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Start working toward your goals today. Ask yourself, "What can I do
today to get one step ahead, however small, closer to achieving my
goals?" Stay focused and believe in yourself even if others do not
believe in you.Define and describe your goal. Write down when you want
to achieve it. Write down the reasons why you want it. Write down what
it would feel like after you have achieved it and write down your
accomplished goals Figure out exactly what it will take to get it. Be
realistic about the time things will take. Many people don't allow
themselves enough time, and give up too soon.Once you've broken down
your goal into pieces, write down the steps on a piece of paper to make
sure you have everything thought out. One of the worst things that can
happen is you're almost to the point of your goal, but you're not sure
what to do next. Also, give yourself deadlines for each step. Otherwise,
you'll end up procrastinating and never achieving your dream.
Visualize. Close your eyes and imagine yourself accomplishing your
goals. Where are you? How did you get there? How do you feel? Do this
often. Don’t get swayed easily with the noise and happenings going on
outside. Put your attention on what you are trying to achieve. Remember
the goal, and you will have control over the discomforts and
difficulties.. Now that you have the momentum going, don't let it stop!
Some steps may seem less exciting than others seem, but make sure to
stick to your plan until the end! Avoid distractions and stay focused.
Don't allow yourself to be distracted by other energy consuming
efforts.Be positive. Always believe that you will achieve your goal. As
soon as you stop believing, you have already failed.BUT- Keep trying. as
Phil Woods once told me - " If you don't try you die
Ornette Coleman’s
early records, more than anything else testaments to this insight. What
can specify good improvisation — collaborators like Don Cherry and the
recently departed Charlie Haden were consciously trying to innovate but
there was never an aesthetic arrogance to what they were doing, compared
with others from this time of aesthetic ferment. He and Don Cherry’s experiments at this point were
with pitch and playfully provocative – indeed there are at least half a dozen
masterpiece records from 1959 — Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Charles Mingus’s Mingus Ah Um and its companion piece Mingus Dynasty and the often overlooked debut by by hard-bop trumpet player Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand.
There can be no dispute that all of these records are transformational.
Some are more mellifluous and easy to listen in what may be called a
“chilled out” fashion (Davis, Byrd), while others demand an active
listen (Mingus). It is notable that while all of these records were
experimental in that they brought new sounds to the jazz idiom that was
moving beyond bop and hard bop, all but Byrd imported musical frameworks
that had heretofore been foreign to jazz as a whole. Byrd, on the other
hand experimented with texture — two saxophones, a drummer who played
on the twos when he should have been playing on the ones, that sort of
thingThen of course, there was Coleman’s Shapes of Jazz to Come.
Like Byrd, Coleman’s innovation was endogenous within jazz as a
blues-derived form, as compared with the exogenous shifts that came from
Mingus, Davis and Coltrane. Indeed, this record is simultaneously
incredibly challenging .The song "Lonely Woman" stands
to this day as one of the most poignant, even intimate jazz
compositions, a sort of blues-for-postwar capitalism, a cold war dirge.
Coleman told Derrida "I came across a gallery where someone had painted a
very rich white woman who had absolutely everything that you could
desire in life, and she had the most solitary expression in the world. I
had never been confronted with such solitude, and when I got back home,
I wrote a piece that I called 'Lonely Woman.'" Like many of the best
politically-minded artists of the last half century, Coleman approached
the political sideways and was never as publicly connected with the
far-left as his colleagues like Haden and Cherry.
In
the early nineties, Coleman was hanging out backstage, waiting to sit
in with the Grateful Dead. Coleman didn’t like what he was hearing. An admirer
of Jerry Garcia’s effervescent guitar playing, Coleman had played with
him a number of time. Listening to this
cacophony, Coleman said to the Dead’s manager, “Man, these guys don’t
listen to each other when they play.” Yet a listen to a bootleg
recording of the concert has Coleman hitting the stage during the Dead’s
“space” segment (their own "free jazz" ). Suddenly, the band sprung to life
culminating in a version of Bobby Bland’s “Turn on your Lovelight”
— precisely the type of Rhythm and Blues that Coleman played as a kid in
Texas. The band was listening to each other again.
Listening.
