Top 10 Practice Tips for Guitarists

Guitarists of all levels talk of the same problems with making progress: Stuck in a rut, lack of improvement, slow progress, no time to practice, strains and injuries, lack of inspiration. It’s all too predictable.  So, I’ve put together the Top 10 practice tips for Guitarists. In there are plenty of new ideas to bring you inspiration and progress, plus a few old favourites that we Guitar teachers seem to endlessly repeat. Hint: There’s a reason for that!

So Follow these tips and you’ll notice a big difference. Happy playing!

The Practice Tips

1) Be Your Own Roadie!

Have your gear set up in a designated guitar practice area. However small the area, however basic the gear, it must be ready to play. If practicing begins with 10 minutes of cable-untangling, plug-swapping and capo-finding, it’s a chore. Nothing dampens sudden inspiration like testing 6 different patch leads to discover which is broken. If you can’t get playing in under 30 seconds, refine your practice set up.

2) Warm Up or Seize Up!

OK, this one sounds a bit boring, but not as boring as being unable to play for 2 months due to an injury.  It doesn’t have to be a 20 minute Shredder’s Yoga session, just a few scales and picking exercises and you’re good to go. Younger players may not feel the benefit now, but you will in 20 years time when you can still play! Your valve amp and Recording Software need time to warm up, and so do your fingers!

3) No Time Wasters!

Ok, your amp’s on, your fingers are warm, now you have to separate “Practice” from “Playing” – “Practice” means working on new or difficult things, in short bursts, with focus, concentration and regular breaks. “Playing” means playing your existing repertoire for fun and jamming through things you’ve already nailed for as long as you want (within reason!) –  If you spend all your “Practice” time “Playing” then you’re not going to improve very much.

4) Slow Down!

How many times do we guitarists need to be told?!  If you’re still in denial over this one, then now’s the time to sort it out.  It’s easier to speed up something that’s correct, than it is to correct something at speed. Many many times easier. This one’s a cliché for a reason. Get your metronome at 60 and get going!

5) Stay in the Loop!

Looping, layering and recording are essential for developing your harmony & theory, timekeeping, creativity, music technology skills and having great fun. Whether you use a loop pedal, a smartphone app, recording software, or your Dad’s/Hipster friend’s old/new cassette tape deck, you’ll have so much fun layering multiple guitar parts and learning about harmony, texture and timing. This one doesn’t even feel like work. Enjoy!

6) Get Real!

Put yourself in realistic situations when you practice. This helps you to live the Rock Star fantasy, but also ensures that when a band/performance/recording situation comes around, you’re ready.  So this means playing with songs or backing tracks, doing the looping/layering ideas above, jamming with friends, whatever it may be, make practice something that moves you on towards active musicianship. Which brings us neatly onto tip no.7

7) Join a Band!

Be it a one man band, an Acoustic duo, a Jazz trio, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, or a 32-piece Death Metal orchestra that only plays on Tuesdays in towns beginning with ‘P’, it doesn’t really matter. The point is – Play with other people. It accelerates your progress due to performing with the pressure, expectation, adrenaline, motivation.  You’ll see the reasons you’ve been practicing so hard and you’ll see all this hard work pay off.  Plus, the support, musical possibilities and camaraderie are fantastic things. It’s brilliant fun. Do it now!

8) Challenge Yourself!

To make faster improvements and to keep things interesting, set yourself challenges to make a game of your warm-ups or your picking exercises.  So, for example, don’t just practice A minor pentatonic scale, but instead practice B minor pentatonic scale, crescendo on the way up, palm-muted on the way down, standing up, without looking at the neck.  You’ve got things done 4 times as fast, and made a game of it to ensure you stayed focused. Nice job!

9) Record Yourself!

