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Instrument care summer heat tips

Instrument Care Tips

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As with most things like appliances, houses, cars, and even weight (looking at you, carbs…), it’s far easier to prevent problems before they start than to fix a developed issue. Instrument care is no different, and there’s a lot that you can do to keep your beloved musical friend in good condition! This is particularly crucial during summer months in Florida – yikes to all that humidity!

 

First Things First – Heat and Humidity:

There’s no way around it: this state is brutally hot. It’s best to treat your instrument just like a person or a pet. If you would be overheated in a certain situation, your instrument would be as well. Never leave your instrument in a car or outside for extended periods (this includes overnight!). If you’re enjoying marching band camp or must be outside, try to keep your instrument in the shade or out of direct sunlight.

UV damage from the sun is a real issue. We don’t have sunscreen for instruments, but it’s a good idea to move your indoor musical friends away from windows with direct sunlight. This not only prevents discoloring, but it reduces tuning issues and prolongs overall instrument life!

Humidity is the real enemy of all acoustic instruments, and left unchecked, it can ruin your instrument and leave it requiring major repairs. Your instruments should always spend the majority of their time indoors in a climate-controlled environment. If your house is particularly humid, a small dehumidifier for the room may be a good idea. You can also experiment with desiccant packs in the instrument case (beware, they do wear out eventually). Acoustic pianos may require dehumidifier bars that can be easily installed in the shell. If you have a particularly valuable instrument that lives in a case, special humidity-controlled cases are available for a pretty penny.

 

Wood Instrument Care:

Even many years after its creation, wood forever remains an organic substance that is impacted by humidity and external conditions. Check with your Songbirds instrument technician about what treatment your instrument wood needs to stay healthy. For example, most woods need to be occasionally oiled to prevent a complete dry-out which leads to cracks and damage. Lemon oil is available, but you can also use mineral oil as it is the same thing without the added fragrance – plus it’s not as expensive!

A gentle abrasive like 0000-grade steel wool or a fine Scotch-Brite pad may be useful for removing built-up dirt and grime on the surface of the wood. I always recommend lubricating abrasives with a bit of mineral oil and rubbing with the grain of the wood to prevent scratches.

 

The Secret Weapon:

Microfiber cloths! These handy rags do a ton of heavy lifting with instrument care. Use them to wipe down your instrument after use and remove fingerprints and oils. You can also use them to apply oil or cleaning products, plus they do a fantastic job with buffing and polishing. Just be careful to keep them clean – if something sharp or gritty gets stuck in a microfiber cloth, your instrument may get scratched!

 

Buffing and Polishing:

No matter what you play, your instrument probably has some metal pieces. Any good automotive polish works wonders in brightening your metal hardware and removing light scratches. I prefer McGuiars – look for one that has a high or very fine finish!

 

Extra Tips:

Wipe down your instrument after each practice session, especially if you are prone to sweaty hands like me! The natural oils from our body don’t play well with instruments, and a gentle wipe goes a long way in preventing damage. It’s like brushing your teeth!

If you play a stringed instrument, you’ll likely notice the need for more frequent string changes in the summer months. This is normal, don’t worry. Some string cleaning products may be helpful in prolonging corrosion, but I find it best to spend a few extra bucks and purchase coated strings that are resistant to sweat and oil.

For brass instruments, try to buff out scratches and scuffs soon after they happen so that they don’t build up and get worse. If a scratch exposes bare metal, check with your technician on how to prevent rust and corrosion.

Keep a tuner handy – your instrument will go out of tune frequently in the summer!

 

Conclusion:

I hope that these tips help you keep your instruments in their best shape and away from damage! Just remember that being proactive goes a long way and can help save you money on future repairs. Stay tuned for future installments of the Knowledge Blog, keep practicing, and stay cool out there! Don’t forget to hydrate, of course!

Pivot Percussion Pedal Review

Pivot Percussion – A Review

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What feels like 403 years ago, the world was plunged into distress with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We don’t need to relive the panic and hardship. However, it’s worth mentioning that musicians and the performance industry were hit extremely hard. Bars, restaurants, and venues closed. Overnight, singing became one of the most transmissible and dangerous pastimes. Gigs and performance opportunities are slowly coming back, but the landscape has been forever changed by Covid-19. Venues that used to regularly hire full bands and groups can now only afford to support solo players and duos.

 

Act I: The Problem.

Without his trusty band behind him, the hero of our story, Shaun, felt the need to augment his performance. He plays guitar and sings, but there wasn’t enough punch or low end to his show. One night, he saw a fellow musician play guitar and stomp on a suitcase that had an SM58 microphone stuck inside. The sound was unreliable and muddy, and the singer’s constant motion looked exhausting. But the idea was sparked. Shaun knew that he could take this concept and turn it into something incredible.

 

Intermission: Testing, Testing, Testing.

Shaun developed “The Lab”, a specialty workshop on his property for creating, testing, and prototyping what would one day become Pivot Percussion. I was fortunate enough to gig with him frequently as a duo during this development period, and there was a new model under our feet nearly every week. From the beginning, Shaun had nailed the ergonomic and comfortable nature of the pedals, but there was still work to be done with the perfect tone and sound. With what is now unique patented technology, Shaun created the Pivot Capsules. These are modular cores that can be swapped in and out of the pedals to make different sounds. Whether it’s a punchy bass drum, a sizzly shaker, or a snappy maraca, we were able to completely customize our show.

