Ben Brown Music

Studio Concert

2009-12-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 29th marked the most recent performance by my students and the last time we have a "recital". I've never liked recitals anyway; boring for the audience, nerve-wracking for the students, and time consuming for the teachers. In other words; no fun for anybody. This time, we booked a cool local venue that hosts national bands. Natasha's is normally closed on Sunday so they were open to the idea of a decent crowd (gotta have butts in seats) and serving their lunch buffet. The students worked up classic rock songs such as Sunshine of Your Love, You Really Got Me, and Money. I hired four friends of mine, professional musicians, to play behind my students.
It was a triumph deluxe! One of my favorite moments was when the audience all clapped in time and sang along on the chorus of I Love Rock and Roll, played by nine year old Henry. The finale, Money featured three of my senior guitar students on solos and a bass student on his first performance ( in 7/4 time, no less!). I was most proud of the professional attitude of all my students. They were there to play and stayed focused on the job during the 4 hour rehearsal that lead up to the performance.
The next one is scheduled for February 7th. I said I'd never do another recital and I won't. From now on; we will only have studio Concerts; real life musical shows that entertain and impress. Or, as Henry was calling it all along "The Gig".

Manic depression

2009-11-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not actually manic/depressive, but like most musicians I have some extreme ups and downs. This morning I worked myself into an amazingly negative state. Everything thing I touched was doomed! I know, shades of Charlie Brown; but it felt real at the time. Even recognizing it as such doesn't always stop me from planning to give up. "Well, the Christmas concert is sure to bomb, but it would be too much trouble calling of this evenings BACUP rehearsal. I'll give up and never do another show ever again as long as I live after nobody shows up for rehearsal." ( I know, I TOLD you it sounds silly now, but that's exactly how I felt!)

Thing is, we had a great rehearsal and it totally eliminated the blues. These wonderful singers, my former students now friends, trying to remember tunes we'd learned years ago and working hard to learn the new ones. They sang beautifully, focused concentration so hard that a neighbor in the other room kept wondering if it was us or a CD we were playing. if we can have just a few more rehearsals like this, the Christmas show will surpass all previous. I don't know how many of you have a bunch of excellent musicians that you've personally trained that you can use to alleviate a funk, but I highly recommend it if you can.

Mem'ry! All alone in the Stagelight!

2009-11-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Memorization
I have a horrible time with lyrics. I practice, write or type the words, rehearse with the band, listen while I’m driving, sing a cappella when I’m driving (used to have a bumper sticker that said “Caution, Driver Singing”) and STILL find myself standing onstage struggling with the second verse of Brown Eyed Girl. I cut myself two little chunks of slack that will apply to most working musicians, especially the pros.

First, I've been performing and teaching choir for over 30 years; how many songs have been in my head? How many have I memorized, performed, then shuffled aside to make way for the next set? Probably almost as many as Bob Dylan has written, and I have it on good authority that Mr. Dylan tours with a copy of all three bound volumes of his PUBLISHED works.

Second, I was at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville for several of their "in the round" shows featuring professional songwriters. Forgive me for not remembering every performer (this IS a blog about memory probs) but Ray Stevens was in one of them to give you an idea that these were not amateur nights. Each night somebody had trouble remembering lyrics to a song they had written OR they had the words in front of them. OK, not Mr. Stevens, but we were all singing along on his.
We’re humans, not computers. These professional song writers work 8 or more hours a day to make up new songs. By necessity their minds NEED to be a little loose. Those of us still out here in the fields need to not only work at creativity every day but do most of our own support work too; schedule and contacts and promotion not to mention the dreaded Day Job that uses some of those precious ganglia as well.
With these two points in mind, isn’t it silly NOT to use the occasional memory helper? Note book, laptop, big-screen TV, poster-board held by fans, I say do what you have to the get the show on. I heard recently about a local cover band that used a laptop for a teleprompter. My only question is what software were they using? That would be MUCH better than my raft of notebooks!

A quick anatomy lesson

2009-11-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

Every singer has heard the advice "sing from your diaphragm", if only as a joke. So where is your diaphragm and why is the "G" silent? Your diaphragm is a thin shelf of muscle that runs horizontally across the inside of your chest about the level of the bottom of the ribs. It performs the admirable job of keeping your upper guts separated from your lower guts, and that about all it does. Your abdominal muscles are what power your breathing. Yes, that six pack you've been wishing for is already there! Everyone has abs, they're just a little covered up on most of us. Besides balancing your torso and bending your upper body forward, they also pull the diaphragm down to make the lungs expand and pull air in and push it up to force air out. Rather than trying to breathe "diaphragmatically" think of breathing to your belly! Imagine the air pouring all the way down to your naval and filling up to your chest like water in a pitcher. This visualization isn't anatomically accurate at all, but it will make your breathing deep and relaxed. Why listen to the anatomists any way? They don't even pronounce a perfectly good "G".

Lip Trill

2009-08-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Warm ups you want, warm ups you get! (And a cat attack.)

Best Singing Tip Ever!

2009-08-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

How to sing like The King!

Zing

2009-08-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Where does time go? And, why does Summer Time go even faster than other time? It's August already and I haven't even started my magnum opus, not to mention kept up with my blog! Here's some thoughts about breathing:

Rehearsal

2009-07-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

The key element to running a renagade a cappella band, such as BACUP is preparation. These former Woodford Singers have a HUGE backlog of rehearsal, like the muscle memory of a cage fighter; all it needs is the proper stimulous to bring that training to the fore front and have them lunging at the opponents throat... er, singing the correct notes and lyrics with little difficulty. That stimulous is listening to the recordings of the tunes while looking at the charts, both of which are provided at a convenient rehearsal website as suggested by our supreme pooba, Rebecca Johnson. Once through is often enough to bring back all the ability that once belonged to the individual leaving the singer free to focus on blend, balance and audience relations.
Not many former choir directors get to work with their former choir members (unless their part of the same chain gang or share a cubical) and I must say that I am proud and imensely pleased that I still get to work with these talented people. Thank you all! Now go practice!

