Life of a Musician - Robin Hill... is 6 Years Old!

I can't believe that another year has gone by and that 'Life of a Musician' is now 6 years old!

Last year, on its 5th Birthday, I reviewed the blog in general and highlighted some of the most popular post: 'Life of a Musician - 5 Years of Blogging'.

This year, as always, has been eventful.
There have been laughter, tears and the occasional tantrum, as one would expect when following the life of any musician trying to travel the globe these days.

A major highpoint was the release of, 'Standing on Air', which was accompanied by a, 'Making of Video', in which Robin talks openly about his eclectic approach to music and offers some insight into composing and the recording process.
You can read the post here: 'Standing on Air - Robin Hill arrives on iTunes, Amazon etc...'

As part of the promotion of 'Standing on Air' we were extremely proud of the video made by our eldest son Oliver, 'Chill 22', which you can watch below.



There's more about the track, 'Chill 22' here.

But it hasn't all been good.

Unfortunately the release of the new CD was hampered by Robin breaking his arm.
This is a dreadful situation for anyone, but for a musician it brings its own sort of terrors.
Read 'Psychology of the Injured Musician' for more details.

We have also launched a brand new website, packed with information, videos, pictures etc. More about that here.
From the site you can join our mailing list and keep up to date with new releases and the 'soon to be avaialable' sheet music.

One of the most popular posts this year has been, 'The Scale' from The Guitar Gymnasium', which is an extract from Robin's book, and is a must for any player wanting to improve their technique.

As always, travel has played a large part of Robin's day to day life, and as is often the case these days, there are frequently traumas to cope with.
'Fly with a Little Help from Lebrecht...' was probably one of the most frustrating situations Robin has had to face, when an airline refused to allow his guitar in the cabin, even in a paid seat....

The next year of, 'Life of a Musician', promises to be just as exciting.
There are plans for more videos and another album is already underway. So there is plenty to look out for over the coming months.

There are now 727 posts in the archives, scroll down the left hand sidebar, and feel free to have a look around.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and for making 6 years of blogging so enjoyable.

'Life of a Musician' - 5 Years of Blogging

Life of a Musician is 5 years old today!

So, I thought I would have a look back through some of the 717 posts and highlight a few that represent a cross section of the last 5 years.

To start with you might like to listen to some of the pieces in the player in the sidebar. If so, this post, 'Stories Behind the Music' tells you a little about each piece.

Also in the sidebar are some of our CDs which can be accessed by clicking the various links.

But apart from the music the whole point of this blog was to look behind the scenes at the life of a musician and to record some memories and thoughts from a career that has spanned more than 40 years...


'Accidents Happen: Part 1' seemed a good place to start.
And then there was, 'Part 2'.

I'm not saying Robin is accident prone but this post tells about the time he split his guitar - during a concert...and this one how he found himself, 'Recording for Teldec with a Sutured Finger'.

Travel obviously forms a huge part of the life of this musician. Generally this is an honour. He visits more countries each year than most people manage in a lifetime. But it isn't without its stresses.
We have had 'lost guitars', and more lost luggage than I care to remember, here's just one example, 'A Case of the Borrowed Tuxedo'.

But fun can be had, especially when live on radio in the US, 'Hill/Wiltschinsky - Pump It or Dump it'.

And you know you've been too New York frequently when this happens!

Occasionally I would add a more technical post such as, 'See the Sound Waves and Improve your Scales', or, 'Music Practice Tips - Classical Guitar'.

Of course many people want to know about being the 'wife' of a musician, which prompted this series of posts: 'The Wife of a Musician - Part 1 - The Music', and 'Part 2 - Travel', and for those really dedicated to the role of the wife of a musician you can find a few more links here.

But sometimes the blog posts just reflect what is happening at the time...how could I resist this one, 'Cabo San Lucas, Hard Rock Cafe and the Tale of an Iguana', or 'Manuel de Falla's, 'Miller's Dance', and the Solar System', or this one, 'Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli and the Revolving Stage'.

No blog discussing the guitar would be complete without mentioning, 'Guitarists and Their B***** Nails'...

