T H E

M O T I V A T E D
M U S I C I A N
GET ON TRACK, STAY ON TRACK

f e a t u r i n g p e t e r b e r n s t e i n
MYMUSICMASTERCLASS.COM NOVEMBER 2020
WHAT'S GOING ON?
Well, the world is pretty insane at the moment and it’s
getting harder to tune it out. As humans, it’s important to
try to change our environment for the better, so if you live in
the US, please VOTE! If you don’t like what is happening at
the moment, please vote! If you want to be able to travel
and tour other countries freely, please vote! This is your
chance to make a change by simply casting a ballot.

"OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END THE

DAY WE BECOME SILENT ABOUT
THINGS THAT MATTER."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

MMMC | 01
 THE WORLD AS WE
HAVE CREATED IT
IS A PROCESS OF
OUR THINKING. IT
CANNOT BE
CHANGED
WITHOUT
CHANGING OUR
THINKING.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

MMMC | 02
 MAKING
A
CHANGE
MMMC | 03
 MAKING A CHANGE
Since we started this issue discussing the
importance of voting and the possibility of
making a change, let’s continue this theme and
shine the light on ourselves. How do we make
meaningful and lasting changes within our lives,
our careers, our personalities, our bodies, etc.?
Well, this subject is probably vast enough for an
entire book, but we will simply talk about one
So, let’s take a good look in the mirror and
principle that can help your changes stick and
under the microscope. Do we drink too much,
become part of you.
stress too much, sleep too little, procrastinate,
over analyze, treat our bodies poorly, etc.? Once
The bottom line is that you have to want to
we know what we want to change, let’s analyze
change more than you want to remain the same.
why we do these things. For instance, let’s say I
I know this sounds incredibly basic, but it’s the
procrastinate too much. I’m going to ask the
truth. Have you or anyone you know quit
question, “Why do I procrastinate too much?”.
smoking cigarettes? Anyone that has quit
cigarettes can tell you that nothing worked until
Now, my answer could be that “I’m scared of
they woke up one day and said, “I’m not a
rejection so I put off important things. I prefer
smoker”. The nicotine patch, the gum, the self-
the comfort of my routine because I’m anxious
help tapes, the hypnotherapy, they all have their
about change”. So, now I ask myself, “What's the
place, but if you aren’t ready to quit, you simply
worst that can happen if I try new things to
won’t.
better my life?” And also, “What are the
potential benefits from a change?” If I think this
Why? Because you’re addicted to something
through, I should really be much more afraid of
and you’re not 100% invested in the change.
not making a change because years from now I
Now, I certainly don’t claim to be an addiction
will probably be filled with regrets. You
specialist so please understand I’m simply
definitely don’t want to think back about your
making a point here. I’m not suggesting that it’s
life as a slew of lost opportunities and wasted
easy to quit any chemically addictive substance,
potential! That’s a recipe for unhappiness to say
although I do know that the first step to
the least.
recovery is that you are committed to change!

Anyway, these are the first steps in making

meaningful change and we’ve included a
worksheet to get you started. Next month we
can follow up with strategies to integrate this
change into your being. Until then, make sure
to fill out the worksheet as thoroughly as
possible and be honest with yourself
MMMC | 04
 FEAR IS THE
PATH TO THE
DARK SIDE.
FEAR LEADS TO
ANGER. ANGER
LEADS TO
HATE. HATE
LEADS TO
SUFFERING.

YODA
MMMC | 05
 FEAR NOT
When you’re performing
music on the stage, in the
studio or in front of a
webcam, do you have fear?
Are you fearful that your
music and/or talents won’t
be received well by the
public, your peers, etc.?
Are you scared that you
might make a mistake?
Do you feel like an impostor
and that people will soon
uncover you as a fraud?
Will you forget the words,
chords or melody? Will the
whole performance be a
train wreck?
All the above are common
fears for musicians, so if
you've had any of these
thoughts, you're not alone.
That being said, you
definitely don't want these
ideas going through your
head when you're
performing. So, how do you
rid yourself of these negative
thoughts?
The first step to
conquering a fear is
identifying it. I know this
sounds obvious in theory,
but we’re going to write
everything down in our
worksheet. The act of
writing brings thoughts to
the surface, so this is an
important step. Once you
write down all of your
potential musical fears,
let’s analyze them.
For instance, let’s say “I’m
scared of forgetting the
chords to a song”. If I
allow that fear to manifest
in my mind while I’m
playing, I will most likely
make a mistake, because
I’m no longer
concentrating on the
music.
Essentially, I have enabled
that fear to materialize
into an actual musical
problem and by doing so, I
have strengthened the
fear for my next
performance. This is a
vicious cycle and as most
humans know, the mind is
extremely powerful.
MMMC | 06
So how do we remove some of these fears from our heads? There are many
ways to do this and we will include various strategies in the next edition of
The Motivated Musician. That being said, I will share one thing that has
helped me personally in this area. I always make sure to be as prepared as
humanly possible.

