performance
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On Gary Marcus’s “Guitar Zero”
About five years ago I began playing acoustic guitar. I played off and on for a while, learning chord shapes, and trying (without success) to build callouses on my fingertips. I also experimented with alternate tunings and used a capo, recording a number of chord progressions I thought sounded interesting (hear the audio file at Continue reading
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On (Making) Recordings Versus (Living) Live Music
“Record stores”, a friend of mine once memorably observed as we drove past one, “are where music goes to die.” And with the demise of record stores, music recordings–and by recordings I mean CDs–have had a tough time surviving since MP3 downloading became the primary way most people get their music. For musicians, it used to Continue reading
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On “Going Classical”: Popular Music Played With Orchestras
It seems as if there always comes a time in the life of a rock band or pop artist to team up with a symphony orchestra. Usually this involves re-arranging songs for strings, winds, and percussion. Move over electric guitar, bass and drums: we’re going classical. Recently I saw Peter Gabriel perform with an orchestra Continue reading
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From The Archives: Chords And Beats
Five years ago I wrote a series of pieces for piano and electronic sounds (percussion, bells, sub bass, pads, etc.) called Chords And Beats. The “chords” were improvised on piano, the “beats” and other sounds played on the keyboard to trigger non-piano sounds. Sometimes the chords came first, sometimes the beats came first. Whatever the Continue reading
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Atul Gawande On Performance And Coaching
In his recent New Yorker article “Personal Best” (October 3 2011), physician and writer Atul Gawande explores the question of whether or not professionals–such as say, doctors or teachers–might benefit from having personal coaches watch them as they work and then provide performance critiques. For most of us, once we finish school and get out into the working Continue reading
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