Mr. Twigg’s Music Rules
1. In my opinion, being a musician is about 90% listening and 10% playing. It’s more about listening to sounds than producing them. Develop your listening skills even more than your technical ones and you’ll go far.
2. Always be sure you can hear the people around you. Blend in.
3. A few minutes a day of consistent practice is much, much better than long, less frequent sessions.
4. Groups that breathe together, play together. You must plan every breath.
5. Yes, you have to know your scales. It’s not hard.
6. Tone always wins. Always produce a good tone. Always.
7. Dynamics are key…..within the realm of good tone.
8. Always remember the pyramid of balance. It affects everything we do, all the time.
9. The second and third parts within a section are usually more important than the first part. That’s why there’s more people on it. See #8.
10. Your memory is only as long as your pencil. You do have a pencil, right?
11. Number your measures. All of them.
12. When in doubt, write it in. Your music should be covered with notations to yourself. See #10.
13. You still have to know your scales.
14. Only play on days you eat. You’ll be fine if you remember that.
15. Long tones for all winds and lips slurs for brass are key.
16. Six key components of music performance are: rhythm, notes, dynamics, articulations, phrasing and intonation. Apply every one of those to everything on the page and you’ll do well. It’s not as hard as it sounds at first.
17. A metronome and tuner are as important as your instrument.
18. Dirty secret – if you don’t enjoy playing alone, you’re probably not doing the right activity for you. You spend hundreds of hours preparing for every hour of performance. If you don’t like the preparation, that’s not a very good deal, is it?
19. Percussionists – the bells/xylo etc. is where the rubber meets the road. They separate the serious musicians from the rest.
20. You should own your own music stand.
21. When it all comes down to it, music ensembles are all about commitment – of time, money, energy and emotion. If you have that, you’ll succeed. I promise.
22. Dynamics and articulations are just as important as notes and rhythms! Don’t forget them!
23. I only require 20 minutes a day of playing your instrument, but remember: that’s the minimum. And 20 every day for 4 days is much, much better than 80 in only one day. Really. Seriously.
24. If playing your instrument hurts in any way, something is wrong.
25. If you can’t play it slowly, you can’t really play it.
26. If you can’t play it by yourself, you can’t really play it.
27. Average musicians play until they get it right. Great ones play until they can’t get it wrong.
1. In my opinion, being a musician is about 90% listening and 10% playing. It’s more about listening to sounds than producing them. Develop your listening skills even more than your technical ones and you’ll go far.
2. Always be sure you can hear the people around you. Blend in.
3. A few minutes a day of consistent practice is much, much better than long, less frequent sessions.
4. Groups that breathe together, play together. You must plan every breath.
5. Yes, you have to know your scales. It’s not hard.
6. Tone always wins. Always produce a good tone. Always.
7. Dynamics are key…..within the realm of good tone.
8. Always remember the pyramid of balance. It affects everything we do, all the time.
9. The second and third parts within a section are usually more important than the first part. That’s why there’s more people on it. See #8.
10. Your memory is only as long as your pencil. You do have a pencil, right?
11. Number your measures. All of them.
12. When in doubt, write it in. Your music should be covered with notations to yourself. See #10.
13. You still have to know your scales.
14. Only play on days you eat. You’ll be fine if you remember that.
15. Long tones for all winds and lips slurs for brass are key.
16. Six key components of music performance are: rhythm, notes, dynamics, articulations, phrasing and intonation. Apply every one of those to everything on the page and you’ll do well. It’s not as hard as it sounds at first.
17. A metronome and tuner are as important as your instrument.
18. Dirty secret – if you don’t enjoy playing alone, you’re probably not doing the right activity for you. You spend hundreds of hours preparing for every hour of performance. If you don’t like the preparation, that’s not a very good deal, is it?
19. Percussionists – the bells/xylo etc. is where the rubber meets the road. They separate the serious musicians from the rest.
20. You should own your own music stand.
21. When it all comes down to it, music ensembles are all about commitment – of time, money, energy and emotion. If you have that, you’ll succeed. I promise.
22. Dynamics and articulations are just as important as notes and rhythms! Don’t forget them!
23. I only require 20 minutes a day of playing your instrument, but remember: that’s the minimum. And 20 every day for 4 days is much, much better than 80 in only one day. Really. Seriously.
24. If playing your instrument hurts in any way, something is wrong.
25. If you can’t play it slowly, you can’t really play it.
26. If you can’t play it by yourself, you can’t really play it.
27. Average musicians play until they get it right. Great ones play until they can’t get it wrong.