Monthly Archives

June 2018

Morningside School of Music
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Improve How You Practice

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If you have been following our blog posts, you will know that the number one thing that will make a difference in your music education, is practice.  We often get asked how someone can improve, or how to take your playing to the next level. Practice is always our answer.

The vast majority of our students have trouble practising – either because they find it boring or struggle to fit it into their busy days.  Here are some tips and tricks on how to fit practising into your (or your child’s) life.

Work it into your routine.

Are you a morning person? Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier each day and use that time to play. If you’re more of a night owl, make it part of your evening routine, like brushing your teeth. We have some students who practice during their lunch breaks, or as a reward for finishing their homework.

Make your practice fun. 

Play games to work on your chords, or wait until the end of the practice session to play your favourite song. There are many websites and blog posts dedicated to making practising more enjoyable, so a quick google is always worthwhile. You could also ask your teacher next time you’re in how they make it fun for themselves.

Reward yourself. 

Find some way to keep track of how often you practice (make a chart, put pennies in a jar, etc.) When you reach different milestones reward yourself! You could get a new capo, buy some fun new sheet music, or get a new shirt for your next open mic night.

Variety is the spice of life.

Switch up what order you do your practising, which songs you play, and what rewards you give yourself. Changing little things during the practise sessions keeps it fresh and fun.

Book a gig.

The thought of a live audience often helps with motivation. Our live music nights are great opportunities to show off your skills, and improve your practising in the weeks before!  Alternatively, find an open mic night and commit to date you will be ready to play by.

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

Piano Man: Billy Joel

Billy Joel Picture

I first came across the music of Billy Joel while on holiday in America. We were driving along the highway, and over the radio Piano Man, possibly Joel’s most successful hit is played. I was a teenager at the time, and I was listening to the usual pop played on UK radio stations. However, it was refreshing to hear smooth and relaxing music that helps you unwind. It was from this moment forward that my love Joel’s music began.

The Early Years

Joel’s father, a German classical pianist, did influence Joel’s music. However, it was, in fact, his mother who insisted he learned to play. He practised the piano alongside Morton Estrin albeit Joel admitted that he was a better organist than a pianist.

The Piano Man

Billy Joel Piano Man AlbumIronically, despite Joel’s adamance that his future lay with the organ, his first major hit was Piano Man. This song explains the lives of the Saturday night customers in a piano bar in Los Angeles. Although the lyrics are very impressive, it was the intro that caught my attention. I would argue that the intro to Piano Man is one of the most recognisable of all time due to its unique blend of instruments. The intro provides fifteen seconds of complete relaxation, which continues throughout the piece.

The easy listening feel of Piano Man has made it one of the old ‘classics’ played by radio stations. However, it’s not the only one of Joel’s songs to have the same effect. ‘She’s Always a Woman’ follows suit and has become a favourite on Smooth Radio, appearing regularly on air and, to be honest, you can understand why. A romantic story, where Joel spends the entirety of the piece picking out the faults of the lady, but instead of letting these annoy him, he responds with the fact that ‘She’s Always a Woman’ in his eyes.

A Man of Many Talents

Billy Joel isn’t only known for relaxing pieces and, in fact, my favourite Joel songs are more upbeat toe-tappers. ‘The Longest Time’, is enjoyable because of the almost barbershop quartet feel. This song is less well-known than some of Joel’s other singles however it did gain some popularity by featuring in American comedy How I Met Your Mother. I enjoy the different vocals on the track, and it is, again, another song which will get you singing.

Only the Good Die Young Album

“Only the Good Die Young,” tells the story of one of Joel’s high school crushes, a Catholic girl called Virginia. The song was highly controversial on its release, with many feeling the song was anti-catholic, however, I disagree. I feel Joel is merely lamenting the fact that he cannot be involved girl whom he is fascinated with, which is something many people can relate to.

The Future

Billy Joel is now, sadly, coming to the end of his long and illustrious musical career. At the age of 68, the New Yorker’s tour this year could well be his last. He won’t be visiting Edinburgh on this tour, unlike in 1979 when he played the Usher Hall, and his only UK gig will be at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, in June. His gig in Manchester will undoubtedly be a brilliant night as we listen to the greatest hits of a true music legend.

For more information: Billy Joel Website

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

We care about the environment

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At Morningside School of Music, we have always taken great pride in the fact that we try our best to care for the planet and taking climate change very seriously. From our beginnings as a company, one of our first tenets was to consider the environment when operating in our day to day work. We didn’t mind if it was going to cost us more. We believed that if we were ethical from day one, then we could only do good for the planet.

Here are some ways we protect the environment.

