire pieces above grade 5’. There are a number of pieces from the early volumes that I have discarded. The pieces are all available individually and/or gathered together in these volumes.
How do I go about writing such pieces? There are almost as many answers as there are individual pieces, but I will try to answer this. In the case of two of the African Melodies I was inspired by the technical control of the travelling five-finger hand positions seen in many of Kabalevsky’s “24 Pieces for Children”, and also by the general mood of some music by Kevin Volans, the South African/Irish composer who was teaching me at the time. The pieces use only pentatonic scales, a further limitation. “Hop, Skip and Tumble” also relates in that way to Kabalevsky’s models.
Other simpler pieces in one position sometimes use artificial or non-western scales such as the Hungarian minor or the hirajoshi pentatonic to give the ears something fresh (examples: “A Little Japanese Tune” and “The Guillotine”). Archaeopteryx on the other hand is a very advanced essay on what can arise from the octatonic scale, which starts with superimposed hand positions, the kind of positioning seen in Debussy’s Mouvement (and countless other pieces). It is in strict Sonata form and the development sees some breakdown of the octatonic structure.
I hope that all doesn’t make it sound boring or technocratic, the truth is, I always compose in the classic “flow state”. Structures such as scale or formal plans merely help the enjoyable aesthetic craziness to fit more easily together and that speeds up the writing process immensely. I often tried to achieve some unusual forms or phrase structures, but to slip them in a way that is not obvious to the ear. But there are also pieces that are more straightforward, with blues or jazz influences. “Ice-Dance” is just a jazz improvisation on quartal chords (chords built up from fourths rather than the usual thirds).
In “An Raibh Tú ag an gCarraig?” the top line is a very old Irish tune which I noticed was in a hexatonic scale (as in the first 6 notes of major), where the other 6 notes of the 12 make a mirror set of the same scale a tritone away. I immediately decided to use those notes in the left hand to compose a free left hand accompaniment or counter-melody. I soften the dissonance by choosing only consonant combinations between the hands. I was very happy with that, and in fact this way of ordering the 12 pitches crept into parts of a 12-minute piece I wrote for organ and later for orchestra called “Here be Dragons”. So it is evident that writing all the simple pieces did have an effect on my more serious art music output, where I devised for a while a cross between simplicity and complexity which proved very fruitful between 2001 and 2011 or thereabouts.
All composing can lead to other composing so the best advice for composers is to keep writing as often as possible, as only then can issues and solutions flow from one piece to the next in your output. Also listening to and playing great music is vital, and figuring out how it works (by thinking and analysing)—all this is how piece X leads to piece Y.
Pieces selected for inclusion in the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s examination syllabus: Little Reverie, Tranquillity, African Melody I, African Melody II, Night Prowler, The Curious Cat, Chop Chop!, Melody for K, Ice-Dance, and Hop, Skip and Tumble.
You can purchase John’s music by clicking here, and can hear selected piano pieces by clicking on the links below:
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
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Ep. 63 – Limiting Beliefs, Attracting Relationships & The Power of Pleasure – Salona Carlisle
As a self-realization coach, transformational guide, and feminine embodiment facilitator, Salona guides women on the journey into radical self-love and back to their essential wholeness. Through her body-centered approach, Salona empowers her clients in releasing the limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns that keep us stuck and under-realized, so they can liberate their fullest potential, while doing their soul’s sacred work in the world. Her mission is to empower women around the world in discovering their innermost beauty, divine purpose, and personal joy in life so that they can embody their unique brilliance, while flourishing in living radiant, enriched lives.
The power and importance of pleasure
How Salona got into the work she’s doing now
We dive deep into the topic of limiting beliefs
Salona’s biggest key for attracting relationships, romantic or friendships
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Many thanks to all those who took part in my weekend competition. The prize is a copy of a new volume written by pianist, composer, examiner, and writer, Mark Tanner; Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm, published by Leaping Hare Press.
I have two copies to giveaway, and the winners are…
SIMON BURGESS and MUSICATMONKTON
CONGRATULATIONS! Please send your address via the contact page on this blog and your book will be on its way.
