You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - How To Connect With Other Musicians During a Pandemic

Episode Date: October 2, 2020

During these socially distanced days, it's never been more important to find ways to connect with other people. Peter and Adam talk about some ways they've stayed in touch with other musicians during the global health crisis.Have you checked out the latest course from Open Studio - Bebop Enclosures for Beginners? Learn how to create swinging bebop lines as Adam Maness walks you through how to practice bebop standards. For more information, just follow this link. Interested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Friday's Open Studio Live Events:1:00 PM - Adam's Daily Guided Practice Session (for Members Only)3:00 PM - Piano Guided Practice Session with Adam on YouTube8:00 PM - Shelter in Place solo piano concert with Peter on YouTubeFor the rest of this week's calendar, follow this linkLet us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Adam. What's up? Wait, are you recording? Yeah. Okay. Man, I feel this connection we've had during this pandemic. Wait, are you feeling it? Well, yeah, I mean, besides from the four foot by five foot plexiglass between us, I feel very connected.

That's right. Let's talk about it. Let's do it. I'm Adam Manus. And I'm Peter Martin. You're listening to the You'll Hear podcast. Music advice and inspiration coming at you. A little inspiration today coming at you.

And we're sponsored by Open Studio. Go to open studio. Go to open studio jazz.com for all of your jazz education needs. That's right. Yeah. And community and inspiration. That's right. Yeah.

We've got it all over there. And check us out on YouTube. We're live on YouTube with this podcast every Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern on the Open Studio YouTube channel. That is definitely a way to connect with us. And we will answer your questions. We've got a great group over there. Yep. Go over there and subscribe and then turn on the notifications.

And it will let you know when we go live because we're doing some other live things as well. But we're definitely there Mondays with this. With the video with the multiple angles, a little bit of keyboard work sometimes. We've been known to do it. And some Easter eggs. Nice, Easter eggs. I don't even know what that means, but I'm saying it. So today we are talking about how to connect with other musicians

and really just other people during this strange pause period during this pandemic. Yeah. And I think that this is just so important. We are not experts on this, but we've done a lot of connecting because we wanted to, for personal reasons and for open studio, we felt the need. And so I think that. that it is so important because whenever we're bombarded with negative news, and look, this is not, this is real stuff, it's not, I don't mean to downplay anything. There's a lot of negativity and

there's a lot of sad things and there's a lot of loss of, you know, life and income and jobs and gigs and all these different things going on now. So it takes a lot of fortitude, fortitude and, you know, depth of character, I think, which is hard now because, we all are tapped in so many different ways. But we want to, you know, try to do some things just to remind everybody that there are connections to be made. There is still work to be done. There is still growth to be had.

And there's still music. That's the most important thing. I think that bonds us all, obviously, through this podcast and the different things, people that are into jazz and just into music and creativity. Like, I find myself just kind of hanging on to music even tighter than I ever have. The same way we're, you know, hanging on to our loved ones even tighter during the this time and there's not only nothing wrong with it but i think that that's what will continue to emboldened us to soldier on with this and so i just we wanted to go over a few just

really hopefully simple ideas and ways maybe some folks didn't think about that we can be proactive with connecting with musicians as opposed to being like wow we we have to all go into our shell during this time and then come out when there's a magic vaccine yeah for sure you know what way that i'm thinking about that i've i really didn't even realize i was using this to connect but I've been buying a lot more of my friends' albums during this time. You know, like literally just using my dollar to connect with people that I want them to like be supported and be encouraged to make music. And then I get to like send them a text and be like, yo, I'm loving your new music.

Like this is so great to hear. Thank you so much for making this. And that's just a nice way that you can reach out to someone, even as someone you don't know very well, you know? You can connect to new musicians that you want to connect with and become fans of. that way. So I encourage you to like, if there's a musician that you really love their music, buy their music. That's right. It's never been more important actually right now. It's never been more important. I mean, there's several live streams that I check in on

on the regular and I love, you know, given if it's a Venmo thing or whatever, is sending them some love as I can because it's, it's not even charity. It's support. You know, and it's it's an acknowledgement that, you know, as artists, we have something to say and we have something that's needed and valuable, maybe even more so than ever, and we're doing the best that we can wherever we are. But I've been able to find and connect with some of my favorite musicians and friends just by being more intentional with the kind of entertainment time. I mean, yeah, we all want to zone out on Netflix and there's nothing wrong with Joe Exotic, I guess. But, you know, if you have the time to delve into some energy.

There's not nothing, nothing wrong. Oh, yeah, there's actually some serious. It's just a lot of serious mistakes, yeah. But, you know, how about checking out, like, Nicholas Payton's live streams, which are several days a week often and are amazing. Emma Cohen does the Monday night thing. There's so many jazz. Peter Martin on the Friday, shelter in place.

