Jugglingworld News No.3 -
Developing a Routine to Music
March 2006
Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter.
I hope you enjoy this issue, and please give the
toothbrush twirling a try (see the sidebar!)
MAIN ARTICLE - Developing a Routine to Music
I get a lot of e-mails from people
who are just starting out as jugglers and so I thought
that they (and hopefully yourselves) may find this
topic interesting and useful!
STEP 1
– Choosing Music. Decide what prop(s)
you are going to use in your routine, and then
think of what genre you might want your song
to come from. It may be that a classical or
instrumental piece of music seems appropriate,
or a heavy rock song. Once you have chosen your
tune, then try listening to it 30-40 times.
This allows you to make sure that you are not
going to become sick of hearing the song! It
also allows you to know every millisecond of
that song off by heart.
STEP 2
– Timeline. Look for obvious cues in the
music. Draw a timeline of the song, where you
split it into chunks. The chunks can be as simple
as “Verse 1” etc, or each line of
the song lyric or by a period of time such as
10 second intervals. Build up the timeline so
that it becomes more and more detailed.
STEP 3
– Building your routine. Exaggerate any
movements really big (to impress the audience).
Find spaces in the routine that allow yourself
some breathing space and return to simple tricks
to build up your confidence and prepare for
the next section of the song. Build in some
applause points (at appropriate bits of the
song). Harder tricks seem to go best with fast
bits of music. Put some difficult tricks into
your routine that you are yet to master, so
you have an excuse to learn them! A section
may be unchoreographed for a while if you need
to find the best combination of tricks and experiment.
Put your second best trick near the start of
the routine and build up to the best trick near
the very end (if the music allows for this).
Lastly, you need to practice loads in front
of audiences and adapt with their feedback.
A word about Music Copyright. Please
be very careful if you intend to use a song with
the specific intention of making money from your
routine, as you may breach copyright laws! For example,
as far as I know, you cannot use music in an act
which is then going to be sold as part of a video
to make money.
Juggling Store News
I have recently moved the juggling
store to a larger location, so there is plenty of
room to expand (and I have added some new products
immediately to the juggling store!
New products added to the store in 2006
Unicycle
Page (3 unicycles to choose from, plus a unicycle
book)
I have found someone who is prepared to make a
Bed of Nails product, so watch the Danger
page and I will put up more details about it
soon!
I am looking at other ways to expand the store,
so I may be adding more large equipment and also
glow equipment in the near future. If there is something
you think I should add, then contact me and let
me know!
Juggling News
I have just put the finishing touches
to my schools pack which is now available. If you
would like me to send you a copy, then please get
in touch and let me know your address to post it
to.
You can now view details of my new schools show
here. SCHOOLS
SHOW.
My wife and I are looking forward to a 3 gigs in
Orkney this summer, where we will also have a holiday
and enjoy seeing another part of Scotland we have
never visited before!
Change of Address
I have recently moved house. Up-to-date
details including new phone number can be found
on the contact page.
TOP TIP - Toothbrush Twirling!
This is great fun to do at workshops,
especially with children! All you need is one
or more toothbrushes for each participant (you
can normally pick up a pack in a 99p shop, so
it is not expensive!) Balance a toothbrush so
it is hanging down from your index finger. Now
spin it in the direction so that it rotates under
the finger. (if you try to spin the toothbrush
in the other direction, it will just fly off into
the distance!) After a few minutes, you should
get the hang of this! The main idea is to keep
a constant speed. I have been able to teach as
young as 4yr olds how to toothbrush twirl, but
for that age, I get them to use a devilstick silicon
handstick instead of their finger as it is much,
much easier! There are loads of tricks you can
try once you have mastered the toothbrush twirl,
so please get in touch if you want to know the
next steps!
****END OF NEWSLETTER****
How do I sign up
to the newsletter, and what happens next? If you would like to join this
mailing list, then you can type your name
and e-mail address into the form on the
left, and I will shortly send you a newsletter.
You can unsubscribe at any time (either
using the form below and ticking the unsubscribe
button, or using the unsubscribe link
on any of the newsletters).
DOUBLE OPT-IN: PLEASE
NOTE THAT WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THIS NEWSLETTER,
YOU WILL BE SENT AN E-MAIL
from Steve@jugglingworld.biz
to ask you to confim you want to subscribe.
You need to click the link in this "opt-in"
e-mail to be fully subscribed (and you
only have 7 days to click this link before
you would have to sign up again!) You
should then receive a welcome e-mail in
your inbox and be taken to a "welcome
to the mailing list" web page.
