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Interview with Julie Lyonn Lieberman

Julie Lyonn Lieberman, JulieLyonn.com is an eclectic styles violinist and vocalist, and the author of eight music books and five DVDs. The creator of the national program, The Green Anthem (greenanthem.org), Julie is a dynamic, participatory workshop leader who has presented for many of the top organizations in the world. Her music titles include The Creative Band and Orchestra, The Contemporary Violinist, Improvising Violin, Blues Fiddle, You Are Your Instrument, Planet Musician, Alternative Strings: The New Curriculum, Rhythmizing the Bow, Techniques for the Contemporary String Player and Vocal Aerobics. She is a J. D’Addario Elite Clinician and Alfred Publishing publishes her alternative-style string orchestra scores.

Diane:

How did you initially get interested in playing the violin?

Julie:

My mother told me that I came home one day from school at age 9 and said “it will be the violin.” I’d already studied piano with my grandmother, accordion with her neighbor, and French horn at school. I don’t remember what happened at school that day, but there must have been an assembly with a violinist. She said, “as long as you don’t squeak” and I promised to do my best. My first teacher was Samuel Applebaum. He was a friend of my grandmother’s. I didn’t realize that he was a world-renowned educator. To me, he was just a friend of the family and I thought that all teachers taught using their own books because as children, we do not have a larger context through which to define the events in our lives. Mr. Applebaum, the Suzuki of my generation, always knew what I was doing, whether he was watching me or eating a sandwich or looking straight ahead. He was a great, great teacher and explained each technique so clearly that he made learning easy.

Diane:

How long did you practice when you were young?

Julie:

We did not measure practice by minutes or hours, but rather by material. I worked on each of my assignments with a focus on improvement, and that counted as my practice session. I far prefer this approach to practice because mindless minutes mean nothing. It’s how we pay attention as we learn a new skill that counts.

Diane:

How did you discover improvising, coming from a classical trained background?

Julie:

My family was deeply involved in attending and producing folk music concerts and festivals when I was growing up. There were always clusters of people jamming in every nook and cranny before, during, and after the concert. Most musicians were very supportive and would invite me to join in and coach me as I tried to figure out what to do. While I continued to study with seven or eight major classical violin teachers, play in my school's orchestra and in chamber music groups, and go to various arts camps in the summer, my favorite experiences are associated with these jam sessions. To this day, this is one of the defining qualities of the musical world outside of classical training. Think of it this way: when you engage in the classical training process, you are measured against everyone in your age group and rewarded (or not) for how you rate through the seating plan and auditions. This creates a competitive environment and promotes a lot of suffering. You consider this normal. It isn't. It is an evolution of music education and fairly recent to the history of the music. In folk music, pop, and jazz, there is more of a community feeling. People of all ages and levels will get together to play on a regular basis. Since this occurs all over the country and all over the world, I can travel anywhere and find people to jam with. If I don't know the melody, I just sit out while they play the melody and then figure out the key and scale, and add my own ideas to the mix. If I don't do well, no one is going to frown at me. They are more likely to try to help me play better in that situation. This approach creates a dialogue between musicians and promotes friendship. You have a chance to learn from other musicians without feeling badly about yourself. This is why the "drop-out" rate for string players is so high in the classical world. I can't tell you how many people -- even strangers -- come up to me and tell me that they "used to play violin/viola/cello" in school and then stopped. But outside of the classical music world, the drop-out rate is very low. People will play together their entire lives at community events and jam sessions in one another's homes.

Diane:

What exactly is improvisation?

Julie:

Every musician has the right to be able to lift their instrument and make music without staring at dots on paper. Can you imagine a world where no one could speak unless they were reading something written down by someone else? Would you be willing to live like that? Improvisation, or “Jamming” describes the ability to explore sounds on your instrument that come from your imagination, from trial and error, from imitation, and from exploration. You can do this in a key you are already familiar with or learn a new key or type of scale by inventing melodies. I offer over one hundred games and techniques in my book, The Creative Band and Orchestra, and also teach improvisation on American styles in my book, Improvising Violin, the blues and rock in Rockin’ Out with Blues Fiddle, and improvisation in sixteen world styles in my book, The Contemporary Violinist. The latter two come with CDs chock full of accompaniments.

