I had a good lesson with David Friedman at the Philadelphia workshop. We focused entirely on pedaling. David pointed out that my sound was very 'dry'. I had never really noticed it, but now I hear it every time I listen to a recording of myself.

I've attached two different practice tapes working on pedaling over "How Deep is the Ocean?" and "You Don't Know What Love Is". I'm playing with the metronome and playing mostly single notes rather than chords.

Critical feedback welcome.

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Check this out everyone.

https://jamesclear.com/lay-a-brick

Allyson sent this to me. He's the guy doing all the posting these days. He's on fire and wants to be a great vibe players.

I thought this short read really sums up the process.

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“A Time for Love” composed by Johnny Mandel – one of the great ballads by a wonderful composer. Legendary pianist Bill Evans plays a superb version of this song.

A few thoughts on solo playing as featured on this clip:

Over the last 33 years, I have worked a day job in addition to being a professional performer. During that time, the rest of my life has sometimes limited the time I spend with my instrument (a situation I have now resolved in retirement).

Out of necessity, I have learned how to practice more efficiently.

If I had known this when I was young, I would have advanced much more quickly and likely would be a far better player.

In the spirit of sharing what I know, especially with the younger performers on the site, here are my thoughts on practicing efficiently:

It was brought to my attention that Behn was talking about this at the workshop in Philly last week. I thought I should address it with this series of posts. That said, I openly admit that I need to elevate my game on this one. What I generally have been doing for the last 47 years isn't working on this level. :)

What you do on stage between tunes?

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