 

Act II: The Solution.

Enter, YOU. It’s time for the audience to try out Pivot. These one-of-a-kind instruments are now launched to the world and for sale at pivotpercussion.com. There will also be some at Songbirds very soon! Here’s an honest review of Pivot and what it can do for your performances:

 

The Review:

I absolutely love my Pivot pedals. There are other percussion instruments on the market, but Pivot fills a much-needed void. The pedals themselves are beautiful and nearly indestructible, plus there’s peace of mind knowing that the heart of the technology, the capsules, are easily replaceable if something were to go wrong. Here are my specific pros and cons after playing the pedals from their inception to launch:

 

Pros:

Passive components. I LOVE the fact that the Pivots don’t require external power or batteries. They’re just like a guitar – plug and play. I’m fortunate enough to know a little about how they’re wired on the inside, and I can say with confidence that the patented technology is extremely robust. Shaun said from the beginning that he wanted to be able to run them over with a van and they could keep playing. I’m confident that would be possible. (No Pivots were harmed in the making of this review.)

Impact reactive. Pivot pedals are all analog, meaning they don’t work like a digital trigger. With competitor percussion devices, the sound is constant no matter how hard you play. Pivots are a real instrument – the sound and attack changes the harder you stomp. You can also get interesting and varied results based on your footwear. This makes the Pivots much more musical and organic.

Incredible sound quality. Shaun nailed each of the capsules and their sound signatures. Pivot pedals sound massive and present through PAs and powered speakers right out of the box. Very little (if any) tweaking is needed on the speaker to make the Pivots sound their best.

Eco-friendly. Each Pivot pedal is made with locally-sourced, reclaimed lumber. This includes trees that were lost during hurricanes and storms. Instead of destroying wood in a landfill, Shaun turns fallen trees into musical works of art.

Locally owned and operated. Pivot Percussion is based out of Longwood, Florida. Each pedal is handmade and inspected.

Great customer support. Shaun stands by each pedal and is quick to offer support and replacements if needed.

Unique builds with customization. Because Pivots are made of real lumber, no two pedals look alike. Shaun makes some incredibly attractive Pivots that showcase natural woodgrain and the beauty of the tree. There are also customization options available. I was given a prototype pedal that has my face on it!

Super comfy. This is the kicker (pun intended): you really can play for hours without getting tired. The design of the Original Pivot works perfectly with the flow of the leg and the knee. Using your heel to stomp prevents any shin pain or muscle fatigue, and the padding of the Pivot plus your footwear prevents any soreness in the heel. You can literally stand on the Original Pivots while playing them if you prefer to stand while performing. The Standard Pivots are great for playing piano or a minimalistic drumset. It’s worth mentioning that the Standards can be played with both the heel and the toe for maximum comfort.

Extra goodies. Shaun offers quality Pivot cables, cases, and straps for the instruments. It’s nice when companies go the extra mile. Everyone knows Sweetwater for the candy that they throw in every order – Pivot’s attention to detail with bonus goodies is even better.

 

Cons:

Difficult to master at first. I won’t sugarcoat this – Pivot pedals take a lot of time to get the hang of and master. I’m admittedly not the most coordinated person, but playing guitar, singing, AND stomping your feet on rhythm is challenging. I started incorporating Pivots into my performance gradually. Once you get over the first coordination hurdle, they do start to feel natural and second nature. Most of us tap our feet while playing anyway; the mental obstacle isn’t there, but the physical one takes some time.

Lots of options. This is both a Pro and a Con: there are a lot of customization options with the Pivot sound! There are three standard options with capsules: kick, maraca, and shaker. Combine this with using two pedals at once, and there are A LOT of possible combinations to take your playing to the next level. I use my Pivot pedals with a looper, and it’s easy to get lost in the possibilities and overcomplicating your performance. I started incorporating just the kick capsule with one pedal until I felt confident enough to expand.

Need a good sound system. This likely isn’t an issue, but Pivots sound the best when played through a nice powered speaker or PA. Pivots are targeted towards the professional, working musician who likely has a quality system already, so I don’t expect that this would be a hindrance to anyone purchasing a Pivot pedal.

 

Conclusion:

We are incredibly proud of Shaun and excited about the launch of Pivot Percussion! Come check them out at Songbirds, and ask Justin when you can see them in action at a local gig. Until next time, keep practicing, and check out our other posts on the Knowledge Blog!



Guitar Tone Guide

Guitars: What Actually Matters for Tone

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We are ecstatic to announce our new dealership agreement with Ibanez! In light of the good news, I felt it prudent to write a blog about what actually impacts an electric guitar’s sound and playability. This is a hotly contested topic, and there is no shortage of opinions online. I recommend following the advice of individuals who have done genuine scientific experiments and have building experience to back up their claims. I have personally built several guitars from scratch and have repaired many instruments of varying quality. The opinions here are what I’ve discovered – if you have varying information, please let us know!

A further disclaimer: Paul of PRS Guitars famously follows a 21-point checklist that his company developed. This list includes 21 points on the instrument that impact sound quality. My list below isn’t to say that I don’t believe Paul or conventional wisdom on the topic – I’m just of the belief that the list can be heavily skewed towards things that matter a lot versus things that hardly matter at all.