Diane:

When music is improvised, don’t people immediately think of jazz? Are there other styles of improvised music?

Julie:

Almost every culture in the world incorporates improvisation into their music, including Western European classical music (the cadenza). I outline their different approaches to music in my books, Planet Musician and The Contemporary Violinist.

Diane:

What is your favorite way to make practicing fun?

Julie:

Every day I think of something that will bring me pleasure and something that will challenge me. I start with the challenging material first and reward myself with the more pleasurable material afterwards. I almost always use practice tracks. These tracks are generated by a computer software program, Band in a Box, or come from Music Minus One CD’s like Jamey Aebersold’s jazz accompaniments, or tracks I’ve downloaded from the internet or iTunes.

Diane:

What resources would you recommend (books, cds, dvds, online sites)?

Julie:

On my website, JulieLyonn.com, I provide a full glossary of books, CDs, and DVDs written by many of the best eclectic styles players in the world. You will also find my own titles there as well as tons of useful information including free downloads.

Diane:

Music and nature are both important to your “being”. Is there a tie between the two and your performing, teaching and outreach?

Julie:

Music provides all humans with a vehicle through which they can express themselves, dialogue on a non-verbal plane, and immerse themselves in a life-affirming activity that melts away all of the day-to-day “noise” providing a harmonious, healing environment. Communing with nature can accomplish the same effect.

Sadly, a fair amount of music education in the U.S. has stripped out music’s greatest aspects, turning it into a competitive sport that is dictated by “right” and “wrong.” My life’s work has been focused on restoring a playful interactive exploration of music for music students and teachers throughout the world. Through inclusive musical experiences – meaning music sessions that include many different styles of music from around the world as well as improvisation, we can focus on music’s true gifts.

Diane:

Thank you Julie for providing us with so much inspiration!

Below you will find comprehensive information regarding Julie's Green Anthem Project - a project that truly unites her love of music and nature!

Enjoy these videos:

Blues Around The World

The Green Anthem

Enjoy these products:

You Are Your Instrument (book)

Violin and Viola Ergonomics: Determine the Optimum Playing Position and Support for Your Body Type (DVD)

Green Anthem Community Program
This is the perfect time for you to launch a Green Anthem program in your community. You can download your free community kit, teacher's manual, and other support materials at The Green Anthem http://greenanthem.org/Materials.php.

Green Anthem Competition and World's Largest Concert
If you are a member of MENC, you can participate in The Green Anthem Lyric-Writing Competition and The World's Largest Concert.

Green Anthem Assemblies
There are choral, string orchestra, and band scores available at http://greenanthem.org/Scores.php that can be performed by student and community ensembles. The beginner and intermediate/advanced scores can be performed independently or together, and there are also mixed ensemble versions of The Green Anthem. The music can be woven into a normal school concert, or can be a part of an eco-assembly (see detailed suggestions on the website and in the teacher’s manual).

Green Anthem Products
Please visit The Green Anthem Zazzle Store (http://www.zazzle.com/juliell) to order your Green Anthem T-Shirt, Mug, Mouse Pad, Postage Stamps, or any other item you would like to design using the Green Anthem logo. Profits will go to Green Peace, Sierra Club, National Resource Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Green Anthem Documentary
If you would like to be a part of The Green Anthem Documentary, it's simple. Teachers can submit video footage of their students as they participate in green school and community projects and/or as they perform in a Green Anthem assembly, and email me to coordinate the release form and how to forward the footage to me: julie@julielyonn.com and students can submit footage of green community projects. (Download your free teacher’s manual and student kit on the Materials page at http://greenanthem.org/Materials.php.