Jamming Live

This past Friday I posted a Fun Fact Friday with my roommate James. James is a piano tech, which means he fixes and tunes pianos. James and his girlfriend moved in a month ago and there were a lot of things I was looking forward to. Having some company, people who enjoy watching Star Trek and British Comedies, some help around the house etc. However something that didn’t cross my mind was that James is a pianist, which means I get to make live music with someone (an adult) for the first time in a year! Man did it feel good. It was something I knew I missed, but I didn’t realize I missed it that much. I should clarify that I mean jamming on a drum kit. I have played with the Junk line this year and I dont want the Junk Line guys thinking they arent musicians or adults. Because they definetly act like at least one of those things at a time!

Making music with someone is like having a conversation that you dont know where its going to go until you are there. It is such a great form of expression and something that is very therapeutic. Jamming exercises your brain and teaches makes you a better musician. Above all, jamming is fun. It has me longing to come out on the other side of this pandemic so I can make more and listen to more live music. Until then, James and the Junk Line will get me through!

Hilary

Gamify As Much As You Can

Working with a younger age group definitely has its challenges. Especially when music theory is often pretty dry. I have always loved to balance lesson plans between, performative/creative assignments and theory heavy assignments. However sometimes the kids, often the younger ones, lose interest during the theory assignments. That is why it is so important to gamify as much as you can!!!

For those who dont know that gamifying is, it is a way to make often mundane tasks fun by changing the structure and adding points and rewards. I know all you teachers out there agree with me and have done this with your class or your private lesson students. However now that we are online there is an even greater need to gamify.

One thing Ive adopted for my online lessons is a challenge of some sort that I would assign to every one of my students with a point based system. For example I would create three videos of me doing an easy, medium and hard dictation and send one out to every student based on their music reading level. They would write down their answers and send them in to me. I would mark them, give them points and tell them how well they did amongst their peers. Keeping in mind that everyone is competing with not the same thing, but rather something that is an appropriate challenge for their level. Ive also hosted a music reading gameshow for the Junior Drumline! There were four rounds, each challenging them on a different aspect of reading or writing. Anything to get them excited about the ‘less fun’ parts of learning an instrument! And some friendly competition isnt bad either.

Hilary

Making Mistakes

I have talked before about creating a culture where music isnt perfect. I believe that not only in teaching, but also in our adult day-to-day lives, making mistakes publicly is a good thing. Imagine however, what your teen years would have looked like if you were not afraid to make mistakes in front of your peers. What a different experience that would have been! We would step out of our comfort zones more and try new things, all in our more formative years. It could have really changed the way you viewed the world.

I believe as educators we have a strong responsibility in this area. Performing, and even just learning music, can often be very stressful and nerve wracking. Stage fright is a very real thing! However if we continue to provide opportunities for kids to play in front of their peers, these feelings can start to diminish. If we provide performance opportunities that are not formal concerts, we can start to normalize showcasing strengths and weaknesses. In University we would do this all the time in masterclass and it is something I wish I had done in high school as well.

During lockdown I have been able to put this to the test with both an elementary and teen drumline. The results have been amazing! Asking the kids to post videos of themselves working on stuff, and not being afraid to show us their half baked practice, has really added to this culture of mistake making. Now there is much less fear and much more awareness that perfection is not the goal when learning an instrument; progress is.

Hilary

Improvement is Motivation

With the first week of 2021 lessons done I found myself having to play a role of motivator a little bit more. I could sense that most of my students were maybe losing grips with worth ethic and feeling a bit untethered. It makes sense. With us being online and having no performances to look forward to, it is often difficult for them to find the motivation they need to be productive. And this has led me to an interesting problem as an educator. How do I convince my students that improving as musicians is a worthy goal?

For those of my students who are new and just learning their instrument, it isn’t that hard to motivate them. Every week they see real improvement and that is often enough to keep them engaged. However my students who are around 10-13 years old who have been drumming for a few years are really missing those opportunities to perform. I have had to convince them that improving themselves as musicians is something worth working towards. It hasn’t been easy, but I have found that coming up with a real system that they can track has been helpful. This week I want all my students to record themselves playing something manageable. Then in two months I will have them record the same thing so they can see their progress. It is something that I hope will prove to them that this online time wasn’t a waste.