What Matters A LOT:

  • Pickups. At this stage of my career, I’ll die on the hill that pickups are the most important feature of an electric guitar. This is only tied with the neck (see below). A good quality pickup can make or break the sound of the instrument and how the signal is translated to the speaker.
  • Pickup orientation. There’s a huge tonal difference between single-coil pickups, humbuckers, active pickups, and other types that you commonly find in guitars. For example, the thinner, chime-y sound of single-coils is what defines country, southern rock, funk, and classic rock. What’s more, the pickups can be wired to virtually any configuration. Whether it’s three-position, five-position, or more… coil tapping, wiring mods… the possibilities are endless and can all change the tonal palette that you have on your instrument.
  • Neck/Fretboard. The neck of the guitar has the biggest impact on how it feels when played. In my opinion, a good neck should be straight and slick with frets that are set well and intonated correctly. If the neck is excellent, your playing will improve dramatically.
  • Setup. Every guitar needs a professional setup to play and sound its best. A setup includes action adjustment, or how high the strings are from the fingerboard, and intonation adjustment, or how in tune the guitar is with itself. Both of these have a massive impact on how easy it is to play and how correct it sounds.
  • Speaker/Amp. This a bit beyond the scope of this blog, but your output setup matters. An incredible and expensive guitar will only sound average when played through a low-quality speaker or amp. Balance the quality of your speaker with your guitar for best tonal results.
  • Tuners. I’ve found that tuners don’t change the sound of the instrument – their job is to stay in place and be reliable. However, this is important when you’re playing frequently and doing lots of re-tuning and bending. Low-quality tuners will go out of tune frequently and make your instrument sound wonky. I always recommend locking tuners – even the cheaper models are above and beyond what standard tuners can accomplish in regard to reliability.

What Matters A LITTLE:

  • The pick that you use. Picks of different hardness and elasticity will have different strengths of attack against the strings. This mostly translates to loudness, but different picks also change how you play.
  • The strings. You’ve probably heard of string gauge, or how thick a string is. You can get monster sound from both thick and thin strings – what really matters is tuning stability and sustain. Thicker strings stay in tune longer and sustain more, but they are difficult to bend and can hurt the fingers. Thin strings have the opposite features. Experiment with what size strings are best for your play style, and don’t forget that fresh strings will always sound and feel better than old ones.
  • The nut. Players often get into arguments about what material of nut is best for the sound of the guitar. I don’t have strong opinions on this topic, but I do believe that cheap plastic nuts should be swapped out for better-quality materials like bone, synthetic bone, or brass. This is to prevent breakage and keep the strings in tune longer.
  • Internal electronics. Better quality electronics like potentiometers and wires don’t have a huge impact on the signal of the guitar, but they’re much more durable and feel better to use. I always recommend swapping out stock electronics for ones of better quality simply because they’ll last longer and resist wear.

What HARDLY MATTERS at all:

  • “Tonewood” or what the body is made of. This has a big impact with acoustic guitars, but it doesn’t matter very much at all for electric guitars. Your primary concern with the body should be its shape (how does it feel to hold it and play for extended periods?) and its weight. There’s nothing worse than playing a multi-hour gig with a brick tied across your shoulders. Check out this video by Glen Fricker for a tonewood side-by-side comparison (parental discretion advised: language) and this video of that one time someone made a cement guitar.

The Final Takeaway:

If I were building a guitar on a budget for a professional gig, I’d splurge on nice pickups and a good neck. Nothing else has a massive impact on my style of playing. Check out this video for a demonstration of why pickups matter, even when there isn’t a guitar body at all.

I hope that this helped clear some things up! Let us know if you’d like to check out some awesome new Ibanez products, and until next time with the Knowlege Blog, keep practicing!

How to Actually Count Triplets

How to Actually Count Triplets

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Music notation is full of all kinds of tricky rhythms, but one of the hardest to master as a beginner or intermediate student is the triplet (duhn duhn duhnnn!). Learn how to properly count it with this guide. Once you learn how to count them, you’ll never have to second-guess triplets again!

 

What is a Triplet?

In case you missed it, a triplet is a group of three notes that are grouped together. They often have a beam that connects them, and there’s almost always a little ‘3’ above or below them to indicate that they belong in a triplet group.

Triplets are tricky (say that ten times fast) because we often encounter them in even-beat meters like 4/4. In these meters, we usually count and feel the rhythmic stresses in groups of two. For example, eighth notes are commonly counted “one and / two and / three and / four / and”. With triplets, you have to somehow smush three notes in a space that normally only fits two. Eighth-note triplets go by slightly faster than their eighth-note counterparts, for example. So, how do we accurately count this?

Bonus: Triplets exist in triple meters like 6/8 all the time. We feel and count groups of three easily in that territory. A group of two notes in a triple meter behaves and “feels” like a triplet in 4/4. This is called a duple and goes by slightly slower than the normal triplet grouping. For example, in 6/8, three eighth notes normally fill half the measure, or the space of one dotted quarter note. A duple fills that same space, so those two notes are heard as just a little slower or elongated. Duples in triple meters are the opposite of triplets in duple meters.

 

How Triplets are Taught:

There’s a lot of variance in the way that music education is approached across the world. From general music class teachers to private instructors, a lot gets missed along the way. I was taught that triplets should be felt, not counted. This is pretty tricky for a middle school band kid. My teacher said that you can count triplets by saying “tri-pl-et” for each note as they go by. So, in 4/4, I could count it as “one and / two and / three / and / tri-pl-et”. I’ve heard that this method is still pretty common.