Those are the best. Yeah, and so, like, let's, you know, we all miss live performance in hearing that, but let's take what we have. And, yeah, it's definitely a way to connect with musicians in a way that you normally actually couldn't. Yeah. Often. You know another way that I suggest connecting that I've done more of in the last six months than I ever have?

Yeah. Calling people on the damn telephone. I know. What is that? The telephone is a resurgence. It works as a, this thing's a phone. Well, we have a common friend, our friend Sean, who, uh, every time I call him, I always joke. I'm like, I'm calling you because he loves him.

He's old school. He likes to talk on the phone. He does like to talk on the phone. I'm always like, I'm calling you on the phone. He would hang out on the phone if you let him. He's like a 13-year-old girl in 1984, you know. No. ready to talk on the phone

but it's it no you're right that's a way to connect with friends with musicians with with with uh in real time for sure yeah I mean you can go Zoom but we're all zoomed out a little bit right I'm a little zoomed out I'm not I'm not down for Zooming with people right now

you're trying to Zoom meeting me on a social I know remember at the beginning I was so excited like let's do a happy hour over Zoom that got old real fast yeah but you know what it is when you talk with somebody and especially another musician you connect with them on the phone it's almost like we talk about restrictive practice. It's like restricted. You're just talking, you know.

And yeah, it's great to see somebody get all the nuances, but you don't necessarily get all those from Zoom anyway. There are times when you need that, like to be able to discern especially if you're meeting on a specific thing, but if it's more like just trying to connect with them, a lot of times the voice, nothing wrong with that. Another way that

we can connect is we've both done some of these collage videos and I have friends that have sent me one and they've just sent one part and they're like, add whatever you want. Yeah. And you know, I may or may not release it. I'm just literally connecting with you here. I wrote this little thing.

Here's, you know, maybe here's the changes. Add whatever you want to it. And let's have fun. Such a cool thing. And it's like we could have. It's something that I think we've all thought about. And maybe I'm trying to think of, I guess I'd done it a little bit before for certain projects.

But all of a sudden it became the only way to kind of play. Especially during the serious lockdown time. Well, serious. Yeah, not quite serious enough. But, you know, it was like to play in real time. we get a little more serious up in this piece, please? Yeah, please, please. I'd like to play a concert sometime in the next two years.

Yeah, nothing like a 90% half-ass locked out, where we end up worse than we waste a bunch of time. Well, anyway. But I digress. But the thing is, you know, those, there's a kind of different artistic thing that came out of that because when you have what somebody else has played already, it kind of opens things up in a way and puts a,

it's a challenge. I like doing them, you know. I mean, I get a little overwhelmed because I'm, getting a lot of ones coming that I want to really do something good with, but I've had some fun with those as well. And definitely, you do feel the connection a lot more than you would think. Another thing you can do to connect with other musicians is take a lesson from another musician. There are a lot of musicians that you probably wouldn't be able to get a lesson with. That's right. Under any other circumstance.

And Herbie Hancock, you can, you can, his phone number is two, one. No, I'm just kidding. Oh, man. I have my pen and paper out. I know. No, but there's a lot of great musicians that are looking for work and are, you know, no one is not set up on some kind of Zoom or Skype or something at this point. Everybody has it. Venmo is probably being used more than ever now. So take advantage of that. If you haven't already, take a lesson with your favorite musician.

That's right. Just reach out and see it. You know what I want to do? Okay, mark this down. Okay. Next time we're, I know, don't get that serious. Okay, yeah, maybe. No, I think I want to take a classical piano lesson.

Yeah, you could use the technique practice. I really good. No, but I just would love to love to say. But that would require me to get my repertoire. I mean, just I'd love to do that. I also want to learn how to make science. I mentioned that every week and you never pick up on it. You know what we, I didn't address.

Yeah, I can't put the bread right now. Sorry, man. And our YouTube live that we just did before we were started recording this. I think I know what you're gonna say, but I'm not sure. Someone was taught, we were, this goes to technique and your technique. Someone was like, hey, Adam, I'm taking your, I'm taking your beep-op enclosure course. It's great. Do you guys think you should talk, or do you think you could talk about technique?

Peter has such great technique. And I was like, you know what, I'm not even going to address your question. Oh, I didn't see that. Really? It was really good. But they're right. That's great, though. I did notice there was a thing on August.

That was a chip on your shoulder. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got a chip right here. I got a chip right. No, but you know what? The lesson thing is great. And I think it's really cool that you think about classical technique because, you know, it's all about sort of right now we have the opportunity and the time, really.

And the access. Yeah, and the access to expand what we're doing. I've been taking Skype vocal lessons. I took a lesson with Gillian Mark. go this amazing singer. It's vocal. I love her voice. And man, it's just changed the way I think about singing. Yeah, I got to get that together.

I mean, I was thinking like, well, one thing I had been thinking about doing, I have a friend who for years now, I mean, several years, has been taking language over Skype or some form. I just got hit with a ton of bricks. Like, why haven't I thought about doing I know. Well, this has been like a thing. There's a bunch of services that you can do this. And it's so dumb.

