Practice routines

[Joe G]

Just curious about how everyone spends their musical free time.

I usually start off by simply plucking and listening to a single string (usually D) for about a minute, then singing in unison with it for 9 to 21 breaths, keeping track on my fingers. Then I move into improvising very simple, dronal music, either in position (meaning across the strings), or up and down a single string against the D drone. Then I'll start singing what I'm playing, which leads to just singing while touching the notes but not actually sounding them. The purpose of this is to let the singing mind predominate, rather than letting the instrument dictate what gets played. Singing practices have helped me a lot.

Then I might play some Bach, from the solo violin suites, and then probably work on whatever tune organissimo might be learning for performance. Also I might spend some time working out of the various Mick Goodrick books that I have lying around. The voice-leading almanacs are especially interesting to me.

Away from the instrument, I work on cross-rhythms and rhythmic groupings, or sight-reading rhythms if I have a book with me. I also play the piano (not very well) for a couple of hours a week, and I have a tenor recorder that's fun to mess around on when I want pure melody.

One thing I haven't been doing is learning standards. I think that would be beneficial, although we normally don't play in that bag, so the tunes don't get ingrained like I would like them to be.

I also consider listening to great music, live or recorded, to be a part of my practice, and anything that cultivates a quiet, receptive mind - essential for coherant performance.

~

So what are your routines? And what practices have really helped you advance over the years?

[Jazz Kat]

Wow, you are focused! I usually, (what am I talking about... Like 20 times a day!), throw on a cd, and just play along, either on guitar, or drums, or play electric bass, just hoping and wishing for an acoustic one. I read a little bit, but mostly just play along to some disks.

[Joe G]

Wow, you are focused! ...

Well, actual results may vary...

[Soul Stream]

Sounds like a great regimen Joe. Wish I could say the same. Your's sounds very zen-like.

I don't even really have a routine. I feel like I'm constantly just playing catchup with what I need to learn for the next gig (and then basically forgeting half of it). It's a bad habit I'd like to break actually, and make some real forward movement somehow. I just have no real idea how to do that.

Any suggestions Joe?

[AfricaBrass]

That's a very cool routine, Joe.

I wish I was as disciplined. My main routine is to strap my guitar on and play along to what I'm listening to or watching on TV. I love to play along with commericals and stuff. I figure it's just good ear training. I also like playing songs from memory.

I've been doing lessons with a program called Guitar Pro. People submit tabs that you can download for free and this program plays them using midi. You can then view tab to see what was played and listen to it as it was played. I also bought some cool training courses from Truefire.com a while back and have enjoyed those.

I'm not a good reader, so it really helps being able to hear what the notes are supposed to be doing. I'm an ear player. Give me any melody and I can play it, but I slow way down when I start reading.

[Joe G]

Mike, are you playing with a lot of different people, and having to learn their music very quickly, but then not getting the opportunity to keep playing it to the point of mindlessness and freedom? Sort of skimming the surface all the time, dealing on the level of just making the changes?

Edited March 6, 2005 by Joe G

[Soul Stream]

Mike, are you playing with a lot of different people, and having to learn their music very quickly, but then not getting the opportunity to keep playing it to the point of mindlessness and freedom? Sort of skimming the surface all the time, dealing on the level of just making the changes?

Yes. I'm just frantic and trying to keep my head above water. I get the feeling I'm not really absorbing anything. Even on my own gigs as a leader. I've had so many personel changes that I'm constantly changing the song list to fit the players. I have great players, but I've got to switch things mightily around to make it all work and use people for what they're best at, and keep the gigs.

To tell you the truth, it's exhilarating, exhausting, uplifting and defeating all at once kind of. Making musical progess and practicing is becoming roadkill at this point it seems. Although I guess I'm learning just by staying in the game.

[Sundog]

I typically practice both in the morning before work, and in the evening. My morning session is usually about 20-30 minutes. I run scales and arpeggios. I'll play scales as tetrachords both ascending and descending. I also play scales in intervals of thirds, or sixths, and a number of other "pet' patterns I've worked out over the years. I routinely work on all modes of the major scale. I usually work on one particular mode every day for maybe 5-10 minutes. I also really like to play chord scale arpeggios out of each scale position. I usually just use 7th chords for this exercise. I do most of this kind of thing in the morning.

In the evening the first thing a do is sight read a couple of tunes. Then I usually just open up the Real Book and run the changes on a standard or ballad. I spend I lot of time doing this. I may run the changes 10 times in a row each time trying to navigate the song a little bit differently. This can be painful, however I have found that it pays hugh dividends. It's the only way I've found to become comfortable with a standard. Oh yeah, I play the melody in and out as part of this exercise, and I sometimes use a metronome to add to the torture factor especially on new songs.

I spend a lot of time working on my rhythm playing. I like to work out baseline comping patterns for songs that I really like. It comes in quite handy for duet playing, which I seem to be doing a lot of lately. Last year I did the same for a number of different types of blues changes so I try to keep those up as well. There are a few entire solos that I've studied over the years that I try to keep up on so I don't lose them.

