Today's guest is Chris Donnelly, a Juno-nominated pianist and composer from Toronto Canada.

What you’re going to learn about in this interview.

Ways to integrate musical material into your playing
Intelligent ways to restrict yourself as a composer and producer
The benefits of writing in various mediums such as paper, piano, and computer
Why playing with other people early in your music education is valuable
Chris's background and music education story
The importance of practical experience when learning
The undervalued aspect of rhythmic studies and rhythmic independence
Techniques to develop musical intuition and incorporate material into your playing
How to create exercises that enhance your improvisation skills
An introduction to species counterpoint writing
Considering the unique characteristics of each key on your instrument
Achieving a state of flow while using computers
The benefits of play when starting with a blank page

Quotes

‘There seemed to be the certain respect for the person who could sit at your desk and write it by hand... there's a little bit of charm about thinking… I've got my ink and, and a candle and I'm gonna write it this way. That's kind of cool. But, you know, I've been using computers all my life. I've been playing video games all my life. I can achieve so much better flow at the computer because the computer is also my instrument.’

‘I think what makes a good composer... isn't that they can play the piano, but they just know how to manipulate form.’

‘Nobody's really talking about hand independence. The number one question for a jazz piano player or jazz student is, what the hell do I do with my left hand?'

‘One way I've been trying to get my students to create their own exercises is if you look at [a] pattern and try to reduce it to a sequence... [for example, a sequence] of steps and skips and what you [then] do is you create your own sequence, create your own pattern. It's like an algorithm that you're going to feed into a computer and out of that is going to come this melodic pattern that you then have to repeat many, many times to get it under your hands.’

Chris Donnelly | Just Start

What you’re going to learn about in this interview.

Quotes

Links & Names Mentioned