You can purchase this book by clicking here.
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
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My guest on today's podcast episode goes by the name E.B. Farmer. I discovered him this past year when I was searching for land investing conversations on Reddit, and in the process, I learned about a book he wrote called
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It’s time for a weekend competition. This one features Mark Tanner’s new book, Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm (pictured to the left). If you’ve been reading this blog over the past week, you’ll have read Mark’s own post about this publication, which provides a useful background (to read it, click here).
Published by Leaping Hare Press, this volume will be of interest to anyone who feels the need to reflect on the inner rhythms of their life, and perhaps find a different approach to hearing and digesting music. Chapters focus on the following subjects; Music as Meditation, The Rhythm of Life, Sound & Sensuality, The Language of Music, Parallel Universes, and the The Art of Possibility.
Beautifully presented, the book contains interesting quotes from various artists, writers, philosophers, and musicians, and I particularly like the suggested mindfulness exercises which are peppered throughout. These offer food for thought, and allow our minds to put Mark’s many theories and ideas into practice. A thought-provoking read!
I have two copies to giveaway this weekend, so, as always, please leave your comment in the comment box at the end of this blog post, and I will announce the winners on Monday evening (British time). Good luck!
You can purchase Mindfulness in Music: Notes on Finding Life’s Rhythm, here.
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
Barwench Games Desktop Golf Game Ridiculous Golf Item of the Week
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The following branded content post is brought to you by Skyhour. Once I learned about this new business and app, I thought it was a brilliant idea. And a giveaway for you, my lovely readers, to enjoy? Even better.
Imagine you have a friend who loves to travel, and they have a special occasion coming up: a milestone birthday, a wedding, a college graduation.
You want to give the gift of travel — but how? There’s luggage, but that still doesn’t reduce the cost of a trip. There’s booking a hotel stay, but booking a whole trip for someone else is a bit presumptuous. There are airline gift certificates, but those might not provide the best deal for your friend.
I’ve recently learned about a company with a very creative solution to this problem: Skyhour. With Skyhour you can purchase flights in the form of one-hour flying increments that can be redeemed on more than 350 domestic and international airlines!
Basically, it’s like the Venmo of air travel. You purchase and send with a click.
Even better is that you can use it like a registry. You can actually get a gift that you want for your birthday or a holiday instead of something well-intentioned that you’ll never use or wear. I loved the idea of Skyhour from the minute I heard about it.
I can think of lots of opportunities when giving skyhours would be a great option for a gift.
Honeymoon: So many newly married couples have been living together for awhile already that they don’t need another set of bowls. Enough skyhours could pay for the bulk of a honeymoon somewhere far away — or a shorter getaway within the country.
Graduation: Whether you know someone heading out on a gap year after college or looking to take a special trip after completing her Ph.D, Skyhour is a fantastic way to let the new graduate take the lead in booking the trip of her dreams.
Family Reunion: If you have a family member who might not be able to afford a flight to a family reunion, or perhaps to meet a newborn grandchild or niece or nephew, have several family members each chip in an hour as a gift. Six skyhours are enough to get someone from Florida to New England and back, for example.
Milestone Birthday: Recently I had a few friends turn 40 who have chosen not to marry or have kids — and thus have missed out on lots of gifts that their peers received (not unlike that Sex and the City episode where Carrie, after buying a friend nearly a dozen baby/wedding gifts over the years, has a pair of her Manolo Blahniks stolen from that friend’s house and decides to register for a new pair). Why not have several friends chip in skyhours in lieu of traditional gifts for the trip of a lifetime?
Step One: Decide how many skyhours to give to your loved one. You choose the number of hours in flight. The cost is $60 per hour.
Step Two: Give your skyhours to your loved one. You can give them through the app, via SMS, or by email.
Step Three: Watch your loved one book their trip through the Skyhour App and enjoy the trip of a lifetime — made possible by you.
Skyhour is giving away 10 skyhours to an Adventurous Kate reader! Here’s how you can win:
Step One: Follow @adventurouskate and @skyhour on Instagram.