Once a month, record a practice session and a fun playing session and listen back.  There are 2 main reasons for this:

1. Objectivity – You’ll be able to hear yourself play without having to also focus on playing. As well as hopefully noticing how well you’re doing, you’ll also notice little nuances and technical issues you may not have known needed work.
2. To Hear Your Progress – Once you’ve been doing this for a while, you can compare month 1 with month 8, and the bigger amount of progress will give you a huge confidence boost and spur you on for the next 8 months!

10) Break the Rules!

DO practise in front of the TV/while on the phone/ while there’s music on etc. A key component of Guitar progress at every level is making many aspects of your playing natural/“second nature”. This is a great way to develop those skills, while also strengthening your fingers and annoying everyone you live with. Brilliant! But DO NOT play Guitar while driving or operating heavy machinery!

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Special thanks for a great guest post from Alex Bruce. Alex is a guitarist, guitar teacher and writer with 15 years experience. This experience has provided Alex with some excellent perspective on what makes for good, long-term practice habits.

Alex runs Bruce Music – A London-based guitar and piano school. They are a community of young, active working musicians who visit students all over the city to provide expert Guitar and Piano tuition.  

If you’re in London area and looking for instruction, make sure to look them up. If you’re not in London, try out their Skype/Facetime lessons!

More on Bruce music >>

The post Top 10 Practice Tips for Guitarists appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

A Guide to Writing and Pitching Music for Sync to Moving Picture – Part 1

A Brief Sync Background

In recent years, ‘Sync’ or “Synch’ has become a buzz word in the music business. Music sales (or ‘mechanicals’) in the old sense of the word have diminished to the point where bands, artists and writers are looking for additional income streams from their musical works. It seems the entire industry, from the independent singer/songwriter in their home studio right through to the major artists, record labels and publishers, are looking to get a piece of the ‘sync action’. Most publishers now have a dedicated sync department whose sole purpose is to pitch their back-catalogue to sync opportunities. It’s a very competitive sector of the music market, where sometimes the Music Supervisors (the people choosing the music for a film or TV show) are seen as having God-like power over the fortunes of the music creators.

Here’s a simple guide to the world of Film and TV music Synchronization, and writing and pitching to Sync opportunities from my own personal experience. This is a very rapidly evolving part of the industry, but hopefully some of the information will be a useful introduction.

For simplicity sake, we’ll assume a ‘sync’ or ‘placement’ means music or songs used for Film, TV, Games, Adverts, and Corporate Videos.

There are a few different paths, in my experience, to take to get your music ‘placed’ or ‘synced’.

 

1. Music Supervisors

Music Supervisors are generally part of the major Film, TV and Games Companies’ world. This is where music is crucial for a particular scene or title sequence in a film or TV episode or computer game. Music Supervisors are in the business of ‘knowing’ music and knowing what will work based on the emotional impact needed to enhance the visuals. After all, that’s the whole point of sync.

Here’s the good news. Music supervisors WANT to hear your music. Honestly, they do! They don’t have time to listen to your album from start to finish, and they definitely don’t want to be hassled with ‘follow-up’ calls or emails. They do, however, LOVE music. That’s why they do what they do. Most of the music supervisors I’ve met like to receive music via a link – don’t send them actual files via email. A download (e.g. ‘Dropbox’) or streaming link is the best plan. Some supervisors are actually still OK receiving audio CDs.

Music supervisors will hold on to your music if they think it may be useful in the future, even if it’s no use for their current project(s). Again, they don’t like to be reminded that you sent them a link to your music. They will listen, and if they think it could be good for a project, they will file it accordingly for future reference. Don’t expect a call to let you know they’ve received it.

2. Sync Agency

A Sync Agency is a useful link between you, and those looking for music to sync. They will send out a ‘who’s looking’, ‘tip sheet’ or ‘listing’ for opportunities in the business. Some may charge membership, or charge per ‘submission’, or both. A Sync Agency could also act as A&R, and actually evaluate your music before sending it on to the opportunity or even send it back as being ‘not on target’. Their reputation is on the line with the Libraries or Supervisors they are feeding, so understandably, they won’t want to send music forward which they consider to be below standard or not what is needed.