The issue with this is that there isn’t a way to tell which beat (or where in the beat) you are. We usually count sixteenth notes as “one ee and ah / two ee and ah / three ee and ah / four ee and ah”, so we should adopt a similar trick for triplets.

 

Count Triplets Like This:

One ah lee / Two ah lee / Three ah lee / Four ah lee.

If you prefer, you can think of it as “ollie” and imagine the notes doing cool skateboard tricks on your music.

This style of counting will help you always know where you are in the measure. If you have sixteenth-note triplets, you can insert the syllable “ee” like we do for regular sixteenth-notes. That would sound like this: “one ah lee / two ah lee / three ah lee / four ee ah ee lee lee”.

 

A Note (Pun Intended) on Counting:

This could get its own blog post (and maybe it will), but Counts and Beats are NOT the same thing. They often get used interchangeably, especially in school. Here’s the difference:

Counts are how you navigate the music. If our song is in 4/4, it has four quarter notes in the measure and we COUNT the unit of the quarter note. We say “one, two, three, four”. If the song switches to 2/4, we still COUNT quarter notes, but only two: “one, two”.

Beats are how you FEEL the music. There’s not a consistent way to feel music, and beats can be fluid. In 4/4, we commonly feel the strong beats on beats one and three. In a dance song, you may COUNT in four but BEAT (or feel) the music in two.

This is easier to hear in 6/8. In this example, we count sixth eighth notes per measure, or “one two three four five six”. I’ve highlighted counts one and four because those are usually the strongest counts and are where we feel the beat. A student playing the music may be counting in 6/8, but the conductor leading the band may be using a conducting pattern that only has two distinct motions – a beat of two. Something to keep in mind, especially when learning trickier rhythms like triplets.

 

Conclusion:

I hope this helps you work on triplets and other more advanced passages in your music playing! Stay tuned for more information on the Knowledge Blog, and keep practicing!

Special Thanks to Dr. Tim Peterman, drumming extraordinaire, for clarifying the mystery of triplets. 🙂

Practice Tips for Performance

How to Really Practice

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This upcoming weekend, our student Rock Bands will be performing at one of the biggest local festivals that occurs each year. In light of that, I thought it’d be a good idea to go over some tips for preparing for your next big performance, audition, or show! This information is geared towards musicians, but dancers and other performing artists may find it helpful as well. These tips apply most appropriately for live music – stay tuned if you’re looking for tips on how to record successfully. On to the info!

 

1. Accessories and Backups

No matter what you’re playing or performing, your instrument or equipment will need accessories of some kind. That may be reeds for a clarinet, slide oil for a trombone, picks for a guitar, or rosin for a bow. The night before you perform, check that you have everything packed and that it’s ready to go. Always bring as many backups as possible – you’ll never need them if you have them, but that one time that you only have one set of guitar strings will be that one time that they break during a show. Being prepared with all of your gear will give you extra peace of mind and will help you focus on having fun for your performance.

 

2. Tuning

It may seem obvious, but it’s super easy to overlook tuning. Tune your instrument before you play, and double-check that tuning before you go on stage! Singers should warm up gently without overdoing it. If you are playing in a climate with humidity and temperature fluctuation, like outdoors in summer, you’ll need to check your tuning more frequently. It’s a good idea to go the extra mile and have your instrument serviced by a professional repair technician in between shows. It may need some TLC to get it playing optimally. The worst feeling is playing an instrument that fights against you.

 

3. Silly Things

Double check all of the silly things that often get overlooked. Is your guitar plugged in? Is the amp volume set appropriately? Are the PA speakers on? Did you tighten your bow? Is your reed set correctly on the mouthpiece? When something goes wrong at a performance, it’s almost always due to something silly and minor. The amount of times that I’ve forgotten to plug in a cable…

 

4. Take it Seriously, but Don’t.

Performing should always make you a tiny bit nervous. This doesn’t mean that earthshaking, panic-inducing stage fright that we feel the first time that we try something new – this means that little tingle of nerves that mean we care. Taking your performance seriously helps you focus and play your best, but remember that the Arts are meant to be shared and enjoyed. We aren’t saving lives and the stakes aren’t high when we play. Just have fun, play, and take it seriously (a little bit).

 

5. Control Your Body

With any kind of performance, your body is either your instrument or an extension of your instrument. The best thing that you can do is breathe slowly, deeply, and with steady rhythm. Deep breathing tricks your body into feeling calm and safe. On the other hand, fast, shallow, and arhythmic breathing starts a panic reflex in the body. This then snowballs into an adrenaline rush, or the fight/flight/freeze response that you often hear so much about. If you’ve ever had sweaty palms, increased heart rate, or dizziness before going on stage, you’ve had your panic reflex well underway. Before performing, take purposeful time to breathe and slow down. Try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth on an “s” or “z” sound. This trick slows your air and offers gentle resistance to your airstream. You can also experiment with using a “power pose” – the most common is a shoulder-width stance with your hands on your hips and chest raised. An open position like this also tricks your body into slowing down and helps fight off stage fright.

