Tasty! This is what lots of practice sounds like. Moanin’ by Bobby Timmons (lyrics by Joe Hendricks). Here’s the album on Amazon.
Author: Jonathan Harnum
Hi, I'm Jon Harnum, author, publisher, teacher, musician, and scholar. If you'd like to learn more about music or how to publish books, come check out my web sites and online courses. Lots of freebies so you can try before you buy. See you online!
Go Go Gadget Practice
Bach once said of his prodigious keyboard skills something like, “There’s nothing to it; you just push the right key at the right time and the instrument plays itself.”
Do you think somebody who merely pushes a button to make music a musician? See the hilarious video below for a negative example, and the following one for a wonderfully positive example.
The important thing with gadgetry is the willful interaction with sound, not the motor ability. Yes, there are varied levels of physical engagement with the sound-producing device, but again, that’s not the point.
Goals as Fractals and Guerrilla Practice
Hans Jørgen Jensen is an affable cello teacher from whose studio have come cello players who win in international cello competitions and garner spots in top orchestras around the world. He’s a wonderful teacher and an interesting, busy man. There were many gems to admire when he spoke with me about practice, but the one that sticks in my mind, the one that was powerful enough to make it a chapter in The Practice of Practice was the power of goals. Another chapter covers what I’ve called Guerrilla Practice: snatching a tiny fragment of practice when you can, either once a day or, ideally, throughout the day. Both are covered briefly below.
Plays Well With Others: Group Practice
All of last week I was immersed in practice in all its various guises and all but 30 minutes of it was in group practice. Here are a few suggestions from my latest book, “The Practice of Practice,” to keep in mind when you’re practicing with somebody else. They’re either questions you can ask directly, if it’s appropriate (often it’s not), or questions to keep in mind as you’re listening to those you’re practicing with.
The Practice of Practice is Published
The Practice of Practice is now available: U.S., U.K., Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and India 277 pages 44 Chapters Illustrations Extras (learn more) E-book edition is also available in: Canada, Japan, Australia, & Brazil Hardcover will be available July 15 (US only). Talent means nothing when it comes to getting better. Practice is everything. But exactly what is good…
Feeling Stuck in Your Practice (and Getting Unstuck)
Sting talks below about overcoming writer’s block. When we see these luminaries of music, it often appears they have no struggles, that music simply flows from them. But that’s not the case, most of the time. Music is work. A labor of love, to be sure, but still, a labor. A labor fraught with error and the necessary correction; a labor fraught with being (or feeling) “stuck.” Listening to Sting talking about being “stuck,” I thought of the Beethoven’s Opus 69 manuscript below and what every professional musician I’ve interviewed has said about being stuck…
Compose Yourself: Songwriting & Composition as Practice
Songwriting as a means of practice is a great idea! The engagement with the sound you’re making goes deeper than when you practice scales, or other techniques, because you own (on many levels) the sounds you’re creating. And you don’t have to have special skills to do it, just dive in and start figuring it out.
The Real Deal-With-The-Devil at the Crossroads: Tackling the Monster (Marsalis and Ma)
There is no deal with the Prince of Darkness at the crossroads, but what a great myth. The crossroads is inside the ‘shed, and the devil you’re dealing with is practice. Check out what Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis have to say about practice. In these 3 videos, you’ll hear Wynton expound on his 12 rules of practice.
“There is No Magic Trick, You Just Have to Do It” (Stephane Wrembel on Practice)
Stephane Wrembel was one of 20 stellar professional musicians who shared his take on practice with me, and one thing he said sticks out more than anything else. He stressed that there is no magic trick, no gimmick, no special technique to practice. He said, “You just have to do it.” Even after talking to so many people about practice, it’s not clear to me whether learning to practice can be taught. Everybody I spoke with said that, for the most part, they just had to figure out how to practice. It’s an intensely personal exploration. Still, I do believe that the more information you have while you’re learning, the better.
Bill Frisell & Djelimady Tounkara
One of the best perks that comes from talking to superb musicians about practice is when they tell me about musicians they admire. When Sona Jobarteh talked about practice, she listed these musicians: Ballake Cissokho (Kora), Kasse Mady Diabate (Singer), Sekouba Bambino (Singer), and Djelimady Tounkara (Guitarist) I’ve barely started checking them out and already, I’m entranced. I hope…
Sona Jobarteh: Multi-Instrumental Musician
The song in this video is “Jarabi.” Sona Jobarteh comes from a long line of Griot masters, a musical and cultural tradition from West Africa that is at least 700 years old. When Europe was at the tail-end of the Dark Ages, travelling Griot musicians were bringing news and ceremony throughout West Africa in the Mali empire.
2nd Place is the First Loser?
Here’s what a loser sounds like:[video]
Of course I’m being sarcastic. This is a wonderful performance by 12-year-old So0-Yen Lee-Wieniawaski.
The Practice of Practice 