This
was the key to Ornette Coleman’s cultural production as a whole. It is
easy to romanticize the best improvised music in a quasi-new age sense,
that is to say the idea that some type of extra-human intelligence of a
sort is channeled at “peak moments”. Indeed, many improvisational
musicians, unable to fathom the affect they and their audience
experience, take to this kind of belief. It is notable, thus, that
Coleman, while sometimes having a foot in the milieu of “spiritual jazz”
alongside comrades like Don Cherry and Charlie Haden.
In the study of jazz improvisation (both in books and schools), there
are two major components that rarely get the recognition they deserve:
ear training and rhythm. Instead, the bulk of jazz education focuses
mostly on theory -- learning what notes to play over which chords. While
knowing jazz theory will help you to become a better player, I think
(much) greater advances are possible through strengthening ones ear and
rhythmic skills.
lunch for your ears- You should listen to this stuff. Start
here- and go through my list ;“Porgy and Bess” (Miles Davis),
“Ascension” (John Coltrane), “The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra” (Michael
Mantler), “Live in San Francisco” (Archie Shepp)Listening/tunes:
“Walkin’” and “Mysterioso” (J.J. Johnson), “Freddie the Freeloader” and
“Flamenco Sketches” (Miles Davis), John Coltrane Plays the Blues (all
tracks), “Cousin Mary” and “Mr. P.C.” (John Coltrane), “Sack O’ Woe”
(Cannonball Adderley), “Now’s the Time” (J.J. Johnson), any blues record
by Charles Mingus, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,
Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery.Then listen to- “Milestones”
(Miles Davis), “Fat Girl” (Navarro); Bird: The Savory Recordings/Master
Takes: Miles Davis’ solo on “Half Nelson”...Then isolate your ears with
recordings by Bud Powell, John Lewis, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk,
Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, Tommy Flanagan, only piano.
Using your intuition and feelings when improvising is most important be
it at the most advanced level or just a basic beginner. To thoroughly
approach this as an art form and something that has deep meaning is most
important. The masters when they played, be it Johnny Dodds or Sidney
Bechet or Bud Powell on through the greats like Wayne Shorter or Charlie
Mariano all came from a very deep place. At times, this place is
something that you must go to in a natural way. Nothing cosmic about it,
it's almost like a trance. It's almost like when your telling someone a
story and you close your eyes and you're taking them somewhere with
you. Art Pepper wrote a song about this called "The Trip." Stan Getz
called this frame of mind the "alpha state."Whether its experienced in
dreams, altered states, or simply sitting in solitude, the artist must
be aware of the visionary realm.
Check THAT out....and I'll see you next week- - Tim Price
Is there a place for just plain beautiful instrumental jazz today? I appreciate (post)modernists as much as the next guy. But I also think there's room for lovingly rendered standards. And that is the core of jazz- Swinging music, beautiful ballads and a saxophonist whom has their own sound.
Houston Person has been doing it quite successfully, as have Ron Carter and Charles McPhearson. Enter Charlie Mariano, erstwhile jazz pioneer, experimenter, and sojourner to such far off places as South East Asia and India.
In a way, it's almost like coming home for Charlie on this CD of standards on Enja who has a long history--it almost seems like in a former life--of playing standards. Linked up with an exceptional rhythm section and some (generally) under-recorded standards, the results are entire enjoyable, if not revolutionary is you know what your listening to.
Mariano is walking a fine line between getting genuine sentiment out of these romantic ballads and keeping from slipping into sentimentality. His tone, bright, soulfully round. has a remarkable range of expression. His band mates, Bob Degen on piano, Isla Eckinger on bass, and Jarrod Cagwin on drums, a marvelously fluid unit, provide the exact right backing for Mariano. Cagwin--a name new to me--especially proves invaluable with perfect timing, coloration, and just a hint of the exotic.
All in all, a very creditable set, certainly worth checking out.This I suggest because last week over 6 people wrote and asked me to suggest a CD of Charlie playing standards- here you go!
I better explain.....my mind set,in a way.This ain't easy out here.
I've been REAL lucky to have the friends I do.BUT , MUSIC.......is our
sanctuary.
Our inner spot to focus and grow and Playing/loving music is a special
thing.I do not watch a lot of TV. I kinda never did...lived 4 years in
Boston
and never had a TV.I think , to be positive is my sanity factor.But
that IS just me.
