Seasons greetings! The holidays are here! With the hustle and bustle of shopping for gifts, visiting friends and family, and eating all those delicious holiday treats (yum), it can be hard to find time for music during this time of year. The holidays are actually one of the BEST seasons to be a musician! We want to share some creative ways you can incorporate some holiday cheer into your musical journey.
'Tis the Season - to Jingle Bell Rock!
It's never too early to start practicing up on all your favorite festive songs!
The great thing about holiday music is that you can learn simple versions as well as advanced arrangements of any song. Talk to your music teacher and decide which songs you want to learn this year and what arrangement would be best for your success. Holiday music should be fun, which will make spreading some holiday cheer exciting and fresh!
It’s important to start leaning your music early. It may take a few weeks or a couple days to learn a piece. You want to feel comfortable playing them and have enough time to put together a bunch of songs to play for when friends and family are visiting. Here at Jack’s Guitar Garage, we have a large variety of holiday music of all levels available for our students. Our teachers are excited to start working with you!
A Holiday Party - with live music!
There's no better way to get everyone in the holiday spirit than playing for your friends and family! Maybe even have a sing along or go out caroling!
Performing for guests in your home (Or at someone else's home) is a great way to gain confidence as a musician, especially with your performance skills. Sometimes a small crowd in an intimate setting can still be overwhelming, but here are some tips to help you prepare for a fun performance
1 - Practice, practice, practice! It cannot be said enough - the more time you put into practicing a song, the more confident you will feel performing it! Set goals for yourself. Talk with your music instructor about when you are planning to perform a song and create a practice plan that will ensure you are ready for the performance when that day comes!
2- Practice performing in front of one or two people you are close to and feel comfortable with. Have them sit down and watch you play through your piece. Treat this practice performance as if it’s the real deal! If you happen to make any mistakes, just keep going! Knowing you have the ability to play through a mistake will help you feel more prepared when you perform the next time. Remember to smile, especially if you feel nervous. Smiling will lighten your mood and help you relax.
3- Memorization! After you have learned the song from reading your music, try memorizing it. You don’t NEED to have your songs memorized for a performance, but knowing that you can play it from memory will help you feel more confident. Memorizing a song encourages you to trust your muscle memory while playing. It also gives you an opportunity to really listen to yourself and appreciate how far you’ve come!
4- Just have fun and don’t worry if you make a mistake. Music is a journey and just like life, we learn from them. The more fun you have playing the more people will enjoy you.
You have a gift - Share it!
Have you ever thought about giving your music as a gift? Being a musician is a gift that you have, and you can share it with others.
This can be something very meaningful, especially for friends and family members that live far away! They may not have a chance to hear you play, so bring your music to them!
A simple way you can share your music as a gift is to take a recording of yourself playing, then send the video to your friends and family. It doesn’t have to be holiday themed music either! You could give them some music to listen to during any season.
You could make this gift really special by learning a favorite song of the person you are gifting.
For example: Maybe your grandmother's favorite song is “Blackbird” by The Beatles. You could ask your music instructor to teach you how to play the song. Then, you can take a recording of yourself playing it, transfer it to a DVD, write a special note for her and send it in the mail. It will probably the best gift she gets!
If you really wanted to go all out, you could write a song. Personal gifts like this are really what make the holidays special. Taking the time to write a song for that special someone in your life will make this holiday season extra special for them!
Any way you can use your musical gifts to spread holiday cheer is a win for you as a musician! This season is all about bringing people together, nothing does that better than music!
We wish you a happy holiday season full of good music and great memories this year!
The J.G.G. Team