Fingers crossed they don’t lose too much steam! I will have to keep you posted on the results. If all goes to plan this time away from performing may forever change the way they view their improvement and help them to see the importance of working towards being a better musician.

Hilary

Welcome to 2021!

Hello everyone and welcome back! As I sit here typing this after a 2 week break from CRASH, I feel rejuvenated! Ready to take on another year and continue to bring music into your homes. One thing that always comes up this time of year is New Years resolutions. I have never been a big fan of New Years Resolutions. I feel that I can decide to better myself and then quit a week later, any time of the year! However, I do think there is a capacity for musical New Years resolutions. Whether it be to learn a new instrument, change the way you practice, or to promise to play with others more, we can always use a reset button on our creativity.

Personally I would love to work on my drumset playing more this year and get back into performing, even though it would have to be virtually. More to come on that later! Regardless of your musical ability, music is a great way to be creative and to better yourself in 2021. I hope you all had the best Holiday season and New Year possible. I have attached a photo of me and my best friends celebrating the New Year via zoom. Happy New Year everyone! I cannot wait to show you what CRASH has in store this year!

Hilary

‘Tis The Season

This year Christmas will be a little different. It is definitely a bummer to think that we cannot enjoy our holiday season like we normally do. I have decided to set the bar very low and give this year a wash in order to not get me hopes up. For every loved one I do a drive by seasons greetings to, or for all the walks I will go on with my family members, I will count as icing on the cake.

Normally I am a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to the Christmas season. I LOVE Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve. But I could do without Nov 12th- December 20th. I do not like Christmas movies, I do not like Christmas music, I do not like packed malls and I have always had mixed feelings about giving gifts on Christmas. However My family’s Christmas traditions are my absolute favourite.

My two favourite Christmas traditions are my Christmas Eve with my sister and our full family Christmas dinner. Every Christmas/Mid December I gift my sister a well researched 2 player video game which we attempt to beat during the Christmas season. Every Christmas Eve we attend the early church service, stop by our grandparents for a fresh pair of PJs then stay up until about 1am playing video games, drinking wine and eating snacks in our new PJs. Those nights are some of the nights where I have laughed the hardest. We are doing it a little different this year, virtually, but it will still be a blast!

Then on Christmas Day we spend the whole time with family. Parents and sister in the morning, aunts for lunch then the entire extended family for dinner, all 12 of us. My parents were high school sweethearts and I love seeing how close both sides of the family are. My aunts and uncle all went to the same high school and 3 of my grandparents went to the same high school! Wild! But we all get together for dinner and play games until the wee hours of the morning.

This year will be very different. But knowing it will only be one year, and that we are missing out for the greater good, is getting me through it. Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you find small ways to make this holiday season special.

Hilary

The Pros and Cons of Student Concerts

As the end of the year approaches we are reminded of a few things. Holidays, Christmas movies, eggnog, snow and Christmas Concerts. It is customary for a studio to put on an end of year concert to show the parents and families of your students what they have been working on, and to give your child performance experience. CRASH has never done an end of year concert for two main reasons. One, most of my students are on the younger side and performing is extremely nerve wracking. And two, if you’ve read my previous blogs you will know that my idea of a successful lesson product is not always playing a written song. This year however we are doing a virtual Christmas concert. The obvious reason being due to COVID. However it has got me thinking about the pros and cons of holding an end of year concert and why virtual is not a bad way to go.

I have many mixed emotions about forcing a child to perform in a concert. The pros are obvious. The families love attending, the children feel pride in their work, they learn to get over stage fright and how to perform. However as someone who performed in many of these concerts I can tell you there are also a lot of cons. It is stressful, it is scary and it makes you start to resent the music you are playing. I wont say that anyone who hosts a student concert is evil, because that is entirely untrue! I do see the good in it. I however, with some help of my students, have come up with a concert method that works on the pros and leaves out some of the cons.

