We hope you enjoy a few of the downloads currently available.

In time, as this website is further developed, we intend to provide additional materials to you. So let us know if there is anything you'd like to see. In the meantime, here are some of the things we're working on:

• Login accounts for Graduates of both the Music and Songwriting Seminars, with:
  • an e-Forum to support ongoing learning and get any question answered
  • graduates songs and other progress
  • additional practice materials to save you time and effort
• Latest seminar news and events from around the world
• Links to our favourite websites (eg., sheet music, ear trainors, music programs, music theory/history, etc.)

Articles and Interviews

Duncan Lorien and the Seminar continue to receive media attention internationally. Below are some selected from Australian media.

The Age Newspaper - (Education Age, Wednesday, 28 February 2001). Roslyn Guy, the Editor of the Education section, completed the seminar as a normal participant-undercover to everyone except Duncan and the organiser. She arrived at the seminar as a total sceptic and finished the weekend truly inspired. In this article, read what she has to say about her own transformation from total beginner to musician.

Click here

Permission granted by The Age.

Herald Sun Newspaper - (Arts & Entertainment Section, Saturday 2 September 2000). The Herald Sun has written several articles on the seminar. In this article, Harbant Gill uncovered some interesting stories from graduates.

Click here

Permission granted by Herald Sun.

Music Teacher Magazine (July-August 2004) - Music Teachers frequently ask what they might get from doing the seminar. In this article, read what music teachers themselves have to say about the seminar and the impact it's had on their teaching...

Click here

Permission granted by MTM.

If you're interested, you might also like to check out the Magazine's website: http://www.musicteachermag.com

ABC Radio Interview (Thursday, 9 September 2004) - Each time Duncan appears on radio, he generates a lot of interest. Following this extended 25 minute interview, the response was exceptional.In this link, you can listen to his interview with Jane Clifton from Derek Guille's Evening Program on 774. Following an intro of Duncan playing one of his own compositions, Jane sits with Duncan at the piano to learn some insights from the seminar. This interview is 23 minutes long. We hope you enjoy it.

Click here to go to the interview on the ABC website.

You might also like to visit Duncan Lorien's US website for a few samples of seminar data, Duncans CDs and testimonials from around the world. www.dlorien.com

Testimonials

At the end of the 2004 Seminars, a number of people stayed to help pack up and celebrate. We took the opportunity to ask a few people about their experience of the seminars. Reproduced here are short excerpts of these conversations.

(Please note: Most of these audio clips are under 150Kb to allow quick downloading from any computer. Longer audio clips are indicated below and are up to 500Kb, so will take longer to download.)

Rod G. - Absolute Beginner Despite playing recorder as a young child, Rod says he is an absolute beginner in music. He came to the seminar hopeful, but sceptical...

(273kb)

John P. - Absolute Beginner John says he knew nothing about about music, but always wanted to play and compose. He came to an intro night and signed up to do both seminars together. Following the two weekends, this is what he had to say...

(146kb)

Gaynor C. - Novice Pianist & Professional Singer Gaynor played piano as a child, but gave up. Having heard the interview with Jane Clifton on ABC Radio on the night before the seminar, she says she took a risk and registered...(longer audio clip)

(468kb)

Michael A. - Experienced Guitarist and Singer Michael read about the seminars in The Age newspaper and also heard from a friend who raved about the experience. After completing both seminars, Michael says it "blew away all the cobwebs" and transformed his ability to write songs...

(74kb)

Julie G. - Experienced Pianist Julie studied classical piano when she was 5-18 years old and, like many people, says she's been "stuck" ever since - unable to play, improvise and compose as freely as she wanted. She heard about the seminars five years ago and decided it was finally time to register for both...

(131kb)

Terry F. - Experienced Guitarist & Band Member Terry wanted to improve his sight reading so he could take up classical guitar again, as well as unlock the music that he heard in his head. In his words, his songwriting ability before the seminar was "shocking, colourless and just bits and pieces", so we were thrilled when, shortly after the seminar, he emailed us an audio clip of his blues/funk song...

(86kb)

Brianna K. - Experienced Musician and Band Member Bree plays drums, bass & piano in a band. After finishing high school, she wants to pursue a career in music and study at the Victorian College of the Arts. She came to the seminar with a friend and they hooked up with another young musician. By the end of the songwriting seminar, the three of them were excitedly writing songs together, with big smiles on their faces...

(90kb)

Nic L. - Bachelor of Music Student and Band Member Nic was initially trained as a classical then jazz pianist and now plays several instruments in 3-4 bands, writing and performing original compositions. He recently won the first-year music student prize at university and is also teaching music. This is what he had to say...

(160kb)

Rob G. - Professional Musician, Composer and Music Teacher In 1997, Rob was voted Australia's #1 up-and-coming Rock Drummer. Since doing his first seminar in 2000 he has become a keyboard player and accomplished composer - currently about to release his 1st CD with his own Lord-of-the-Rings style compositions, narrated by a well-known film star and performed with the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir. In 2004, he introduced Billy Hyde Music to the seminars and then stage-managed the Billy Hyde sponsorship...

(371kb)

Songwriting Videos

Composing complete songs in 4 minutes? Yes! Have a listen to Duncan playing each groups' FIRST 4-minute composition. Who'd believe that some of these participants only started learning music the previous weekend in the Music Seminar!

Rodney, Sam, Sid, Andrew and Jodie present an energetic ballad

(379kb)

(2Mb)

Michael, Sylvia, Angela, Bree and Jane offer their soulful "Sylvia's Song"

(535kb)

(2.8Mb)

Mark, S'Hi, Jonathan, Nina and Catherine humourously present "Remember this forever!"

(647kb)

(3.4Mb)

Chris, Rob, Michael, Erica, and Nicola share their reflective song

(447kb)

(2.2Mb)

Bridget, Julie, Elizabeth, Nic and Michelle's song has a classic rock sound

(892kb)

(4.5Mb)

Elizabeth, Sam, Jane, Terry and Sheryn start off light-footed and draw you in as they build strength

(601kb)

(3Mb)

An Impromptu Singing Lesson

Participants come to the seminar armed with almost every musical question you can imagine. One of the most popular questions–from both trained singers as well as those who believe they're "tone deaf"–is how to improve their singing ability.

Since the seminar schedule is jam packed already, Duncan offered yet again to squeeze in an impromptu singing lesson during the lunch break and it was a full house.

We hope you enjoy this 15-minute excerpt from the 2004 Seminars...

(Please note: This 4.6Mb audio clip is best for users with broadband internet access. We made a compressed version for dialup users, but it simply had too much distortion. So if you have a dialup connection and really want to hear it, please either be prepared for a download wait of up to 20 minutes for a 56K modem, or you might like to find a friend or family member with broadband access.)

(4.6Mb)

© The Understanding of Music Seminar™ 2005