Hey music lovers! I thought I’d go in a different direction this week and pull together some real-life examples of the potentially awesome gigs, events, and non-musical merriment you could be part of when in a community music group. This post is very personal, since I’ve created this list from my own life experiences, and […]
Borrowed Music in Advertising
Throughout the history of commercials, many advertising companies have used well-known pieces—usually orchestral, jazz, or oldies pop—as background music for radio and TV ads. This is nothing new, but it’s sometimes interesting to hear what kind of music some public relations professionals decide is appropriate for their merchandise or service. We consumers have seen and […]
The People You Meet – Thanksgiving 2017 Version
You never know who you’re going to meet at a party, or what their hidden talents might be. It’s always interesting to hear some people’s stories after they learn I’m a musician. Most will tell me they used to play an instrument in high school or college. Others will say they have no musical abilities, […]
Common Musical Slang
We musicians can sometimes be a strange bunch. Take the lingo: We throw around words like “gig,” “axe,” “riff,” and lots of other slang terms for musical events and items. If you are not used to it, this specialized vocabulary can be as confusing as a webmaster talking about search engine optimization, or a writer […]
Not Close Enough
These days, the saying “Close enough for jazz” has less meaning for me than it did when I first heard it. One thing that gets on my nerves is when non-jazz musicians assume that playing jazz does not require accuracy – it most certainly does. Randomly throwing together a collection of notes and ignoring the […]