Sync Agencies generally supply music to Music Supervisors (Film, TV, Games), Music Libraries, Producers or Artists looking for songs (not for Sync in this case, obviously), Independent Film Makers, and Editors.

3. Music Library (or Publisher)

Music libraries can contain MILLIONS of tracks. BMG publishing, for instance boast having over 2 million in their ‘Catalogue’. Often, these large publishers buy-out smaller libraries to add to their own catalogue. Some libraries are more ‘Bespoke’ or ‘Boutique’, which generally means they have a smaller number of tracks. Music libraries are often called publishers, because they usually own a portion (or all) of the copyright of the tracks in their catalogue, and therefore make their money by sharing the ‘sync fee’ and ‘performance royalties’ from the placements they achieve with the creator. (More about the money later.)

If your music is in a library, then hopefully they are working it on your behalf by pitching it to every suitable sync opportunity out there, acting as your agent and publisher. You will have an agreement with the library with regards to percentages, plus ‘exclusivity’ etc. If they have your music ‘exclusively’ then you’re not able to offer it to any other libraries, obviously.

4. Relationships – The most useful word in the music business!

After some time listening to successful music industry people, such as publishers and music supervisors, you start to notice the same piece of advice cropping up repeatedly:

‘Build Relationships’

Relationships are absolutely the key to the music business. My most successful syncs have been the result of relationships. Picture this. You have a 9 o’clock meeting with the Director of a major television documentary film, which is in the edit stage, to discuss the music he needs for a particular scene. He gives a brief outline of what he wants then he shoots off to the editing studio. You have something you think may work by around 2pm, and send over a rough mp3 mix. He, and the Editor get back with a few ‘tweaks’ by 3pm, and by the end of the day you have secured over a minute of music synced to the film. Then, the following morning he’s back. He wants more! This happened to me, and together with my co-writer, we ended up placing almost 30 minutes of music in a 60-minute film. This only happened because we had a RELATIONSHIP with the Director. He knew us, knew our work, and trusted us. Also, there was no Music Supervisor on the film, and it was quicker for the Director to join forces with us to supervise the music and create it on the fly, than to spend days listening to track after track on music library websites.

So, get out there and meet people. I confess, I’m normally quite shy, but I recognize that relationships are vital in this business, and I have no choice if I want to increase my chances.

A good start would be to find local independent Film Makers or Production Companies making corporate video. Mostly, they need music, but are not sure where they can get so-called ‘copyright-free’ or ‘royalty-free’ music and use it without problems later. Just point out to them the fact that music isn’t ever really copyright-free, but you can provide them with yours, without worry, for a ‘sync fee’ and you will still retain full ownership of it. (This is presuming you own or control your music 100% in the first place). Film makers love the security of being able to do this directly with the writer or artist.

I’ve known film makers edit for days to a track which they believe they have free license to use, only to find that their film is blocked on certain devices in certain countries if they upload it to YouTube.

Money

On the plus side, a sync fee could be as much as tens of thousands (especially for a high profile ad campaign). It could be even higher for a famous artist singing the theme to a blockbuster film. On the downside, these days the sync fee for a placement in, say, a reality show on MTV is often zero. Sounds unfair, but for most of these shows they will often use over 100 instrumental ‘cues’ (another name for a sync – but more background type use), and for a few seconds each. There’s millions to choose from, so it’s a simple case of supply and demand. Your income will come from the ‘back-end’ royalties. This is your Performance Royalties, usually through PRS membership for UK writers. This could be pennies per sync, so it’s a numbers game. You have to rely, therefore, on multiple syncs, and lots of repeated episodes if this is your market.

For a placement in a feature film which is ‘source’ music, such as music playing from a jukebox in the background of a bar scene, you can expect £100-500, to give a general idea.

The actual amount of performance royalties you receive will depend on the channel, country (territory), time of day, etc. When you have music out there in various placements, your royalty statement can be an absolute lottery.

