A

[Six Black Roses]

 

[Harp Heaven]

I`ve listened to all your mp3`s:

 

For playing 6 months, the playing is ok. Its fairly rhythmically played, the touch is ok, technique is over average for such a short time played.

 

Where you lack profiency must be composition. Your songs tend to be repetetive, unoriginal. It is nice to listen to G F Eb D for half a minute, but from then its a strain to listen to.

 

Sorry for my harsh comments, but you should try to vary the musical content a little. Some of the strings arrangements are nice, but they should rather add to the atmosphere you obviously want to create, than be melody lines.

 

As far as I understand, your goal is to make ambient piano music, so delve into your syntheziser and find some breezy pads, make every chord stand out good, slow down the piano arpeggios and vary the songs a little more. Hope that helped.

[Six Black Roses]

 

[Harp Heaven]

Phew, you don`t hate me then. Good luck, friend.

[Brittanylips]

[ 12-28-2001: Message edited by: Brittanylips ]

[Brittanylips]

NO.

 

 

Considering that the "incubation" period for musicians is often longer than for brain surgeons, it would be just as valid a question to ask, after toying with a science kit for 6 months, if you should devote yourself to brain surgery.

 

Why not continue to enjoy the hobby for what it is? After all, better to be a happy hobbyist than a frustrated professional. And to be honest, there is nothing within your musical example to suggest that even becoming a frustrated professional is within your grasp. If you wished to seriously pursue it anyway, and all the power to you if you did, I would suggest working intensively for another 10 to 20 years and then reposting your question.

 

-Peace, Love, and BrittanyLips

[Magpel]

Yes, I say, sure. Give your life to music, understanding that you have no idea what music will give back.

 

You're 15, you're getting lost in music, getting better daily. I see no harm in comitting to it now. What are the alternatives? Web programmer? Sales representative? Give music a go. You can change your mind later.

 

My only critique is non-musical: Right now, *drop* the habit of announcing that you've only been playing 6 months. It simply doesn't matter. I totally understand the reason why we say these things. When we stick our necks out by offering up music for critique, we are afraid of judgement. So we disclaim it. We qualify it. In some instances, we judge ourselves harshly in advance to steal the thunder of the listeners who would judge us harshly: "I know this sucks, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway..."

 

Do away with this. To me, it is interesting info that you're only 15. It's interesting, and very moving, that you started writing music as a way of expressing the loss of your father. But the number of months you have played is not interesting and is no real foundation for meaningful judgement. It's defensive behavior.

 

Just throw it out there and keep a stiff upper lip. If they like say thanks. If they don't, say thanks. Easier said than done, but you're only 15. You can cure yourself of the disclaiming habit before it sets in too deep. Lord knows I wish I had...

 

John

[Harp Heaven]

Amen to that.

[Slowly]

I say go for it. There`s plenty of musicians out there thats only making $50-60000 a year. But!!!!!!!!. Always have a back-up plan. Thay say Russians don`t even go to the bathroom without a back-up plan. Always have a back-up plan. Casey.

[Six Black Roses]

 

[Bucktunes]

Originally posted by Six Black Roses:

So what if I'm 15? I already have an idea of how fast I can progress. I don't think it's very dumb to be grasping my dream at such an early age...

 

I agree. You are now the age I was when I was first bitten by the music "bug". Now I'm 41 and playing music has been my full-time job for the last 12 years. With the right direction and determination, it can be done!

 

if the music industry doesn't welcome me, so what? I still have one hell of a backup plan...

 

I guess I should add that I work because I play fairly popular music that people already know and enjoy. There will always be a demand for that. As far as selling your own music? That will always be a bit of a dice throw no matter how good you are. It's the nature of the biz. Keep that back-up plan on track!

 

The main thing is that he enjoys making the music he makes.

 

This will always be true whether or not you play professionally. As someone said earlier, if you're not enjoying it, why bother? You might as well be selling used cars. You sound like you've got your head on pretty straight. Good luck!

 

Peace all,

Steve

[Cap]

Like Louis Armstrong said, if you gotta ask, you'll never know. Check out the movies "Bird" or "Round Midnight." They're just 2 musicians who made the deal with the devil. Bill Evans is another. No one "wants" to sacrifice their life for the art, but it happens anyway--providing you're totally consumed by what you do--the music--and not by some stupid dream of what you'd like to be.

 

Cap

[meccajay]

Roses I think you fit in here just fine!!

 

Quincy Jones once said about pursuing music as a career: "If you can be discouraged then you should be discouraged" meaning...well, I think you get the meaning.

 

Most of us in here are old and young dogs who CANNOT be discouraged, I tend to think you'll be just as passionate as we are when you're past 30 or 40. Which is why I say you fit in just fine.

