This is an effective 4 mallet exercise that I’ve been using for years. I do the exercise at the beginning of my practice time and often before a gig or concert. I think it helps to condition your hands and fingers by building some strength, flexibility, and endurance.
For me John Lewis was one of those pianists whom sometimes I thought, man can this guy play or not. His minimalist approach is a little confusing sometimes for me.
But, check him out playing Django here. Beautiful harmonies and some of the rhythmic stuff on his solo is really cool.
I have to remember that he played with Dizzy, so no way was he a slouch. Anyone get what I'm saying? It seemed like Milt was that cat in MJQ that sparked all the fires. Or so I think.
Went to a Stefon Harris Masterclass at Temple University tonight. Stefon is a very inspiring cat! I love his playing and his vibe. He has a lot of soul. I admire guys who might think with their head but they play with their heart, and that's Stefon.
He talked about Melodic and Harmonic Tonics. Who knows what they are?
I never used these words but have done things along these lines. However Stefon gave me a lot more ideas and a new to think about this.
Before I go into it, what do you guys know about it?
I'm big on getting my time together. I have very little of it now and I must use it wisely. I need to practice 2 hours a day minimum, or I'd rather donate my body to science and spare a few bunnies what they have to go through. I can't stand when I don't practice.
I'm always checking out productivity business cats and learning from them. I also frequent the site Life Hacker. There are MANY great tips on there. This latest is a good one I think.
I know everyone is going to say play it slower and I do when practicing.
But this is about where I'd like it to be. It may be a few clicks to fast ....hmmm.... not sure yet. This is 158 BPM.
Figuring out solo vibes stuff is really challenging and fun!!!!
Anyway I had to post because we are moving on to Blue Bossa.
Be kind :)
Kind of makes learning tunes a lot simpler doesn't it?
Here is something I would like to talk about and open up for discussion.
I think with every lesson and study that there is a hidden field that doesn't get talked about quite enough, and the hidden field is average time required for the lesson. We can pick a general number for this, that is the amount of time most musicians should put in for the required task or study.
What's great about this site is that a week can be a month or a year!!!
Check out this Parker lick. I thought it would be interesting for your guys to play it through the keys and learn from it. Very simple and to the point, but it weaves through the changes like Bach!
I won't tell you guys any more about it, why don't you figure stuff out and post it in the comments.
I'll give a free pair of my mallets to the first person who posts a record of them playing it without stopping and through all the keys.