Often, a film or TV production company working on a reality-type show will have a ‘blanket license’ with a library, and their Editor will work incredibly quickly, putting a 30-minute show together, acting also as Music Supervisor. He will have a ‘bin’ (I hate that term!) of music on a hard drive to use, categorized for ease, crammed full of music from that library, and use as much as he wants. Any sync fees are worked out later for the writers involved.

So, all told, it’s very difficult to put a figure on the value of sync. It’s all down to the individual placement.

Some Useful Tips On the Business Side of Music Sync

Make sure all your Metadata is in place for every track. If a Music Supervisor comes back to your music months down the line, they need to be able to contact you or at least know who you are.

It is YOUR music. You should never have to give away the ownership of your music entirely. In fact, you shouldn’t ever need to give up more than 50% to a publisher (library) to get your music placed.

If you have secured a placement or got a song cut with a major artist, and you need a publisher to deal with the administration and royalties’ collection, a 90/10 in your favour is pretty standard.

Music Supervisors generally won’t want any part of the ownership in your music.

Music Supervision is taken VERY seriously in the Film Industry. Music Supervisors also love to be part of ‘Discovering’ new bands and writers. They will spot ‘less authentic’ music and songs a mile away. They want the real deal!

If you are un-signed and un-published, you are at a real advantage, since clearance for use of your music is far simpler for the Supervisor. Clearance is a major part of using music in film and TV, and top Supervisors have a legal department within the film company to deal with this. If you own 100% of your music, they love it!

100% ownership means that you (or your band as a collective) own the copyright (the song or composition) AND the master rights (the ownership of the recording or ‘master’). This is often called ‘both sides’ in the business. Make sure that if you use a studio, they pass the master rights to you upon payment for the recording session. Get it in writing.

If you are published, it just means that your publisher is part of the clearance and negotiation process for your music to be synced (and they will be receiving their percentage of the sync fee and performance royalties).

If you sign your music to a library or publisher, you need to weigh-up the pros and cons of exclusive versus non-exclusive. Non-exclusive library music sometimes makes supervisors nervous that another library will claim ownership of the sync because they also have it in their catalogue. Exclusive could mean that your music is tied to a single library, and may never achieve its full potential. It’s a difficult one, but at least make sure there’s some kind of ‘reversion clause’ so you can have your music back after a couple of years if there’s been no placements from an exclusive deal.

Remember that it is the Music Business. Take time to take care of Business.

You might not like the idea of library taking 50% of your sync income, but remember that they are in the music business to do business, and make money. They won’t make a penny if you don’t. 50% of a decent sync fee or performance royalties is better than 100% of nothing.

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Gary White is an Independent Music Producer, Composer and Songwriter 1994-present. He plays guitar, bass, keys, drums, whistle, banjo.
For the ‘Techies’, I use Protools, Studio One 3, Logic Pro X, and Cubase 8 – depending on the client’s preferences, Studio One 3 being my ‘go-to’ DAW.

Producer and Writer (Mainstream Pop) credits include Cheryl Cole, Emma Bunton, Gareth Gates, S Club 8.

Production and Composing (Film, TV and Music Library) credits include BBC, Renegade Pictures, Countdown Media, Aston Martin, Red Slate Pictures, Red 90, Hens Teeth.

BAFTA nominated for ‘Best Original Music’ (BBC Documentary)

www.musicsynctank.com

https://www.facebook.com/musicsynctank

https://www.instagram.com/musicsynctank

https://twitter.com/MusicSyncTank

https://www.youtube.com/c/musicsynctank

https://soundcloud.com/musicsynctank

Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/a-guide-to-writing-and-pitching-music-for-sync-to-moving-picture-part-1/

