Recital Info

This post will be updated as details take shape (last updated 5/11/2018).

Info Request

Please take a minute to give me some info so I can finalize act assignments and spell all the names and titles appropriately.

The Basics

• The recital will be split into two acts divided by a taco lunch intermission. Delicioso.  
• Families are invited to bring elements of a taco lunch, including sides or desserts. Sign up here!
• Yes, please invite whoever you like, and they are definitely invited to lunch. Just include them in your SignUpGenius RSVP.
• Act assignments are listed here now. Check your email for the password.
• Your call time is the time you are supposed to show up, and it is on the act assignments list. Feel free to be early.
• Performers should be dressed to kill while guests should simply be dressed.
• Photography is encouraged.
• Videography is also encouraged.
• Electronics that beep or flash will get the stink-eye or worse.
• Raucous applause is highly encouraged as appropriate.

On Recital Day

Once you arrive, performers should go directly to the green room (there will be signage showing you the way) to sign in, tune, and warm up. There will be multiple places to tune and warm up, but make sure you mark yourself present before you venture off from the main green room. If needed, do some deep breathing to relax and focus.

Remember that everyone in the building is rooting for you and will listen with loving ears.

Food should be taken to the kitchen (for fridge items) or serving area (hots and room temp items -- there will be outlets for crock pots). Upon arrival, Act I guests may take their seats while performers warm up. For Act II, guests should prepare for immediate tacos. Act II performers can choose whether to eat first or warm up first.

Location, Location, Location

• Navigate to the building: 21750 E Dorado Ave, Centennial, CO 80015 
  Please note that this is a different building than we've used before.
   
• Navigate within the building:
  • Performance area: the gym, not the chapel
  • Food: kitchen and Relief Society room (there will be signage)
  • Green room: Primary room (again, signage)
  • Warm-up rooms: see signage

Group Number

Both acts will include a sing-along. Guitarists will play Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" in the key of C while everyone else sings along. If you need to get familiar with the song or if you just like awesome things, here are a couple of legends performing it (in a different key).

I do indeed love making music with my friends. That's why this works.

Studio Week, Recital, Debrief Week, Breather

The week of May 14 is studio week. That means that all lessons during that week take place in my home studio, regardless of where we normally meet.

The purpose is to give you an opportunity to perform in a different environment before the big day.  It's like a dress rehearsal. But you don't need to get all fanced up for studio week (unless it will help you -- then by all means, get fancy). In addition, I may be able to give you a little extra time as I won't be traveling.

During the post-recital week lesson (in the normal location), we will take a good look at your progress and musical goals. We'll talk about your performance at the recital, how your preparation got you there, lessons learned, highlights, and how to continue to grow musically. It'll be a lot like a clear-eyed growth spurt. It's great.

Many music teachers count the recital as the following week's lesson, which we are doing, but we're putting it off a week so we can debrief and make plans for growth. But then we'll all finally take a well earned breather during the week of Memorial Day. No lessons May 28 - June 1.

• May 14 - 18 (studio week): all lessons at Ms. Lauren's home studio during your normal time slots
• Saturday, May 19: recital (the day of the show, y'all)
• May 21 - 25 (debrief week): feedback and goals at normal lesson locations
• May 28 - June 1 (breather week): relax

May 19 is the Spring Recital

Save the date! The spring recital will be held on Saturday, May 19, 2018, and will be broken up into acts. Musicians are only required to attend the act in which they will perform, but they are welcome to attend any additional acts they choose. Members of the same family will be in the same act. More to come on that.

All lessons during the week preceding the recital will be held at Ms. Lauren's studio. Students should be ready to rock every aspect of their performances in beautiful style at their final pre-recital lesson.

So go ahead and invite Grandma and start thinking about what you'd like to perform. Watch for updates on literature choice and memorization deadlines. In the meantime, plan to be in town and ready to perform on May 19.

Payable to the LLC

The new year will bring a new business structure for Ms. Lauren. This lady loves that.