One last thing, I try to spend some time each week working out song arrangements. I used to be the defacto arranger for one of the bands that I played in. I've come to really enjoy it, however I need to be a bit more formal about this process. I don't always write them down.

That's not everything, however that more or less reflects what I'm doing now.

[scottb]

Sounds like a great regimen Joe. Wish I could say the same. Your's sounds very zen-like.

It comes out in his playing as well, doesn't it.

[JSngry]

Long tones (LOTS of long tones) and slow technical exercises, then whatever the focus of the moment is. Because you can't play it fast if you can't play it slow, and because it's a helluva lot easier to play anything if you don't have to be distracted by your own bad tone.

[Joe G]

Mike, are you playing with a lot of different people, and having to learn their music very quickly, but then not getting the opportunity to keep playing it to the point of mindlessness and freedom? Sort of skimming the surface all the time, dealing on the level of just making the changes?

Yes. I'm just frantic and trying to keep my head above water. I get the feeling I'm not really absorbing anything. Even on my own gigs as a leader. I've had so many personel changes that I'm constantly changing the song list to fit the players. I have great players, but I've got to switch things mightily around to make it all work and use people for what they're best at, and keep the gigs.

To tell you the truth, it's exhilarating, exhausting, uplifting and defeating all at once kind of. Making musical progess and practicing is becoming roadkill at this point it seems. Although I guess I'm learning just by staying in the game.

Well, what you're doing is a skill in itself. Since I don't freelance a lot, I'm probably not as adaptable on the fly as you might be. You can take this as you see fit: my suggestion would be to balance out this flurry of activity with some of those zen-like practices that I described. My source for those is The Listening Book by W.A. Mathieu, which I've recommended here in the past. I think you could benefit by just taking some time to really deeply connect with your instrument, and with sound in general. It doesn't have to be a long session, just a few minutes at the start when you sit down to play. Fundamental practices never hurt, and you may be suprised at how improvements tend to creep into your playing overall. The trick is to take bite sized chucks, and only work as long as your concentration holds; five minutes might be a good start. Don't practice when you're bored, or with a wandering mind. That defeats the whole purpose of this kind of work. And you should feel refreshed when you're done. Hope this helps.

[Joe G]

Tom, I like what you're doing! I need to work on tunes more regularly.

[AfricaBrass]

You guys have some great routines. I think I might borrow some of them myself.

[Soul Stream]

Jim, sax players always saw they work on long tones...but how do they end up playin' so fast!

Anyway, sounds like a lot of great regimens. Joe, I ordered to book and will keep you posted. I find the biggest problem for me overall at this point in music, is trying to keep a balance.... Listening, responding, but yet holding onto the known and not getting to the point where I lose it. It's like trying to get to the edge of the cliff without falling off of it. Sometimes I fall off, sometimes it's just a nice rush when it works. Playing the organ is odd in the sense that you're trying to do two oppossing things. Keep the bass solid, yet flowing and connected to the drums...while your other side of the brain is suppose to be as free as possible rhythmically and lyrically, harmonically. Sometimes those two intersections in my brain are the site of a wreck. B-). I'd like to be more relaxed and let it just happen more. Plus technique could always use help.

Edited March 6, 2005 by Soul Stream

[Joe G]

Honestly I don't know how you guys do it. It takes me a year to work up a two-part invention on piano. Forget about improvising and interacting with someone else!

Edited March 6, 2005 by Joe G

[Soul Stream]

Honestly I don't know how you guys do it. It takes me a year to work up a two-part invention on piano. Forget about improvising and interacting with someone else!

Sometimes we don't do it! That's the problem.

[Joe G]

Well, that's not unique to organists alone...

[Sundog]

Tom, I like what you're doing!  

Hey, it keeps me out of trouble!

Thanks for the kind words.

[JSngry]

Jim, sax players always saw they work on long tones...but how do they end up playin' so fast!

Well, I'm not a particularly fast player, but I can tell you that the saxophone is designed in such a way that fast is relatively easy (some types of fast, anyway...) once you get over a couple of humps. for me, those are knwing, really knowing, where "everything is, shich is where the slow stuff comes in. You practice your scales and stuff as slow as possible, and doggone it, after time, you're going to know exactly where everything is, no "well, it's KINDA here". Because if that's where you're at, sometimes it'll be there, and sometimes it won't.

Same thing with long tones. That's how you build your tone, and tone is, for me anyway, the one thing that will distract me faster than anything. I'm not just hearing notes, I'm hearing a SOUND, and if the sound I'm making ain't the same as the one I'm hearing, well, that's a distraction to the overall process, right? Perhaps the most fundamental one, truthfully.

