Been thinking a lot about covering other musicians as practice. It’s not only one of the oldest ways to practice, it’s one of the best ways to practice. Don’t practice scales: practice imitating musicians you love.
Here’s a 15-year old stellar version of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish, featuring a young Derek Trucks, as well as the incredible skills of Victor Wooten and Joey Defrancesco.
Anyway, at the fest this year, in casual conversation, I recounted Victor Wooten’s presentation a couple years ago which I posted on the blog. A high school kid raised his hand and asked how he could overcome the problem of having large hands. Victor set the kid straight. This picture of Chinese artist Huang Guofu overcoming (read: crushing!) his limitations reminded me of Wooten’s words of wisdom.
Last Saturday at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, I went to listen to Victor Wooten give a clinic. A while ago I posted a review of Victor’s book The Music Lesson, which is up for an audiobook award. For the clinic, Victor Wooten played with the fantastic and funny bass player (yes, there is another bass player in his band) Anthony Wellington; legendary jazz bassist John Clayton showed up for an improvised tune or two. The clinic was a fantastic example of playing, teaching and telling it straight. It was so good and inspirational, I knew it would be worth sharing.
The Practice of Practice 