This sort of preparedness gives me a sense of calm during performances

because my thought process is, “I practiced and prepared as much as I could.
I can only play as well as my skills and talent will allow, therefore I cannot be
better than I am. I just have to be me and do what I do.”. Everyone is
different, which is why we will break down more therapeutic thought
processes in the next issue, but like I said, this works for me.

This is why I never go to a gig unprepared. Because if I’m unprepared, those

doubts have room to creep into my psyche. There are obviously many
musical situations that have no rehearsals, no set list and no clear roadmap. I
have done plenty of them in my life too, but the fact that I was regularly
practicing for the unknown (improvising, ear training, etc.) made me just as
prepared for this type of situation.

So, please fill out the worksheet and let’s work on removing these fears from
your head so you can be the best you can be!
MMMC | 07
 GETTING THE MOST
OUT OF YOUR AUDIO

I’ve been getting a lot of questions recently from musicians about how to record themselves on a basic level
without going down the technical or financial rabbit hole. Essentially, they want to record themselves with good
quality audio without having to learn complicated software or shell out a fortune on studio gear.

Before I continue, I want to explain the concept of the chain. If you want to really obsess about your sound, you’re
going to have to pay attention to every aspect of the chain. For instance, if you play electric guitar, the chain may
look something like this.

1) The sound in your hands

1) Your instrument
3) Your strings
4) Your pickups
5) The ¼” cable that connects your instrument to a guitar amplifier
6) The quality/sound of your amplifier
7) The quality/sound of the microphone that is placed in front of your amplifier
8) The XLR cable that connects the microphone to your preamp
9) The quality of your preamp
10) The converters in your preamp

MMMC | 08
This is a very basic list which doesn’t even cover the acoustics of the room, any added
effects, etc. My point is simply that if you go down the rabbit hole, be prepared to suit up
for battle. Many musicians have very nice studio rigs in their residences and have
strengthened every piece of the chain, but others simply want a no-hassle way to attain
solid sounding recordings. So, let’s discuss the easiest ways to get good results.

If budget and learning curve are concerns, you may want to consider something like the Zoom H6. There are other
options from other manufacturers and you’ll want to do your research based on your needs, but this is essentially a
device that fills 2 roles. You can either record to it standalone via a memory card or use it in conjunction with a
computer (as a sound card).

Also, it comes with some interchangeable (attached) microphone options, one being a pretty decent stereo mic.
Let’s say you’re a guitarist and you want to record a solo piece in your apartment/house. You can use the stereo mic
from the zoom as a room mic and you still have 4 other inputs/preamps to play with. So, you may want to mic your
guitar amp too which will leave you with 3 remaining tracks. And maybe you want to play to some pre-recorded
music which is stereo, leaving you with 1 empty slot. Lastly, you decide to sing a little bit, so you set up a vocal mic
with that last track.

This concept can obviously be used with any live performance and it’s important to note that if you don’t want to
use the built-in stereo mic, you can get an adapter for 2 more inputs, giving you 6 preamps in total. That could help
if you want to record a duo or trio at a club.

Now, If we look at the example I gave above, this could have been recorded to the Zoom H6 internally or you could
have been using the H6 as a soundcard for your DAW (Logic, Pro Tools, Reaper, Garage Band, Whatever). You could
have also recorded the whole thing on your Zoom and then draged the files into your DAW (on your computer)
afterwards. This is helpful when you don’t necessarily want to record in the same room as your computer or if you
simply want the ease of pushing a physical record button on a piece of hardware. Anyway, once you have recorded
the audio you’ll have to mix it and that subject will have to wait until next issue.

Again, recording can be a giant rabbit hole, but for now just think about what you need. Would it be beneficial to
have a mobile 6 channel recorder that can be powered by batteries or USB power? Would it also be beneficial to be
able to use that unit as a sound card if needed? Or do you want to spend on a higher quality rig at a higher price? Is
it the right time for you to learn the ins and outs of DAW software? There is no right or wrong answer here, so think it
over and we’ll be back with more next month.

MMMC
MMMC| |09
09
 FEATURED CATS SAHRA
GURE
Many of the elite musicians we film at My
Music Masterclass talk about how they like to
practice new things to stay current.  Many also
say that they are always checking out the
young cats to see what new sounds are
becoming part of the musical landscape. 

