YEP, YOU HEARD RIGHT!
Andertons Music is extremely proud to be sponsoring 3 lucky students to go on the Band Workshops Famous Summer School this August! One student will get to go on a course absolutely free, whilst two others will get 30% off the normal course fees!
If you want to be considered, all you need to do is fill out the form at this link before 8th August, and BW will notify the successful students shortly after! This is a great opportunity for young people to get a taste for live music, so get your entries in now!
http://www.bandworkshops.com/andertons-scholarship.html

You know when your minding your own business, checking out music vids on You Tube. And then something grabs you by the ya-ya's?! 

Here's one we've been watching recently in the Band Workshops HQ and if you like a bit of six string action, you have to check it! Seen it before? Watch it again. 
Thank you!

Now here at Band Workshops we appreciate anyone who gives us GREAT advice. And this is up there with the best! The jazz great Wynton Marsalis shares his thoughts on how to do the practicing thing. Let us know what you think of this.

And big thanks to bass legend Steve Lawson for flagging this advice up!

1. Seek out instruction: Find an experienced teacher who knows what you should be doing. A good teacher will help you understand the purpose of practicing and can teach you ways to make practicing easier and more productive.

2. Write out a schedule: A schedule helps you organize your time. Be sure to allow time to review the fundamentals because they are the foundation of all the complicated things that come later. If you are practicing basketball, for example, be sure to put time in your schedule to practice free throws.

3. Set goals: Like a schedule, goals help you organize your time and chart your progress. Goals also act as a challenge: something to strive for in a specific period of time. If a certain task turns out to be really difficult, relax your goals: practice doesnʼt have to be painful to achieve results.

4. Concentrate: You can do more in 10 minutes of focused practice than in an hour of sighing and moaning. This means no video games, no television, no radio, just sitting still and working. Start by concentrating for a few minutes at a time and work up to longer periods gradually. Concentrated effort takes practice too, especially for young people.

5. Relax and practice slowly: Take your time; donʼt rush through things. Whenever you set out to learn something new – practicing scales, multiplication tables, verb tenses in Spanish – you need to start slowly and build up speed.

6. Practice hard things longer: Donʼt be afraid of confronting your inadequacies; spend more time practicing what you canʼt do. Adjust your schedule to reflect your strengths and weaknesses. Donʼt spend too much time doing what comes easily. Successful practice means coming face to face with your shortcomings. Donʼt be discouraged; youʼll get it eventually.

7. Practice with expression: Every day you walk around making yourself into “you,” so do everything with the proper attitude. Put all of yourself into participating and try to do your best, no matter how insignificant the task may seem. Express your “style” through how you do what you do.

8. Learn from your mistakes: None of us are perfect, but donʼt be too hard on yourself. If you drop a touchdown pass, or strike out to end the game, itʼs not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, analyze what went wrong and keep going. Most people work in groups or as part of teams. If you focus on your contributions to the overall effort, your personal mistakes wonʼt seem so terrible.

9. Donʼt show off: Itʼs hard to resist showing off when you can do something well. In high school, I learned a breathing technique so I could play a continuous trumpet solo for 10 minutes without stopping for a breath. But my father told me, “Son, those who play for applause, thatʼs all they get.” When you get caught up in doing the tricky stuff, youʼre just cheating yourself and your audience.

10. Think for yourself: Your success or failure at anything ultimately depends on your ability to solve problems, so donʼt become a robot. Think about Dick Fosbury, who invented the Fosbury Flop for the high jump. Everyone used to run up to the bar and jump over it forwards. Then Fosbury came along and jumped over the bar backwards, because he could go higher that way. Thinking for yourself helps develop your powers of judgment. Sometimes you may judge wrong and pay the price; but when you judge right you reap the rewards.

11. Be optimistic: How you feel about the world expresses who you are. When you are optimistic, things are either wonderful or becoming wonderful. Optimism helps you get over your mistakes and go on to do better. It also gives you endurance because having a positive attitude makes you feel that something great is always about to happen.

12. Look for connections: No matter what you practice, youʼll find that practicing itself relates to everything else. It takes practice to learn a language, cook good meals or get along well with people. If you develop the discipline it takes to become good at something, that discipline will help you in whatever else you do. Itʼs important to understand that kind of connection. The more you discover the relationships between things that at first seem different, the larger your world becomes. In other words, the woodshed can open up a whole world of possibilities.


What do you think? Anything you'd like to add? Let us know.

When and why did you start doing music? I started piano lessons when I was eight. My parents encouraged me, along with my brother and sister, to start learning, but my brother and sister both dropped out shortly after starting. I suppose one of us had to stay on to make all that investment worthwhile, but I really started to enjoy it and shortly progressed to playing guitar and drums too. 

What was your first instrument? My parents surprised me with an upright piano bought from an auction when I was about ten. It still resides at their house, but was superceded by a Yamaha Clavinova with the all important headphone socket (to the relief of family and neighbours). When I started playing guitar I ended up using my sister's Stratocaster. I wasn't content with the sunburst finish so I painted a Union Jack on it using permanent marker pens and a couple of bottles of Tipex. It was a dreadful idea and thankfully I had the sense to get it sanded off. I still have the guitar, and I'm glad to say that the paint job is much more subtle these days. If we're talking about the very very first instrument... I actually have a memory of being about six or seven and being at Center Parcs shortly after Christmas. My parents had bought me some kind of toy electric guitar, which plugged in to this little amplifier with a jack lead. The only real memory I have of this guitar is plugging the lead in to a ROLO, to see if chocolate made a sound; it doesn't. I think I might have broken the amp actually... 