The Benefits of Radio Play

Radio, for me, has been a career for life – ever since landing my first show, aged just 14. Since then, I’ve gone on to present a weekly new music show on the BBC, I help select playlist tracks for Radio 1 & 1Xtra, recommend ‘ones to watch out for’ for Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music, The Asian Network and Television. I choose every track you hear broadcast on my local station, select artists for Glastonbury, Reading + Leeds, SXSW, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, T In The Park, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Worcester Music Festival, Nozstock, The Hay Festival, Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park, The Great Escape, Bestival, LakeFest and The Cheltenham Jazz Festival. So it’s fair to say – if it makes a noise, I’m interested…

 

…and that’s it really. It doesn’t matter what style of music you’re producing, there’s never an opportunity too far away. Radio, like the whole of the music industry, is changing – with more and more audiences online, a greater range of channels and competition in the marketplace. So, while it may not be in your best interest to send your liquid drum ’n’ bass track to a classic rock station (trust me, people spam lots of stations – and achieve nothing), it is worth doing that little bit of homework as to who to send your music to. Google is certainly your friend, there. Some stations, like the aforementioned ‘classic’ rock station, probably won’t be playing anything beyond 1985!

We’ve arrived at a digital age so connected that the technology is moving faster than consumers can keep up with it. Only recently have we seen sites like Apple Music, Spotify & Deezer approaching BBC presenters to act as ‘tastemakers’. Literally, people were arriving on their sites being presented with a lifetime’s worth of music to search for, but not knowing what to type into that box!

Radio is still the fastest way of getting your music out to the widest audience possible. It never ceases to amaze me just how many people tune in – and although the audience may not always be vocal, they’re always there. For that reason, I would say every song you produce must either be – or have a version that is – radio friendly. We’re talking no swearing or overly political lyrics. I once had a track sent to me with the words “my sex life is harder to find than Madeleine McCann” – right at the height of public upset…

Also – bands, I get it, like to rock out. But save that for the album or the live show. The shorter your track is, the better. This seems daft – but remember that song you couldn’t get enough of, as a kid, which you stuck on loop play? That’s because the recording wasn’t long enough and left you wanting more. If you go on too long, then why would an audience ever want to come to a live show, download your track or hear it again?

One of the biggest mistakes bands make is not having an official release date – or sending in a track two days before launch. Radio is a great way of drumming up early support for that big moment in your track’s history – and if you get sent as much music as I do, your release for the day after tomorrow may not get heard for another couple of weeks – in which case, the moment has passed. Particularly if everyone else has supported it; nobody likes to be the last horse in the race.

So, here’s the thing – if you don’t have a release date but you have a killer track, then why should I play it now? Hopefully I, like many of my colleagues, have a long and illustrious life in broadcasting and we’re always in need for an A-list hit. So what’s to stop me from playing this when I’m 64 – when I feel that week’s music is a little weak? Having an impact date not only locks in all media (social or otherwise), but creates excitement among fans. Also – it’s worth looking at significant events in your calendar as to when you’re going to release those tracks. I was speaking to Remi Harris, only last week, who I’ve just booked to headline a stage at the Montreal Jazz Festival. He said: “By the way, did you want a copy of my new album?”. He’d released it only that week and looking on his website, had failed to get the message across – and it was a ‘by the way’ at the end of a conversation. So I said: “Listen, nobody knows about this album yet – so why not hold off two weeks and ‘officially release it in Montreal'”. All he has to do is mention it on stage – the festival will be happy he saved his big moment for them, and he can, forevermore, say he dropped his album at the biggest gig of his life. Otherwise that moment will come and go – and what do you have to show for it – a YouTube video? How great, when approaching new venues, to say: “Here’s my album officially launched at…” – two stories in one product. So my golden advice is to make big moments even bigger.

And that’s the thing: I mentioned, earlier on, that I present a weekly new music show for the BBC. But that’s 166 hours a week I’m not on-air. So although it may appear to the listener there’s tonnes of music I’m not playing, the industry as a whole still counts radio as a trusted guide – leading audiences into new musical discoveries that will make THEM money. Therefore my phone is constantly ringing off-the-hook – not asking, but demanding I recommend new artists for fresh, exciting opportunities. And even when it’s not, I’m constantly bumping into record scouts, festival organisers and promoters who constantly listen in – in the hope that I’ve done their A&R work for them.

