Stop right there! Don’t Touch Your Instrument until You Do these 4 Simple Exercises
All practice is not created equal. There’s the practice that’s fun. You’re in a room with your instrument and maybe a few friends and you just start playing. The minutes fly by, but you’re not exactly working. Then there’s the practice that feels like homework. You’ve got a lesson or a concert coming up so ...
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6 Practice Essentials for Every Improviser
You walk into your practice room. You sit back in your favorite chair and mentally prepare to play your first note of the day. You glance at your stack of etude books, the half transcribed solo sitting on your music stand, and your growing list of tunes to learn and you let out a heavy ...
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Why You Should Be Hearing Music in Your Mind
I have a vivid memory of the first time I tried to play in an early jazz group. I was in school and was asked to play the trumpet part in an ensemble that met each week studying the music of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and other significant early players. Cool, building my jazz ...
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Why You Shouldn’t Be a Real Book Player
Take a peek into a high school jazz band rehearsal or grab a seat at a college jazz combo concert. Better yet, walk into your local jam session or take a close look at the jazz trio playing the next time you’re at a wedding. What do you see? In each case you’ll find the ...
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Happy New Year! 8 Musical Resolutions That Will Change Your Playing
A new year is the perfect time to look back at what you’ve accomplished in the practice room and to look forward to what you still wish to achieve as a musician. It’s also a great time to make a fresh start, to realign yourself musically, and to set some new goals. So, Happy New ...
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Overcoming Mental Limitations in Music
I can’t. We’ve all said these fateful words at one point or another. Fill in the blank for your own situation. “I can’t (____)”…draw, run long distances, wake up early, stop eating cheesecake. Every day there are literally dozens of things that we convince ourselves that we simply cannot do, and playing music and improvising ...
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How to Use Pop Tunes to Improve Your Ear
Admit it. You listen to pop tunes. You probably even like them. But hold on a second, aren’t you’re supposed to be a serious musician? It’s OK, everyone listens to pop tunes. Just because you turn on the radio and check out the top 40 every now and then it doesn’t make you less of ...
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The Anatomy of a Sound: Overcoming the Barrier of Music Theory
From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a container already built for us to fit inside: A social security number, a gender, a race, a profession, an I.Q. I ponder if we are more defined by the container we are in, than what we are inside. Would we recognize ourselves if ...
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How One Note Can Change Your Ears and Spark Your Creativity
Can one note really change your ears and improve your creativity? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. But let me explain…A few years ago I took a lesson with the great trumpet player, improviser and composer Ingrid Jensen. As I hopped on the the N train and headed to the lesson I looked over my practice ...
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How to Learn Jazz Standards with the Piano
Learning tunes should be fun. If ever there was a secret to expanding your repertoire of tunes this would be it. You’re more likely to pursue an activity that’s exciting, interesting, and challenging rather than one that feels like an annoying chore. At the end of a long day you’re going to put the hours ...
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8 Improvisation Improvement Projects That Will Change Your Playing
Practice is an essential part of your journey as a musician. We all do it every day…or at least we try our best to, however daily practice doesn’t always guarantee improvement. Why? Simply because not all practice is created equal. If you look at the big picture there are two basic types of practice: (1) ...
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The Forgotten Skill
There is one important part of practicing and learning any musical instrument or musical style that many players are unintentionally missing. A necessary skill that’s so obvious it often remains hidden in plain sight. It seems to be the same across the board from absolute beginners to college music majors. It doesn’t matter if you ...
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