 

6. Practice with Intention

Take time to practice well before your performance. The phrase “amateurs practice until they get it right, masters practice until they can’t get it wrong” is annoying, but accurate. Practice with intention and focus as much as possible, but don’t overdo it. It’s much more effective to practice in short increments frequently than one big chunk per day. Take breaks when needed, and make a point to be honest and focus on the sections that need the most work. It’s tempting to practice your performance all the way through, but the spots that need fixing will be glossed over and sloppy. Be like a bloodhound after a scent and target the tricky bits – if you can fix them, your entire performance will improve! Lastly, remember that good practicing takes time (a lot of time!). You probably won’t be able to prepare a new piece the day before a performance, so plan ahead.

 

I hope that your next performance is fun, awesome, and rewarding! Stay tuned for future installments of our Knowledge Blog, and in the meantime, keep practicing!

Locrian Mode How to Use

Locrian: How to Use the Final Mode

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Locrian is our last musical mode, and by far the craziest one. If you’ve missed out on previous articles, check out all of the other modes here with Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Phrygian, Ionian, and Aeolian. Our last mode, Locrian, isn’t extremely useful as it sounds dissonant and somewhat unmusical. It’s rare to see it in the wild, with the exception of metal and some progressive rock. Still, it’s important to learn about it, plus you can impress your friends with your complete knowledge of modes!

 

A Quick Review:

As with our other explorations with modes, we’ll use the key of C Major to learn about Locrian. The notes in C Major are:

 

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

 

You may remember that each mode is a mode of C, or the key that you are using. We can use the same notes of C Major but simply start on a different scale tone to get the mode that we’d like to use. Locrian forms when we use the above notes but start and end on B. Therefore, the B Locrian scale looks like this:

 

B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B

 

How to Form Locrian:

If you’re intent on using Locrian while performing and improvising, it’s unlikely that you’ll have the luxury of playing it only in relation to C Major. Locrian is more closely related to the minor scale than the major scale. Let’s take a look at B Natural Minor and compare it to B Locrian. B Natural Minor is:

 

B – C# – D – E  – F# – G – A – B

 

Looking at both this scale and B Locrian, we can see that the Locrian scale is just a Natural Minor Scale with the second and fifth note lowered one half-step, or flatted. Using numbers, Locrian would look like this in relation to the Natural Minor Scale:

 

1 – flat2 – 3 – 4 – flat5 – 6 – 7 – 1

 

If you’re insistent on thinking through modes using the template of a Major Scale, we must compare Locrian to the B Major Scale:

 

B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A# – B

 

This is where things get messy – there are a lot of alterations that we need to make in order to arrive at B Locrian. From the perspective of the Major Scale, we must flat, or lower, the second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh notes. That looks like this:

 

1 – flat2 – flat3 – 4 – flat5 – flat6 – flat7 – 1

 

It’s a lot cleaner to think about Locrian in relation to the Natural Minor, as you can see!

 

Why is Locrian so Rare?

Frankly, to most people, Locrian sounds bad or wrong. This is mostly due to the flat five note in the scale. Western musical harmony relies heavily on the stability of the Perfect Fifth interval – it’s present in every Major and Minor chord. Most songs, especially in pop and rock, only use Major and Minor chords. Our ears are hardwired to hear that interval!

What’s more, the flatted fifth in Locrian forms a tritone. This is one of the most dissonant intervals in music and is responsible for forming the diminished chord. Locrian doesn’t have a Major or Minor chord as its root – it actually has a Diminished chord! It’s tricky, if not frequently impossible, to create a sense of musical resolution when home base is a Diminished chord. Musical harmony relies on a relationship of tension and release – how can we create that release when the very spot to which we are arriving is the most tense and dissonant sound of the scale? 

 

Conclusion:

Learning Locrian is important to round out your understanding of all of the musical modes, plus it’s a cool feather in your cap. Try to write a song or solo using Locrian and see what you come up with! It isn’t easy, but it can be done – maybe it will help you write the next big Metallica-esque solo!

In practice, the Musical Modes that are the most useful and intriguing to the ear are Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Ionian. You’ll remember that Aeolian and Ionian are just the Minor and Major scales, so that only leaves two unique Modes to explore for most of your musical flavor. Phrygian and Lydian are beautiful and awesome, but they lie just a little bit outside of the realm of “normal” to be palatable to a lot of listeners. Locrian is in another world of its own. Have fun exploring all of the Musical Modes, and thanks for learning with us! Stay tuned for future editions of the Knowledge Blog, and in the meantime, check out our other posts!

Ionian and Aeolian How to Use

How to Use Ionian and Aeolian

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No, those aren’t Pokemon, I promise! (Although, if you want to make a musical Pokemon spinoff, I’m all ears!). Ionian and Aeolian are two easy and familiar Musical Modes that you probably already know how to use! If you’ve missed our previous posts in this series, check out Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian. After today, we only have one Musical Mode left before you’ve become the very best and caught them all – congrats!

 

What is Ionian?

Ionian is just a fancy name for our beloved Major Scale. There are no alternations or special tricks. As a reminder, the Major Scale in C looks like this:

 

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

 

It’s easy to remember how to make a Major Scale in any key by using the following pattern:

 

Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole – Whole – Half

 

This pattern reminds us of the order of Whole and Half steps that are between each note. For example, there is a Whole Step between the first two notes of the Major Scale (C and D, in our example). If you can remember the pattern, you can make Ionian in any key!

