Here’s the same piece I just posted, but mostly finished. No fingering put in yet, but the dynamics are there. Some small cleaning up to do, but it gives you an idea.
Scary Looking Music
I’m typesetting a 19C piece right now, and I thought I’d share what it looks like pre-editing/making-it-look-pretty.
click the image to see the full sized version.
This Week on Twitter
- Working on some Michael Hedges! hard to sync up your hands. #
- RT @HansOngchua: Skype-based lesson with @chrisguitarguy went rather well!
# - off to a rehearsal followed by watching the Julian Bream DVD. #
- Monday Motivation: Dearman Edition http://classicalguitarblog.net/JZut #
- RT @designfluent: Classical guitar rules. #
- Just ordered some sheet music. Brouwer's "collected works" book, a piece by Carter for voice and guitar, and Tansman's Variation on Scriabin #
- surprises from our recent economic history tag:google.com,2005:reader/item/cc3025f7cb5204b6 #
- http://su.pr/9wgPDT Viewsof Glaciers from space. #
- Can the coders at wired not handle putting in a lightbox or bit of javascript to switch images? reloading the page for each image sucks. #
- You know what happens when a set piece for a competition is composed by the competition's director? #
- It looks like a giant self-promotional, piece of crap competition with no hope of really, "launching a career." #
- http://su.pr/4nbMup I need to get one of these. #
- Read This Book: The Savvy Musician http://classicalguitarblog.net/B5Jb #
- Just synced my Classical Guitar Blog Myspace with twitter. now all my status updates are posted there. Finally a use for myspace! #
- http://su.pr/45B3z9 google does not use the keywords meta tag when indexing your site for searches. #
- http://su.pr/1oRqZ9 The real deal behind google's flying saucer doodles. #
- Working on my piano composition. #
- Not a good start to the B section of this piece. Trying again later I suppose! #
- Practicing writing divisions on Dowland pieces. Hard stuff. Basically recomposing. #
- Anyone out there? http://bit.ly/4aLxOc going to play some Mertz for ustream. #
- Whew that did not go very well! #
- Technical Exercises for the Absolute Beginner http://classicalguitarblog.net/4BEt #
- What would you ask Scott Tennant? #
- I would like to know why my hands get exhausted after a half hour of practice. This is not good. #
- RT @MichaelSavona: Classical Guitar tip: Practicing without pressure on the left hand is a great way to loosen your grip and increase speed. #
- Interview with Scott Tennant Scheduled for Thursday night at midnight (my time, 10pm his). Pumped. #
- Just had to transcribe The Unforgiven by Metallica. 20 mins with the help of (extraordinarily bad) tabs online. #
- speaking with a potential new author for the CG blog! #
- http://su.pr/1lGY8b A little classical guitar humor. #
- If the press reviewed me, I would only put the not supportive quotes on my website. That's the way to do it. #
- In all seriousness, though, I would like to get a (good) review someday. Have to play more concerts first! #
- http://su.pr/3LvNgG bad experiences with godaddy. #
- Lesson today. Maybe I should practice? #
- Venue for audience to mix audio tag:google.com,2005:reader/item/27f765590593862a #
- http://artofmanliness.com/In9s Thee essential campfires (and how to build them). #
- Confession: I think chamber music is awesome, but I have no interest in playing it. #
- http://su.pr/1OEaMh Elliot Gould: What I've Learned. #
- Off to school: Lesson, performance class, and teaching. #
- Lesson canceled today. No good. #
- Anyone in the midwest want to host a classical guitar concert?! Let me know! #
- Everyone gets paid on commission tag:google.com,2005:reader/item/b00ad97c9f3b7f55 #
- http://su.pr/2bP5dF @garyvee says social media is the steak. #
- http://su.pr/16THzS Kevin Loh, 11 year old (nearly) guitar virtuoso. And an extremely musical player! #
- Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 anyone? I'm putting him on my list of people to learn about. #
- My nails sound terrible. #
- Ornamentation study with Yates this morning. Should be interesting! #
- I'm teaching the Music Theory III class at APSU on Monday. Anyone want to come? We're talking about modulations and pivot chords! #
- RT @emonome: 8-yr old shoots and mutilates burglar, makes daddy proud http://bit.ly/13jEtF #
- Practice Rebellion http://classicalguitarblog.net/LlTm #
- RT @solomontomer: #you'relame if you use the grammatically incorrect trend #yourlame. #
- Scott Tennant interview pushed back to next week. #
- RT @guitarnoize: Looking for a guitar for your kid? How about a Giraffe Guitar http://j.mp/Qovwq #
- Dowland liked to use some descending scales (with a lowered 7th) in his post cadential divisions (free ornamentation). #
- http://su.pr/2xNXnT The Voca People. Interesting vocal group. #