 

[ 12-28-2001: Message edited by: meccajay ]

[Alejandro]

If you love music, you will stick to music even if you never become famous nor well known. If you dont love music, you will never become famous anyway (making even acceptable music requires a lot of effort and devotion).

[industriac]

I took a listen to the songs you wrote. I like the tone of the music...its somber and it has a meloncholy sound to it.

 

Also, your piano playing is quite nice for a person who only taught himself in 6 months. Keep up the nice playing.

 

The strings used in your songs, sound a little too harsh, for lack of a better word. Id think your songs would have a better balance if you used a smoother string patch.

 

About the comment before that said something about repetitive and unoriginal. Well, since you have been composing for a short time, and youre writing, i assume, from your emotions, its sorta bound to happen that your first couple of songs are going to sound the same.

 

Ive been composing for about a year now, and my songs still have a certain flavour to them because Im writing from emotion based on some experiences in life thats happened. Just keep on working on your music, and dont be discouraged by any negative remarks.

 

If you want, SBR, you can hop over to my website and download some of my music, http://elecktrobank.tripod.com/infinity

I would like your opinion.

[Six Black Roses]

 

[Brittanylips]

Originally posted by Six Black Roses:

lol @ the bathroom thing

 

So what if I'm 15? I already have an idea of how fast I can progress. I don't think it's very dumb to be grasping my dream at such an early age, especially considering that I know more about comps than the teachers in college teaching it... if the music industry doesn't welcome me, so what? I still have one hell of a backup plan that'll keep me above the 50k a year thing.

 

The great musicians mentioned in the wise posts above were all possessed to work like a mofo. They didn't dwell on how much they already knew -- whether they played for 6 months or 60 years. Plus, if you're self taught, how would you know that you know more about comps than college teachers? Get rid of the genius complex (it will never do you any good), and get to work!

 

If you're serious, you should seek out teachers who you respect and study with them. A good teacher will help you shed typical beginner traits such as generating notes simply based on where your hands fall comfortably on the keyboard within a scale. For instance, in "Life's Venomous Labyrinth," the right hand is noodling around g-a-Bb-a, and the left hand is slowly noodling around g-f-Eb-d. Both the right and left hands are simply noodling stepwise around the g-minor scale, which is not all that inventive or interesting.

 

On a side note, some of you seemed a little snappy... not sure what I did to do that, but someone emailed me suggesting that a person who's been doing music for 24 years and has not been "discovered" will snap at a little "kid" newbie if that "kid" newbie starts to ask questions about achieving more than that been-in-music-for-24-years has ever done... Just an email I got

 

I don't think anyone's snapping. You ask a question to the world, via the internet. You never know who may answer. From my perspective as a musician who has "been discovered" to use your phrase, it is clear to me from your music that you are a beginner. That is neither good nor bad, it is simply a fact. It's where everyone starts. Being a beginner is great. Now work at it for a decade or two or three. If you have talent, it will bubble up. And Lord knows there's always room for more good music and musicians.

 

I don't put the 6 months thing up for defense. I'm really not afraid of getting a bad review of my songs. If a person doesn't like my song, so what? Shall I go kill myself? I don't like rap, I think it sucks... if I tell that to a rap composer, shall he go and kill himself? No. The main thing is that he enjoys making the music he makes.[/QB]

 

There is a difference between not liking a specific song, and rejecting all songs of a particular style. If you don't like rap, chances are you wont like a rap composer. However, that is not what is going on here. In this case, you have presented music and solicited feedback, and you've gotten great feedback. The criticism is not based on rejecting a type of music, but on responding, with various degrees of diplomacy, to your presentation. All the power to you for making it, and good luck in picking and choosing that which you find helpful from the response.

 

(P.S. My own shady past includes varied musical experiences, from studying piano and composition at Juilliard, to a stint at Def Jam! Give rap a chance. It doesn't all suck.)

 

Peace, Love, and BrittanyLIps

 

[ 12-28-2001: Message edited by: Brittanylips ]

[Pat Azzarello]

Sure, give your life to music. It's a commitment for the rest of your life; but not necessarily a financial one.

I went to school for it, played professionally for years, don't make my living at it now, but love it as much (if not more) than ever. I also appreciate more than I did 10, 20, 30 years ago.

 

Enjoy what your doing, and set your goals high... if you set them low, you're more likely to succeed, but that success will be hollow. And always be the best human you can be: help others out whenever possible and don't take undo advantage of anyone.

[R_dup1]

Wow, what great feedback you got from everyone here. Better, I think than what you got on Harmony Central. I don't think anyone snapped at you, and I think you got a lot of very helpful and constructive accurate feedback. Enjoy it, put it to good use and be glad that the people here took the time to listen to and try to help you with your music.

