Does anyone else remember watching The Music Man? I remember being impressed by what the con man, Harold Hill called “The Think Method” or maybe it was “The Think System.” A refresher (or an explanation for those who never saw the musical):
The con man comes to a small town to sell band instruments
with the promise that he’ll teach the kids so they can have a band. The
instruments arrive, and he stands in front of the class with nothing to teach
so he says, “If you want to play the Minuet in G, you have to first think
the Minuet in G” and has them all sing along with him:
He walks out while they’re all still singing. There’s of course a love story, and then the town finds out he’s a con, and they are about to tar and feather him, when the kids come marching out playing the tune on their instruments (out of tune, and very poorly) to save his hide.
So, is there something to this method? I think so! I like to
listen both actively and passively to a new tune to learn it until I am singing
it in my head. This way when I go to play it on harp, or violin, or guitar, or
nyckelharpa… I know what it’s supposed to sound like. Then as I develop my muscle
memory for where those notes are, I often don’t even need to read the notes.
Just play it by ear, now that my ear knows it! As Harold Hill said, “you don’t need
to bother with notes.” And when I do read the notes after listening and humming
along, I find that I don’t have to spend as much time looking at the notes.
Once I have learned a tune, even if it’s not yet polished, I
often will record myself playing it and listen to that recording, which further integrates the sounds and
the fingering, since hearing my own playing triggers a muscle memory reaction.
I really prefer playing without a music stand in front of
me, and am working toward having all 4 hours worth of music we do in Gaelic Muses
so well integrated that I don’t really need to look at the music. I will probably
always have the book on a music stand for these performances, even if it’s just
to be able to glance and say “oh yeah, it’s that one next” or “oh, yes, I start
this one –” or other specifics about our arrangement of a tune. But always
having to keep my eyes on the music puts a barrier between me and the audience,
and also makes it more challenging to have good eye contact with the other band
members. So this is the goal. Think: La di da
di da di da di da…
For this morning’s 2-hour background music harp gig, I made
mini sets of tunes I know by ear organized by key, and then cut out little slips
of paper with each set. Those lived in the little purse tied to the back of my
harp, and I just pulled one out at a time, and played the 5 tunes in the set,
then set it aside. This is a great way to keep track of time. I had 8 sets of 5
tunes, with each being approximately 15 minutes in length, so they easily
filled the 2 hours. Set up was easy since there was no music stand, music stand
light, binder with music, and clips to hold the music in place. Just tune up
and play!
The one disadvantage of not using a music stand is that people constantly walk up to me and try to start a conversation. “Is that a real harp? The ones I’ve seen are much bigger and made of gold.” “We had a harpist at all our kids’ weddings. Do you play for weddings?" "Is that an Irish harp? I've been to Ireland 3 times. Are you from Ireland? No? Have you ever been? No? You should go!" 😂
If you want to learn some really great Memory Tools for Musicians,
I’ll be teaching this as an online workshop on 10/29/22 from 10 am to noon
pacific time! Here’s a link to register:
https://tinyurl.com/MemoryTools
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