 

Using C Major, the chords in C Ionian are as follows:

 

C – Dm – Em – F – G – Am – Bdim – C

 

What is Aeolian?

Aeolian is just a fancy name for the Minor Scale. Like with Ionian, there are no special tricks or alternations necessary! We’ll use A Minor because it’s the easiest to visualize – it uses all white keys on the piano and shares the same key signature with C Major:

 

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A

 

If you are trying to get to Aeolian from Ionian, simply lower the third, sixth, and seventh notes. Here’s C Ionian again:

 

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

 

Now, if we lower the third, sixth, and seventh notes by a half step, we get C Minor, or C Aeolian:

 

C – D – Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C

 

That’s it! After checking out all those other crazy modes, Ionian and Aeolian are a piece of cake.

 

Not So Fast!

Wait a minute, what about the other forms of Minor? Minor Scale enthusiasts know that there are three common forms of the Minor Scale. These are Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor. The Aeolian Mode is another name for the Natural Minor Scale. Harmonic and Melodic Minors are not Aeolian.

 

A Note (pun intended) on Harmonic and Melodic:

Here’s how to make the Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales if we’re starting from Natural Minor (Aeolian). For Harmonic Minor, simply raise the seventh note of the Natural Minor Scale. The A Harmonic Minor Scale looks like this:

 

A – B – C – D – E – F – G# – A

 

That’s opposed to the Natural (Aeolian) Scale that features a G natural, not a G#.

 

Melodic Minor has an unusual rule: it uses different notes depending on whether you are ascending or descending the scale. On the way up, the Melodic Minor raises the sixth and seventh notes of the Natural Minor. In A, that looks like this:

 

A – B – C – D – E – F# – G# – A

 

But, on the way down, the alterations disappear. We are left with the Natural Minor (Aeolian) on the descent:

 

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A

 

The entire A Melodic Minor Scale, ascending and descending, looks like this:

 

A – B – C – D – E – F# – G# – A – G – F – E – D – C – B – A

 

Just a reminder: Aeolian only applies to the Natural Minor Scale. It’s still fun to use the other forms, though!

 

Conclusion:

I hope that this edition of Musical Modes was easy to digest and put into practice. Ionian and Aeolian are always around us, and their sounds are baked into our musical listening experience. Stay tuned for our last installment all about the craziness, wackiest, and strangest mode of all – Locrian! In the meantime, check out our other posts on the Knowlege Blog – and keep practicing!

Lydian Scale How To Use

How to Use the Lydian Mode

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It’s almost December, and that means that there is only one month left to finish our series on Musical Modes! If you’ve missed the previous blog posts about it, get caught up at the following links: Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian. After today’s post on the lydian mode, we only have two more to go! (yes, I know there are three left, but trust me on this) You’re almost a musical master of modes! 

 

Lydian and Mixolydian are Cousins:

The most recent post in this series was all about Mixolydian. You’ll remember that Mixolydian is just a Major (Ionian) scale with the seventh note lowered. There’s just that one difference! Similarly, Lydian mode only changes one note from the major scale. This is easy to remember as their names are so similar, plus they have distinct tonal differences. Lydian, as we’ll soon learn, sounds bright and a bit otherworldly. I remember this because “Lydian” sounds exotic and maybe like the name of a planet from a distant galaxy. Mixolydian simply “mixes it up” by changing the note that is altered. Mixolydian sounds much darker and more brooding than Lydian.

 

How to Make the Lydian Mode:

Let’s start with our good ‘ol C Major scale:

 

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

 

To make Lydian, we just have to raise the fourth scale degree by one half step. That means that in C Major, the fourth note “F” will become “F#”.

 

The C Lydian scale is:

 

C – D – E – F# – G – A – B – C

 

Traditionally, the fourth scale degree is powerful and has a lot of weight when writing melodies and harmonies. The alteration in Lydian mode really sounds surprising and makes the listener pay attention! You probably know that half-step relationships are also powerful and can pull the melody of the piece into new and exciting areas. The half-step between the Lydian F# and the G in the above scale is cool and unique – it pulls us towards G effortlessly and makes a lot of Lydian pieces sound like they are floating, ethereal, or happy!

 

Harmonies in Lydian:

Some modes suit harmony writing better than others, and Lydian is a flagship example. Let’s look at the normal diatonic chords of C Major without any alteration. Remember that these are only the triads, and we aren't considering extended harmonies yet. This means that you don't need to worry about 7ths or anything further. Those C Major triads are:

 

C – Dm – Em – F – G – Am – Bdim – C

 

Now, if we change our scale to C Lydian, the chords will look like this (due to the raised fourth):

 

C – D – Em – F#dim – G – Am – Bm – C

 

Immediately, we can see some cool and exciting things happening. The biggest and most “Lydian-sounding” change is with the second chord. The Major 2 chord (II) is the quintessential sound of Lydian, especially when it is put up against the 1 chord (I). We still have a diminished chord in the row, much like any standard major key, but it has changed position. That F# diminished gives even more pull towards the dominant chord (V), or G major. This is a useful tool for pivoting with key changes or giving extra finality and resolution to the piece’s harmony. Lastly, the last three chords in the row (Am, Bm, C (or vi, vii, I)) can be used in series for a medieval or mellow sound – a pleasing progression with little pull that drifts listlessly through the music.

