Launching My Own Store: A Step Towards Independence

Launching My Own Store: A Step Towards Independence

The music world has been buzzing with talks about the recent changes at Bandcamp following its acquisition by Songtradr. A friend and fellow musician, Steve Lawson, shared some thoughtful insights on this, highlighting the importance of having a personal space online. The takeaway? Platforms change, but your own website is a solid ground.

Taking this to heart, I’ve created a new shop right here on my website. Now, you can directly download high-resolution FLAC versions of my music. This step is not just about selling music; it’s about building a direct connection with you, the listener.

My new store is a small but significant step towards a more independent digital presence. It’s about getting closer to the original idea of the internet – a place where connections aren’t controlled by a third-party.

I invite you to check out my new store, explore my music, and join me on this exciting new journey. Your support means the world to me and fuels my creativity. I’m thrilled to share this new chapter with you.

Together, let’s dive into this new adventure, nurturing a closer connection in the vast realm of music.

The Missing Link in Music Education: Nurturing Musical Awareness

The Missing Link in Music Education: Nurturing Musical Awareness

The Missing Link in Music Education: Nurturing Musical Awareness

This morning, I had an conversation with my friend and fellow multi-instrumentalist Ron Baggerman about the landscape of music education.
When it comes to learning a musical instrument, there’s no shortage of material covering the basics. Books, videos, and online courses abound to teach you the fundamentals of your chosen instrument and rudimentary music theory. This is a vital stage, especially for novice musicians getting started with unique instruments like the Chapman Stick, Touch- or Tap-Guitar. These resources are easy to come by, mainly because they’re straightforward to create. The same applies of course for any other instrument like guitar, piano, bass, drums…

On the other end of the spectrum are the seasoned players, those who have already unlocked the mechanical aspects of their instruments. Techniques, finger independence, harmonic structures, rhythms—you name it. The resources for these musicians are just as extensive, with advanced lessons to tackle the technicalities.

However, there’s a crucial gap in this educational framework that few address—musical awareness. This is the point where you transcend mere technique and theory. It’s when music becomes more than a series of notes or chords; it turns into an expression of emotions and storytelling. Artists like Peter Erskine and Victor Wooten have really set the stage when it comes to understanding musical awareness. Their insights were game-changers for me, but I feel it’s good to add practical exercises to the mix.

 

 

A Deeper Understanding of Music

Musical awareness is not just the byproduct of years of practice; it’s a skill that can be honed through specific exercises aimed at enhancing your listening and performance capabilities. It’s about balancing analysis and intuition, where you’re not just playing but also actively listening, feeling the groove, and understanding the essence of the music.

 

 

 

Practical Exercises for Musical Awareness

  1. Rhythmic Call and Response: Record a simple rhythmic pattern on your instrument. Play it back and try to respond with a complementary rhythm. The goal is to listen deeply to your initial pattern and make your response feel like a natural extension.
  2. Melodic Storytelling: Choose a well-known story or quote, like “To be or not to be, that is the question.” (hello Peter!) Translate each word or phrase into a distinct musical phrase. Play these phrases in sequence, aiming to maintain the natural rhythm and emotional tone of the original sentence.
  3. Interactive Listening: While listening to a piece of music, pick one instrument in the mix and focus solely on it for the entire track. Try to understand its role, its interaction with other instruments, and how it contributes to the overall mood. Then switch your focus to another instrument and compare your experiences.
  4. Harmonic Dissonance and Resolution: Play a dissonant chord and hold it. Listen to the tension it creates. Slowly resolve it into a consonant chord and notice the emotional shift. This exercise helps you understand the emotional language of harmony.
  5. Dynamics Challenge: Pick a piece you’re familiar with and play it while consciously altering the dynamics. How does playing it pianissimo versus fortissimo affect its emotional impact? This helps you explore the nuances that dynamics bring into music.

These exercises, while simple, can significantly contribute to your journey towards becoming a more aware musician. They prepare you for better interaction with other musicians and deepen your understanding of music as a form of art, not just a skill.

 

 

 

Theoretical Insights on Musical Awareness

The notion of musical awareness is supported by various theories that explore the interplay between cognition, emotion, and performance. Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin suggests in his book “This Is Your Brain on Music” that our brains are wired to seek patterns and make emotional connections with music. Renowned composer Igor Stravinsky once said, “To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also.” This underscores the importance of active listening in becoming musically aware. Jazz legend Charlie Parker also weighed in on this, stating, “Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that and just play.” Parker’s words speak to the concept of achieving technical prowess only to let it go in favor of pure emotional expression. These quotes and theories collectively emphasize that musical awareness is not a passive skill but an active process of engagement that encompasses both technical expertise and emotional depth.