1. The benefit of online. Doing a virtual concert took all the stress out of performing. The parents shared stories of the video submission process. I heard “they were so proud of their third take so that’s what we sent”. “They were a little overwhelmed on Monday so we tried again on Tuesday and it went much better”. Having the ability to record whenever they wanted, however many times they wanted and in the comfort of their own home was a great way to get their foot in the door of performing.

2. Less rigid performance material. I didn’t want to force anything on the students that they didn’t want to play, but instead challenge them on an area that they do enjoy. I had a few students play on marching drums, some students play on drumset, a few playing Christmas songs on the piano and some of us doing a virtual jam or duet! I even had a student who was starting to really fall in love with composing, so she wrote a song for me to perform in the concert. She was so thrilled to be “in charge” of what I did.

3. Make the concert about them. One thing that has bugged me the most about student concerts is that it feels more for the parents then for the child. Obviously it is great to have the family see how for the child has come and to share in the pride of their hard work, however I want to make sure it isn’t at the expense of the child’s growth or love for music. For that reason I want them to be able to be goofy. To do a fun gesture or make a mistake or do a dab instead of a bow. Whatever it takes to make the concert fun and less rigid for them AND the parents.

I should say that I am not against student concerts, more looking to adapt them to all types of students. I do think that when you get older and into your teens, a little bit of fear and accountability to yourself is a good thing. Even though we will most likely be able to perform in person next year. I may keep up with the virtual workshop, the kids loved it and so did I!

Hilary

Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

Recently Matt and I did a podcast about lesson product and stumbled upon the topic of parent involvement in lessons. Sometimes we like their involvement and some times we want them to let their child figure things out. It is something that can really help your child’s progress and love for music. Here are three things to think about as a parent when your child is taking music lessons.

1. Remind your child to practice! This is a finicky thing in my mind. I know a lot of my students are so energetic and scatterbrained that even though they want to practice they often forget. I try to include the parents in on our practice routine and expectations. All I ask of parents is when its our designated practice time, perhaps right after dinner, then remind your child it is practice time. If that’s not enough and they are being forced to practice then that is something that I need to fix to make practice more fun and realistic for them. It is sometimes a little ambitious to leave practice time solely up to a 6 year old.

2. Keep me informed with what’s happening at home. Sometimes the student is worried I will be mad if they didn’t practice or didn’t do well at something so they don’t tell me the full story. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate a parent messaging me and saying “so and so didn’t quite get the homework this week. They really tried but we couldn’t figure it out” or “so and so is really stressed about this assignment” or “so and so is really swamped at school and only practiced once”. I like to take what my students say to me as truth but it is sometimes nice to hear the perspective of the parent so I can ensure the students success.

3. Make sure you child has everything they need for their lesson! This one is so crucial. I cannot tell you how many times a student has shown up to a lesson and Ive asked “so you have your music/sticks/drum” and they respond with “aaaahh I left it at home” or even worse, “I left it in the car”. It was so close to making it! I am not a mother and I know it can be a lot to keep track of everything for your kids. But I beg of you, help me out! I have had to waste time re printing stuff or come up with a new lesson plan on the spot if they forgot to bring in the song they wrote.

It’s tough to keep track of everything as a parent. And there is a fine line between assisting your child and taking over their activity. Open communication with the teacher and keeping your child accountable are they best things you can do for us!

Hilary

Support Your Small businesses

This blog is mostly a call to arms for those who love their friends. So everyone! We all know someone who has an unconventional job. This is something I would define as ‘not your basic 9 to 5’. Almost all musicians or entrepreneurs fall into this category, which of course includes me! However before I started CRASH and relied on the support, word of mouth and reviews of my peers, I would often ignore others requests for support because it either didn’t feel applicable or because it was slightly inconvenient. Man do I feel like a jerk now!

What I have learned now owning my own small business is how much those little shares on facebook, subscriptions and reviews matter. Now when I see a friends band posting that they are performing or releasing an album, I give their post a quick share saying “check this out!” 2 seconds of my time is huge for them.

