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A Standard Practice Routine - Any Suggestions?

Mark Johnson 16 November 2011

I am an amateur vibist--have played 40 years in big bands and quartets and by myself.

I go through lapses of practicing, followed by 'getting back into it.'

I am curious, how do other vibists' daily (3+ times a week?) practice routines look?

For awhile I did the following
- start with major scales in all keys
- diminished scales in all 'keys'
- block chords up and down the vibes (maj7, m7, dim)
- a page or two in Patterns for Jazz
- a couple classical transcriptions (from those three nice transcription books that came out 40 years ago)
- 2-3 Real Book tunes

I am looking for something new! I want mostly facility in playing and improvising. And I also want to do something different from what I have done!

I am welcome to all suggestions!!

Thanks!

Comments

vibraman Wed, 11/16/2011 - 15:04

i´m no pro but how about that...play a solo vibes tune of your choice and post it here :)

i think if you can do a piece solo vibes you really learn a lot and you defenetly know the tune.
tarik

tonykuphaldt Fri, 02/17/2017 - 14:34

Hi Mark! I'm a beginning mallet player, and just last December helped lead a teaching session at a folk music festival on the subject of adult beginners, with a focus on making practice time efficient and effective. Mind you, these were not jazz musicians, and some of them played only by ear and not by music, so their needs aren't quite the same as yours. However, we were able to explore a lot of ideas one can use in practice to develop general musicality and most importantly keep practice sessions interesting, challenging, and varied.

So . . . here is a link to the document I shared with the participants of this workshop. Feel free to pick and choose any ideas you find interesting!

http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/socratic/sinst/misc/deliberate_practice…

- Tony

tonymiceli Fri, 02/17/2017 - 22:06

warm up a bit
learn tunes esp bebop tunes even if you just play the heads.
play with play alongs, work on some chord melody stuff and just have fun.

you've been doing it for 40 years, unless you're going to study with someone, just have fun and play.

that's my quick and short answer.

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