That's a great idea. Yeah. And it's so cool because you can connect with somebody possibly in a country. I'm thinking especially for Spanish because it's just such a popular language to take because it's spoken so much in North America but they'll connect you on the same time zone with somebody in South America and it's very affordable but it's very beneficial

like they're being paid well above in a number of countries if you're coming from the U.S. then they would normally make for something so it's a good way to kind of help folks in places that don't have the economy that we do in the U.S. So you're kind of doing something good and you're learning from a master of the

language. Super cool. Super cool. Yeah. Come on, Adam. And chess and sourdough. Come on, man. How much sourdough bread have you made? You know, I don't even know what that means.

I keep saying it. Sourdough starter. I feel like I'm missing out. Yeah, everybody's about the sour. You know, Heather has always baked home baked bread. So for me, I'm just like a little bit of a hipster. Oh, there is. Oh, you guys are all just getting into baking now?

I pick up my sourdough at Trader Joe's. It's pretty good. Yeah, I didn't bake it. But, you know, also have we talked about our diet in a while? So, like, I'm not really eating bread or anything like that. I am. I'm kind of eating like a hunter-gatherer that also doesn't eat a lot of meat right now. Well, you know, I do eat, the bread that I eat, actually, I don't need a lot either,

but it's, I'm into the sprouted breads. Those are very good. What does that mean? I don't know. Sprout, like, what was the difference between that and like? Well, because it's a better, first of all, the wheat or the gluten or whatever the hell they're using is a lot better. The, the, I don't know. No, the weed is sprouted somehow.

I mean, you don't see it spry. It just tastes like regular do-good or bread, but it's really good. You can get it frozen often, and it freezes really well. And you put it right in the toaster. I'm glad we're talking about food. We actually started our conversation out today,

talking about food. That was a big thing that you... My man, Peter Martin here has a breakfast regiment that will put you to shame. Well, I don't know. Your breakfast shake regiment, I mean, you should... It's pretty impressive.

It's pretty awesome. Like, I am... I was like, what do you eat? for breakfast and then I got a 10 minute diatribe about it's complicated different powders and potions I don't know what you're doing over there it's all natural it's all organic it's all but yeah there's a lot of we could do a whole episode but nobody cares about that they want to hear me talk about music I've been told that I think our listeners might be shocked to learn that I'm dipping my toe into hashtag plant

base I'm excited about that I'm getting there with you nothing wrong with some plants yeah well that was fun we encourage everyone to please check out our sponsor open studio jazz.com a lot of fun stuff happening over there. Connect with another musician via diet. That's always a good way. Musicians like to talk about food and drinks. That's right.

And yet, you know what? Come over to Open Studio. That's a great way to, shameless plug, but absolutely to connect with, I mean, think about, especially we all have,

but you with the daily guided practice session, which is about to morph. Look, if you want to get in on this, get on this now, because this is about to go next level with our master class program, mastermind.

Yeah, yeah. No, we, you know, at Open Studio, and again, shameless plug for sure, but also it's like,

we've recognized during this time that one of the things we can do and that we need to do, and shame on us for not thinking about it before we were all locked down, is to connect in a live way. So we're not just a collection of these recorded courses. Like, we are a community now. And it's not just, you know, between Peter and myself

and Kieser and Aelo-Alves and all the pianists that we have in you. It's between you and each other. So we have this amazing group of people that are bouncing ideas off each other and helping each other and develop their own practice routine. and I can't find this voicing and why doesn't this work and, you know, they don't have to rely on just their teacher.

It's like a little school we have. And I mean, I'm super proud of the students that we have in the process that we've really refined over this time to make learning as organic as it can be. And that you need a community of people. You need peers as well as teachers. Yep. And it's fun. I mean, it's fun. Like that's what I think I'm more proud of than anything because when you're in these kind of dark times in a way,

you can't get people to be part of a community just because you're going to work hard and you're going to get something out of it. That's like depressing, you know. Yeah. Now, you are going to work hard and you are going to get something out of it, but you're going to have fun too.

And I think, you know, it's a matter of, you know, some people can kind of get the information, work on their own, grind it out and get better. And we're all maybe sometimes in that period. But I think most of us, and I know myself included, when you're progressing and trying to learn about something and you can connect with other like-minded people,

it's so exciting. It's just easier. It's not the only way, but it's easier and most importantly, it's more fun. And so we're really trying to give folks an opportunity and I think we have, I know we have,

because they tell us, and we feel it, an opportunity for growth during this period and entertainment together because we all need to be entertained, but we don't want to become vegetables. Yeah. We want to eat vegetables,

but we don't want to veg out just on Netflix all the time. Yeah. And I think for you and I, too, it's a little selfish. Like, I just, you know, we don't want to be just like, just do this and read the book and then you got it. That's right. Right? You know, we want to connect as well.

So it's a two-way street. Yeah. Cool. All right. Thanks, everybody. Until next time, you'll hear it.