All this means for you is that tuition needs to be payable to Lauren Bales Music LLC or simply Lauren Bales Music (rather than just Lauren Bales) so it can be handled appropriately on my end.

In even easier news, there will be a payment link in your monthly invoice. Clap your hands.

Rejected titles for this post include terrible LLC-related jokes such as "Noel/Yes-L(LC)" and something about LL Cool J that just wasn't landing. Anyway, may your new year be bigger, deffer, and phenomenally authentic.

2018 Availability Form Available

Four hours minimum, everybody. That is -- please list at least four hours of availability for lesson scheduling. Tack on an additional hour of availability for each additional student. So if you have two students in your home, list at least five hours of availability. For three students, list at least six hours (4+1+1), naturally.

The form is available now and is due by December 20. I'll draft a schedule and finalize with families December 21-23. Then, I will be out of town for a few days. Lessons resume Monday, January 8.

2018 Availability - Coming Soon!

It will be time to make plans for the new year very soon. The form to snag your spot will be available on December 1 and will be due by January 4 at the absolute latest. Watch this space.

UPDATE: Forms should be filled out by Dec 20 for best results.

2018 Pricing Available

The pricing for 2018 is finalized and posted. Take a peek on the Pricing page and give a shout if you have questions. These changes are effective for January.

In the meantime, don't forget that December is half-price because I am only offering half a month of lessons. See Key Info or this entry on the Happenings page for more details.

Approaching a New Piece (or Learning to Fly)

There are lots of ways to approach a new piece of music. Some are more effective than others, and some will never get you off the ground. Below is a practical approach for effectively learning the actual music without learning mistakes along with it. 

The first two main parts can come in either order, depending on the piece (or your mood). During both parts, hold space for musicality and include it as soon as possible.

• Mechanics: make efficient movements with good sound. For instrumentalists, it's choosing fingerings and getting the right notes in the right order. For singers, it's text and breath. Spend time on this step because a correctly constructed framework is critical.

• Rhythm: snap into the grid. Check your counting and make sure it's both clean and correct. Again, that framework needs to be just right, so don't rush this step. You can even do it apart from the melody and fingerings.

And now comes the best part: the music-making. The first two parts are necessary but not at all sufficient for making music that soars. You’ve constructed a skeleton, but now it's time to put on the flesh and the feathers by building on the informed, creative choices about style and dynamics birthed during your work on rhythm and mechanics. Create moments. Your personal touch in this step is the magic that breathes the life into the thing and gets it off the ground.

The best-prepared music will take you — and your listeners — along for a glorious ride.

Bird Rider, by Yammo Zhang

But I'm Not Going to Be a Professional Musician, You Say

So you say you're not going to be a professional musician? Cool. But you should still practice.

I am not a professional mathematician, but learning algebra helped me practice thinking logically. I am neither writer nor librarian, but studying literature at the feet of competent teachers helped me think critically, appreciate ambiguity and irony, and delight in the ways skilled writers point to the poignant or the ridiculous. And I do love the ridiculous. 

Because all of my various training has shaped how I interact with the world, I use it all the time. I can't not use it, in fact. It is part of who I am. Worthwhile pursuits have improved my well-being, my relationships, and my art. And the arts connect humanity across generations and cultures, helping people to understand and to feel understood in ways that nothing else can. This is no small feat.

It's true that most folks who do music are not professional musicians, but doing something inherently valuable for money is hardly the best reason to do it. So, if it's not too early to ask, what do you adore with a fiery passion? Music? Awesome! Something else? Also awesome! I can hardly wait to see all the things you'll do. The world needs engineers and doctors just as much as it needs artists.

No matter what else you pursue, you will never, ever, ever be sad that you are musically literate.

When to Do Music

Being a kid is tough, man. So is being eleven or fifteen. And sometimes, it's pretty tough being an adult, too.

The whiplashy nature of life spares no one. Sometimes we can do something about it, and sometimes we can't, but we can always take a moment to put down our various loads and connect to something else through our music. Or maybe you'd fare better by bringing your heavy burden into your music. Do you need to sing the blues alone, or would you prefer to collaborate right now? Maybe you just need to lie on your bed and spin some Bessie Smith records. Or maybe you're happier than you've ever been and everything is simply wonderful at the moment.