Who inspires you? Such a tough question! Erm... M. Ward would probably be the forerunner in terms of musical inspiration. I love his style, voice and recording techniques. Jimmy Webb is a firm favourite of mine as a songwriter, along with Hank Williams, but if we're talking modern day then it would be someone like Josh Ritter. In terms of performance it has to be Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They've been gigging for over forty years, yet every gig is as fresh as the last and their passion for live music seems to radiate from the stage. Springsteen has to be one of the best performers I've ever seen; I would love to be part of his band! I find all sorts of inspiration from various people and quotes. My current favourite - "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going". 

Do you have a particular favourite genre of music? Country! It gets such a bad wrap here in the UK, but there's so many different styles, and the musicianship is absolutely incredible. I personally think some of the best songwriters and musicians come from country music. 

What do you think makes a great song? I personally love clever and thoughtful lyrics, however, catchy choruses, hooks and lyrical hooks always translate well in pop. So much chart music seems to be so production based, and relies on strong arrangements; I think a song that works well stripped back to one voice and a guitar or piano usually shows signs of a well written song. Great songs have a sort of 'mystery' about them. I suppose there are certain formulas you can follow, but every great song has a touch of unexplainable magic. 

What sort of work do you do as a freelance musician? Well, I've done all sorts, from standing behind One Direction on X Factor to playing gigs in people's living rooms. The variety of being a musician is what makes it so fun! There's television work, live performance, studio recording, teaching, to name but a few. The smaller gigs are always a lot of fun, but there's no greater feeling than standing on a big stage in front of a few thousand people and soaking it in. I think most musicians have their bread and butter work - weddings, functions, parties, which can help pay the bills, but then once every so often something really special comes along. 

What advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a professional musician? Get out there and start playing with other musicians - it will expand your network and give you exposure to playing in bands. Sure, it's great to sit in the bedroom and get the technicalities of playing sorted out, but working with other people requires a different skill set and will contribute greatly to your success. Be punctual; be flexible; be a nice person. Remember, if you end up going on tour or recording you will likely be spending a lot of time in close confines with other people - it's a lot more fun when you can all get along. 

What do you like about working in bands? The social element is great; I've made so many great friends through being a musician, and you all share a common passion, which is handy. It's always nice to share the experience of having a great gig where everyone is soaking up the vibes on stage. You get to spend your time playing music and having fun - when you're riding high, being a musician is the greatest job in the world! 

What is your most memorable gig (good or bad!) and why? I have way too many memories to recall! I recently got back from a European tour with some great friends of mine, which was so much fun it should have come with a warning sticker. In 2012 I did a charity bike ride from London to Paris, got straight back on the Eurostar and did a gig when I got home... I was so tired that I fell asleep in between sets behind the guitar amps! There's tons of highs and tons of lows, but I think it beats sitting in an office! :-) 

You can find out more about John by visiting www.johnbudding.co.uk

Band Workshops is delighted to announce it is running ITS FAMOUS SUMMER SCHOOL again this year. And this time it is going to be even better! 

This year we are doing things a little differently... as well as giving you the opportunity to work and perform in a band we will be including a songwriting workshop, so you actually get to perform an original song with your band as part of the show!

You will also be given resources to cover songs at least 2 weeks before the summer school in order to familiarise yourself and practise before the week starts.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CONTACT US NOW

Location: The Music Works, Milford, Godalming
Dates: Monday 28th July - 1st August, 2014

As live musicians we are expected not only to play or sing our hearts out to the best of our ability, but also to perform to our audience.

There are so many ways you can approach performance, but if you’re just starting to analyse and develop your stage presence, here’s 5 areas you may want to consider.

1. Genre. If you are in a heavy rock band, your performance will be somewhat different to if you were an acoustic act! Sounds obvious - but, I wouldn’t necessarily be fooled in to thinking that an acoustic show is easier going (especially for singers)… it requires just as much interaction with the audience, if not more, due to the intimate nature of the performance.
2. Stage space. One of the first things I tell bands to do when performance coaching is to use the stage space more. You’ll surprise yourself how fixated you are on your one little spot on stage like you have concrete surrounding your feet! As soon as you start moving around, you instantly become more exciting to watch.
3. Interact with your band. I’ve found that one of the most common comments from audience members that really enjoy a live gig, is to do with how the band's ‘vibe’ is, not only towards the audience, but also with each other on stage. You have to look like you’re enjoying what you’re doing (even if you don’t!) – If you don’t look convinced that you’re having a ball – why would your audience believe in what you’re doing!?
4. Engage with your audience… either using eye contact, going out in to the crowd (eg. crowd surfing), or whatever else creates a connection. Your audience is VERY important. Make them feel special.
5. Research. Look at what other bands or performers are doing. Who do you like to watch? What do you like about them and why? For me, this clip of Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars is a great example of a very well thought out and engaging performance. However… this performance by Cheryl Cole (bad pitching aside) just doesn’t cut the mustard!

** Rose offers private vocal tuition in both London and Surrey as well as band performance coaching through www.bandworkshops.com.