Specialized Music Performance Skills

Task 3
Critique Essay

Mattia Micalich
26/03/17

The songs played in the final performance were Totally Fucked by Duncan Sheik and Steven
Sater, Time Warp by Richard O’Brien, Revelation by the Yellowjackets, And the Melody Still Lingers
On by Chaka Khan and Time to Say Goodbye by Kurt Elling.

LESSONS AND REHEARSALS

First of all, I regarded the weekly lesson with my tutor as a considerable help in learning all the
songs, as we were asked to prepare and play two of them every two weeks. My first worries were
that I had not enough skills to achieve the goals of this unit, especially when we had to learn the
two fusion songs, which had some passages that outclassed completely my technical abilities. For
instance, I was not able to play the synthesizer riff into a Night in Tunisia and I thought that there
was not enough time to perform it properly and at the right tempo. However, by showing some
interesting way to study with a metronome, he motivated me to wipe out my agitation and build a
solid and step by step plan of study. Only in this way would I have been capable of gradually facing
the difficulties as well as taking confidence with the stylistic peculiarities of each song. In fact, as
Bauer states “motor skills for music performance are complex and usually require multiple correct
repetitions to become habitual […] both the quality and quantity of practice is important in the
development of motor skills. Distributed practice, or spreading out one’s practice over a period of
time, is better than massed practice […] the brain needs time to solidify newly developed neural
networks.” (2014) [1]. As a consequence, I decided to plan a two-hour daily study, through which I
tried to cure each aspect including dynamics, structure, timing and correct language in the genre. I
also wrote a diary of the individual process, with the view to understanding in what aspects I had
most difficulties while keeping a track of my progresses.

Thanks to the daily exercise, I was able to deal with the band rehearsals with a very efficient
method and I rarely had individual problems when it was time to perform the songs. However, the
general insufficiency of knowledge of the repertoire, in a special case by the guitar players
conditioned the way I played, since their various mistakes committed represented a serious
element of distraction for me. As a result, I was often tired and unfocused during the rehearsals
thus most of the times I was unable to develop a great interplay with the other musicians: one of
the trickiest issues that I had to face was indeed concentration which is “another part of mental
preparation […] to combat distractions, the player needs to get involved actively with the
production of music. Mental goals, such as playing more confidently, more musically, or more
dynamically, can shift the mental attitude from hesitancy and fearfulness to a desire for full
involvement.” (Bushouse, 2013) [2].
Therefore I decided to enhance the ability to focus during the rehearsals by studying the songs
with a guitarist and another bass player. That choice enabled me to keep the correct concentration
and at the same time helped me strengthen the interplay, clarify the structure as well as create a
strong cohesion which could result as a great help for all the members of the band.
By following this method over the weeks I corrected most of the lacks that I had encountered; the
positive feedbacks that my tutors provided gave me an important motivation to keep improving my
skills and overtake all the difficulties. As Cottrell says, “You need to be confident in your own
judgement of your work. The feedback you receive from tutor and other students gives you a rare
opportunity to compare your own evaluations with those of other people” (2015) [3]. In addition, all
the repertoire was challenging and entertaining to play and I always tried to support my band
mates when they had issues in the rehearsals.

On a different subject if my tutors judged my individual practice as a well structured one,

unfortunately I cannot say the same for the teamwork, which was often ineffective and
uncoordinated. In fact, we had many difficulties in organizing some extra rehearsals which would
have been crucial in order to achieve a good final performance. Actually Most of the work was
carried out throughout the last three weeks before the exam; in other words only during the last few
did each musician get confident with the parts given and acquired a good timing and interplay.
Moreover, since not all of us maintained a regular attendance to the rehearsals I did not feel
comfortable when I had to play with the guitarists.

Each of the five songs had an element of complexity that required some analysis and attention.

Time Warp was a great challenge for me to improve drastically my sight-reading skills: even if the
required technique level was not so high, the bass full score had plenty of variations which were
quite complex to read and perform at the same time. Furthermore, this was one of the songs which
cost me most work and concentration, as I had to follow the directions of the MD while sight-
reading. To avoid mistakes both during the rehearsals and in the final performance I had to
memorize correctly all the bass fills written in the musical sheet.

In Totally Fucked I did not encountered too many problems in terms of structure and bass line,
however, on the advice of my instrument tutor, I was asked to perform the song using a pick. As I
do not often use it, I took me several time to play a correct and balanced groove using the alternate
picking technique and to reach a good timing both with the guitarists and the drummer during the
rehearsals. In this case, following the MD directions was far easier, since the bass part was
dominated by a simple pop/rock octave pattern.

Revelation was the easiest song for me to learn, since over the past few years I had practiced and
played many shuffle grooves. Nevertheless, during the rehearsals with the band, performing the
bass line with a real drummer resulted very difficult, as many times our timing was too uptempo
and incorrect. As a consequence, we spent a few rehearsals to solidify the rhythmic pattern and
create an efficient interplay. Furthermore, I did not feel comfortable with the bass pattern in the
intro, so I had to practice it at home and increase the bpm everyday.