 

Examples of Songs in Lydian:

You may be surprised to learn that there are A LOT of these! My personal favorite is Man on the Moon by REM because it is in C Lydian. It uses all of the chords and tricks that we outlined already, and it’s easy to follow. The verses are only C to D, hammering home that unique Lydian sound and contributing to the cool imagery of being in space.

 

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac is another excellent example. Much like Man on the Moon, Dreams uses the Lydian Major I, Major II chord progression throughout the verse.

 

Jane Says, the surprising acoustic jam by Jane’s Addiction, is also Lydian. It only uses the I and II chords for the entire song! Lastly, Human Nature by Michael Jackson boasts heavy but intricate use of the Lydian II chord throughout the verses and choruses.

 

Conclusion:

I hope that this post has given you the knowledge and confidence to experiment with Lydian in your soloing and writing! It’s a lovely mode, and it’s easy to throw that #4 note in there to spice up your sound. Stay tuned for the last two posts in this series on our Knowledge Blog, and until then, keep jammin’!

Better Lyrics

Better Lyrics: Five Tips for Writing Songs

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I recently read a fantastic book (nearly a dissertation) on how to write better lyrics for songwriting. It helped me a lot, and I’ve distilled some of the most useful points here! Check these out if you’re working on becoming a better songwriter, or if you simply would like to be more informed on what makes a good song structure.

*Note: Just a reminder that there are no rules in music. Being informed about the “proper” rules of lyrics, music theory, and more only allow you to make better choices and be more creative when you break those rules. Take everything with a grain of salt. If it doesn’t apply to you, save it in the memory bank for later.

 

1. Avoid Cliches

Oh boy, this one is huge. Cliches are everywhere in music and our daily speech. They are impossible to avoid, but they exist because they worked effectively at one point in time. The problem is that they have all been so overused that their meaning has been absolutely diluted. When you are writing anything (not just lyrics!), always be on the lookout for cliches that pop into your text. Oftentimes, the first solution that flows from your fingers is a poor choice – remember, cliches are very familiar and overdone. There is a universe of incredible and descriptive language available – you just have to dig past those cliches to find it.

Here are some deadly cliches that you (probably) should avoid. As you work through the list, keep track of the ones that really irk you. “Circle back” and  “begs the question” both make me want to drown in a sea of sorrow and die of a broken heart. (see what I did there?)

 

2. Travelogue

Think of the last time that you saw an advertisement for an incredible vacation. It likely showed highly-saturated images of all the stops along the way – first the beach, then the market, then the fancy hotel, don’t forget about the dolphins! This format is something that we should avoid when writing lyrics. Resist the urge to link your verses and story together by using similar, yet unrelated, snapshots of life. For example, a travelogue song about a shopping addiction could go like this:

Verse 1: Susy loves to buy online

Verse 2: Bill goes to the mall every day

Verse 3: Maria blew her savings on jewelry at the coin show

A much more effective song would have a consistent story. Something like this:

Verse 1: Susy loves to buy online

Verse 2: She can’t wait for shipping, so she goes to the mall every day to buy now

Verse 3: Susy blew all her life savings on her shopping addiction, will she be okay?

Much better. There is now a clear progression with the outline. The choruses can comment on the tragedy and the true text of the verses can flesh out the story – and it’s consistent! Speaking of…

 

3. Verses Serve the Chorus

All of the verses in a well-written song should relate back to the chorus. You can also think of this as the chorus is a commentary on the verses. That can get tricky, because a chorus is a repeating segment of music. It always should repeat the same as before, or very close to it. That means that the chorus needs to fit every verse, no matter which direction the song goes. Let’s take an ambiguous chorus (often a good choice), and fit it with verse outlines that are very different, but still have a consistent story:

Verse 1: Johnny was born yesterday

Chorus: Can we just slow down a minute?

Verse 2: Johnny is getting married tomorrow

Chorus: Can we just slow down a minute?

Verse 3: Johnny died the other day

Chorus: Can we just slow down a minute?

Although the above example is pretty generic, the chorus works with each verse theme. There is no forcing or shoe-horning.

 

4. Show, Don’t Tell

In a similar vein, remember the phrase “Show, Don’t Tell”. This is big in acting, television, and movies as well. This just means that we should never assume our audience to be anything but intelligent. The listener will always be able to infer and figure out meaning in your lyrics. Less is more, and don’t be afraid to be ambiguous. As far as structure goes, the verses should “show” the story to listener with luscious descriptive words and content. The chorus should “tell” the listener how to feel by reinforcing and recapturing the meat and potatoes of the story that was already established in the verse.

Another way to use “Show, Don’t Tell”, is by remembering point of view. If you are writing a song in first person (using “I” and “me”), it is easy to start telling the listener information that they should (or do) already know. For example, the line “You had just finished your ice cream when I first said “I love you” is clunky. The “you”, or second person, already knows the information. Why would you need to remind someone of that fact? However, see what happens when we change the perspective “She had just finished her ice cream when I first said “I love you”. Now it works! The line has gone from a strange, slightly patronizing tone, to a good old-fashioned story. Show, don’t tell!

 

5. Don’t Be Obsessed with Rhyme (But Mind the Format)

Rhyme is a huge stumbling block for beginning songwriters. A good rhyme can make a decent song fantastic, and a poor rhyme can wreck a good song. However, rhymes don’t have to be perfect. With singing, we can get away with rhymes that are close enough. Some of the most famous songs ever written don’t even rhyme at all! Don’t allow yourself to cram rhymes in where they feel unnatural, and avoid picking the easy rhymes that come first. For example, complete the rhyme:

Baby won’t you take my hand?