BRANDEE
YOUNGER

LOUIS
COLE
Sahra Gure
Winner of the Musicians’
Company Young Jazz Musician
Award 2019, Sahra is already
pinned by Jazzwise as ‘one to
watch in 2020’
This is important work for musicians because
although there are only 12 notes in western Brandee Younger
"Younger taps into the spiritual
music, techniques and sounds evolve.  So if you well that fueled the art of both
want to continue working in the scene and Ashby and Coltrane, yet she
remains ever-cognizant of the
remaining relevant across generations, you time in which she lives and
plays." - All About Jazz
must stay aware of what’s trending in music. 
In this section we feature artists who in our Louis Cole
Los Angeles based singer
opinion are doing some really cool stuff!  Here songwriter, producer and multi
are this month’s picks… instrumentalist who co-
founded the alt pop/electro
funk band "Knower"

MMMC | 10
 THERE ARE TWO
KINDS OF WORRIES
- THOSE YOU CAN
DO SOMETHING
ABOUT AND THOSE
YOU CAN'T. DON'T
SPEND ANY TIME
ON THE LATTER.

DUKE ELLINGTON

MMMC | 11
 THE SEARCH
CONTINUES
We talked about getting under the surface last month and it got me thinking about how I
dig for unbiased information in our modern society. With the way that big tech, services
and social media gather our data, we are constantly being bombarded with targeted ads,
articles and search results based on our online activity. This has made it difficult to find
unbiased information from sources not attempting to influence our decisions. What I’ve
found is that forums are one of the last hold outs for getting this real info. Forums are
typically moderated pretty heavily and blatant advertising is often grounds for being
banned. They also tend to attract the most serious (and snobby) people which I personally
think is awesome when looking for real information. Lastly, they are typically very search
friendly and older posts are typically easy to find as well. These types of SEO optimized
conversations are not found and accessed as easily in social media due to privacy
restrictions and architecture, but forum “threads” will usually be archived like a library just
waiting for you to discover them. I know, I know. Forums are for old people, right? They
are visually unappealing and they haven’t changed much since the 90’s. While that’s true,
the crude nature of their architecture is what makes them such good tools for
conversations and finding answers.

Anyway, there are plenty of standalone forums out there depending on your interests. For
instance, https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/ is a great community for jazz guitarists, many of
whom log on daily. There have been some very cool, educational threads. If you do an
internet search with the word "forum" plus your interest you'll most likely see results. For
example, if you search for "bass forum" you will get some nice results for both bassists and
fisherman alike! Give it a shot...

The other place I look to is Reddit. The structure of Reddit is again, very raw, but effective.
It consists of a network of “subs” which are essentially forums for pretty much any topic you
can imagine and some that you don’t want to imagine at all to be honest. That being said,
if you find the right Reddit sub, you’ll be privy to tons of great info and conversations.
I mean, you’ll have to sort through the trolls, but Reddit has a system of upvoting and
downvoting posts/replies, so you can sift through the dreck!

For instance, I recently got interested in Kava Kava which is a plant root native to the
western Pacific islands. I had read about the benefits of Kava as a replacement for
drinking alcohol and it intrigued me. The problem was that the only Kava I had tried was
the ineffective Yogi tea bags and random supplements from Amazon. Those products had
no effect and I thought Kava was yet another placebo herbal supplement making waves.
But then I found the Kava community on Reddit and read about where to get the real
“noble” Kava and how to prepare it properly. Wow, what a difference! That sub is filled
with a lot of “purists” and there are definitely a bunch of strong opinions flying around, but
the info is all there. And from this community, I found out that Kava is very effective for
me. This is just a non-musical example I wanted to share with you, but there are many
music and instrument specific Reddit subs as well. Basically I use Reddit whenever I feel
like my search results are coming up with paid articles or biased information. It’s a very
cool resource if you know how to use it.

So, remember, next time you’re researching a service, product, plant or other, check Reddit
and the forums to see what the people really think!

MMMC | 12
PETER
BERNSTEIN

5 QUESTIONS

What have you been listening to

recently?

I don't have as much time to listen to music as

I'd like to but I've been going back to stuff I've
always loved and trying to turn my boys on to it.
They're almost 8 and 13 so I'm trying to expose
them to the stuff I love. Aretha Franklin, Marvin
Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Led
Zeppelin, The Beatles, etc....so much stuff.