You know ...like the tune Prez played.." Just you ,
Just Me". Ever think how boring life could be WITHOUT music.- How many
people off the street can you talk to
about jazz? MUSIC.....is a special thing.Hope those of you who know ,
got my points
You know the actor John Garfield? In one movie he walked up to this
train station, the ticket booth, and the guy says, 'Yes, where are you
going?' And he says, 'I want a ticket to nowhere.' I thought: that's it.
The freedom to do that. I want a ticket to nowhere --- Wayne Shorter
....My Definition of Success is the Freedom to be Yourself.
Remember- Knowledge is a weapon. But intend to be formidably armed. If you go back and listen to Coltrane Plays The Blues, then his work in the 50's you'll learn a lot about hard work, being prepared and knowledge too.
Sometimes you hear great players say “I just play what I feel.” My
answer to young players is, “yeh, play what you feel, but not before you
learn how to play.Other wise your wasting energy- ya know. Jazz is a
language, just like any language. It’s just that we speak our language,
called jazz, on our instruments.
Imagine...How would you sound speaking German, if you never learned how
to speak it? If you never learned the words, phrases, or sentences of
German, not many people would understand much of what you were trying to
say.I think of jazz improvisation in those terms and you can sort of
see where I’m coming from.
You hip to David S. Ware? THIS MAN....Was unified by spontaneous invention
that are staggering in their complexity and intuitive concordance,
skill, hard work,transcendental spirituality and conviction,he was an
inspirational and improvisational tour de force of improvisation and
mastery in the art form.One of the biggest tenor saxophone sounds in
jazz- and a artist that also played stritch, saxello, flute and bass
clarinet.David was a strong presence for jazz,humanity and
enlightenment. They are assets to this music, life and the legacy of all
things in saxophone and music.~ ~ TIM PRICE
OH YES- Check out the Coltrane picture above- with the 2 young guys- they are the Grubbs brothers I rave about so much. Carl is a long time Philly friend-
The picture right above this, was from a early morning radio show within the Cape May Jazz
Festival 2008. One of the many aspects of those Cape May Jazz festival
were the jam sessions ; the hangs & camaraderie. This picture is a
result...of that era. The man I'm with is Philadelphia jazz icon
saxophonist Carl Grubbs. Playing the jams with Carl & guys like that were just beautiful.Carl is not only a great friend, who inspires, and has a spirit that speaks to you. Some of you will recall alto saxophonist Carl Grubbs from early '70s ensemble he shared with his late tenor playing brother Earl: "The Visitors" out of Philly.We shared many a bandstand and he is someone I'm proud to call friend. Listen for him please!
Go within.
Hear the story of sunrise from the Sun itself.
if there were no sunrise within
I would have set long ago.
~ Rumi
Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Ideas, thoughts and music to study & practice.
Check it out and enjoy.... also- for some more ideas....check through
these ; IF...you want some ideas on ii-v's...look here;
http://www.timpricejazz.com/lessons/iiV.pdf '
If your looking for a nice warm up / sax sound study-look here;
http://www.timpricejazz.com/lessons/sax_warmup.pdf
for info on tune study; look here;
http://www.timpricejazz.com/lessons/learningatune.html
reed info, look here; http://www.timpricejazz.com/lessons/dealingwreeds.html sax players food
for thought:look here; http://www.timpricejazz.com/lessons/creativepurity.html
. 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.
The music I'm checking out is Birth of the bebop Bird on Tenor 1943, I
finally found a vinyl copy on Stash records- So far I have yet to see
one on CD. But to hear Bird on tenor....well...you just got to hear it.
It's a lesson.
Also- Bird in Time 1940-1947 [Box set] on ESP recordings.
Bird in 1940
through 1945 was something unique- so much there to enjoy and learn
from.The music on here is the pinnacle of of the absolute best.Find it
and listen to it. You'll love it!
Do not waste your precious life in plastic hopes, be conscious of
yourself, it is the most beautiful gift. Don’t be persuaded by people
who simply want to exploit your vulnerabilities. Be strong, and learn to
accept the way you are. You are already so beautiful. Only once you
start loving yourself, you will be loved by everybody.