- http://su.pr/2V0RDU Are mistakes really mistakes? #
- Quality time cleaning the apartment this morning. #
- Current Lesson Openings http://su.pr/2demBQ #
- using my foam roller from @Elitefts , getting ready for deadlifting today. #
- #followfriday everyone follow my teacher @stanleyyates maybe if he gets some followers he'll realize the power of twitter! #
- Deadlifted 405lbs for two reps today. My grip is getting better! #
- RT @tweetmeme Training individuality http://retwt.me/gHnP (via @elitefts) #
- I am far to interested in intellectual property law and rights (and whether they are really good for our society). #
- RT @guitarnoize: Check out the Top 40 Guitar Blog chart http://su.pr/28iX4S #
- http://su.pr/1XpesS Watch these videos, same guitarist at 4,9 and 13 years old. Amazing improvement. #
- If Lawrence Lessig podcasts all of his speaking engagements, can classical guitarists podcast all their concerts? (copyrighted music, sigh) #
- Oh wow, it's the Mr. Olympia weekend this weekend. Who knew?! I'm out of touch with the bodybuilding world. #
- http://su.pr/3PJxG6 Does anyone use the "Bad Behavior" plugin for wordpress? Does it work? Will it stop spam? #
- How is your saturday so far? #
- RT @tferriss: The problems — and options — of the blog ad revenue model: http://su.pr/1OTqdN #
- RT @tferriss: Who Refers the Most Traffic? Search vs Social Media http://su.pr/2W6jcp #
- http://su.pr/8TiHK2 Seth Godin on assets #
- Jay Cutler won the 2009 Mr. Olympia competition. #
- Everyone getting some good practicing in this weekend? #
Current Lesson Openings
I teach about 20 (very satisfied!) aspiring guitarists each week. But I have a few holes in my schedule I’d like to fill.
If you’re in the Clarksville, TN area, contact me and I’ll get you set up with a lesson time.
Openings at the APSU Community School of the Arts
- Wednesday 5:30-6pm
- Friday 3:30-4pm
- Friday 4-4:30pm
Openings at Mary’s Music
- Saturday 9-9:30am
- Saturday 9:30-10am
- Saturday 1-1:30pm
- Saturday 1:30-2pm
What will you learn in guitar lessons with me? Anything you’d like. I try to work with whatever the student wants. As I say in my teaching philosophy, I’m not an elitist: any music can be used to learn the guitar. But don’t expect me to just give you Tabs!
Target Audience: Concerts
This post is a result of working through The Savvy Musician, a great book about making a living in the art music world.
Yesterday’s post had me thinking of what my concerts should really be. Now the question is going to come to them.
The only people already passionate about classical guitar are other classical guitarists. And that’s great, I’d love for them to come one of my recitals, but I consider it my job to expand the audience.
Target: Non-classical guitarists.
Why? They are already interested in the instrument, but might have never heard of classical guitar. These are the fringe fans than Seth Godin talks about in Tribes, they don’t have well defined preferences. They just like the guitar.
Connecting: I think the connection method to read these students is already built in. Guitar teachers. Contact local guitar teachers where ever I go and offer them free or discounted tickets (preferably free). The real thing is getting them to talk with their students about it.
Something for the Audience? Offering a masterclass would also be a great way to connect with these people.
Programming for Guitarists: If young guitarists are anything like I was, they appreciate technically complex pieces, but not so much musicality. Meaning my programs would have to have a balance of flash and musicality. Smells like 19th century music to me, or some tonal 20C things.
That’s my main angle. Aside from the reason list above — the people are already interested in guitar — converting guitarists into fans that go to my website(s) means that I have a chance of selling them information products.
Other Targets
- Art Music Fans- obvious choice. Play some concerts for artist series type things (churches, chamber music societies, etc).
- College Music Majors- have to get recitals on campus.
- Classical Guitarists- work with guitar societies. It’d be very cool to do an artist in residency with a guitar society. Just come for a week. In exchange for a place to stay offer cheap or free lessons to society members.
After the Concert
After a concert, I want people to go home and connect with me online or via email so I can reach them again. In short, I want a better conversion from casual fan into true fan.
To that end, giving away a nicely done CD-Rom would be great. On it would be 5-10 nicely recorded mp3s, and an interactive webpage that people just click to open. It would have images and links for people to connect with me on social media. No typing in URLs required!
