Family Love, A Song That Inspires and Dedicates

Born in Kingston Jamaica, residing in Toronto Canada, Belinda Brady is a true artist whose roots are grounded in dedication and passion. Spreading her gift and talent by gathering her family to put together a song, Family Love was created and dedicated to her father. The reggae-pop sensation talked about her latest song in a video on her YouTube Channel (click here) describing how this remarkable song came to be. An 80s vibe beat got sent to her cousin in Jamaica and he was asked if he wanted to write to it. As the song got passed around from family member to family member, a beautiful song was created. Cousins, sisters, nieces, uncles and a Brady Bunch gathered together and wrote a song that can’t help but put a smile on a listener’s face.

“This song is dedicated to my father, his love for life, and his jolly sense of humour was not only infectious, it was copacetic. It is with unreserved honour that we dedicate Family Love to him and his work as a musician, a father, a family elder, and a man of love and faith,” said Brady in an article by the Jamaica Observer.

Words cannot replace the experience of listening to this song and so we invite you to click below and listen to “Family Love” yourself.

Check out THIS BLOG if you are an Adult Learning to Play Music and CONTACT US for private online music lessons to fast charge your progress on any instrument.

How Much Time Should I Practice Music?

There is an ideal statement that every music instructor makes when it comes to how much time a music student should be dedicated to practicing his or her instrument. As with all things in life, the key is consistency and planning. Setting realistic goals will keep you motivated while tracking progress will provide you with a foundation to have a positive frame of mind. 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” While he probably wasn’t referring to practicing a musical instrument, this mentality can surely be applied to making sure practicing is part of a positive and productive means to becoming the best musician you can be.

So the first task is to take out your agenda or look at that Google Calendar to make some time in your schedule for practicing. Remember that consistency is key, so if you can’t dedicate time every day to practice, then try every two days but make sure you stick to it. 

The next question that comes to mind is how long each practice session should be. Let’s look at two scenarios, time-based and task-based practice sessions.

Time-Based Practice Sessions

This is a good strategy for someone that has less flexibility in their schedule. From a high level, you might decide that you only have 30 minutes a day to practice. Instead of just putting 30 minutes down, dive a little deeper and decide what those 30-minute sessions will look like. Taking this one step further, you can divide your practice over a 3-day cycle to touch on several important elements that make up a well-rounded practice routine:

Day 1

10 minutes on Warm-up and scales in C/F/Bb/Eb (as you get better with major scales, switch it up with other scales)

10 minutes on Fundamental Technique (depending on your instrument, you might want to pick finger dexterity exercises for flexibility)

10 minutes on “Song A” Section 1

Day 2

10 minutes on Warm-up and scales in Ab/Db/F#/B (as you get better with major scales, switch it up with other scales)

10 minutes on Fundamental Technique (depending on your instrument, you might want to work on range development)

10 minutes on “Song A” Section 2 OR “Song B”

Day 3

10 minutes on Warm-up and scales in E/A/D/G (as you get better with major scales, switch it up with other scales)

10 minutes on Fundamental Technique (depending on your instrument, you might want to a tone development exercise)

10 minutes on “Song A” Section 3 OR “Song B” OR “Song C”

Task-Based Practice Sessions

This is beneficial for those that have wiggle room or a more open schedule and want to deep-dive on a specific area of playing. In this scenario, you will still create placeholders or tasks in your agenda or google calendar, but instead of assigning a block of time, you will create tasks that you want to carry out each day. 

You still want to be mindful of the various fundamental techniques that are important to your instrument. Here is an example of a task-based schedule:

Monday

Practice/memorize 3 major scales (C/D/E)

Work on verse 1 of “Song A”

Tuesday

Practice/memorize chord changes to “Song A”

Do Range exercise “x”

Wednesday

Listen to Song A and transcribe by ear the first 8 bars of the solo

Play through tone development exercises

No matter if you prefer the time-based or task-based practice approach, record your results. Make lots of notes about how your progress is going by indicating metronome markings for exercises and even write down your thoughts on why a specific exercise may give you a hassle. Recording data and seeing progress, even minor progress like going from 60bpm to 62bpm, will create a sense of forward momentum.