MOST OF ALL...enjoy being YOU.
Thanks- Tim Price
I
continue to explore and learn all I can in the quest to develop my own
musical voice. This is an account of a day in my life, and what’s behind
the music via a profound the effect on my musical psyche.As I said,
being a complete musician goes well beyond the notes. I’m grateful for
that.
... Being a complete musician
goes well beyond the notes.It involves more than just getting a degree,
playing your instrument, and those aspects. More so, it includes, the
day to day life of travel, prep before you travel, making sure your
ducks are in a row on the daily agenda.Gas for the car, bus ticket,
clothes and schedule. Anything short of that in today's environment is a
loss on the player-performers game card. Yes, it's past the mouthpieces,
or a five digit Selmer and the demo CD that your uncle Ralph paid for.
It's called- day to day life.
Watch it sucker, if your thinking differently. ha!! With all due to everyone at - SANFORD AND SON.
Think about it, true improvising has a completely different dimension to it. That element is “spontaneity”.
This means that you are forced to create music right on the spot,
without having any time to prepare anything in advance. Obviously, this
kind of playing is challenging, both from the mental and physical
standpoint. It is more challenging from the mental standpoint because
you are forced to come up with cohesive musical ideas right as you are
playing, without having any time to analyze which phrases will flow well
together.
I am often asked about scales used to
solo over chord progressions in order to sound more creative and more
original. My response is usually to shift focus more on developing your
phrasing rather than simply learning new scales. Learning new scales
only will produce limited results because THE WAY you play has not
really changed. Improving your phrasing deals more with the actual
element of HOW to play the notes rather than "what" notes to play. When
it comes to phrasing, remember that it is all about the little nuances
that can make ALL the difference. You can take 10 great sax improvisers
and give them the same lick and chances are they will each make it sound
a bit different using the nuances of phrasing when they play it.
Learning new scales can make some difference of course, but when it
comes to making your style more original and creative, improving your
phrasing will make a much greater difference than simply learning 10 new
scales. There
are many approaches you can take to practicing phrasing. You can begin
by developing all the different nuances and using different combinations
of them when you play your phrases.
WANT SOMETHING TO REVIEW IN THE SHED?
Can you play these at 90 to 120 on your metronome?
GET IN THERE AND REVIEW- get off Ebay buying mouthpieces-
WATCH IT SUCKER- hahaha,
All major scales
All minor scales (natural, harmonic, ascending melodic)
All (2) whole-tone scales
Pentatonic scales
Blues scales
All diminished scales
Chromatic scales
Bebop
scales (ionian add #5; mixolydian add Maj.7; melodic minor add #5;
mixolydian b2 b6 add Maj.7; dorian add Maj.7; locrian add Maj.7)
All of the above scales in 15 keys (7 sharp keys, 7 flat keys and the key of C)
SO- That's it for now- keep the music going and thank you for reading this blog. If you see a book or CD I have pictured in these blogs- GO READ OR LISTEN TO THEM!
....Tim Price
There is a nice chill in the air ,enjoyable and a
welcome.
Everyone has dreams. Whether they are big or small, they have vast
importance in our lives. However, the procrastinator in all of us
doesn't have to win. The Little Engine That Could was on to something
with the whole "I think I can" mentality. With just a little bit of
planning, accomplishing a goal is a simple task.
Start working toward your goals today. Ask yourself, "What can I do
today to get one step ahead, however small, closer to achieving my
goals?" Stay focused and believe in yourself even if others do not
believe in you.Define and describe your goal. Write down when you want
to achieve it. Write down the reasons why you want it. Write down what
it would feel like after you have achieved it and write down your
accomplished goals Figure out exactly what it will take to get it. Be
realistic about the time things will take. Many people don't allow
themselves enough time, and give up too soon.Once you've broken down
your goal into pieces, write down the steps on a piece of paper to make
sure you have everything thought out. One of the worst things that can
happen is you're almost to the point of your goal, but you're not sure
what to do next. Also, give yourself deadlines for each step. Otherwise,
you'll end up procrastinating and never achieving your dream.