  1. We decided not to renew our branded company cars. Instead, we opted for bicycles and public transport when needed.
  2. Our staff minimise their use of all materials as much as possible, especially plastic. Any plastic is recycled.
  3. We reuse everything that we can including cardboard boxes and paper.
  4. We only purchase recycled printer and copier paper.
  5. Our toilet rolls are purchased in bulk to avoid unnecessary deliveries.
  6. We recycle where possible through our appointed recycling contractor.
  7. All lighting inside and outside Morningside School of Music are LEDs.
  8. During daylight hours, we do not switch on any unnecessary lighting.
  9. We minimise power consumption of internal lighting by using the motion detectors installed in the music school.
  10. Our outside lighting has sensors that only switch lighting on when it is dark enough. This minimises power consumption.
  11. Unlike a lot of businesses and households, we switch off all electricity at night. (apart from our alarm and security lighting which is LED which helps climate change)
  12. Our computer monitors go into standby mode when not in use.
  13. Our printers go to sleep when not in use to save electricity and help climate change.
  14. We only use remanufactured ink cartridges.
  15. We send our used ink cartridges to a charity to be reused.
  16. Our digital pianos switch off automatically when not in use.
  17. Our toilets use water reduction devices.
  18. The music school has a very small hot water boiler which heats water only when needed.
  19. We do not purchase products which are tested on animals and very strongly disapprove of animal cruelty and abuse.
  20. We never switch our heating on until it’s cold enough. Usually, the heating stays off entirely from April until November.
  21. We open windows during summer and try to avoid using fans if we can.
  22. Our hand dryers are Dyson Airblades which produce up to 83% less CO2 than other hand dryers and avoid wasting paper towels.
  23. We monitor environmental advice from independent charities such as Greenpeace to learn of new ways to better the planet.

We do not claim to have everything perfect yet, but we are continually looking for new methods to protect the environment.

 

Greenpeace logo.svg

 

Morningside School of Music is also a very proud member of Greenpeace.

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

Have You Heard – Canadian Edition

Canadian Flag

Our new series ‘Have you Heard…’ will showcase new or lesser known artists.  If you have any suggestions for artists to feature, please feel free to comment or send us an email!  For the first edition of the series, our Creative Manager, Laura, will highlight some Canadian artists.  Being a Canadian herself, she is uniquely equipped for this job.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of lots of incredible Canadian artists- Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Tragically Hip, The Band, Leonard Cohen but you might not have known these people are Canadian.  I thought I would dig a little deeper into the Canadian music scene to highlight some artists you may or may not have heard of, but ones that I think deserve more attention on this side of the pond.

The Sheepdogs

Fun fact: after winning Rolling Stone’s ‘Choose The Cover’ competition in 2011, they also became the first unsigned band to appear on the cover of the magazine.  This folk-rock band from Saskatchewan is worth a listen.

 

Great Lake Swimmers

They just released a fantastic new album, A Forest of Arms.  This song is off their 2007 album, Ongiara.

 

Hannah Georgas

A Vancouver-based artist who has been getting a lot of buzz recently.

 

Arcade Fire

A band with an impressive array of instruments that they take on tour (viola, accordion, glockenspiel, hurdy-gurdy, to name but a few).  I am confident that many of you know already listen to Arcade Fire- but if you don’t, you should!

 

City and Colour

This is the alias for Dallas Green, the guitarist of Alexisonfire (another great Canadian band).  Each of his albums goes in a different musical direction, and, he recently did a collaborative album with Pink called You + Me.  City and Colour is my favourite, so here are two songs.

 

 

The Strombo Show

This is not a band, but if you are interested in music, especially Canadian music, it is a show you should be listening to.  It is available online here.

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

Recording Music At Home

home recording device

Music technology has changed dramatically in the past 15 years. The days of having to go into the studio to record your demo are over, with a plethora of DAW’s (digital audio workstation) now available to use for home recording. Home computers now have the strength to carry out significant musical tasks, such as recording multiple audio tracks at the same time. This has led to DAW’s being a key part of any budding musician’s tool kit. Below are the top three DAW’s currently on the market:

Cubase Pro 8 (£400)

  • From it’s humble beginnings on the Atari ST back in 1989, Cubase has come a long way in what it can offer
  • The layout is user-friendly as well as it being easier to find your way about
  • Cubase is very useful if working with MIDI (recording MIDI piano for example) interests you
  • The wide range of new plug-ins are useful for composition and making each track sound clean and professional
  • Suitable for Mac and PC
  • Perfect for the musician looking to start home recording

Pro Tools 12 (£600)

  • Pro Tools also started out back in 1989 as a software editor for a synth
  • The audio capabilities of Pro Tools are simply jaw dropping
  • Pro Tools is used in most of the major recording studios around the world
  • Fairly complicated to get to grips with but online courses are available for official qualifications
  • Not really suitable for beginners because of its complicated layout
  • Requires hardware such as the Fast Track Due audio interface which you can purchase with the software
  • Pro Tools is aimed more are producers rather than musicians

Reason 8 (£269)

  • Reason started out in 2000
  • There is a massive range of plugins & samples to individualise the software
  • Very easy to use
  • Suitable for musicians rather that producers
  • Lots of free online tutorials on their website
  • This is our favourite as it covers just about everything you could ever need, plus it is the most cost-effective!

For more information on any of the above, please click the links on the name of each piece of software.

