When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout. View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins
My Fundamentals of Music
My love affair with music began early. I've said this many times, even in other blog posts. It grew out of a determination to be great. To be the best. I am thankful that I had band directors who, early on, stressed the importance of fundamentals.
It was in junior high that I really came into my own as a musician. I had already been playing for three years when I entered 7th grade. Even with all of my experience, I was still put in the intermediate band. "That's the band that 7th graders belong in", they said. I thought I should be in the advanced band and spent my 7th grade year practicing and proving that I belonged in the advanced band.
How could I prove that I should be in the advanced band? Fundamentals. My band director made sure that we knew every single scale possible. I learned all major scales. I learned all of the minor scales (natural and melodic). I could play every scale at least two octaves as fast or as slow as you needed it played. I knew the chromatic scale for the entire range of my instrument (flute, at that time). I also knew the arpeggio for all of the scales. Mr. Pease always stressed, if you can play all of your scales, you can play anything. I'm sure his background as a percussionist helped. Percussionists are expected to know all of their rudiments as that is the backbone of their playing. Scales act the same way.
Some may think that practicing scales is boring. Well, it is. So what? Plenty of things in life are boring. But, the reward is so much greater than the boredom that you endure. Because I know all of my scales, I can sightread extremely well. Playing music becomes so much easier because most songs are built around scales. Playing fast runs is synonymous with being a woodwind player. Runs are so much easier when you know all of your scales.
Scales are so fundamentally important. If you knew me in junior high, then you probably saw me walking around school fingering scales on my air flute. Yeah, I did that. I never missed an opportunity to practice. I had to make advanced band! Which I finally did. In 8th grade.
Can you play an instrument without knowing your scales? Of course you can. You can type on a keyboard without knowing what ASDF JKL; means, too. But, you'd type a lot faster if you did. And you will get a lot further, faster if you know all of your scales.
Finding the Right Instrument
Playing the flute came easy to me. I was (and still am) a very good flute player. In 6th and 7th grade, I made the All City band. In 8th grade, I made 2nd chair Junior Regional band right behind the girl that was first chair in my band. Plaza Jr High School had lots of orange blazers represented in the Junior Regional band. Flute was fun, but, I knew it wasn't the instrument that I wanted to play for the rest of my life. As a matter of fact, I wanted to learn all instruments!
The city of Virginia Beach ran a summer band program every year. Kids from all across the city would all go to one school, learn an instrument and play in a concert band. I learned to play the flute in summer band. So, I took the opportunity to learn other instruments during summer band. One summer, I learned clarinet. The next, I learned the trumpet. While I liked both of those instruments, I knew that neither would be my main instrument.
My junior high school band director would bring in outside instructors (who I now know were his friends) to help out the band. One of them happened to go to James Madison University. He brought in a tape (yes, a cassette tape) of JMU's marching band playing the theme song from the Jetsons. It was the best thing my young ears had ever heard! I decided that I was going to JMU.
From that moment, everything I did was in preparation for going to JMU. I started piano lessons because I had heard that you had to be able to play piano in order to be a music major. Now, I just needed to pick the right instrument. I knew that my chances of getting into JMU were slim on the flute. Every audition I would go to, there were always at least 100 flute players. While it did feel good to be #2 out of 100, I didn't like those odds.
In 8th grade, a whole new world open up to me. I was finally able to be in the Advanced Band! In Advanced Band, we played grade 4 and 5 music (which in a junior high school band was almost unheard of). I was able to hear all of the other instruments and the parts that were written for them. Our band director, Mr. Pease, taught us to listen and learn ALL of the parts, not just our own, so that we knew how our part fit into the rest of the song. By doing this, I heard some amazing melodies and countermelodies in the baritones and french horns. I wanted to switch to baritone! So, before the end of the school year, I went to Mr. Pease, my band director, and told him what I wanted to do. He took one look at me and said, "Your lips are too small for the baritone. Why don't you try the French horn?" He also made sure to add, "If you want to switch instruments, you have to come back playing the French horn just as good as you play the flute!" That stuck with me as I was learning to play the horn that summer.
When school started again that September, I was ready. There were two horns in advanced band that year. I listened and learned to blend in with the first horn. Together, we played like one horn. That year, after playing horn for 3 months, I made 2nd chair All District band... again. This time, right behind the first chair player from my school. Again, the Plaza Jr orange Blazers ruled the All district band.
Plaza Jr ruled the Junior District Band!
Picking an instrument is a process that is different for everyone. I didn't get to pick my first instrument, but it introduced me to a whole new world that I had no access to without an instrument. So, don't put too much emphasis on what instrument to start out on. Just pick one that interests you. If you don't like it, you can always pick another one!
If you or musician you know is considering attending college and is interested in a music scholarship, consider our College Scholarship Audition Prep Lessons.
It Was Just the Beginning...
Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are of being with my dad at his friend's house and hearing Hall and Oates' "I Can't Go For That" alongside Earth, Wind and Fire and Parliament Funkadelic (who scared the mess out of me with those costumes!). I remember riding in the car harmonizing along with cassettes of Take 6 and the Winans. Then, one day, I was given the opportunity to actually play and not just sing music.
When I was 9, a family friend gave us her daughter's old flute. I hadn't thought about playing an instrument before and if I had, I knew the flute wouldn't have been the one I picked. But, since I had no choice, I was stuck with it. I had to give it a try.
My mother enrolled me in a summer band program and my musician days began. For the first week of class, I sounded terrible. There were 14 flutes in my beginner class and I was 2nd to last. The only reason I wasn't last was because I could actual finger the notes I was supposed to be playing. Only problem was that there was barely any sound coming out of my flute.
One day, my teacher asked if he could take a look at my instrument. He looked amused as he inspected my flute. Apparently, it was old and all of the pads needed to be replaced. Plus, there was a loose screw that made two of the holes that were supposed to be closed stay open. After tightening the screw, he handed the flute back to me. I closed my eyes and blew the most beautiful note I had ever heard. I surprised myself. Immediately, I was moved to 1st chair. It was never me, it was the flute. I had been doing everything right. My love affair with music had begun.