Something I learned when researching The Practice of Practice is that many of the best musicians don’t make a distinction between “practice” and “performance,” and if they do, most strive to have more performance in their playing. This was driven home most by…
Category: Do This
How to Listen When You Practice: Ted Nash
One of many JLCO’s Jazz Academy videos that I’ll be posting here over the coming months. Great stuff from modern masters. Here, Ted Nash talks about using the piano as a practice tool. Super advice. What Mr. Nash is talking about is covered in The Practice of Practice, in the chapter titled: Drone Power, all about using your ears…
Going Mental (Mental Practice, that is)
A nice primer on mental practice from The Open Score, a new, useful YouTube channel. Check out her other material. There’s a whole chapter on mental practice in The Practice of Practice with more information, but this is a great way to get started.
Work On Your Rhythm: Learn to Play Guiro
In The Practice of Practice, I recommend learning the tumbao and clave patterns on conga, or learning any rhythm instrument. Here’s a lesson on playing the guiro, from Bobby Sanabria. He teaches not only how to play it, but where the patterns go in the clave pattern.
How to Use the Piano to Explore Harmony
Ted Nash of the JLCO gives some superb advice on using the piano to explore harmony.
“Part of practicing is putting yourself in a position where you’re going to discover something new.” – Ted Nash
Check it out.
Top 7 Practice Tips for Absolute Beginners (and everyone else, too)
We all want to get better, which means we’re all on the same path. When you see someone whose music blows you away, the tips below are part of what they did to get there. No matter how impossible it seems, you can do it, too. Follow these 7 guidelines:
Lady Gaga Channels Bach by way of Fibonacci
Lady Gaga is a consummate performer and a smart composer. She’s a Julliard-trained pianist, after all. Gaga has pulled a neat compositional trick out of the bag for the video below, the title song from her new album, Perfect Illusion. It’s likely she learned about it at Julliard when she studied the work of JS Bach, Beethoven, and other…
Evidence of Play In Practice: Allen Vizzutti Mugs for the GoPro
Most mammals use play and playfulness in practice, including the musician in this amazing video, the great trumpeter, educator, and composer, Allen Vizzutti (discography/bibliography):
Superb Practice Advice from JLCO’s Ted Nash
Trumpeter George Recker used to say, “If you can’t sing it, you can’t play it.” It’s great advice. Here’s some similar great advice about singing and playing a horn, as well as several other great practice suggestions from Ted Nash, one of the great players (they’re all great) in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Why the Best Always Critique Themselves
Here’s George Carlin’s critique of his 1992 performance on David Letterman (video of his appearance below the notes).
Why You Should Beware of Practicing
One of the best pieces of advice I got interviewing world-class musicians from many genres of music came from Rex Martin, who got it from Bud Herseth. He told me, “We have to be careful about practice, because we start to practice practicing. We need to practice performing.” Lots of great players, when they work…
Create (and Understand) Polyrhythms
One way to understand polyrhythms is to mess around with the Polyrhythm Beat Generator. Or check out these amazing videos.
The Practice of Practice 