Best Practice for Musicians

Cello as a folk instrument? In this 40-minute interview, Judy Minot speaks with cellist Natalie Haas, who has influenced an entire generation of cellists, making cello an acceptable and even sought-after instrument in trad music ensembles.  They talked about what we call "trad," the benefits of playing with others, specific cello/accompanist practice routines, incorporating rhythmic variation, crafting an arrangement, and much more. Links/Resourceswww.nataliehaas.comNatalie and Brittany Haas's CD "Haas" out nowMike Block's Guided Practice: www.mikeblockmusic.comCheck out Nick Canellakis: The Practice Fairywww.instagram.com/nick.canellakis_cellist/reel/DRcd_0Ijvhm/Valley of the Moon Camp www.valleyofthemoon.orgScottish String Fling ashokancenter.org/product/scottish-string-fling-2027 Judy Minotwww.judyminot.com/bestpractice Memorable Quotes "Once you have this vocabulary of rhythmic patterns that you can draw from, basically you're teaching yourself to think like a drummer.""The goal of practicing is to be able to play better with other people. Because that's way more interesting than making music on your own - which can be satisfying in and of itself. But making music with other people is really what it's all about.""10 to 15 minutes of focused practice is way better than an hour of unfocused.""This is a rhythm instrument, too. It can be percussive. It can be the whole rhythm section for a band. You don't need a drummer, you don't need a guitar player. Yeah. If you embrace this, concept of strings being both chordal and rhythmic, then you have this whole new world opened up to you." Guest Natalie Haas is an influential "roots" cellist. She grew up in San Francisco playing with her sister, the acclaimed American fiddler Brittany Haas, and by her early teens was touring with the Scottish violinist Alasdair Fraser, which she continued to do for 25 years. She has played and recorded with many of the most well known names in European and North American "roots" music. She also teaches, notably at the Berklee College of Music, but also at Valley of the Moon Camp, and Ashokan String Fling and has recently released her second CD with Brittany, "Haas." Host Judy Minot is a music educator, musician, and author of the award-winning book Best Practice, Inspiration and Ideas for Traditional Musicians. Judy is an evangelist for the power of trad/folk/roots music to bring richness to our adult lives. A lifelong musician but never professionally, she enjoyed a long and successful career in broadcast television and in digital marketing, picking up two platinum records and a platinum video, multiple awards. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art of aikido, is a certified yoga teacher, a regular contributor to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and has sung on the stage of Carnegie Hall. She teaches Best Practice concepts online and in person around the world. Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode.Start transforming the way you practice - and play.Rate, like, comment, and share.

In this 55-minute interview, American violinist Liz Knowles talks with author Judy Minot about "the practice of practicing." Liz has a strong foundation in both classical and Irish traditional music and is known for her work with fiddlers Liz Carroll (The String Sisters, The Lizzes Podcast) and Martin Hayes (Martin Hayes Quartet). She and Judy covered a range of topics about music practice, including using perception ("see-hear-feel") to address practice issues, the emotional component, when to focus and when to let go of focus, tips on how to improve focus, getting inspiration from other disciplines, practice as a meditation, and finding a practice routine that fits you. Links/Resourceswww.lizknowles.comwww.openthedoorforthree.comBooks mentioned:Molly Gebrian:  Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician's Guide to the Neuroscience of PracticingMihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Haruki Murakami: Novelist as a Vocation Judy MinotWebsite https://www.judyminot.com/bestpractice/Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/BestPracticeforMusiciansMemorable Quotes"It's really important to notice when focus goes out the door.""You can be perfect and have something really down. And then if your mind gets in the way, it's over. Game over.""Sometimes I think we think practice is all the technique, and it's all the getting our bodies to do certain things, but it's the mind-body connection. And if you're not looking at every piece of that, then you might be missing the kind of that that little door that just opens into the ease that you're looking for.""You can't play an instrument without at some point having to engage with the whole body and understanding how energy works, how muscles work, how the physicality of this works.""It's only you in that room. It's only you on that instrument. It's you that is going to pull you through to the next thing. A teacher can help you, sure, but the reality is, it's on you.""It's the most wonderful thing you can do for yourself to really see who you are right now and accept that this is where you are right now. Regardless of what anybody else is practicing, you find the formula that works for you, that keeps you interested, keeps you engaged, keeps you positive..."Guest Liz Knowles is a violinist, composer, arranger and teacher whose distinctive, rich sound comes from her shared foundation in both classical and Irish traditional music. She is a member of the Martin Hayes Quartet, the supergroup the String Sisters and Open the Door for Three. She's also a podcaster, producing the "Lizzes Podcast" with violinist Liz Carroll. At a young age she toured as the violinist in Riverdance. Her many notable performances and recordings include as soloist with the New York Pops, and featured artist for the Ireland 100 festival at the Kennedy Center.Podcast Host Judy Minot is a music educator, musician, and author of the award-winning book Best Practice, Inspiration and Ideas for Traditional Musicians. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art of aikido, multiple awards for video editing including two platinum records and a platinum video, is a certified yoga teacher, and has sung on the stage of Carnegie Hall. She teaches Best Practice concepts online and in person around the world.