Morningside School of Music
In Uncategorized

Summer Music School

summer school advert

MUSIC SUMMER SCHOOLS FOR 2015 – FOUR WEEKLY COURSES RUNNING

We would like to announce we will be offering music camps at the School this summer!  Practice your instrument, form a band, write some hit songs, rehearse, record a demo, and perform a gig!

For more information, or to book a place, please call us on 0131 447 1117.

Dates:

1: Monday the 29th June to Friday the 3rd July 2015

2: Monday the 6th July to the Friday the 10th July 2015

3: Monday the 13th July to Friday the 17th July 2015

4: Monday the 3rd August to Friday the 7th August 2015

Age: 7- 16
Time: 10:00- 15:00
Price: £175, including a packed lunch
Location: Morningside School of Music, 138 Comiston Road, Edinburgh

 

SummerSchool2013A.compressed-page-002These fun, fantastic courses are suitable for any young adult who has an interest in learning guitar, playing piano, working on drums, having singing tuition, mastering the bass or being a composer. The courses are run by music professionals who have a PVG, NSPCC Child Protection training and British Red Cross First Aid training. The tutors include Professor Paul Boyd, who has worked alongside some of the biggest names in the music industry. Paul has also lectured in universities across the country and worked in primary and high school music education for over 17 years.

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

Fighting Stage Fright

Stage Fright Picture

The biggest thing that stands in the way of the vast majority of musicians is stage fright.  The day of your show the butterflies start dancing in your stomach…then your appetite disappears, and you begin to feel nauseous…and by the time you get onstage you are sweating profusely.

The first thing to realise is that everyone gets stage fright at some point.  I guarantee that every single one of your musical heroes has felt terrified before getting on stage.  The following are some proven tips and tricks to help you tame the butterflies.

Take deep breaths/warm up 

Warming up is a great way to get rid of some of that nervous energy.  Do some shoulder and neck rolls, stretch your arms, run around the building a few times- whatever you need to do.

Avoid caffeine 

Unless you need a cup of coffee to function in the morning, try to avoid caffeine the day of a performance.  It will just make you more jittery and anxious!

Practise, practise, practise 

If you can play the song in your sleep, you’ll feel less afraid that you might mess up.  Here are some tips to improve your practising.

Pretend to be excited

Give yourself a pep talk and try to act confident and excited- studies have shown it does make a difference.

Remember that it is okay to make mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, but if you act like it didn’t happen, the audience won’t even notice!

Realise why you are nervous 

You are nervous because you want people to enjoy your performance and you want to do a good job.  It is good news that you’re nervous because you should care about how your performance goes!

Keep performing

It really does get easier every time.

Morningside School of Music
In Blog

Open Mic Nights – Top Tips

Open Mic Nights

If you have been following along, you’ll know that in our last few blog posts we have taught the basics of songwriting, how to improve your practising, and given some tips on overcoming stage fright.  That means you’re ready for your first open mic night!  We recommend open mics to any of our older students who are thinking about becoming professional musicians.  It is the perfect venue to become comfortable as a performer, try out some new songs, and hopefully get some great feedback.

Preparing beforehand

Think about your song choice.  Open mics are a great place to try out new material, but if you are feeling nervous, it is nice to have a song that you know well.  Often at open mics, you will get the opportunity to play two or three songs, so it is a good idea to think about how your songs compare to one another.  We recommend a mix of your music and covers.  Try to play some unusual covers, or popular songs differently. It will be much more memorable than another version of ‘Wonderwall’. Here are some creative covers to take inspiration from.

Decide if you will bring friends or not.  You will be guaranteed an enthusiastic audience, but some people get a lot more nervous performing for people they know.  Figure out which type you are and plan accordingly.

Practise…practise some more and when you think you are ready, practice again.

Arriving at the venue

Sign up: Introduce yourself to the host and sign up for a slot.  It is a good idea to get there early, so you are guaranteed a good spot.

Get ready: Find somewhere to tune and warm-up before you go onstage.

On stage:

Take a moment to get situated once you get onstage. Don’t be afraid to take 15 seconds and check your tuning (quickly) and the mic. Then, take a deep breath before you begin.

Say hello: The audience wants to know who you are, so introduce yourself and tell them what you are going to play.  But keep it short and sweet- ultimately they are there to see you play, not chat.

DO NOT make excuses: The audience will then be looking for mistakes, rather than enjoying your performance.

If you make a mistake try to keep going: The audience will be a lot less likely to notice if you blow past a mistake, rather than stopping the song outright.  Broken string, dropped plectrum, messed up words…the show must go on.

After the gig

Watch the other performances:  It is polite, and you will likely learn a lot from them.

Thank the host, the sound guy, the bar staff. Everyone remembers, and next time is willing to help out, a thoughtful person!

Make friends: Open mic nights are excellent places to make some like-minded friends, and therefore make the next night a lot more relaxed and enjoyable.

If you make a mistake: Remember that open mics are there to make you a better performer- learn from your mistake, then move onto the next performance!

There are many benefits to performing at open mic nights.  Keep it professional, have fun, and let us know how it goes!