MMMC | 13
When I go to listen to jazz, I go back to Charlie
Parker, Monk, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Sonny Rollins,
Art Tatum, Ellington, Lester Young, Louis
Armstrong, and so many more, but all really
creators of the vast language of jazz. I'm enjoying
going back to the music I heard when I was just
getting into music seriously and seeing how much
my ears have changed: hearing details that I didn't
before and having a different perspective on it.

What are 5 of your favorite albums of all time and what

is so special about them?

It is so difficult to list 5 albums but thinking back to different things that

really got in to my head I would have to say:
Jimi Hendrix: Axis Bold As Love
Wes Montgomery: Smokin' At The Half Note (plus 2 tunes with Jimmy
Smith) was a Verve Reissue (on cassette!)
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Kenny Burrell/ John Coltrane: Double-record set with the Quintet and
Sextet w/ Tommy Flanagan
Sonny Rollins: The Bridge (with Jim Hall)
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
Bonus
Charlie Christian: Live At Mintons
Grant Green: Solid
Miles Davis: E.S.P.
Thelonious Monk: Underground
Jaco Pastorius: Word Of Mouth
MMMC | 14
Going backwards, Jaco is an absolute compositional and instrumental genius, his
voice is so strong with both. This record is like a movie, so beautiful and blew my
mind in how listening to it was such a unique experience. I loved Heavy Weather by
Weather Report too, both beautiful examples of the writing truly setting the vibe.

I loved Monk from the first time I heard him because it reminded me somehow of
ragtime, which was the first music I remember being really transfixed by, (along
with the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits!) Monk's music sounded like NYC for some reason
to me and he is one of my all-time heroes because of how he found his own
musical universe but was so clearly a product of his environment at the same time.
To me he is one the great composers of the 20th Century. His music embodies both
courage and humor in perfect balance. He deals with rhythm, harmony, melody,
and form in such a unique and personal way.

Miles Davis, ESP was maybe the record by this quintet with Wayne, Herbie, Ron, and
Tony that I listened to the most but I loved them all. The personalities are so strong
and the sense of abstraction and mystery in the music is something I aspire to
understand.

Grant Green's Solid was a big record for me because I fell in love with Grant's tone
and phrasing and how he connected with the rhythm section of McCoy, Bob
Cranshaw, and Elvin Jones. Of course, the root of the jazz guitar tree is Charlie
Christian as all roads lead back to him. I heard the Benny Goodman stuff too which
I loved but these live jam sessions where he stretches out are amazing evidence of
his drive and intensity.

A Love Supreme was a sonic experience I'll never forget experiencing and I would
listen to it as ritual. I was checking out other records of the quartet like My Favorite
Things and Crescent also but A Love Supreme was a pure concept album which
gave it a different aura.

Sonny Rollins with Jim Hall was a big one because of the beautiful blend of their
musical identities. Sonny's seeming complete freedom and creativity in exploring a
tune blew my mind and just to hear the guitar comping in that way and openness
of the music was an important thing to hear.

MMMC | 15
The Kenny Burrell/ John Coltrane stuff was my first exposure to both of them and
from the first few seconds of their duet of "Why Was I Born", I was transfixed. The
rhythm section on the rest of the tunes, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and
Jimmy Cobb was just amazing and the feeling of the music was so relaxed yet
cooking. I was trying to figure out what Coltrane was playing as well as Kenny's
beautiful lyricism mixed with that big fat warm sound.

Kind Of Blue was life changing. All the personalities! I was maybe 15 and I
remember my guitar teacher telling me to learn a solo from the record and just sing
it. I chose Miles' solo on Freddie Freeloader and it blew my head open with the
sense of space and the urgency of the phrasing. The whole record had such a
mood.

I heard Wes on this reissue by Verve that had most of Smokin' At The Half Note and
2 tunes from Wes and Jimmy Smith with Grady Tate, my first time hearing a
Hammond organ. Wes blew my mind right away with his warmth and funkiness
while always projecting relaxation and intensity simultaneously. I heard that they
were playing a blues but there was a such a sophistication to his language (Wynton
Kelly and Jimmy Smith too) that I just remember feeling a thrill and a
determination to figure out what was going on.

Jimi Hendrix was my first guitar hero and that was my introduction to the
instrument. I just loved his whole persona and of course his fearlessness and really
creating new sounds. I loved the songs and the whole vibe. Of course through
checking out Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, etc, I was made aware of the blues
guys who gave them their language: BB King, Albert King, Albert Collins, etc. I got
really into those guys and just went a little further back to T-Bone Walker and that's
where Charlie Christian and jazz guitar came in.