One thing I get a lot is that because CRASH is targeted towards teachers and parents, then the general public cannot help promote. I can not tell you how many times I have booked a job or student through someone who is not a parent or teacher. It just goes to show that spreading the word will always help your friends small business even if you feel disconnected from the content. It’s so easy to help our friends business grow, and its free! Share the love, go to your friends show, share their products, review on google. It will mean the world to them.

Hilary

Video Game Soundtracks

This week on the podcast James and I are diving into video game soundtracks, something I am very passionate about. In doing my research I rekindled my love for video game soundtracks. Although we will be doing a deep dive on the podcast I thought it would be a good idea to put some of it into writing here.

Video game soundtracks have an amazing history that started around the 1980s with Pac-Man. Before that sound in video games was very minimal with only a few bleeps and bloops. Of course Pong in 1972 was the first game to incorporate sound at all. We have come a long way from those few synthesizer, 8-bit sounds to fully orchestrated scores. For me, video game soundtracks are such an immersive genre that was essential in my university studying, long car rides and accompaniment to my ‘in-office’ days.

Music is so essential in games. It tells us when to be scared, what type of environment we are in, helps us to focus and can even be apart of the game. Games like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero or Beat Sabre are centred around the music so much so that playing off the beat will cause you to lose.

One of my first dream jobs was to be a video game composer, a dream that has changed, but the passion remains. So here is my top 10 video game soundtracks to enjoy; in no particular order.

Thomas Was Alone- Hotline Miami- Journey- Bully- Rayman- Tony Hawk American Wasteland- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun- Hitman series- Spiderman- Uncharted.

Hilary

Practice Makes Better

I have never liked the saying ‘practice makes perfect’. It implies that something in music is done a specific way meriting perfection. In my mind music is too human and subjective to be perfect. I once had a music teacher in high school who never gave out 100% because he said that you cannot be perfect in music, and even though that annoyed me, it always stuck.

And this is something that I have taken into my lessons with my students. I never tell them to come back to me the next week with something perfect. I just want to see that they worked on it, failed, worked on it, got better and come back to our lesson with questions. That to me is a much better goal than perfection. Instead of perfection, we should be critical about the way we practice and the things we work on. We should be able to identify our mistakes and know when something felt right. That’s why practice cannot make perfect, but rather ‘practice makes better’. And as musicians, being better than we were yesterday should always be the goal.

Hilary

Keeping It In The Family

I get asked by a lot by strangers where I get my musical talents from. And although I believe that talent comes from a combo of hard work, opportunity and personality, there is something to be said about the climate you grow up in. For me music was never a choice. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a family that loved music, knew its benefit and was able to provide me with lessons and an instrument. However not many people know my ‘musical family tree’ so I thought I would break it down for you.

Almost everyone in my very small family has a connection to music. Both of my parents and both of my aunts played in the Burlington Teen Tour Band. The very band that I got my musical start in. My mom played the clarinet, my dad the trumpet, and my aunts played the saxophone/bells and the Flute. I have so many childhood memories watching my aunt Elaine play in concerts, or playing piano with my aunt Andrea. Music was all around me.

Both my parents sing in a choir as well and our house was always filled with singing. Beyond that 3 of my 4 Grandparents were also musicians playing the guitar, piano, saxophone, clarinet and of course drums! I have childhood memories of seeing my Grandfather play in concerts and singing along while my other grandfather played guitar. For me, music wasn’t an ‘if’ but rather a ‘what’. And that what ended up being a life long passion for drums. I’m incredibly thankful to my family for providing the opportunity for me to thrive in a musical environment. Without that I can honestly say I would not love what I do nearly as much.

My sister danced…

Hilary

Transferable Skills

Every so often I come across a skill of mine that feels connected to my musicianship. It has been proven again and again that being a musician has a lot of benefits to both your problem solving and critical thinking. One rope of that there are some things that I believe I am skilled at specifically because I am a drummer. Here is a short list of things that I believe improve when you are a musician/drummer. Keep in mind that this is all experiential, even though some of these things have been proven.

1. Memory. I think the connection between memory and music is huge. I spent my formative music years in a marching band where memorizing music was a must. My memory, especially with names, I believe has stemmed from that.

