"Listen Up!" - Haley's first album

[buzzenator]

^ Great interview, got a lot of new and deeper stuff out of Haley.

Thanks Tusk for the find and sharing.

[My Alter Ego]

I was doing some in depth searching last night and I happnened on this tweet about an interview this guy had with Haley on June 12.

Clayton Perry ‏@crperry84

…jus' wrapped an AMAZING interview with the LOVELY @HaleyReinhart! Check out the music video for "Free" --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ed3b …

I looked around and found his site, but no interview. So I posted on IDF if anyone recalls seeing his interview.....and lo and behold, this morning, here it is

Clayton Perry's Interview Exclusives

One nugget, remember Haley says she records her musical ideas on her phone? Apparently she broke it and a bunch of those ideas are now lost

Haley Reinhart: I grew up in school doing a lot of poetry – mostly slam poetry – and anything that would let me get my feelings out. I started writing songs in middle school, but when I give myself the time to sit down, and reflect, and feel, and let things come out, I find that it’s very easy for me to do. I just have to give myself the chance to do so. I have always been a real busybody. Even when I was back home in Chicago, I would make so much time for my friends and I was just all over the place. When I sat down and just took a moment of solitude, it came really easy – especially melodies. Those would just come in my head constantly, and I would try to get a voice memo down or something immediately. I had hundreds and hundreds of them on my phone until the phone broke.

Haley Reinhart: Yeah, it was a sad thing – breaking my phone and losing a lot of potential material...."

Clayton Perry: Do you feel that you took a risk with the musical direction of this particular album? Although a student of jazz and a lover of rock, your album makes use of a different aesthetic – incorporating blues and the sounds of Motown.

Haley Reinhart: You know, the sound just ended up coming out like this. I went in knowing my roots and what kind of music I love. I came from a house of rock and classic rock, as well as old soul, blues and jazz. Incorporating all these things made this sound happen. That’s not to say that I don’t think the next album could go in a more “rocky” direction. As I grow, my music will continue to evolve, and there are so many things that I would love to touch on. But the fact that this came out a little bit more on the funky side, I’m really happy about it

We had a discussion in another thread where we talked a bit about my sister having the talent of learning music 'by ear'. Apparently, so does Haley

Haley Reinhart: I went to school and I was surrounded by all these amazing musicians; and even in high school, I was with a wonderful jazz director. I was able to go to Switzerland and Italy my senior year, performing jazz in the Montreux and Umbria Jazz Fests with this band as their first singer. That was a huge eye-opener for me. And going into college, they never really had any singers. I was the first one to broaden that spectrum when they took me in as a singer. Mostly it was jazz vocal performance. I was in three combos – and I was in a big band – so I have so much respect for music theory. I know the basics, but to be honest, I kind of cheated my way through that because I went by ear. [b]I grew up with a musical ear, so I would hear things, memorize it and repeat it back.[/b] If I’m going to admit to it, I will, but I do appreciate everybody that goes through it, because it’s a lot of work.

Hi Tusk, your sister sitting down at an organ (is that right?) playing by ear isn't quite the same thing as the "learning by ear" that Haley's doing. Most vocalists learn their music "by ear" simply because few of them actually read music. (They look at music for the words, not those dots with lines pointing up or down.) It's one thing to hear a note and be able to reproduce it vocally (which is very easy, frankly), and quite another thing to hear a note and sit down at an instrument with many keys to choose from and pick out the right one.

Haley may read music, but my guess is that if she does, it's pretty rudimentary, unfortunately. Ironically, in the past few weeks I've been wondering why, given the family that she grew up in, that she didn't seem to take some interest in learning to play piano (since I've never heard it mentioned, I think that assumption's correct). If she'd done that, she might be able to more of her "song writing."

Don't get me wrong. It sounds as though she provided the lyrics for the bulk of her album (there may have been some tweaking by those who are a bit more experienced) as well as a foundation of a melody that she had in mind to go with those lyrics, but it's not the same thing as being able to pen the entire thing on one's own. Perhaps, in time she'll discover that she wants to be able to do that, and will pursue it (I'm a firm believer in life-long education!).

[Tusk]

Actually my sis didn't sing, she could just reproduce the melody on the Organ without much work. Just sat there and played without having to search for the note. She took a few lessons on the flute, but not on the keyboards. She didn't read music well, either. It was really amazing watching it at the time (she was only 10-12 at the time).