Step Two: Create a free account at skyhour.com.
Step Three: On the @adventurouskate Instagram post about Skyhour, comment about what your dream destination is and the number of Skyhours you’ll need to get there. Example: “I live in New York and my dream destination is Mexico City! I need 1o Skyhours to get there and back!”
The Prize: 10 Skyhours to use toward your trip, which have a value of $600.
This contest is open to residents age 18 and up of the United States — specifically the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Limited to one entry per Instagram and Skyhour account. See the full terms and conditions here.
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Ep. 62 – The Power of Being Resourceful, Embracing Opportunity and Change & Creating Joy and Energy in an Intense Career with Christine Skari
This week I’m chatting with a friend, Christine Skari who I’ve been connected with for years through the food blogging community. I’ve loved watching Christine’s path unfold as she has created an incredible wedding photography business.
I especially wanted to talk to Christine because I knew she would have some amazing insights into creative work and being resourceful as well as being open to your path changing. I love where this conversation went!
Christine is a self-made food blogger and wedding photographer who enjoys cuddling her two sweet kittens, drinking coffee like it’s going out of style, and staying in pajamas for as long as possible.
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I’ve written about hand flexibility before here on my blog, but it’s an important topic for piano students and teachers, so I thought I’d publish a more in-depth post on this subject. The following article was first published in the most recent edition of Piano Professional, which is the UK piano teachers magazine published by EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association). I hope you find it of interest.
Hands. They are fairly crucial for pianists. Many will immediately refer to the fingers as being the most significant ‘tools’ in a pianist’s tool box. And there’s no doubt, without fingers, playing is rather tricky. But, over the past few months, I’ve been working with a group of students and we have routinely discussed hands; hand positions are always important, but one aspect causing regular issues (and sometimes anxiety too) is the flexibility and ‘softness’ in our hands necessary to move easily, at the same time as retaining finger strength and independence.
Whilst we work ceaselessly to remain ‘free’ and relaxed in our upper torso, even once this has been acquired, some find the muscles in their hands are still inflexible and tense. For me, movement around the keyboard (particularly at the moment of impact i.e. depressing the key) is vital. There’s little point in discussing the finer points of interpretation, musicianship or even dynamic range, if we can’t get around a piece and feel comfortable doing so!
Once our students have assimilated the feeling of freedom in their wrists (the first point of relaxation), arms and upper body, it’s probably time to move onto the hands. When muscles in the hand itself are tense, octave stretches feel challenging, as do large chords and double note passages. Many complain that they find octave stretches and beyond almost impossible. However, I’ve yet to come across a pupil who really can’t play an octave once taught how to relax their hand (small children are an exception).
To begin with, our students need to know which part of the hand to relax. Photo 1 illustrates the approximate area to which I’m referring:
Photo 1.
Photo 1 shows the palm and surrounding areas, especially around the thumb joint; these are normally fleshy and soft when not outstretched or engaged in playing; they need to stay this way as much as possible, as and when a student plays. This does present some challenges, but the main aim is to keep the hand (or the area between the wrist and knuckles) loose and relaxed.
Photo 2.
Photo 2 illustrates the muscles between the finger joints which also have a tendency to tense.
Here are a few ideas to loosen the hand, helping it to feel less restricted during practice and performance.
Ask pupils to drop their arms down by their side, allowing them to swing loosely, so they can ‘float’ freely from the shoulder (arms should feel ‘heavy’ and weighty as the muscles relax). Once this has been grasped, encourage pupils to lay their hand flat on a surface (away from the piano), palm facing downwards. Slowly open the hand, determining how far it can reach in an outstretched position without feeling tense or uncomfortable at all. To begin with, it might not be that much. However, pupils should note the feeling of the hand when it is still relaxed and ‘loose’. Do this every day for just a minute or so, until it feels natural.
Now ask a pupil to play both chords in Example 1 (first with their right hand, and then the left), and during contact with the keys, with their spare hand (i.e. the hand not playing), feel how the muscles in those fleshy areas of the hand, respond. They might be surprised by how ‘hard’ or rigid each hand appears as the chords are depressed.