Out of thin Air?

2009-07-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

I love gigging! Playing good music for an appreciative audience is one of lifes most worthwhile activities. I started to say "well rehearsed" music, but that's not always the case. Last Weekend I play 3 gigs back to back. Thursday I played solo on the patio at O'Neill's where I played a variety of tunes for a very friendly crowd. They were receptive to both covers and original material.

Friday night Caribbean Blues played at Harvey's downtown. We played "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees because it went so well at the last gig when we faked it by request. At the end of our show, 1:05 am, a couple who had just arrived tipped us $40 if we would play "that song where she winds up her bottom and goes like a rocket". Drunk as they were, they were also amiable and generous so we put our heads together and managed a passable rendition of Jump In the Line by Harry Belafonte. Why that isn't in our regular repertoire was a mystery to every one. It is now. On the well rehearsed side, we finally got a good video of Collin playing Freebird on the pan! See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8eCmZaTaxE

Saturday night at The Waterfront, I'm nursing what's left of my voice as Caribbean Blues pulls off requests of Sunspot Baby, Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha and Some Kind of Wonderful, none of which we played before that evening. That last one took some technique; which I was watching all night because I didn't Friday night (more about that later).

It's great to play with skilled musicians who are capable of trying a song they might have last heard years ago. Sure we don't play them perfectly, but a solid drum beat, sincere vocals (on the chorus and half verse that I know) and good cooperative playing by all band members can sell a song and keep the crowd happy. Playing well rehearsed music is always satisfying, but there's something special about taking a chance and pulling a crowd pleaser out of thin air.

5th of July party.

2009-07-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Amazing party tonight! In attendance were: Don Alexander, gun nut and leather smith extraordinaire with his wife Trish (didn’t get what she does, something in health care accounting), Harold Sherman pianist and his multi-talented wife Maryanne; Milt Toby lawyer/author and his wife veterinarian Roberta Dwyer; Jim Corcoran, percussionist and college prof with his wife Doris, nurse and oboist; Joe Pagan, Equine nutrition specialist and his wife Anna, dressage competitor, Josh and LaShane Lyons, newlyweds that I married yesterday. Obviously it was an incredibly eclectic group; all in the same house, all interacting amicably. The stories swapped were deep and almost unbelievable. The girls did their part, but it never occurred to me that Jim and Don are two of the best life story tellers I know until I saw them together. Don told tales of mayhem and narrowly avoided destruction which were countered and contrasted by Jim’s stories of growing up wild in Hawaii. I wish I could record them all here, but a combination of over storyation and Margaritas make it difficult to remember. Jim swam with a sea turtle; Honu in Hawaiian, supposed to indicate a connection with this powerful spirit. Don told of a security job at a horse park, living in a trailer for a month to make sure that an ex-employee didn’t shoot the horses at night. I love people with stories. Kim says I held my own, but my own stories seem common place next to the exotic lives of others. Perspective is the key to observing life.

2009-06-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Video Vocal Tip #1

New Orleans music

2009-06-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

New Orleans is known as the home of Dixieland, Jazz and the Blues. Today in the French Market we heard two bands; one playing heartfelt renditions of jazz standards while the other performed a funky version of Black Magic Woman. A solo guitarist played fingerstyle chord melodies outside Cafe' Du Monde. On the way to dinner, our Ethiopian cab driver popped in an instrumental cd from his home land. The restaurant played a classic rock mix. Our favorite lunch spot (so far) features Cajun tunes with a live band in the evening. Yesterday, when the heat drove us into the airconditioned Riverwalk Mall there was a military brass band playing. I haven't been seeking out music like I usually do in NOLA, but still it finds me. I feel notably comfortable in a town that holds music so important and such a part of everyday life.

Impromptue vocal coach

2009-06-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

6-22-09

From New Orleans

This morning I met the concierge of the Marriott Hotel in New Orleans named Sandra. Her husband is a drummer and a DJ who told her she can’t sing.

She admits that when she heard herself singing that it sounded “wrong.” She stated in her lilting, mellifluous voicethat she was “tone deaf”. She is an intelligent, educated woman; personable and comfortable in her job as concierge.

Of course I found it difficult to belief that such an accomplished person wouldn’t be able to control her voice to sing.

Upon asking for more detail, she told me she grew up in a Methodist church, quiet and conservative, which told me that she missed a lot of chances to sing as a child.

She is not tone deaf, she is “pitch deficient.” Pitch awareness is learned at the same developmental stage as language, usually between the ages of 2 and 5. If a person is not exposed to singing at those ages, they have more difficulty learning to match pitch. Match pitch means I sing a note and you sing the same note back.

A person who is pitch deficient will sing a different note or sing the same note but flat. When they put together an entire song they will tend to miss more pitches than they hit, so it sounds like what most people call bad singing. There’s nothing wrong with their voice, they are just missing notes.

I recommended that she choose a song, listen to it, record herself singing short sections of it into a small recorder. While miracles can be accomplished in modern studios, a mini recorder is a very honest representation of your voice.

Since she said she could hear she was singing it wrong, she should be able to listen to the recording and fix the notes that are wrong, then record it again. By repetition she should be able to correct the notes and eventually learn to sing the song. Then perform that one song perfectly for her husband, who told her she couldn’t sing.