Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico Reeds- Getting Woodwind Focus.

This weeks RICO BLOG will help woodwind focus, and it’s easy too. Each day of the week choose one subject and work on it all day long. Pick your weak areas. A typical week might look something like this plan below :we want to equip ourselves with the right outlook. Write down realistic plans to improve your goals. This will develop a focus on what you are trying to accomplish. No matter what level your at as a musician. Monday: Just play, all day. Letting go, feeling your way up and down the sax, checking out the sound. Have fun and listen to your strong points. This usually starts out being abstract and works its way into more melodic playing. Doing this all day gives us plenty of time to really get the idea of the exercise. Write down notes to yourself on what you want to work on that week; then during the week approach your ideas one by one. Tuesday: Melodic playing. Today start to put two or more notes together that sound 'pretty'. Take a look at your REAL BOOK/ or any book of songs, and notice how some of the great tunes are made up of simple intervals. Some of them are short scale passages. This gives us a clue that it does not take much to write or play a good melody. Write at least one idea down a day, and it will help you to think melodically and will add more substance to any style.No matter what level your at. Wednesday: Quality over quality. What do you feel you need to make stronger? Take today and study it. Make friends with the area of your playing that needs more focus. As your thirst to improve grows add this Wednesday topic to your other days. Practice scales, licks, study other players styles on CD's. Thursday: New melodies and new chords. This day we take some of the melodies created on Tuesday and put them together. Don't judge your new pieces but keep trying until you find something you like. Remember you have all day to come up with something that makes you feel good. If you write two bars you are a big winner. Also, try to take the new chords and use them in some of the tunes you know. Or make up your own progressions with them. You are being creative this day. Be yourself, not someone you read about. Friday: Listen to music all day long, new and old CD's. Get inspired and make notes of the players' style, how they phrase, keep time, how they let space and silence become part of their solos. Can you remember a few ideas that you can play? Be eclectic! Listen to rock, jazz, classical, world music or spoken word. Be inspired this day. It's your day! Saturday: What caught your musical ear? Was there something this week that made you think differently? This is the day to investigate further and go deeper into that . Try to understand what moves you. If it caught your fancy, stick with it until it reveals itself to you. This day may change your life! Document this feeling you have. It is important for your future. Sunday: Review in your mind,think about the week of practice. Review things slowly- listen for improvements. Remember, intuition is your very best friend. Listen to it and be ready to act on it. If it sounds good, remember how you worked and focused on it to get it to that point. Arrange your seven days your own way. Add subjects that you love. Add new directions from time to time. Go slowly, enjoy the journey and grow within your own ideas. It helps to have a plan for the week, keep it loose like this so it can grow-for you. It will take a certain amount of pressure off and allows you to relax as you practice. Focus today so tomorrow your closer to your goals. Thank you and hope this helps everyone- Think creative. Tim Price Tim Price - Professional musician- educator- author -recording artist.Selmer clinician and Rico Reeds artist. In addition to giving private studio Tim has taught students from Tokyo and Texas to Tel-Aviv using on line instruction via SKYPE. One of the most in demand educators in New School University and New York Jazz Workshop. He is in the vanguard of education, in demand clinician, author and one of the innovators of jazz bassoon. www.timpricejazz.com

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