Example 1.
The trick is to learn to relax the hand whilst it’s playing. It’s paramount to know how our arms, wrists and hands feel when engaged. These feelings are easy to block out, as we are generally too busy focusing on the music. This is why exercises or scales can be of value, as they generally have less musical content, allowing us to concentrate on how our upper torso feels in action. When the feeling of flexibility has been digested thoroughly, we will start to assume a comfortable stance whilst playing.
Hand flexibility can be exacting to teach as it requires students to really know themselves and their hands. I constantly work with pupils on this aspect, and find it equally fascinating and rewarding.
A good way to begin is to play a single note (in each hand, separately). As the note is struck, notice how the muscles within the hand react; decide if they are tense or uncomfortable. If they are rigid, as the note is held by the finger, relax the surrounding hand by releasing any tension in the whole arm (students often need help here, both in terms of learning to feel the difference between tension and relaxation, and also learning to hold a note in place whilst relaxing). Clenching the hand (this can be done away from the piano) and then swiftly ‘releasing’ the clench can be one way of explaining the feeling of tension and the subsequent ‘release’ of muscles. We need to be honest and truthful about the physical sensations felt as we play. It can be beneficial to keep returning to the feeling learnt when the hand was outstretched, but was still pliable and felt completely relaxed. By returning to this sensation time and again during practice sessions, it will eventually become a habit.
The following single note pattern, Example 2 (right hand, followed by the left), opens with notes a sixth apart or an interval of a sixth, moving on to an octave (the interval of a seventh could also be used too, before the octave):
Example 2.
Encourage a student to gently ‘reach’ or rock from one note to the next, with the aim of developing wrist and hand flexibility between notes; there are many ways of doing this, but I ask students to ‘drop’ their wrist after they have played one note, and before they play the next (whilst still keeping notes depressed), allowing a ‘heavy’ relaxed feeling (as the muscles loosen), moving the wrists in a free lateral motion. This motion can be extremely useful, helping students acquire the necessary loose feeling, enabling them to determine the optimum movement needed to release their hand.
Students can check the muscles and tendons in their hand by using the hand that is free i.e. the one not playing, to make sure they feel comfortable and not tight during this exercise. If they don’t feel relaxed, ask them to gradually ‘let go’ of the muscles as they engage their hand. ‘Letting go’ is just another terminology for relaxation or releasing a tight hand. This is the most challenging part. When we learn how to ‘let go’ as we play, at the same time as keeping the fingers in place, the hand starts to release its grip.
Eventually, octave intervals, such as those in Example 2 (second and fourth bar), appear more relaxed and notes can be played together i.e. to form an octave. If we can do this with ease already, as we play an octave, encourage wrists to drop (it’s awkward and uncomfortable to play such intervals with high wrists), and relax (releasing the hand, wrist and arm), whilst still playing the notes. For secure octave finger ‘positions’, the fifth finger needs to be fully functional, and the thumb, light but aiming to keep the shape during movement.
If octaves are played slowly, we can watch and feel the hand as we ‘let go’ or relax in the fleshy area, whilst the fingers depress the keys; the flesh should change from being tense to become softer and more malleable. This type of exercise must ideally be done slowly and painlessly, with much focus on physical movement. After a period of time, it’s interesting to note how the hands adapt, and pupils will be increasingly able to cope with being outstretched and ‘open’ with no discomfort, as is required during octaves and chords.
Once octaves have been negotiated (these exercises should be done little and often, and certainly not for long periods of time), students can move onto adding chords to their ‘flexible hand repertoire’ (inserting inner notes after practising the outer parts alone first), and then working at other types of passage work, including double notes and large leaps.
Hand flexibility takes time, but a positive, valuable way to begin is to become more conscious of hand palpation and movement.
You can read the original article, here:
Hand Flexibility (Issue 46, Spring 2018, pg. 16 – 17)
My Publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my two-book piano course, Play it again: PIANO (Schott). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, 49 progressive pieces from approximately Grade 1 – 8 level are featured, with at least two pages of practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
