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One side of technique seems to be about faster harder and louder. On most gigs I do there's at least one tunes per set, usually that require fast loud and hard. People talk about these tempos and volumes as being unmusical, but I don't think they are. Especially when incorporated in a set of music, they seem to fit well. It's when the whole set becomes fast loud and hard that things get to be a drag. If my wife is in the audience, when I get through the set she usually says to me, that was a lot of testosterone being thrown around that stage.

Here's an exercise I used to do. Play it fast, hard and loud. That's the key. Sounds a little like a Steve Reich piece. Build up speed, play each pattern longer, etc. etc. etc. Stamina.

Gary Burton and Chick Corea played here in Philly last night with the Brooklyn String Quartet. Of course it was incredible. They opened up with Chick's tune Love Castle, which was very beautiful. They also played the arrangement of Chega off the new album and when it got to Gary's solo, Chick dropped out. Gary played Chega solo vibes, and you could hear the audience freak out a little bit. They also played Hot House, Eleanor Rigby, and a few others off the new album.

Chord Voicings are attached

I just worked on this with a student. I wrote out some two five one progressions where the chords keep moving down.

Where chops come in is this: You practice this and work up speed. Play 2 5 1 6's in different keys. This would really help your chops!

I've attached the 'rough' pdf I made for the student.

Neighbor tones!

Check out the PDF. As you can see, there are many ways to use NT's. They can easily become a vehicle for interesting lines both smooth and angular in your playing.

When looking at the PDF, remember that I left many out.

When you pick a NT pattern, learn it in all 24 keys, then start asking "if I like this, how can I change this slightly to be something else that I like?"
That's when you can apply devices such as...
-starting in a different rhythmic spot
-changing the direction of the line (up vs.down)
-changing the rhythm of the line

This doesn't need video or audio or anything. It needs discipline. And discipline is hard. I have back problems and when I do my back exercises I have no pain. And then I forget to do the exercises. And then let's not even get into food.

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