In any case, come to music. Come to your music to celebrate, to ease your aches, or just to change up the pace. Connect to humanity or disconnect from it all -- whatever you need.

Bring your life into your music, and your music will radiate life. 

The Two-Goal Approach to Rehearsing

How long should you practice? That's a good question, but let's shift a little. I find that a two-goal approach to rehearsal is more effective than solely watching the clock or only playing what you're already good at (which is super fun and important, but it's a different thing than rehearsing). To have a solid rehearsal, make and meet two goals. 

First, set a minimum time goal. For the short-attention-span set, this can be rather short, but it's a personal decision. You'll figure out what works for you as you mature as a musician. The second goal (the main goal) is an accomplishment goal. What art-smashing dragons are creeping around that need to be vanquished? Choose a reachable goal at each rehearsal, and then work toward it. Perhaps you'd like to finally nail those four difficult measures or some tricky transition. Maybe your fingering is wacky or the strum pattern is hard to maintain while singing. How are your dynamics? Your style? Are you maintaining a steady tempo? Of all the things you'd like to improve, pick one or two and get going.

Reach both goals before throwing in the towel for the session. If you meet the time goal but not the accomplishment goal, keep going. If you have slain your dragon but it only took a few minutes, pick a new beast and keep slaying until you also reach that time goal. Once you've met these two goals, you have succeeded for the day (and are basically winning at life).

Success feels fantastic, doesn't it? It sounds pretty good, too.

St. George and The Dragon, by Ken Riley

The Circle of Fifths: a Video and an Image

The circle of fifths is glorious, I say. Understanding it will help you be a better musician. It's why we do the scales in that same old order all the time, and it's what I'm talking about when I say the one, four, and five (it's actually the I, IV, and V, as you know). Patterns abound, and you will be amazed and delighted.

But get yourself a snack because this glorious video is about 20 minutes long.

Behold the circle of fifths.

Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe (or the Paper Ain't the Music)

La trahison des images, by René Magritte

In 1929, a Belgian painter crafted an image of a smoking pipe with text on the canvas that translates as "this is not a pipe." What? It sure looks like a pipe, but it sure isn't. It's just paint on canvas.

Similarly, the sheet music is not the music. Yes, we rely on the paper to know what the composer intended. We pull ideas out of it. We even call it "the music," but the true music is not what's on the paper. The paper music's job is to launch us into the art of music, which happens as moments -- moments in time informed by the notations on the page.

But the notation is not the music, even if we call it the music. And the painting is not a pipe, even though it is intended to look like it. The page and the painting both help us to arrive at ideas and moments and thoughts and feelings and maybe even truth and beauty. You know -- art.

Marking Your Music and Avoiding the Hulk

If you hear yourself saying something during your rehearsal like "whoops — I always do that," cool your jets and get your pencil out.

Mark your music in a way that will make sense to you when you get to that spot. Slow down your tempo and do a little bit at a time (isolate) until each piece is good. Then put the pieces back together and then back into context (integrate). Get a running start and let your markings help you.

This will bring improvement far more effectively than crashing through it haphazardly and leaving the pieces wherever they land. The bull-in-a-china-shop approach is often counterproductive, truth be told. I often think of it as Hulk Smash. And nobody likes to be smashed.

So mark it up, slow it down, and isolate/integrate. Try not to smash things.

You can do it. I'll help.

Fall 2017 Schedules Due

Please enter your fall 2017 schedule info by next Monday, July 24. We will switch to the fall schedule the following week, Monday, July 31. Enter your availability and preferences on the Fall2017 page.

A lot of relevant information will not be readily available to many families just yet (like fall sports schedules or play practices), so please include as many available hours as possible so we can find the best fits for all the students, parents, and siblings whose activities impact the schedule. You might even find that the info is available with a little poking around.

Once I've collected your information and have worked out a schedule that works for all the people involved (and also geographically for me), I'll contact you individually to nail down details.