Every musician knows it. That feeling they’ve got great big holes in their musical understanding you could drive a truck through. Or the feeling they’ve hit a plateau and just can’t get any better, no matter how much they practice. Or that other feeling that they’re not a real musician because they can’t read music.
These feelings are especially true for self-taught musicians or those who just “play by ear”. The feeling that a lack of formal musical training is holding them back is not uncommon amongst musicians, particularly the “Weekend Warrior” who says they just want to gig with friends, but inside still dreams of being a better musician.
So it’s not surprising that when musicians take a 3 day intensive weekend seminar, called The Understanding of Music Seminar, things change.
Duncan Lorien, creator and presenter of the Understanding Music Seminar says he knows this well. He’s a highly successful musician himself, with two No. 1 albums in the UK charts to his credit. But these days he travels the world, delivering his weekend seminar.
Respected Australian guitarist Phil Ceberano did it and said it had simply “blown his mind”. Other musicians say things like “I learnt more about music in 3 days than I’ve learnt from 45 years of playing it.”
Billy Shanley, guitarist with the Mary Black band “highly recommends it”, Scott Fletcher, another guitarist said the seminar “gave me my life back” and Magic Dick from the J Geils Band said “anyone seriously interested in playing should take this seminar”.
Even those in the traditional music system say amazing things about the seminar, such as Carlos Campos, an Instructor at Berklee College of Music who said when he did the seminar – “Great seminar! I would recommend this course to every student.”
So what is the Understanding of Music Seminar? It’s a 3 day intensive course that covers all key areas of music. All musical theory is covered, but in a way that is simple and understandable. There is a whole section on improvisation that is quite revolutionary. And a mind-blowing “alternative history” of Western music that many describe as being “worth the price of admission alone”. The final day covers the big issue for a lot of musicians, reading music. Not just for keyboard but also guitar, so that guitar players can move on from the restrictions of tablature. It’s not surprising the seminar is unofficially known as the “Music Rebels Music Seminar” amongst musicians.
If this all sounds too good to be true, here’s what Rob Gennari, who was voted Australia’s No. 1 Up & Coming Rock Drummer, had to say about the seminar. “Duncan Lorien has corrected over 2,000 years of human error in music.” That’s a lot to cram into one long weekend.
The seminar hits Australia in February – Brisbane 5-7th Feb, Canberra 12-14th Feb, Melbourne 19-21st Feb, Perth 27-28th Feb.
For a free info pack on the seminar, email info@musicseminar.com.au or text/call 0450 510 822.
http://www.understandingofmusic.com/