Also, re: Haley playing the piano. I seem to recall Haley saying something about she didn't really enjoy doing it because it was hard for her to play the piano because she liked her long nails and they got in the way.. LOL .

[buzzenator]

^ You're right Tusk, it was the nail thing that got in the way of piano and guitar. As for an ear for music Alter Ego, I didn't pick up on her skills lacking in reading music...it was more about being rudimentary in music theory. There may be different levels of hearing music. It seems Haley hears more possibilities in her head for the creative process, not just what is being played...but what do I know? I hear things in my head, but it's not always creative and not always good.

[Tusk]

^ You're right Tusk, it was the nail thing that got in the way of piano and guitar. As for an ear for music Alter Ego, I didn't pick up on her skills lacking in reading music...it was more about being rudimentary in music theory. There may be different levels of hearing music. It seems Haley hears more possibilities in her head for the creative process, not just what is being played...but what do I know? I hear things in my head, but it's not always creative and not always good.

I think you're right as far as Haley "hearing possibilities in her head". I remember an interview where she said she was working on "Now That You're Here" and was supposed to go out on the town with an old friend from Wheeling. Then she had some ideas for background vocals, so she had to cancel her 'date' with the poor guy (I think his name was Johnny), and go to the studio to put down the tracks.

BTW...You too? You think I go overboard on my posts, but believe me, it's 100 times worse in my head LOL. Partly a reason for my late night posts....can't sleep from overthinking. I sometimes need some 'help' getting the umpteen thoughts running through my head to STFU LOL

[My Alter Ego]

Actually my sis didn't sing, she could just reproduce the melody on the Organ without much work. Just sat there and played without having to search for the note. She took a few lessons on the flute, but not on the keyboards. She didn't read music well, either. It was really amazing watching it at the time (she was only 10-12 at the time).

Also, re: Haley playing the piano. I seem to recall Haley saying something about she didn't really enjoy doing it because it was hard for her to play the piano because she liked her long nails and they got in the way.. LOL .

I did not mean to imply your sister sang. I was just responding to the difference between your sister's ability to play an instrument "by ear" and what happens with vocalists. What you had mentioned regarding Haley is just typical with vocalists, because, as I said before, few of them read music so/but they learn/know how to learn their parts quickly through hearing them.

As an instrumentalist, while I could read the notes in terms of "A, B, F, E flat, etc.," (and frankly that's a really ugly progression) until the summer before my junior year of high school, I struggled with "sight reading" because I'd always relied on that ability of mine to hear something once, and I'd know the rhythm and my entrances.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a singer's ability to "learn by ear" is not something that is even remotely unusual.

[Tusk]

I really envy those who are musically inclined. I took some music theory classes in college, but they never stuck

[midnightblues]

When I first started playing an instrument and I was taking lessons I had to learn the different chords there are in playing in a certain key. So if there is a certain amount of flats, and a certain amount of sharps, and if there's safe five chords to one key you can get by just playing 3 chords. That's just basic rock 'n roll and using your ability to hear anything in between is a good thing. It's called improvising it's not professional, but it works most of the time. Sorta

[My Alter Ego]

I really envy those who are musically inclined. I took some music theory classes in college, but they never stuck

I'm not surprised (that music theory never stuck). I have a musical background --- absolutely HATED theory and VOWED that I would forget everything the second that I got out of it. I always assumed that I had been successful.

But then I'll be in a situation where someone posits a thought, a challenge, something or other, and I'll spout out something, and then feel highly uncomfortable about it. And, then, for some reason (because I feel uncomfortable??), that which I'd learned in music theory will drift back to me and I'll recognize that I was correct, and, while, I don't feel vindicated, at least I know that I wasn't wrong/didn't lie.

Music theory is the basis of music, but the way it tends to be taught is still (fairly literally) is in the medieval university period. (And I know that, because: a.) I've taken music theory; and b.) I have a doctorate in the study of higher education, and, absolutely LOVED studying the medieval universities. Part of what was considered the "science study" (of medieval universities) was music theory.

[Tusk]

My times in the music theory classes were not entirely wasted, I learned ALOT about music history and styles, roots of rock and roll and origins of modern musical styles, which enhanced my appreciation of the Beatles

A class where a lot of the 'lab' work was to listen to artists like the Beatles? Sign me up LOL