 

 

 

Emotional Conditioning: Setting the Stage for Your Performance

One of the most overlooked aspects of musical awareness is the intrinsic link between your emotional state and your performance. Surprisingly, you can practice setting an emotional stage just as you would a physical one. Try an exercise where you intentionally place yourself in a specific emotional state—be it happiness, sadness, or even anger—before playing a familiar piece. The aim is to allow that emotion to influence your performance, affecting everything from tempo to dynamics to phrasing. Afterward, switch to another emotional setting and notice how the same piece takes on a completely different character. This practice not only teaches you how different emotional states can color your music, but it also allows you to consciously tap into the right emotional space before a performance. Understanding how to emotionally “tune” yourself can be just as crucial as tuning your instrument, making for a more compelling and authentic musical experience.

The path to musical awareness is a pilgrimage towards a deeper emotional connection with your music, and an evolving understanding of its many layers. While the exercises and insights provided here offer a roadmap, it’s crucial to remember that every musician’s journey is unique. Therefore, I invite you to share your own training techniques, insights, or breakthrough moments that have helped you become a more aware and intuitive musician. Your contributions can further enrich this collective journey towards a deeper, more meaningful relationship with music.

Thanks for reading.

 

(Picture from an intuitive-music session in Markus Stockhausens “barn” in 2020)

New Release today ! Peyoti For President – Vamos A Nadar

New Release today ! Peyoti For President – Vamos A Nadar

Hey there, Chicas y Chicos!
Guess what? It’s time to drop some sonic goodness right into your eardrums! Prepare your floaties and grab your goggles because Peyoti for President is about to make a splash with their latest single, “Vamos A Nadar”!
This tune is the brainchild of the one and only Peyoti, joined forces with yours truly in the producers chair. Together, we’ve concocted a musical cocktail that’s as bouncy as a kangaroo on a trampoline and infused with an exotic, worldly flair. Picture yourself sipping tequila on a beach, grooving to the infectious beats of “Vamos A Nadar” – it’s a virtual vacation for your ears!
So, ladies and gentlemen, get ready to dive headfirst into the audio adventure of a lifetime! Check out “Vamos A Nadar” – your speakers will thank you for this one.
Stay tuned for more sonic surprises from Peyoti for President. Until then, keep swimming in the sea of music and let these WorldBeat waves wash over you!

Available on all platforms we could think of, for example:
SpotifyApple MusicAmazonBandcamp

Party on,
Marc & Peyoti

PS: There is a video, toooooo!

Increasingly Less – THE LAB – finally a new release…

Increasingly Less – THE LAB – finally a new release…

Increasingly Less – THE LAB – finally a new release…

Increasingly Less Cover
Hi all!

After almost a year of not recording intuitive music sessions, this is the first trio that happened on a rainy day in the new LAB on Portugals Algarve. THE LAB is reborn 2600 km south of its original place in Germany, with less physical space, but located in the middle of nature and close to the ocean. A perfect place for cultivating an open mind for creativity.

When I moved to the south, I left behind a whole life and only took my freedom and love for creativity with me. Now I am giving in to the flow of music and life, meeting new inspiring people along the way. Drummer Dr P.A. Francis and bass player Davicci are the first two intrigued to play intuitive improvisations in THE LAB, as a trio with me, creating something from nothing. The result of this first session is “Increasingly Less”, an album with a warm and gentle flow and some surprising moments.

Get the album at BandCamp!

Enjoy – and don’t forget to become a BandCamp subscriber if you truly want to support my work.

All the best,
Marc

Not Music Again – and again a new track added to Bandcamp

Not Music Again – and again a new track added to Bandcamp

Not Music Again – and again a new track added to Bandcamp

Not Music Again

Another attempt in my ongoing series of making noises that are music. This is as unexperimental as I can get. This is as much as I can lean out of my intuitive-music-focused mind before I start to fall into commercial jazz-pop cliches. Did I ready cross the border? Maybe. You decide.
Let me know if you like it and I’ll maybe try more like these…

By the way, this is probably the last track I produced in Germany. At the end of the month, I will move to Portugal to the Algarve and continue producing from there. So stay tuned for some real ocean sounds later this year.

Give it a spin on BandCamp.

This is of course another free addition to the catalog of all my lovely subscribers.

Not Music – another track added to Bandcamp

Not Music – another track added to Bandcamp

Not Music – another track added to Bandcamp

Not Music
Did I ever try to make some music that is more music? This is as unexperimental as I can get. This is as much as I can lean out of my intuitive-music-focused mind before I start to fall into commercial jazz-pop cliches.

It was fun to make this, but will I ever do something similar again? Well, depends on you. Let me know if you like it and I’ll maybe try more like these…

Give it a spin on BandCamp

“Not Music” is also available on various streaming services like iTunes, Spotify etc. You can find all relevant links at the Hyperfollow page. Come back often, more services will be added as soon as they are acvailable.

This is of course another free addition to the catalog of all my lovely subscribers.

Get it today on BandCamp