Into And the Melody Still Lingers On I had to mainly face technical issues, including the
syncopated obbligatos, the sixteen synth bass riff and the slap parts into the A sections. At first I
had the impression that it would have been very difficult to learn the song at the right tempo but I
followed my tutor’s instructions and practiced a song with a backing track. When it was the time to
rehearse with the band, I played all the parts with the correct feeling and I seldom made mistakes
concerning the structure and the parts I played. I also decided to have some freedom on the solo
sections, including fills and variations which are characteristic in this genre.

Time to Say Goodbye was probably the most challenging musical piece that I had to rehearse and
perform. Even if initially its technical complexity was not so evident, during the rehearsals our
tutors explained us that the band had no dynamic expression and all the execution was completely
flat. I also encountered a great difficulty in playing the vibrato on my instrument and I had to
practice constantly the Jaco’s lines, as I was not able to follow the lead voice due to my phrasing
which was often pushed back. Fortunately, by practicing the melodies with a singer I forced myself
to execute them at the correct tempo, while I tried to maintain their original feeling. Furthermore,
with the help of the drummer I managed to create several dynamic excursions, thanks also to the
use of the chorus which gave to the bass a more spacey sound.

THE PERFORMANCE
Unfortunately, the day of the showcase my physical conditions were not excellent and I felt some
weakness while performing the five songs. However, the solid preparation I had made individually
and the last rehearsals with the whole band allowed me to keep my brain focused so I managed to
limit the symptoms of the temperature. In addition, I did not play for first, so I was able to warm up
my hands in order to play the songs with the maximum energy and technique. Finally, I was
capable to control my emotivity for the performance and this gave me a great help, since it pushed
away any form of distractions derived by agitation.
I was satisfied of almost all songs but I could have played better, as the fatigue made me commit
some mistakes and I spent too much stamina on the stage: at the end of the exam I was nearly
exhausted.

In Totally Fucked I followed the structure and the bass line, but I have to continue practicing with
the pick since I was way too rigid during the execution of the crescendos and the alternate picking
resulted often forced and mechanical.

In Time Warp I was not able to focus myself on the musical director and I retarded the rhythmic
reprise after the spoken part made by the singers. I did not also liked the sound that I chose for this
song which was full of low and mid-low frequencies: that was exactly the opposite of the one
required into this genre. I must admit that when I got on stage I distracted myself from creating an
adequate bass tone.

I was really satisfied of the result of And the Melody Still Lingers On, in which I was able to
maintain the correct tempo for the riff in the intro and I was able to establish a solid groove with the
drummer and create an efficient interplay especially during the guitar solos. Moreover, as I had
done during the band rehearsals, I also tried to enrich the bass line of the A section by adding
some slap ghost notes and fills. Even if this tune was supposed to be the most difficult one, in my
opinion, it was far more easier to play, as my tutors had anticipated during the lessons’ rehearsals.

Revelation went better than I had expected since I managed to keep the stable shuffle groove and
the walking bass. The only difficulties that I experienced were in the intro section, where I could not
follow the correct tempo during the triplets fill.

Finally, in Time to Say Goodbye I could deal with the dynamic excursions just as I had rehearsed i
previously with all the band members. In addition, I tried to create an interplay with the guitarist
during the solo. I also tried not to push back all the melodic phrases: by maintaining the correct
timing, however, I did not concentrate enough to perform all the vibratos, which are essential to
give expression to the melodies in the song.

CONCLUSION

Looking at the overall work during the rehearsals, the study sessions at home and the final
performance, I can openly tell that I am well enough satisfied of the outcomes that I have earned.
This unit gave me the opportunity to remarkably increase my instrumentals skills, including timing,
finger dexterity, interplay, as well as develop some techniques that I had not the possibility to
strengthen before, such as slap and picking. Such unit was also fundamental in order to acquire a
method of study in songs learning, since it was the first time that I was asked to rehearse and play
intensive and difficult pieces with a real band instead of a backing track and two of them even by
the control of a musical director. Moreover, my bad physical conditions that affected my
performance did not discourage me at all, as I’ve always tried to dig each song, do my best and get
positive feedbacks from my tutors.
I will surely continue to work on these pieces in a self-critique way, that is an instrument which
“conquers the challenges of learning” (Barrett and Stauffer, 2009) [4] and allows “to remain flexible
and make the most of circumstances” (Chapman, 2014) [5], in order to sharpen the technique and
develop expressiveness and stylistic coherence on my instrument.

REFERENCES

[1] Bower, W. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and
Responding to Music. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[2] Bushouse, D. (2013). Practical Hints on Playing the French Horn. 1st ed. Alfred Music.

[3] Cottrell, Stella. (2015) Skills For Success. 1st ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[4] Barrett, M. and Stauffer, S. (2009). Narrative inquiry in music education. 1st ed. Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands.

[5] Chapman, Ken. (2014) Leaders Code. 1st ed. Bloomington, In: iUniverse Com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Bower, W. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and
Responding to Music. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[2] Bushouse, D. (2013). Practical Hints on Playing the French Horn. 1st ed. Alfred Music.

[3] Cottrell, Stella. (2015) Skills For Success. 1st ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[4] Barrett, M. and Stauffer, S. (2009). Narrative inquiry in music education. 1st ed. Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands.

[5] Chapman, Ken. (2014) Leaders Code. 1st ed. Bloomington, In: iUniverse Com.