2. Being a drummer gives a more rhythmic understanding of other instruments. I also play piano and guitar. With guitar specifically, I have never struggled with strumming patterns. I believe that came very naturally due to the fact that I was already a drummer. And my finger rhythm independence has always been strong which I also credit to being a drummer.

3. Enjoying brain games. I love crosswords, sudokus and anything that has patterns. Music is filled with patterns and problem solving that I think connects a lot to my love for puzzles.

It’s been said before and it will be said a million times more. BEING A MUSICIAN IS GOOD FOR YOU!!

Hilary

My First Performance

The first time I ever performed the drums was at my grade 6 talent show. I believe it was the first time my school had a run a talent show, or maybe I only remember it that way because it was the first year I had a talent I was excited to show off! It was 2003 and I was a huge fan of Blink-182, Sum 41 and Green Day. My friend and I decided that we should do our own rendition of Brain Stew by Green Day. It was pretty Metal. My sister feels the need to always remind me that without a singer the song is extremely boring and repetitive, to which I respond, you were in grade three and your dance routine was equally amateur. We are siblings, we keep each other humble!

This was my first experience going through the motions of a performing drummer. I loaded up my 5 piece, blue Westbury kit into my parents car to relocate to the school. Accessing a loading door is all to familiar now. I remember setting up my kit backstage and having the other kids asking me a lot of questions about the kit, to which I knew very little but I’m sure I still spoke with pride. I remember feeling like such a Rock Star. When we performed I remember not being nervous and just having so much fun. After the talent show so many kids and parents told me how cool it was and it was at that moment I knew that would not be my last performance.

I loved the schlep, the adrenaline, the post performance high and performing with a friend. It may have been 17 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday!

Hilary

Exercise Building

One thing that I like to do for my students, that may be different from other teachers, is writing unique exercises and ‘licks’ for each kid. I feel that because each student is different, the approach to each core fundamental should be different as well. One student will struggle with A while working on diddles and another will struggle with B, and their exercises should reflect that. One skill that I try to teach my students is how to create their own exercises to think critically about their playing and think creatively about solutions. Here are my 3 best tips (trust me I have way more) about building an exercise.

1. Know what you want to work on and don’t try to do too much. For this example lets say that we are trying to improve accent tap heights and the student is struggling to keep their taps down. That will be the focus of the exercise.

2. Start from the bottom and work your way up. For this example we would start with a check patten (the basic rhythm we will be using and the foundation). In this case that would be the taps perhaps 16th notes. Focus on keeping them low and establishing the proper tap height during these check patterns.

3. Try to add something contextual to the exercise. Once we have built up adding in accents, maybe a patter with a right hand, and a patter with the left, now add in some patterns that will be seen frequently in their drumming to help work on those more common passages.

The point of exercises is to work fundamentals under a magnifying glass, with a lot of repetition. It is extremely important that these exercises are focusing on the right thing in the right way. And playing an exercise correctly always feels great!

Hilary

The Magic Words

As educators we all strive for our students to have an “aha” moment. It is so unbelievably rewarding when a student is struggling with something then all of the sudden it clicks! I find that 9 times out of 10 this moment is induced by a single sentence. A magical analogy or example that just resonates with a student and all the sudden the world makes sense. These are the sentences that I am always trying to put together for students, and when they land, its the best feeling. Ive been known to shout very loudly.

What works for one student does not always work for the rest. Of course I have a full arsenal of tips and tricks to help a student better understand how something works. But naturally every student has a moment with some technique, song or concept that we just cannot get past. That’s when I start riffling through the list of things that have worked for other students, sometimes with no luck. Then eventually the magic words come out. The student lets out a loud OHHHHHH, then they know exactly what needs to be corrected. Then we celebrate usually with yelling and drumming as loud as we can.

These are the moments when I realized I was meant to teach. Seeing a kid go from frustrated to elated is amazing. It really is the best feeling to see a child so unapologetically proud of themselves.