Finally, a few posts that have been particularly popular over the years, 'Sex, Drugs and Classical Music', 'Alicia de Larrocha, the Ritual Fire Dance and a Maths Exam' and 'Inspire Young Minds with Music'.

However, these are just a handful of the available posts, there are several hundred more, all of which can be found through the archives.

Many thanks to all those who have supported 'Life of a Musician' over the last 5 years and I hope you will continue to do so for many more to come.

Happy 4th Birthday to 'Life of a musician - Robin Hill'!!!

,

Once again I can't believe a whole year has gone by and 'Life of a musician' is celebrating its 4th Birthday! In blogging terms this makes us rather more mature than the average 4 year old...

As always it has been a busy year with extensive travel and many concerts performed. We have seen the release of a CD, 'Hill/Wiltschinsky Duo - Soler Sonatas', and the recording of another, 'Cancion', with soprano Izzy Cooper, which will be released in September!

The most popular post over the last year has been, unsurprisingly, 'Music Practice Tips - Classical Guitar', although close contenders were, 'Inspire Young Minds with Music', and one which was rather a surprise, (although I think I picked up a few hits thanks to a BBC broadcaster of the same name...) 'Anna Hill's 'Unofficial' Desert Island Discs'.

There have been fewer posts than I would have liked, but even when time constraints have prevented me from writing, I have tried to keep everyone updated via my Twitter feed, 'AnnaHill'. This tends to be a combination of work and leisure related information, but that was the whole idea. There seem to be many readers out there who like the little extra insight that can be gained from Twitter.

Naturally, I would like to thank you all for returning and reading on a regular basis, and also those that just dip in from time to time.
It is very much appreciated.
I hope the next 12 months will bring many more exciting adventures in the life of this particular musician.

'Life of a Musician' 3rd Birthday!

Today is the third birthday of 'Life of a Musician'.
I'm amazed how quickly the time has passed and how much as been going on.

Regular readers will know that I haven't posted as much recently, but there is a reason.
Unfortunately I can't yet share it with you!
Suffice to say that a project later this year has been taking up a lot of my time and hence the lack of posts.
But many thanks to you all for being patient, and returning regularly to keep updated.

Here's a reminder of our 1st birthday, 'Happy Birthday to Robin Hill's Classical Guitar Blog', and 2nd birthday, '2 Years of Blogging'.

In the past year a lot has happened and you can scroll down through the archives to catch up with events.

MySpace continues to flourish, Twitter has leaped from 93 followers and 838 updates a year ago, to 421 followers and 3795 updates!
Last year we were at 597 post, and now this will be the 687th post!
We have joined Reverbnation, to reach out to even more people, and new Cd's will be available before too long.

But for now, thank you to all those around the world who regularly drop by, and also to any casual visitors.
I hope to see you all over the next year, as we continue the journey.
Feel free to comment or send me a message if there are any areas you would like me to discuss.

For now though, time to eat cake.

I've Been Tagged

Yesterday I had a message over on Twitter from Paize_Fiddler.
I'd been tagged on his blog, 'Free Spirit'.

For those not familiar with tagging, you could read, 'What is a Blog Meme?' by Chris Garrett, or, 'Blog-Tag: A Game for a virtual Cocktail Party,' on The Jeff Pulver Blog, or even, '8 Random Facts About Me (tagging meme)', on James Cridland's blog.

My brief was, "to write six things about me personally, that my readers might not know", and then, 'tag' six other twitter/blogger friends and make them 'it'.

My initial reaction was mixed.
I was delighted to have been chosen from all the people out there in the blogosphere, but also concerned, as the message arrived in the frantic 24 hours that always occur prior to Robin going away for a concert.

So we used the journey to the airport constructively, to come up with my six, 'things about me'.

1) I have known Robin since I was 7 years old!!!

2) I completed writing a book a short time ago, (which has nothing to do with music...), and in the next few weeks will be ready to send it off and try my luck with an agent.

3) As a teenager I was asked to be the lead vocalist in a rock band. When I questioned the fact that they had never heard me sing, they said, "It doesn't matter no one will be able to hear you anyway!"

4) I have a degree in Psychology which has proved extremely helpful in understanding the mind of a musician....