Now that you are aware of these tools and strategies, what else can you do to help your journey to becoming the musician you want to be? Check out THIS BLOG if you are an Adult Learning to Play Music and CONTACT US for private online music lessons to fast charge your progress on any instrument.

How To Prepare For A Music Audition

You have been practicing your scales, chords, and taking notes during your online music lessons. An opportunity has presented itself to play with a band, but naturally, you feel a little nervous and wonder how to prepare for a music audition. There are several things to consider before the audition to be ready physically as well as mentally. Let’s go over some of these things in this blog to make sure you are in the right frame of mind to nail the audition and land the gig.

Know Your Stuff, Practice Makes Prepared

Besides the technical ability of your instrument, knowing the material that you are expected to audition is of course the second most important aspect when it comes to preparing for the actual audition. If there is a track provided, do some active and passive listening to the song (check out our blog How To Listen To Music). Internalizing the music before getting to the instrument is a great way to help mentally prepare and train you.

Next, it’s important to be able to play through the song on your instrument. Come up with a strategy that makes sense for you, perhaps learning how to play 8 bars a day. Breaking down the song like this will help you achieve smaller milestones and really dive into the song, making you feel good and motivated as you learn one piece at a time. When you practice, make sure you can play the section or song as perfectly as possible three times in a row. 

The Day Before Your Music Audition

The day before the audition is extremely important. There are some definite do’s and don’ts that will help you get in the right frame of mind the next day. If you’ve followed your practice plan, there shouldn’t be a need to cram any last-minute memorization or preparation for learning the song(s). You should plan on doing a light warm-up, run through a routine and the song(s), and then do some more passive listening throughout the day. Make sure you drink lots of water and get a good night of sleep. 

Being nervous is an ingredient of success, so if you feel that you are nervous, think about how prepared you are. You have made and actioned your plan. You know all the parts of the song and now you just need to execute it in front of the band, some of whom you might not know yet. At the end of the day, you have put your best foot forward, feel proud of yourself and know that tomorrow when you are at the audition, no matter what happens, it will be up to the universe and you’ve done your part in being as prepared as you can. Good night!

The Day Of Your Audition, Time To Hit The Stage

Ideally, you wake up from a restful night of sleep. Grab your morning coffee, do a warm-up, run through the song once, and then go about your day until it’s time for the audition. In reality, you may have had a restless night of sleep fueled by worry and excitement. Again, it is important not to get into a panic and practice hours before the audition. Believe that you have done the best you can to prepare. Realize that playing a musical instrument or singing is a physical activity that requires your body to be ready for peak performance and not be exhausted due to practicing before the big game. You’ve got this! 

Make sure you know where the venue is and show up early. Give your mind the time to observe the space you’ll be playing in. New surroundings can contribute to nervousness, so we want to give our body and mind the time it needs to settle in. You also don’t want to warm up shredding the sickest licks trying to impress those around you. Plugin (if you have an instrument that requires doing that), and play a few notes. Get used to the acoustics in the space. Focus on your part, believe in yourself and the preparation you have done. Now it’s time to play and have fun. If you trip up, don’t worry. Try to recover as quickly as possible. Don’t let one mistake trip you up. 

At the end of the audition, say thank you for the opportunity. Leave with a good impression both playing the instrument and being a person that is humble. Being in a band is more about being a team player than it is about having the best technical or musical skills. Also, don’t forget to make notes of your potential bandmates. Are they people you can see yourself getting along with? Do you like the music that is being played? The audition is as much for you as it is for the band.


Now that you are aware of these tools and strategies, what else can you do to help your journey to becoming the musician you want to be? Check out THIS BLOG if you are an Adult Learning to Play Music and CONTACT US for private online music lessons to fast charge your progress on any instrument.