July 2011
2 posts
10 Essentials for a Practice Environment
Practice is discovering and solving musical and technical issues, both physical and mental. If you are not doing this, you are not practicing.
Make practice sessions more productive by organizing in advance:
1. Have a quiet space that is free from interruptions.
2. You need a music stand for proper posture. Do not use an instrument case, your bed, the floor, etc.
3. Have a chair that is like...
“Excellence often requires attention to common sense, not just the profound.”
– Joe Dixon
June 2011
1 post
April 2011
1 post
Technique
Perfection of one’s technique is essential, but not as an end unto itself. Technique is the servant of musicianship.
Superb technique can clearly communicate ideas of substance.
February 2011
1 post
Still pleading for conceptual awareness of the difference between singing and yelling. And the difference isn’t volume. Try to hear lyricism.
September 2010
1 post
Joe Dixon Studio Website →
August 2010
4 posts
Metronome
The metronome has three primary uses: provide a specific tempo, teach the ability to perform with an even, steady pulse, and provide a systematic approach for incrementally adjusting tempo while working out fast technique.
The metronome is not meant to count for you. Performers should focus on developing their own inner pulse or internal metronome. This internal clock is then compared to - and...
“Every step of the teaching and learning process must be of the same quality as...”
– Joe Dixon
A Note About Teaching
Teaching is not merely the presentation of correct information. Teaching, in those cases where learning is also expected, requires a cycle of events:
- Initial presentation of a fact, concept, or skill - Student’s attempt to utilize the information - Teacher’s clarification, guidance, or affirmation in direct response* to the student’s attempt - Monitoring, clarification, and...
Youthful Auditions
Listening to young performers prepare competitive audition pieces, I am struck [a swift, firm blow] by the double-standard tolerated by many players.
Firstly, from a technical perspective, students don’t always demand the elements of a ‘complete, finished performance’ that is so often required in much of their ensemble experience. For example, most students would be mortified...