Hilary

We’re Back!…Kinda

This weeks blog is just me sharing how happy I was this past weekend. It was my first time doing a live CRASH event since February 27th! This past Saturday I was hired to do a Birthday party! Obviously I had to ensure that all social distancing protocols would be followed and the family was nothing but prepared and accommodating to making the party safe for me and the kids. The thing I missed the most though was seeing the kids get excited about making music.

It was such an awesome feeling to see the kids playing together and being proud of the music they were making. I thought it would be impossible to have this feeling so soon during COVID, but it was an incredible time. I missed the kids, I missed yelling passionately until my throat hurt and I missed making music with people. I’m sure the neighbours were furious. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to safely participate soon.

Hilary

An Environment for Creativity

I love drumming outside. I don’t know what it is about playing outside but I sound better, I cant stop smiling and I never want to stop playing. Whether on a pad or a drum, its just so much fun! I was trying to figure out why it was so different than playing inside and it kind of reminded me of something my mom told me about her University days.

She said that when she was stuck at her desk all day studying she would start to get bogged down and become unproductive. Therefore she would move around a lot on campus to find new study spaces to mix it up and keep the creativity going. I always tell people the ridiculousness of my mom studying in a campus phone booth and in her dorm’s communal bathtub. But now I kind of get it… kind of.

When we find that working on something becomes mundane, we need to do something to mix it up and feel rejuvenated. For me, that’s playing outside. For you that could be playing in the bathtub, but I hope not! Mix it up and find some place fun to be productive and get creative!

Hilary

How Do You Know If Your Kid Is A Drummer?

I have parents reaching out to me inquiring about lessons because the KNOW that their 3 year old is meant to be a drummer. It’s got me thinking, how do parents with no musical abilities know that their child is destined to be a drummer? There are definitely some indisputable signs, but I believe there are also some traits that might go unnoticed. So in proper Jeff Foxworthy fashion…

Your child may be a drummer if…

1. They love to tap on things. This is the most obvious one. If your child seems to be intuitively tapping and making rhythms, they may be a drummer.

2. They do well with pattern recognition. If you kid is good at puzzles and continuing patterns they are more likely to succeed at playing rhythms. They may be a drummer.

3. They enjoy math and pick up fractions easily. There are a lot of relationships between math and music, specifically rhythm. By no means do you have to be good at math and fractions to be a drummer, but It may be a sign that your child will have a knack for it. They may be a drummer

4. When listening to music the move to the beat. I’m not just talking about dancing, I’m talking about bopping their head or tapping their toes. This shows that they have an internal rhythm and can identify beat and tempo easily. They may be a drummer.

5. They show multi tasking motor skills. The best example of this is the classic “tap your head while rubbing your belly” trick. It shows that they are able to create an internal rhythm that the two parts share. They may be a drummer.

If you feel that your child may be showing one or all of these signs, I would prescribe a drum pad and sticks to test it out. They can be fairly cheap in case its not their thing and they are quiet! If you are a little bit braver look into renting a drumset! We are an interesting breed, but it is a privilege to raise us. Just ask my parents… actually, maybe don’t.

Hilary

Drum By Example

When I am working with a student It’s important for me to critically watch their mechanics. For drummers that involves almost the entire body, even face. Sometimes when I feel a student is playing something timidly I tell them to make an angry face to play with more weight. A lot of the time I look at a student and I can see something is wrong, or see that their stick path is incorrect. I know something is wrong but I’m not sure what or how to put it into words. It is at this point that I stare intently at my students playing to the point where they say its intimidating. I usually laugh because they are right then explain that I see something wrong and am trying to figure it out!

The way that I solve the problem is with what I call Drum By Example. I look at the student, then I look at myself playing it and try to spot the difference. The best way to diagnose an issue that a student has is to use your own experience and be extremely critical of your own playing. What muscles am I using to play this? How much arm vs wrist? What are my back fingers doing? When I start to criticize my own playing I am able to better verbalize how to implement these skills on my students. Then I use some exciting analogies or visualizers to put it into a nemonic device for them to remember. My most famous being the “loop it and glue it” method to remember how to hold a left stick traditional. I’m hoping to trademark it.

Hilary