Hello folks,
I have arranged, Come, Sweet Death by J.S. Bach, is going to be performed at the Remembrance Day ceremony at 10 A.M. at U of T Scarborough Campus' Meeting Place. I know because of the setting it is hard to be excited about the piece, but it is by far the largest work I've completed, blending the transcription of the piece by Alfred Reed for concert band with my own setting for concert choir into a work with 40 some parts to be played by over 100 musicians from the UTSC concert band and concert choir.
If you live in the GTA, why don't you come out and join me for what should be a beautiful ceremony.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Lesson #27 - Inversions, Live In Toronto
Welcome back folks, and welcome to the theeartrainer.com for the very first time.
In this week's lesson we continue to take a look at the inversions of intervals and triads, a suspicious new type of chord of revealed, and as always we've got melodic dictations, rhythmic dictations and what else.
Your copy of the lesson guide can be found right here. It's hot to go, it's ready. I've recieved quite a few questions from people trying to find the old lessons. If you carefully direct your attention to the bottom right you'll see the archive link with a list of every single post. If you're looking for a link to the very first episode, it's here.
In this week's lesson we continue to take a look at the inversions of intervals and triads, a suspicious new type of chord of revealed, and as always we've got melodic dictations, rhythmic dictations and what else.
Your copy of the lesson guide can be found right here. It's hot to go, it's ready. I've recieved quite a few questions from people trying to find the old lessons. If you carefully direct your attention to the bottom right you'll see the archive link with a list of every single post. If you're looking for a link to the very first episode, it's here.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Welcome to theeartrainer.com
Hello and welcome to The Ear Trainer,
As I am sure the observant have noticed the Ear Trainer has found a new home, but fear not, all the magic is still working behind the scenes, so all your bookmarks, RSS feeds and download links will still work! I don't know about you, but I find this a joyous event.
Yours,
the Ear Trainer.
As I am sure the observant have noticed the Ear Trainer has found a new home, but fear not, all the magic is still working behind the scenes, so all your bookmarks, RSS feeds and download links will still work! I don't know about you, but I find this a joyous event.
Yours,
the Ear Trainer.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Lesson #26 - Liam Gallagher Meets the Rhythm Section
Hello and welcome back. This 26th lesson features the introduction of the melodic and harmonic device called inversion. You'll learn all about it. Also in this lesson there is melodic dictation, intervals, chords and rhythms to identify. You can find the lesson guide here, which of course will outline everything you need to check your work.
I'm sure you'll also notice that the lay out of the site had changed a little bit to something that's a touch more pleasing to the eye. Feel free to tell me what you think.
As always questions and comments can make their way to my inbox and I will be glad to send you a reply as soon as I can mannage.
I'm sure you'll also notice that the lay out of the site had changed a little bit to something that's a touch more pleasing to the eye. Feel free to tell me what you think.
As always questions and comments can make their way to my inbox and I will be glad to send you a reply as soon as I can mannage.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Lesson #25 - At the Ear Training Corner of the World
Hi ear training deputies,
saddle up because this possy is riding out at dawn. We've got two new types of seventh chord this week, the augmented seventh, and the major seventh sharp-five chord. Take a listen now to see how well you fare. Just grandly I am sure. There's a bunch of other stuff in this lesson too. Yay!
Make sure you get your copy of the lesson guide or you will make the ear trainer very sad.
saddle up because this possy is riding out at dawn. We've got two new types of seventh chord this week, the augmented seventh, and the major seventh sharp-five chord. Take a listen now to see how well you fare. Just grandly I am sure. There's a bunch of other stuff in this lesson too. Yay!
Make sure you get your copy of the lesson guide or you will make the ear trainer very sad.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lesson #24 - Some of My Best Friends are Ear Trainers
Hi gang, I'm gad you're back!
We've got another lesson for you all stiched up, and I feel like it's a good one. It's a review lesson, which means that there are a silly number of exercises for you to test your wits against, a total of 8. Of course the lesson guide is up and ready for your pleasure.
Make sure you tune in next week when I introduce two more types of 7th chord.
We've got another lesson for you all stiched up, and I feel like it's a good one. It's a review lesson, which means that there are a silly number of exercises for you to test your wits against, a total of 8. Of course the lesson guide is up and ready for your pleasure.
Make sure you tune in next week when I introduce two more types of 7th chord.
Keeping a Consistant Schedule
There's merits to doing so and they are many; let's talk about what makes a schedule a good one.
A good schedule balances a mixture of long term and short term goals. It's just important to enjoy the task of learning how to play music as it is to become the musician you want to. If you sacrifice each day of your life to follow your dream of being the best pianist in the universe you can miss out on a lot of experiences that could have taught you much about the world and your own creativity. You might find yourself, thirty years later not knowing why the hell you learned how to play the piano in the first place. However if you live for the moment and never think about where you're headed you loose all the benifits that a well constructed plan produces.
Somewhere between those two points, today for tomorrow, or tomorrow for today, lies the best combination and the best investment of your time. The combination will largely depend on the individual. For example a student who really wishes to arrive at technical mastery of their craft will need to be more disiplined than someone who feels their involvement with music is more spritual, but the technical master is nothing without inspiration and the spritual musician is nothing without technique.
So how does a schedule help then? Well, if you can sit down at once and try to project what kind of progress you would like to make and in which areas and then you adhere to those goals you are able to ensure you're following a given trajectory. If in following this plan you discover that it's not all that it was cracked up to be, then you have a stable record of what your ideals and have a solid basis to improve your methods. You can easily identify what practices aren't best suiting your goal for being an artist.
That's all for now! Keep in touch ear trainers.
A good schedule balances a mixture of long term and short term goals. It's just important to enjoy the task of learning how to play music as it is to become the musician you want to. If you sacrifice each day of your life to follow your dream of being the best pianist in the universe you can miss out on a lot of experiences that could have taught you much about the world and your own creativity. You might find yourself, thirty years later not knowing why the hell you learned how to play the piano in the first place. However if you live for the moment and never think about where you're headed you loose all the benifits that a well constructed plan produces.
Somewhere between those two points, today for tomorrow, or tomorrow for today, lies the best combination and the best investment of your time. The combination will largely depend on the individual. For example a student who really wishes to arrive at technical mastery of their craft will need to be more disiplined than someone who feels their involvement with music is more spritual, but the technical master is nothing without inspiration and the spritual musician is nothing without technique.
So how does a schedule help then? Well, if you can sit down at once and try to project what kind of progress you would like to make and in which areas and then you adhere to those goals you are able to ensure you're following a given trajectory. If in following this plan you discover that it's not all that it was cracked up to be, then you have a stable record of what your ideals and have a solid basis to improve your methods. You can easily identify what practices aren't best suiting your goal for being an artist.
That's all for now! Keep in touch ear trainers.
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