Want the free color eBook edition of Practice Like This? Sign up for 6 Bullet Saturday. 6-Bullet Saturday is a newsletter that gives you six things I thought worth sharing every week. Mostly it’s about practice, and I always include specific tips or exercises or drills that I use to help me and my students get…
Best Practice: Infographic
Taken from Practice Like This. and here’s what getting better the fastest looks like up closer:
An Hour of Play Reveals More Than…
Is there enough play in your practice? Play can lead to innovation and improvement, and you can do it with others, too. For some people, play is pretty much the only kind of practice they do. Often mistakenly attributed to Plato. The quote’s origins are obscure, but I like the Portuguese version: Mais descobre huma hora…
Bobby Broom: Jazz Guitar Masterclass
I’m stoked to hear what Bobby has to teach in these 2 videos. Especially the stuff on practice. He shared some of his approach with me as I researched The Practice of Practice, but in an hour and a half we’d barely scratched the surface of his depth of knowledge. More gems in his new…
SOUNDS | Your daily source for loops and samples
Looking forward to checking out what Sounds has to offer. From their site: Whether you’re making soundtracks or soul, trap or techno, kickstart your creativity with pro-grade, royalty-free loops and samples from over 200 trusted suppliers. Source: SOUNDS | Your daily source for loops and samples
iReal Pro: Music Charts and Backing Tracks
iReal Pro is such a great app! It’s been a while since I’ve touted it, so here I go again. Quick transpositions (I often switch between guitar and trumpet until a tune is memorized), easily print and send right from your phone or iPad. Backing tracks that aren’t too cheesy to practice with, and you can…
A child’s brain develops faster with exposure to music education
This study’s findings were so similar to another recently published study, I had to look back to make sure this wasn’t a repeat. It’s not. The evidence keeps rolling in. But let’s remember, the real benefit to making music is that it’s its own reward. It’s easy to forget that when we’re scrambling to find “useful” reasons…
Boost Practice Efficiency (Matt Garstka)
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for another way to tackle practice. I got some good stuff from this video from Matt Gastka. Check it out. It’s long, but worth it. I put the code in to start the video at 6:16, because that’s where the lesson with Matt Gastka starts. If you want…
The Best Drum Practice Advice I Ever Got
the apps he mentions are iOS only (boo): Trope and Bloom. And the new one, Reflections.
Wow. They Just Slapped This Together.
How hard is it to pass by a drum and not hit it? Hard. Really hard. Maybe impossible for kids. A percussionist’s instruments are everywhere. Here’s some evidence: I highly recommend taking up a percussion instrument to hone your rhythm chops. Maybe just a pair of shakers, maybe bongos, congas, or a djembe (Pro Tip: don’t…