In this 55-minute interview, English #accordion player and teacher Mel Biggs talks with author Judy Minot about making music and practicing. As a teacher she has plenty of tips for amateur musicians, and anyone who wants to learn music. She offers #practicetips on learning by ear, finding your way in sessions, playing in rhythm with dancers, finding the similarities in tunes to boost your repertoire, calming the inner critic, working with a metronome, and the benefits of super slow practice, and listening "beyond the tuned sound." She and Judy discuss their plans for their upcoming workshop at Halsway Manor in England, titled "Practice Smarter, Play Happier." Links/Resources https://www.patreon.com/cw/melbiggsmusicwww.melbiggsmusic.co.ukwww.folkunbound.co.uk Judy MinotWebsite https://www.judyminot.com/bestpractice/Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/BestPracticeforMusicians  Memorable Quotes from This Episode"We learn to take the air knife and we go into the tune like it's a block of marble. And we've spent ages hewing this block of marble, and we've got the tune. It's right there in front of us, but now we can go in with our air knife, and we can carve bits out of it and soften certain bits and smooth them over.” "I had lots of quick chord changes on at the time, unfamiliar chords, because on the melodeon there's kind of like three positions you can have your chord inversions in... they're all slightly different shapes for the same chord. And I would give them names like Dagger and Sword because a dagger’s a short blade and a sword is a long blade. And it was just like, you know, just telling my fingers how far to stretch."  "if you [practice] really slowly, this magical thing happens at speed, where you've got the muscle memory and you've got the strength in your fingers because you've done the weights at the gym really slowly," Guest Mel Biggs is well-known on the UK folk scene as a musician, melodeon teacher and Morris dancer. Mel has a strong reputation as a thoughtful, perceptive and mindful teacher, with an ever-expanding library of videos on practice and playing. As a performer she performs with the Anglo-European trio Moirai, and plays for the vibrant Harlequin Morris. Mel has also made a name as a podcaster, with her series of interviews with great melodeon players. Podcast host Judy Minot is a music educator, musician, and author of the award-winning book Best Practice, Inspiration and Ideas for Traditional Musicians. Judy is an evangelist for the power of trad/folk/roots music to bring richness to our adult lives. A lifelong musician but never professionally, she enjoyed a long and successful career in broadcast television and in digital marketing, picking up two platinum records and a platinum video, multiple awards. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art of aikido, is a certified yoga teacher, a regular contributor to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and has sung on the stage of Carnegie Hall. She teaches Best Practice concepts online and in person around the world. If you enjoy Best Practice for Musicians, subscribe now so you don't miss an episode.Start transforming the way you practice - and play.Rate, like, comment, and share.