5) At the age of 16 I took two jobs, whilst continuing to study, to pay for my first classical guitar. One in a shoe shop (which I hated) the other as a breakfast waitress, (I was terrible. I'm not good at early mornings, and kept dropping very hot boiled eggs into the laps of business men...)

6) In an ideal world I would have 4 dogs, a couple of horses and a few cats.

So there we are, my six things.
The next stage was to tag six more people.
This is the part that I have found most difficult.
Who do you choose?
All the people I know in the blogging/twittering world are all very busy.
Will they be pleased to be picked, or, annoyed at the intrusion.
I decided to go with my gut instinct.
Most people recognise that participating in such events only helps to promote their particular cause.

So, here they are:

1)Jessica Duchen. 'Jessica Duchen's Classical music blog'. Because I am a great admirer of her blog/books/articles and she is currently thinking about ways forward with her writing.

2)Solobasssteve. Steve Lawson, found on twitter here, or his website here. Because Steve is a prolific twitterer, web enthusiast and a consultant/thinker in social media, and I'm sure will have an opinion on the whole thing.

3)Audio aka Chris Hambly, and Chris's site here. Because Chris is a web developer and specializes in marketing, search optimisation etc. So should understand...

4) MadViolinist, Ben Clapton. Also a blogger friend, 'Top Left Hand Page'. Because Ben is currently running a really nice series on his blog, called, 'On This Day...' and it may help people to find it.

5) warofthewords. Naomi Fox. Because Naomi is in a very similar position to me, in that she spends a great deal of time promoting her husband's work, and I'm full of admiration at what she manages to achieve! Wire Duck Records.

6) aribadler. Ari also has a blog, 5 Ws, and is a former newspaper reporter and a media-relations professional, so maybe he can use the experience of tagging in one of his lectures.

So there we are.
The six people that I have now made 'it'.
I now have to go off and email them all, grovel a little, and hope that they see the positive side to the whole thing!
Hopefully they will link back if/when they accept the challenge so that we can gain a little insight into their approach.

Ohh, and by the time I finally get this post published, Robin should have arrived in Rome!

2 Years of Blogging

Happy second birthday to 'Life of a Musician'.
We seem to have come a long way since the first blog two years ago and I have certainly been on a very sharp learning curve in this time.

A few statistics for you:

Today will be the 597th post, which I'm sure you will agree, is a lot of writing!
In the past year alone we have had nearly 19 000 page views, with approximately 1000 pages read each month.

Then we entered the MySpace terrain and in only a few months have built up a considerable list of 'friends' and have already had over 2700 profile views.

Twitter has been equally as active, with 93 regular followers and 838 updates at the time of writing.

We may be low on the 'links', by which a lot of blogs judge themselves, but the amount of regular readers we have more than compensates for that in my mind.

We will be releasing the 4th CD on CD Baby in just a few weeks time, so I think you will agree that it has been a busy 12 months.

I've enjoyed the past year and there have been many exciting things happening along the way. Lets hope the next 12 months prove equally productive.

Many thanks to you all, from all parts of the world, for following the life of this particular musician so far...

Who is the Mystery Blogger?

So far there has been a lot of interest in the new 'Robin Hill' site which is excellent news.
We have even had a comment in the guest book.

I have also had an email requesting a wedding photo to be added to the gallery as no-one out there knows what I look like.

So who is this mystery blogger?
Lets look at the facts.
You know my name is Anna.
You know I'm the wife of a musician.
You can even see my legs in this previous blog, 'Dogged Devotion to J.S.Bach', when I was going through a Hitchcockian phase.

But am I ready to reveal the true identity of the mysterious 'wife of a musician'?
Well, OK, here's a picture of me taken a few months ago:




I should explain that at the time of this picture I was feeling a little ratty.....

Genius...a Bit of Fun

Well our busy weekend has nearly come to an end, and, as expected, I have had to put on my 'kid gloves' to deal with the younger generation in Hillhouse...
We have survived though, and, Robin has been working hard, so we shouldn't complain.

A lot of blogs have been taking the 'blog readability' test, which up to now I hadn't got round to.
But, last night, whilst waiting for Robin to come home, I decided to have a go.
This is what it came up with:



So congratulations to all our regular readers for being so intelligent!