 

Give your life to what you love and the rest will work out fine!

[Intheether]

black roses:

You should follow your heart, no doubt, but do keep in mind that 'fame' in the music business is often more about luck than talent. I wish it weren't true, but that's how it goes in all creative professions. So yeah, practice your ass off and that'll give you an edge but you may find yourself still waiting for your big break after many years. Nothing is impossible though. ~nel

[jimbyjoe]

vlad,

 

serious about music? want to commit your life to it?

STUDY IT. don't be content with just playing all the time. if you think you can play fast, study decently for a few years and you'll be amazed at it. i started playing socially at around 14 or 15. i'm 24 now and music is nearly the biggest part of my life. but i've worked my butt off in the process.

if you wanna go far it will cost you somehow. pay the price.

 

pray for peace,

kendall

[Robert Smedberg]

"You want fame?

But fame costs!

And right here you start paying, in sweat."

[1Empress_Scorpio]

Six Black Roses (and to all young aspiring musicians a-like -- peers),

 

I am a self-taught musician and self-made producer/recording artist, and couture designer, with my own labels for each (at the current age of 23 and female).

 

This message isn't about me however, this message is to offer motivation and encouragement to those young individuals like yourself, who feel the need to do music for more than just a hobby... (If I am correct?)

 

The key is to simply enjoy what you do, -- be true (real) to your own sound and be prepared to share it at every opportune moment which comes. (If you want truly to be heard and to maybe eventually be professional at it too.)

 

No matter what your objective and motive to share the music is, feel satisfied and proud that you are even doing it. It is the proccess of getting there that counts -- not the rewards to be expected.

 

I found that since I have brought my music out publicly, busking and participating in small free performances, have gained me the best experience and exposure possible. For now, it's about the connections and friendships. But along the way, it's good to consider too (when the time is right) the business aspect. Or, should I say -- the entrepreneurship.

 

I earn a comfortable, to exceptional living and peace of mind. Due to the fact that: if I don't get up off my ass and dedicate the needed time into presenting my art and products -- that I loose/miss out.

 

If I succeed -- it is because I worked hard, if I have failed -- it is because I need to work harder. So in the end, it's all about making it happen -- for "yourself". No one else will do it for you. Don't be intimidated by other musicians, simply immerse youself to be inspired by them -- they will be inspired by you.

 

Some "musicians" have studied music all their lives and may never persue a "career"; some of them may even praise and encourage your natural gift, and talents.

 

Happy journies and joyous discoveries,

 

 

...be confident in your art and your listeners will be confident in you... accept the critiques (both possitive and sometimes hurtful) learn from them and move beyond. But most of all -- embrace and be a "grateful grapefruit" ( -Bjork quote ) to the kind and genuine praise! Try not to be too "big headed" and compete, compete - compete; because it's really only about "being" yourself. Really!

 

Vi An

www.mp3.com/just_vi_an

 

enjoy!

 

[ 12-29-2001: Message edited by: 1Empress_Scorpio ]

[1Empress_Scorpio]

Wow, checked out your mp3.com site -- I say, young man; you are really gifted, there is talent in this one!

 

When you find yourself humming a tune you just heard a few minutes ago (sinking into your mind)-- and it's not some darn gimmick of an ad on tele, you know its a good tune.

 

Keep it up, look forward to hearing more from ya!

 

vi

 

www.mp3.com/just_vi_an

[sevush]

This coming from someone considered a child prodigy and in my early years, a technical wizard and speed king.

 

Took me years to get this one, from my dad who is a jazz drummer - it's not the notes, it's the rests that are a bitch.

 

What you get, way beyond six months, is the ability to use space in composition and performance.

 

Throw yourself at it now, go ahead and brag about your speed and prowess and look for someone else to stroke you. In the end, all that matters is what you feel when you play.

 

If you're thinking about how/what to play next, you're not really playing. Real playing comes when you stop thinking. Thinking involves the ego, an extension of what you're asking for here.

 

It doesn't matter what I think about your playing if it was six months or six years, if you are now fifteen or fifty. All that matters is how you feel about it. If you think encouragement from others is important, indulge yourself but in the end you may see that doesn't matter.

 

My own opinion, FWIW, is that your compositions and playing suffer from self indulgence and setting your quality bar way too low. I am much more interested in six notes played slowly and with feeling than six hundred that say nothing.

 

Listen to compositions and players you think are great. Extract the qualities that are amazing from them and emulate them. I don't mean cop their licks, I mean place their energy and output into your own playing and writing.