Think about it - if you're called upon to speak, and you have this totally grand oratory masterpiece all plotted out in your head, and the moment you open your mouth a squeak or some other vocal glitch comesout of your mouth, hey - it's over before it even begins, right? Sometimes you can recover, but if you never find that voice that you were hearing, you're gonna be working from behind from jump street. Your tone is everything. Doesn't matter what you play, fast, slow, straight, out, melody, improvisation, whatever, if you got your voice happening, you got the main thing out of the way. The rest is all about choices, and choices is good. And if you have to choose a technical "compromise", you can put it across a lot more effectively if you do it with the full certitude of your own voice. It's like an actor forgetting their lines - if they're able to come up with a good coverup and deliver it in the same voice that they were using for the written lines, hey, who's gonna know? but if they lose their voice...

Now, I'd be a liar if I said that the slow way was all it took, But that's the foundation, I believe. Once you get a grip on that end of it, it's more a question of simple (well, "simple") acceleration than it is actually having to learn anything.

[Soul Stream]

As far as sheer technique on any instrument...how do you approach that stylistically? And how do you personally keep that together.

[.:.impossible]

I am a novice, but here is my general routine.

Turn on the metronome and run through the circle in patterns, major and minor. For example, C Maj: F G A, G A B, A B C, B C D, C D E, D E F, E F G, etc. Up and down the instrument in triplets, or what have you. Arpeggios and different chords in each key, trying to get used to positions, and hearing the different harmonies in each chord, trying to learn the sound of each note. Simple improvisations.

Sometimes I'll chose four notes and adapt exercises from Stick Control for the snare drummer by George Lawrence Stone. I still think rudiments are important, even on the vibraphone. This also helps to strengthen the outer mallets.

I've been focusing on Nefertiti lately, which people tell me is probably not a great idea yet, because of the chromatic nature of the composition. I don't understand the underlying theory of the piece still, but I think it is a great learning experience. The way I see it, its a lifetime. I'm in no hurry. The chords are beautiful.

I've stripped the drum kit down to bass, snare, hi hat, ride. Really, I have no discipline when it comes to drum kit. I just sit down and feel out rhythms. I don't count, and I know that is bad, but it doesn't feel right to me. This is why I will never be a performing drummer!

I like reading about horn players' technique, because they do have so much control over their tone. With the vibraphone, the tone of the instrument is created at the factory. A couple of variables at the player's hand are mallet choice, and attack. Generally speaking, there will never be a variety in tone on this instrument a la Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

Do you sort of feel the same about the b-3 Soul Stream? I know you have a multitude of settings at your fingertips, and the b-3 is a much more complex machine than the vibraphone, but the tone of the instrument is not as personal to the player as it is on a tenor saxophone for instance. Does that make sense? I don't know. Maybe the b-3 isn't the best example because it IS so flexible!

[Trumpet Guy]

Hey Joe!

Well, being a trumpeter, I have to deal with the muscles to be able to play-especially if we're talking about being able to play 2 or 3 sets o' jazz.

So my basic routine(and I do mean routine!) is to play 3-4 hours,which consists of basic exercises to get my air working.Technical lip flexibilities for an hour;then another section where I play soft technical studies in one breath--this helped me learn how to play fast.Trumpet is difficult to move between registers effortlessly;so this helps.Then I'll play a set of Aebersold --treat it like a gig--Set 1-Set2...

So now I'm 3 hours in...take a break...come back and play the moment(shapes-sounds-feels) throw in some soft long tones for effortless approach and I'm there.Or not

If I'm giggin that night I'll stop before the Aebersolds--to save some notes for the gig.If I'm gigging my chops tend to take care of themselves. I'm a freelancer so I do know lots o' jazz tunes...I don't work on memorizing standards anymore.

Trumpet for me is a bit of a "knack"--if its feels good--I practice with the mindset of keeping it feelin' good--if I lose it--my practice takes me on the search---

Jim Sangrey's talk of sound rings true true true.

As I get older--I think less about my chops and focus on my ears. Not hearing notes and chords--I have perfect pitch, so that's not it--but about ears being kind.Merciful non-judgemental ears. I'd worry about the purity of my tone to the detriment of my creativity. Roswell Rudd says when his chops are "down" or he's making "clams"--"Oh listen to those gifts today"--Attitude! And because of this attitude, I feel that my sound is truly becoming my own--Finally!

But I'm still an anal mf'er--I'll be practicing momentarily.

More on ears--my friends get together to work their ears--they pull out 2 or 3 Cd players and play different Cds simultaneously--like a Lester Young cd at the same time as a Mingus or Duke at the same time as Bird--just to see if they can "hear" the beauty...

[Joe G]

Right ON, Phil! Thanks for posting - that was a fun read.

[Trumpet Guy]

Hey Joe--Happy to be part of the fun here. I look forward very much to the new recording--all the best with it!!

[Joe G]

As an aside, we did a blindfold rehearsal once; that was interesting. There were missed notes, and at first I was afraid of leaps up and down the neck, but at one point I gave into the darkness and could begin to "see" shapes, like where a cross rhythm was going to end up resolving.