Deep Purple Haze Days

As we watched Paul McCartney the other evening, a memory was triggered for Robin, which I felt worthy of repeating.
It occurred as McCartney was playing 'I Saw Her Standing There', which he performed with his usual brilliance.
Robin said, "That's what I played with Deep Purple, at the audition."
I couldn't let that go and immediately went into 'blog' mode.

Robin was called down to Pinewood Studios for an audition for the place of lead guitarist, in a post Deep Purple band, put together by Jon Lord and Ian Paice.
The position had become vacant after the untimely death of Tommy Bolin, a fantastic guitarist who had played on one of our favourite recordings, 'Spectrum' by Billy Cobham.
So it was a pretty nerve wracking experience for Robin.

They started with, 'I Saw Her Standing There', and then went on to play, 'Palace of the King', by BB King.

The other band members then went off to deliberate, and returned promptly, to say Robin had got the gig.
Exciting times.

They went on to do a demo of 'Palace of the King', and you can hear it today.
The band members at this point were:
Ian Paice - Drums
Jon Lord - Keyboard
Maggie Bell - Vocals
Paul Martinez - Bass
Robin Hill - Electric Guitar

This track was actually recorded at George Harrison's house...
Unfortunately he wasn't in at the time, but they did meet on another occasion, however, that's another story...

For now you can hear 'Palace of the King' from the player in the side bar.

'High Fives' for the 'Great Tenor' - Pavarotti has Died

I'm sure that most of the blogging world will be discussing the death of Luciano Pavarotti, who died this morning, at the age of 71. You can read Malcolm Moore's report here.

It's sad when anyone dies, but characters as big as Pavarotti, in every sense of the word, don't happen too often.
His popularity has introduced many thousands of people to the area of classical music, and more specifically, opera, which is an achievement in itself.
Amongst musicians there was always an element of 'fear' when chosen to perform with him, as he had very clear ideas of what he wanted to hear. However there was also a huge pride at being offered that role.

This happened twice to Robin, although the second performance was cancelled due to Pavarotti's failing health.
Robin sat very near to him and felt his presence was even more powerful in person than he anticipated.
Pavarotti never spoke to the musicians directly, it was always done through the conductor, (despite his large voice he was very quietly spoken), but Robin could hear everything he said.
Believe me, Robin was very keen to give a note perfect performance and interpretation, for fear of the wrath of the great man.
It went well though and Robin was fine, unlike some of the orchestral members....

In the last few days of his life the Italian government awarded him a prize to recognise his achievements, shortly after La Scala announced a new Luciano Pavarotti award.
Pavarotti is said to have been "happy at the recognition", and it was nice for him to hear about these awards, instead of them being issued after his death. I do hope he took them as acknowledgments of his achievements and not notification of his moribund state.

Pavarotti was passionate about life and passionate about his music and will be greatly missed.

Bob Dylan to Bach

We decided to take a little time out yesterday and do a few family things.
It was great and we had a lovely day.
Some of that time, was spent in a car, and anyone with small children will realise that the two don't necessarily sit comfortably together.
We had prepared for this.
Robin had downloaded the music from 'The Simpsons Movie', which kept them amused for a while, guessing which part of the film was being depicted. 'Spiderpig' proved the most popular.

By the time we'd heard that a few times it was our turn.
We had a good sing-a-long to Bob Dylan's, 'Mr. Tambourine Man', and I must say that Robin sounds more like Bob Dylan than Bob Dylan does...

Then there was the recently purchased book for just these occasions.
'I'm Bored!' by Suzy Barratt and Polly Beard is a great book packed with ideas for most situations.
Whilst sons fell asleep in the back of the car Robin and I had a great time playing all the games for car journeys! (This was as much to distract Robin from thoughts of the guitar he was missing as anything else...)

I hadn't realised quite how much time I spend dealing with the computer over the day.
When I went to blog last night, I thought I'd check the emails first, only to find that there were 198 waiting.....
Some were spam and some needed dealing with but consequently I never got around to blogging last night.
Still, it's good to keep you all guessing!

Meanwhile, Robin is now back behind his guitar, and relishing playing through some Bach.