Visualize. Close your eyes and imagine yourself accomplishing your
goals. Where are you? How did you get there? How do you feel? Do this
often. Don’t get swayed easily with the noise and happenings going on
outside. Put your attention on what you are trying to achieve. Remember
the goal, and you will have control over the discomforts and
difficulties.. Now that you have the momentum going, don't let it stop!
Some steps may seem less exciting than others seem, but make sure to
stick to your plan until the end!
If this is one of the first jazz albums you listen to, you will be
thoroughly impressed with its virtuoso,it is a exceptional jazz
album.This is one of the truly great albums, an album that epitomizes
the great preoccupations of jazz--the breaking down and building back
up,the old and new schools. It is also more evidence of the Duke's
continued reign as undisputed champ of music in America; he was willing
to do anything, go anywhere. And so he followed Mingus and Max Roach
into their world,a record that is hard-driving and forceful and
beautiful. It's not surprising that Mingus, in the presence of
Ellington, plays as well as he ever has. No matter how far Mingus
reached, no matter how experimental he got, he came from Duke, and worshiped Duke.
And Duke? What can one say... In addition to being a wonderful soul, he
was a very smart man.He didn't sign up with Mingus and Roach to dip his
toes cautiously and quickly into some new horizons.For me one of the
biggest reasons I love this recording all these years is when you play
this record it takes you away, where I don't know,the outer nebula and
beyond even that. Duke's piano doesn't let up. Nobody plays bass like
Charlie Mingus and he's never played better than with these guys on this
record. Max Roach is the quintessential bebop drummer, his tempo is his
own and Duke and Charlie sound so fresh decades later.
These men are jazz, without them it wouldn't be.If you don't own this
record-
you need to.To pick one song here and call it my favorite would be
impossible. These men, these players in this thing we call jazz, may
have departed this mortal coil, but they play on. This music speaks
louder than anything. It will forever because...it was played and
recorded by people who loved and respected the art form.
Lost words - ART FORM. Think about that!
Here below is info for the practice room- and your playing. Check it out- I hope it helps some of you. Till next week- Happy spring?? hahaha- Hey I live on the East Coast...LOL-hahaha.
Stay on your dreams- Tim Price D'Addario Blogger. . .
And- Let me add this ;
SKYPE SAXOPHONE LESSONS WITH TIM PRICE
Personalized Lessons in your home.
Using Skype.
Learn on line from recording artist, author and jazz educator.
( New School Jazz Dept. and Long Island University, and Selmer & Rico
clinician)
I will listen to you play, make suggestions & offer practice
regimens. My online lessons will focus your practicing for maximum
progress towards creating immediate results. My approach is simple.
It combines discipline, creativity & with musical knowledge. Your
playing is examined in real time, on line, Then you are
assisted to reach a new goal right there !
Take advantage of Tim Price's 35 plus years of teaching, performing,
recording & writing experience. Step by step online videos to help
you improve your playing at a logical pace. On screen spoken help
explaining how to reach your next level.
All levels are welcome.
SEE YOU SOON~ Tim Price . . . .
It beats the four walls baby! That's an expression that the late great
Lester Parker used to use. The more you get out and play, the more
aptitude, ideas and energy you have. Today more than ever-to get
something happening with other people face-to-face is of paramount
importance to your playing.
Tuesday night I played a excellent
gig with pianist David Newman. I always tell David set up two sets
worth of music. I look at the sets and it's the best way to refresh
yourself on tunes that you might not of played, and also learn new ones
if that may be the case. Best way to learn a new tune ? Get out of the
house and find out what you don't know! Even get together with a
guitar player and a piano player- you're doing it. I hope this is
making sense, because it is something we are sorely missing in today's
atmosphere in jazz. I look to jam sessions back in the day, when tunes
were called and standards were the call the day. Everybody was on a
common ground-the Facebook world hadn't started to flood the world with bedroom videos
yet. A fair drummer who played jam sessions all the time, could
easily turn himself into a very good drummer in a group circumstance by
playing with other people. Same holds for any instrument.
I want
to say, this is vitally important as well. Once you find the mouthpiece
you really love, sure get a back up. And it's always an asset to have
something that lays in a different area sonic-ally for gigs that you
have
to do a different blend on-if you're that kind of player. E.g. Broadway
shows a rock gigs etc. Don't be foolish-spend your money on studying
records and CDs and reading autobiographies about the great players in
jazz. That will improve your playing in an incredible manner. Check it
out and watch what happens. Today's blog- Is dedicated to Lester Parker.