 

It's possible that the artists you aspire to are not all that great - I don't know. Just set the bar higher, stop looking at the calendar and have fun. Over time, it will all become obvious and you won't need an opinion from some old fogie like me.

[Intheether]

Wow, Empress....great advice! Couldn't have said it better myself or agreed more. If you truly love music, it's not a competition, it's a celebration. Too many (including myelf) get wrapped up in I'm 'better than so and so, but they're already this far...' crap. Life is a journey - enjoy the ride. It will happen through time, persistence, and patience! ~nel

[Magpel]

Sevush, great post. I can't wait for the day when we define virtousity as something very different, and much more meaningful, than technical dexterity and speed. The virtuoso title is seemingly awarded to anyone who can break the chromatic or pentatonic land speed record. Not only do I not consider that true virtousity; I consider it rather the opposite of true virtousity--a sort of suspended adolescence of musicianship, a growth trajectory that got stuck at "impress" and never made it to "express."

 

There's a load of great insight in this thread.

 

John

 

Originally posted by sevush:

This coming from someone considered a child prodigy and in my early years, a technical wizard and speed king.

 

Took me years to get this one, from my dad who is a jazz drummer - it's not the notes, it's the rests that are a bitch.

 

What you get, way beyond six months, is the ability to use space in composition and performance.

 

Throw yourself at it now, go ahead and brag about your speed and prowess and look for someone else to stroke you. In the end, all that matters is what you feel when you play.

 

If you're thinking about how/what to play next, you're not really playing. Real playing comes when you stop thinking. Thinking involves the ego, an extension of what you're asking for here.

 

It doesn't matter what I think about your playing if it was six months or six years, if you are now fifteen or fifty. All that matters is how you feel about it. If you think encouragement from others is important, indulge yourself but in the end you may see that doesn't matter.

 

My own opinion, FWIW, is that your compositions and playing suffer from self indulgence and setting your quality bar way too low. I am much more interested in six notes played slowly and with feeling than six hundred that say nothing.

 

Listen to compositions and players you think are great. Extract the qualities that are amazing from them and emulate them. I don't mean cop their licks, I mean place their energy and output into your own playing and writing.

 

It's possible that the artists you aspire to are not all that great - I don't know. Just set the bar higher, stop looking at the calendar and have fun. Over time, it will all become obvious and you won't need an opinion from some old fogie like me.

[1Empress_Scorpio]

totally a celebration!

 

-vi

[Laurie Z.]

Originally posted by Magpel:

Sevush, great post. I can't wait for the day when we define virtousity as something very different, and much more meaningful, than technical dexterity and speed. The virtuoso title is seemingly awarded to anyone who can break the chromatic or pentatonic land speed record. Not only do I not consider that true virtousity; I consider it rather the opposite of true virtousity--a sort of suspended adolescence of musicianship, a growth trajectory that got stuck at "impress" and never made it to "express."

 

There's a load of great insight in this thread.

 

John

 

 

Ahh, John...so true. If I may add another voice to this discussion...

 

The definition of virtuosity, to me, is the ability to play the exact right thing (and the right amount of it) at the right time...not how many notes fit into a bar. Taste plays a huge part.

 

As an example, last night's rerun of Sat. Night live (ahhh, the 80's) had Mr. Mister on. That keyboard player was the definition of GREAT - fabulous sounds, just the right parts, played perfectly. One of my favorite keyboard players has always been Tony Banks (Genesis), because he too knew the definition of virtuosity. Chops he had (chops are not an issue here) - it's the combination of taste and chops which truly equal virtuosity. Actually, the whole band was brilliant, but the keyboardist - incredible.

 

After a lifetime of playing and performance in just about every type of band and situation, I'll say that just staying with it is half the secret. My playing gets better each year because I allow it to - I learn from my mistakes and try to strive for new ways to approach music. Listening to others has been my most important form of eduction; years of studying Elton, Billy, Tony, Bruce Hornsby and countless others' techniques have taught me miles more than my 17 years of classical piano eduction did - although my technique owes a lot to the classical lessons, as well.

 

Open your ears, open your mind, and as another Forum-ite says, "let the music play", and it just gets easier and easier.

 

Happy New Year!

 

lz

www.lauriez.com

[lovenara]

no ill intention here ...

someone may think you're insulting a piano instrument

like " oh it's easy i can master it in 6 months "

i know you don't have this attitude

Learn those great pianists' works like Chick corea,George Duke...broaden up your scope and you will realise there's more to good pianomusic than fighting to be better than this...faster than that...

it's not like i get good in 6 months so i should get famous in 1 years?

Life is not formulaic

best wish from your mp3.com neighbor

istyle

www.mp3.com/istyle