It’s a great position to be in and I’d say no opportunity is too small and no music project is insignificant – but you just need a good product to showcase. So if have a killer demo (1st priority), an epic video (2nd priority) and a nailed on social media presence (3rd priority – but pictures speak 1,000 words) then the world is your oyster. As a supporter of new music, I don’t care if you have 300 fans online or 3,000 (you could have bought them). But if you send me a list of 30 dates to prove you can play live, I’d rather see pictures from those shows – because, again, you could have made up a list of past tour dates (it happens). So even if you’re not an active blogger, who cares, because – at the end of the day, it’s the music that does the talking…

Guest post by: 

Andrew Marston | Radio Presenter • Music Producer • Club DJ

Andrew Marston is a British based radio presenter, music producer and club DJ, known for his extensive work with musicians under the BBC Introducing scheme.  He’s now presented his BBC Introducing show for more than a decade.

DJAndrewMarston.com

Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/the-benefits-of-radio-play/

Cascading Harmonics

Cascading harmonics are a technique that combines alternatively plucking harmonics and open strings to create a harp-like effect. It’s a great technique that provides another shade of color to your playing palette.

I was inspired to practice this technique by a Tommy Emmanuel video YouTube. There’s a series of videos from his 2013 Master Class in San Francisco, click here for the series. One of the videos focuses specifically on this technique:

He demos the cascading harmonics technique, and illustrates it’s use in the Chet Atkins rendition of “Over the Rainbow” but, unfortunately, doesn’t explain how to do it very well. And even his slowed down version is too quick to catch the nuances of what he’s doing!

So, for a better explanation, I turned to Douglas Niedt’s site. This site provides a pdf with notation and commentary breaking down exactly how to do Cascading Harmonics.

You can go to his site here, or download the pdf directly here.

A quick walk through Douglas’s pdf will give you the basic technique for cascading harmonics.  From there, it’s a matter of practice.

Still not sure what cascading harmonics are?

Check out this video for more inspiration (and less explanation):

The post Cascading Harmonics appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

The Importance of Research

Find opportunities

All festivals far and wide, whether small or large, tend to look for some unsigned artists to perform – some even solely stage unsigned artists and even the Daddy of music festivals, Glastonbury, run a competition to have unsigned artists at the festival. It is also highly likely that there are venues in your local area that will have live performances from artists just like you. Get searching! Just research specific venues or festivals or the words “venues/festivals in (your county)”. Something is bound to come up. You can also research studios in your area to record in. How can you get exposure without material to expose?

Learn new skills

A producer can learn new recording skills, see reviews on what the best equipment is to use. You could also find new features on the social media sites you use to boost its presence. These are just examples. Evaluate yourself in terms of what you already do and what you want to do and go looking for ways to improve.

Get inspired

Find new music that could influence your work and give you the inspiration to write your next song.  Obviously don’t copy their work but it’s perfectly fine, flattering even, to be inspired by someone else’s creativity!

Get advice

We’re not the only advice blog out there. If you have questions go looking for the answers, there are plenty of us out there waiting to pass on their wisdom for your benefit!

Stay up-to-date with the industry

Like any industry, it is important to understand the world you want to work in. If you don’t understand how royalties work, or you don’t know what a 360 or 180 deal means, or you actually have no idea what labels/managers/publishers are looking for in their artists then the chances are you can easily get screwed over! Obviously, the music is the most important part of what you do, but if you don’t spend time looking into the other (less interesting) bits like finance and contracts etc. then it’s easy for others to take advantage of you.

There are so many ways research can help boost your career. It’s never smart going into anything in life with your eyes completely shut, and we know how easy it is to get lost in your music and get comfortable continuously writing and never really doing anything about it. But opportunities and ways to develop yourself are right on your doorstep, you just have to look for them.

Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/the-importance-of-research/