I’d also like to give away stickers than say, “I (heart) Classical Guitar” with my website URL on there as well.
What I Want My Concerts to Be
This post is a result of working through The Savvy Musician, a great book about making a living in the art music world.
Today I’ve been brainstorming about concerts and recitals, and what my ideal product would look like.
I don’t think that programming, outside of choosing good repertoire, is really that big of a deal. I strive to choose repertoire that’s not overplayed. There’s plenty of recordings of the classics for guitar, and plenty of concerts only feature them. I want something different.
The real thing is in presentation. I want to look like I’m having fun on stage. I want to smile, and give the audience a sense that I’m really enjoying myself. I want this because I do enjoy myself. And I’m tired of going to concerts where the performer looks terrified. So there’s that aspect of presentation: I want to project an abundance of enthusiasm for the guitar combined with quiet confidence and a solid performance.
That other stuff…
My encounters and opinions of the art music world can largely be summarized by having a knowing irreverence for tradition. That is, I’m not terribly interested in the traditional benchmarks of success (competition wins, etc.) nor am I particularly in love with the formality of art music concerts. In short, I think the stuffiness puts an unacceptable distance between the performer and the audience.
Here’s the thing, the stuffiness is not a result of the repertoire. It’s a result of the attitudes of the musicians. I want to avoid that at all costs. If there were some way I could project my irreverence on stage, I would do it. Maybe there’s something to be said for choosing the right concert clothing to project this.
What I want
- Play good, semi-obscure (but likable!) repertoire
- Project my enjoyment on stage
- Project a sense of quiet confidence
- Display my irreverence for the art music world’s stuffy formality
My Dream Job
As assignment from the book I’m reading right now, The Savvy Musician, I’m going to write out my “dream job” or where I’d like to be in 5-10 years.
My dream job would be…
- Make some money online with eBook sales and writing gigs.
- Teaching 20-30 hours/week privately or having a full time teaching gig at a university or college. The big factor is that I want to be in a position that I can choose students. I would only teach classical guitar.
- Play 10-20 concerts/year for a reasonable fee. I want take home more money than I spent on the gig. These would be recital performances, not private parties or weddings. Not that I don’t like doing those things, I do, and I would continue doing them. I just like the idea of learning a concert program and going “on tour” with it.
- Releasing recordings. I’m not sure that I would charge for recordings. I would probably give away the download for free, but sell CDs at recitals and such.
So what am I doing to accomplish these goals?
Part of my reason for starting The Classical Guitar Blog was that I though it would make me rich. As I got more and more into it, it became a labor of love, and I realized I had a new purpose behind my blogging. To me it’s about building a community, and connecting with other guitarists and classical guitar enthusiasts. If that turns into a meaningful profit someday, I’ll be happy, but it’s not a terribly big deal. The non-monetary compensation I receive for blogging and my online activities in the form of reputation and networking is worth more than any money I could ever make. It’d be great to do something like Matt Warnock does and write for various online and print magazines.
I already teach, and am gaining experience rapidly. One of the big reasons I decided to pursue graduate studies is that it would open up doors to be, at minimum, an adjunct instructor at a college. At best, it could lead to a full time position. That said, it’s not a big deal. There are lots of people who want to learn guitar, and I’m good at getting the best out of my students. I’d just like to be in a position where I have a waiting list and focus mainly on classical guitar instruction.
I’m starting to realize how hard it is to get concerts. Getting my name out there with the blog and other activities will certainly help. I get my first taste of playing “recital” concerts outside of school this coming spring. We’ll see how that goes! At some point, when I have more experience, I’d love to release recordings. Because I believe in transparency, I put my recital videos up on Youtube. That’s the first step, I think.
My Brand
I was speaking with my theory professor today about the future. He told me that when it came time for doctoral work, I’d really have to decide what I want to do — or, to put it another way, how I want to define myself.
Dr. Wood is a, “composer who plays piano.” He has a doctorate and masters degree in theory/composition, but he also holds a bachelors and masters degrees piano performance. That’s his brand. According to him, a doctorate really says, “this is who I am, and what I do.”
So as I pursue more education, at some point I’m going to have ask myself what exactly I am. I have to really decide on my brand. Right now, my brand is in description of myself on this website: guitarist, blogger, entrepreneur. I listed those in order of importance. I’m a guitarist first; guitar is the thing from which my blogging and entrepreneurial activities spring.
But perhaps that will someday read: music theorist, guitarist, entrepreneur. This is a hard thing to work out. I’ve been a guitarist for the past ten years, and I can’t imagine myself as anything else. No matter how much I love music theory, I don’t think that can replace my guitar activities.