There are so many records and important people I'm leaving out. It's just impossible
to narrow it down but that's a start..... MMMC | 16
What are you currently working on in the practice room?
I'm just trying to find time to learn new tunes and write as much as I
can. If I don't have a lot of time to practice I try to be as holistic as
possible in that when I play the guitar I'm engaging my ears and
trying to learn and understand the fingerboard better. I try to focus on
something specific and work on improvising with some restrictions to
try and not encourage falling into patterns and muscle memory.

What younger or up-and-coming musicians are you

digging right now?

There are so many great players on the scene now. From the younger
guys maybe 10 years my junior, there are a lot of really strong
personalities. Lage Lund, Mike Moreno, Gilad Hexelman, Yotam
Silberstein are all amazing in their own ways. Of course a bit younger
than them is Pasquale Grasso, who is unbelievable and doing things
on the guitar everyone thought to be impossible. Another guy I really
like with a different thing is Charles Altura, just an incredible linear
sense. There are some great guys who are really just starting to get out
there too, like Andrew Renfroe, Charlie Sigler, Daan Kleijn, Adam
Moezinia, Alex Wintz, and a bunch more who can really play and are
going toward their own thing.

MMMC | 17
How are you staying sane in this quarantine and do you
have any tips for other musicians currently in isolation?
It is a very difficult time because as jazz musicians, we need community.
I suppose forced isolation is great for those who actually want to hole
up in a studio and create that way, which is fine, but if you play the kind
of music where you're learning to cultivate your social skills as a
musician: how to listen, how to interact, how to blend, how to
concentrate and flow in real time, etc, the very limited contact with
other musicians is really tough.

I don't know how to stay sane in this except to try and practice the
things that you feel will make you stronger when things can come back
and people can play together in front of people. The experience of
watching and listening to musicians really play together in a room will
be something people won't have had for a while so it could really be a
great thing in that audiences will want and need to see that. They will
want to feel a connection with instruments creating vibrations in a
room and listening to those instruments connecting....experiencing
subtle things that don't translate through Zoom or a video. When it can
happen safely again, people could really want things that emphasize
interaction and connection so I'm hoping that music that embodies
those things will be celebrated. I could be wrong though! But I hope not!

I was so lucky to get a chance to go into a recording studio in June and have about
6 hours to make a record with Sullivan Fortner on piano, Peter Washington on bass,
and Joe Farnsworth on drums. We were able to get 9 tunes down including 6
originals, 2 which had just been written since the lockdown started in March.
Luckily, Paul Stache and Damon Smith from Smoke Sessions Records were into
using this time to keep recording and it was kind of surreal to get the opportunity
to make some music when we had all been laying low for a few months. It just
came out 2 weeks ago. The Cd is called "What Comes Next"....it seemed to be a
fitting title. We left off the question mark on purpose. Check out the album HERE!

MMMC | 18
The Keys
to Keys...
We just released a super cool masterclass from
Bruce Forman on Modulation and Transposition.
The whole video is great, but I wanted to single out
one of his points since it really resonated with me.
Bruce said that we must question why we are
playing a specific tune in a certain key, so let’s
break that down.
If you’re playing jazz standards in an
improvisational group setting, often times it’s
easiest to simply play a song in the most popular
key in order for everyone to quickly agree on the
changes and harmony. That certainly makes sense,
right? But let’s say that you are either
playing solo or making an arrangement of a well-
known song to play with others. Why would you
blindly pick the most common or
original key?
Each instrument has a “sweet spot” where things
sound better or are more tactfully laid out. This is
why horn players typically would rather play in Bb
than in E for example. On the contrary, E is a great
key for the guitar. Singers are well aware of their
vocal ranges and the sweet spots in their voices, so
why as instrumentalists do we simply accept the
keys given to us as the final answer?
Now, it's very important to be able to play your
repertoire in the most common keys so that you
can thrive in settings where everyone needs to be
on the same page. Also, you should be able to play
these tunes in all keys just in case someone throws
you a curve. that being said, it is equally important
to find out what keys sound and feel the best on
your instrument, so you can take advantage when
it's your turn to make the set list!
"Boom."
- Bruce Forman
MMMC | 19
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transposing and modulating HERE!
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MMMC | 20
CONCLUSION
This is an important month and it’s
time to make some changes. If you’re
unhappy with how things are going,
you have the power to make them
better, so get to it! Also, we’d love to
hear from you, so please email us with
any questions or topic ideas you might
have. If we use your topic or question
in the issue, we’ll give you a $10 gift
card for MyMusicMasterclass.com.
WooHoo!

MMMC EDITION 005