I just want you to __________________.

I’d bet that you said “understand”. That’s obvious, and bordering on cliche. But what other words also rhyme and could make your lyric pop? How about “plan”, “man”, “cram”, “jam”, “damn”? The second line may need to be rewritten to accommodate these juicier rhymes, but that’s okay! With songwriting, we rhyme the vowel sounds, not the consonant sounds.

If your songs end up rhyming with a scheme, change it up between the verses, choruses, and other sections. That keeps your format fresh and exciting, plus the listener won’t get bored. For example, a chorus could have the stable A, B, A, B rhyme scheme, but the verse could have a more gritty and interesting A, B, A, C scheme. The possibilities are endless (and cliched)!

 

Conclusion:

I hope that these five points will help you with writing better lyrics! They certainly helped me. Check out Writing Better Lyrics if you’re looking for more information, and stay tuned for future updates to our Knowledge Blog!

mixolydian mode

How to use the Mixolydian Mode

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Welcome back to another round of Modes with Songbirds! So far, I’ve published blogs on the Dorian Mode and my personal favorite, the Phrygian Mode. Check them out if you haven’t already! This post is all about Mixolydian, a cool workhorse of a Mode with a distinct flavor. It’s also quite easy compared to the others!

 

Quick Status Check:

Let’s take a pause and see the progress that we’ve made (and where we still have to go). There are seven different musical Modes, and each one correlates with a note of a normal seven-note scale. Let’s pretend that we are in C Major. The seven notes of that scale are:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C (but we don’t count this C – it’s just a higher octave of the first C)

Using all of the fancy Mode names, the Modes correlate with the scale in this order. Modes that we have discussed in blog form are in bold:

Ionian – Dorian – Phrygian – Lydian – Mixolydian – Aeolian – Locrian

Now, keep in mind that Ionian is just the Major Scale as we know and love it. There aren’t any tricks. Likewise, Aeolian is the natural minor scale. We’ll discuss the different types of minor scales in a future post, but you probably are already familiar with some form of Aeolian. That means that, after this post, there are really only two unique Modes left – Lydian and Locrian!

 

All About Mixolydian:

Here’s the meat and potatoes of this post: The Mixolydian Mode. Like all other modes, Mixolydian borrows the same notes and accidentals (sharps and flats) of its parent scale. If we are playing in C Major, and want to use the Mixolydian scale that already lives in C, we would start our scale on the note G. All we have to do is play the notes of the C Major scale from G until we hit the next G. Those notes would be:

G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G

Take a second to try this on a nearby instrument. You’ll likely hear the strange note right away – we are so used to hearing a normal Major Scale that the “weird” F natural note jumps out! Our ears want to hear F#, but Mixolydian surprises us.

 

The Theory of Mixolydian:

Mixolydian Mode is very closely related to the Major Scale. All you have to do is find a Major Scale and then lower the seventh note, or leading tone, by one half step. In the above example, the G Major Scale was transformed into Mixolydian by lowering the normal F# to F natural. This applies to every major key.

For example, C Mixolydian would be:

C – D – E – F – G – A – Bb – C (notice the Bb, not B natural!)

 

How to Mixolydian:

Given that Mixolydian is just one note away from the Major Scale, it’s extremely easy and fun to “flirt” with that special seventh note. For example, you could use the F natural as a chromatic passing tone in a G Major solo. You can also over-accent the lowered seventh to give your performance a bluesy, folk-like feel.

Mixolydian works perfectly with songs in Major Keys. It’s just enough to make your listeners’ ears perk up and pay attention to what you’re saying!

You can also lean hard into the lowered seventh note and write songs with a lowered seventh chord. For example, in the key of G Major, the normal diatonic chords are as follows:

G – Am – Bm – C – D – E – F#dim – G

Using Mixolydian, the diatonic chords look like this:

G – Am – Bm – C – D – Em – F – G

Whoa, F Major instead of F# diminished? That’s something exciting! Using this chord immediately sounds like folk and bluegrass. It’s not as dramatic as some other, more exotic, chord substitutions, but it’s instantly recognizable and sounds good to every listener. It’s unique and powerful, but not too out-of-the-box.

 

A Popular Example of Mixolydian:

Take a listen to Clocks, the huge hit song by Coldplay. This song is actually in Mixolydian! The main piano lick is formed around the following chords:

Eb – Bbm – Fm

The song is in Eb Major, and we would expect to hear a Bb Major chord as the fifth diatonic chord. However, Clocks uses the minor five, the third of which is the note Db. That is the flat seventh note in the Eb Major scale – or in other terms, the secret spicy Mixolydian note!

Note: The minor four chord substitution is quite common and alluring in most music. This is NOT derived from Mixolydian. The Mixolydian substitution is the minor five chord.

Try It Out!

Mixolydian is a great Mode with very little risk. That lowered seventh tone doesn’t sound bad or like a mistake in most instances, and even if it sounds a little funky, repetition legitimizes. Try out Mixolydian the next time that you improvise a solo or write your own material! Stay tuned for future blog posts that discuss the remaining modes that we have yet to explore, and until then, read the other posts on our Knowledge Blog!

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