In this 45-minute interview, #irishflute player and singer Shannon Heaton talks with author Judy Minot, focusing in on issues for amateur musicians and anyone who wants to learn music. She offers #practicetips on breathing, phrasing, musical expression and overcoming challenges. Shannon talks about fitting in to Irish traditional music sessions, breathing and phrasing, intonation, consistency in practicing, recording yourself, addressing your inner critic, being a beginner, and setting goals. #musicpractice #irishtraditionalmusic #irishmusicMemorable Quotes from This Episode "If you're really not fluent with a language, you don't just jump in on the high level conversation. But just to say, "hi, how are you?" you just need a couple of words just to sit down and play a few tunes." "Listening is a thing to do." "Have high expectations for yourself. How much more beautifully can my rhythm hit? Nobody's going to say, 'Oh, my gosh, she's like, too rhythmic!' It's never going to happen. 'Her rhythm is too clean. Her rhythm is too, too lovely!'" "Nobody said it better than my friend Alexandra. She said her biggest hurdle to learning by ear... was overcoming her own impatience with herself... At the end of the day, it's just exposure therapy and getting over your own impatience."Guest Shannon Heaton is a world-class American performer with Irish roots and universal appeal. She's also a prolific and creative composer and arranger. One reason I wanted to talk to Shannon is that she's passionate about making Irish music accessible to players and listeners of all levels and backgrounds. She's done this with her duo with guitarist Matt Heaton and with her podcast Irish Music Stories. Shannon has created free resources for Irish traditional musicians, including the Virtual Guided Session, the long-running tune of the month video and podcast series, and four books of tunes oriented to beginning and intermediate players.Chapters:00:00 Teaser Open00:48 Intro02:10 Irish Music Stories, tunes, and Irish music sessions04:00 Building blocks: Preparing to play in Irish music sessions07:46 Learning to have a defined sense of rhythm09:08 Active listening13:09 Checking in on your pitch14:08 Shannon's latest projects15:58 A 3-minute consistent warmup routine helps with focus17:21 Playing in the car, playing in the closet19:15 Recording yourself21:05 Being discerning vs being critical21:43 Patreon info22:08 Breathing26:24 Phrasing27:47 Being a beginner at things. Learning by ear as an example.31:02 Finding time and motivation to practice34:25 Setting higher goals and challenges36:30 Composing38:09 Irish Music Stories podcast39:03 Working through mistakes and difficulties40:44 Metronomes and the Casio beats42:17 The In Harmony tune book43:14 The importance of learning "session standards"46:46 Outro

Memorable Quotes from This Episode"The magic ingredient is feeling like you're able to do a thing. " "Music is a language. But it's not one language. It's a whole bunch of different languages. The idea is to treat it as a language so that when we are spoken to by another musician, we can understand what they said to us." "The ideal is to keep our ears, to keep our fluency of hearing and speaking up, along with the fluency of our nervous system." "At the end of the day, we are building reflexes. Because the conscious effort that we have is limited." "For every musician, some sort of inventiveness or creativity with what you're given is possible, and fun! And should be part of your daily playing." Guest Dallas Vietty is a world-recognized accordionist and band leader, most well known for playing American jazz, European swing in the tradition of Django Reinhardt (gypsy jazz) and French accordionists. His groups have performed at some of the top U.S. festivals including TEDx Philly, Djangoary Festival, and Djangofest Northwest. He has performed on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, and at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, as well as many performances in New Orleans and the Auvergne region of France. Dallas is also a thoughtful and attentive teacher whose accordion program is well known among aspiring jazz accordionists. Podcast host Judy Minot is a music educator and musician, and the author of the award-winning book Best Practice, Inspiration and Ideas for Traditional Musicians. Judy is an evangelist for the power of trad/folk/roots music to bring richness to our adult lives. Judy herself has never been a professional musician. She enjoyed a long and successful career in broadcast television and in digital marketing, picking up two platinum records and a platinum video, multiple awards. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art of aikido, is a certified yoga teacher, a regular contributor to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and has sung on the stage of Carnegie Hall. She teaches Best Practice concepts online and in person around the world.