Start Improvising Today: 10 Mini-Challenges To Try by  Sabrina Peña Young  |  READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:  http://www.easyeartraining.com/learn/start-improvising-today-10-mini-challenges-to-try/ Sit in on a jam session or jazz performance. The group seems to know how to play together with little more than a handful of chords jotted down on a lead sheet keeping them together. There is this type of rhythmic harmony, a knowledge of their instruments, being able to read each other’s slightest body movements and signals, that makes the experience enjoyable for listeners  and  performers. They accomplish this through improvisation. How can you master the art of improvisation? Like any musical skill, improvisation is not a magical gift. It takes practice and simply the art of  doing . The more you improvise, the more confident and accurately you will play. The more confident and accurate, the better you will improvise. But I’m not going to ...

With the advent of You Tube, almost anyone with a computer and a webcam can become a director. Here is something to think about: 70% of a viewer's movie enjoyment lies in the quality of the sound Not 5%, or 25%, or an even 50-50%. In other words, most viewers prefer watching a cruddy movie with an AMAZING soundtrack than watching an inspiring and well-written story that has a junky soundtrack and the noise of jets from the nearby airport wrecking ever-so-inspiring dialogue.  Another over-done mistake by You Tube and amateur directors is including the latest Top 40 hit as their soundtrack. Unless you have worked out copyright and license arrangements with the artist, while your video may have Oscar-worthy performances and a compelling script, it is no more than really good fan-art. Popular soundtracks have their own popularity and their own cultural connotations, which means use of these tracks already taints your work with the image of the artist. Besides, without the rights, you c...