His picture is below-King Super 20 - Metal Berg Larsen mouthpiece 120
over Zero and...RICO BROWN BOX 5 reeds. The set up of a warrior. Lester
was always up for a session- his expression " ban the books" referring
to guys who opened a fake book for a blues head or " Body and Soul"
would be echoing on the stand.
Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through on your best intentions no matter what.
The
pinnacle of self-discipline is when you reach the point that when you
make a conscious decision, it’s virtually guaranteed you’ll follow
through on it.Be it practicing your instrument, sticking with a
mouthpiece and putting the time in to learn to play it or just daily
goals and jobs.
Your discipline is one of many personal development tools available to
you. Of course it is not a panacea. Nevertheless, the problems which
self-discipline can solve are important, and while there are other ways
to solve these problems, self-discipline absolutely shreds them.
Self-discipline can empower you- imagine the results, if you say to
yourself ... I want to learn all my scales in 3eds...in every key at 120
on my metronome. Not have to...but want. That can be done sooner
than you think with discipline. So can application to study-reading a
new book to open new ideas on things. It can wipe out procrastination,
disorder, and ignorance. Within the domain of problems it can solve,
self-discipline is simply unmatched. Moreover, it becomes a powerful
teammate when combined with other tools like passion, goal-setting, and
planning.
Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger
you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become.
Think of the results- just for you.Confidence
before an audition! Confidence when picking up your horn to play in a
new setting- your primed and ready. Relaxed and confident! We all
possess different levels of self-discipline. Everyone has some — if you
can hold your breath a few seconds, you have some self-discipline. But
not everyone has developed their discipline to the same degree. Check it
out- it takes self-discipline to build self-discipline. Similarly, the
basic method to build self-discipline is to tackle challenges that you
can successfully accomplish but which are near your limit.
This doesn’t mean trying something and failing at it every day, you
must start with challenges that are within your current ability.
Old opportunities will dry up. New opportunities will begin to
appear.Your mind set does change- and so does your ability on whatever
you are working on with discipline. Invitations that once attracted you
will seem boring, while others will become interesting to you.People
will change how they relate to you. Some will become more distant while
others will zoom closer.Gigs will appear, you'll enjoy things more.
Things you used to merely dream about will begin to seem possible for
you. Celebrate your success!
~ Till next week...practice your long tones everyday- Tim Price
It beats the four walls baby! That's an expression that the late great
Lester Parker used to use. The more you get out and play, the more
aptitude ideas and energy you have. Today more than ever-to get
something happening with other people face-to-face is of paramount
importance to your playing.
Tuesday night I played a excellent
gig with pianist David Newman. I always tell David set up two sets
worth of music. I look at the sets and it's the best way to refresh
yourself on tunes that you might not of played, and also learn new ones
if that may be the case. Best way to learn a new tune ? Get out of the
house and find out what you don't know! Even get together with a
guitar player and a piano player- you're doing it. I hope this is
making sense, because it is something we are sorely missing in today's
atmosphere in jazz. I look to jam sessions back in the day, when tunes
were called and standards were the call the day. Everybody was on a
common ground-the Facebook world hadn't been flooded with bedroom videos
yet. A fair drummer who played jam sessions all the time, could
easily turn himself into a very good drummer in a group circumstance by
playing with other people. Same holds for any instrument.
I want
to say, this is vitally important as well. Once you find the mouthpiece
you really love, sure get a back up. And it's always an asset to have
something that lays in a different area sonic-ally for gigs that you
have
to do a different blend on-if you're that kind of player. E.g. Broadway
shows a rock gigs etc. Don't be foolish-spend your money on studying
records and CDs and reading autobiographies about the great players in
jazz. That will improve your playing in an incredible manner. Check it
out and watch what happens. Today's blog- Is dedicated to Lester Parker.
His picture is below-King Super 20 - Metal Berg Larsen mouthpiece 120
over Zero and...RICO BROWN BOX 5 reeds. The set up of a warrior. Lester
was always up for a session- his expression " ban the books" referring
to guys who opened a fake book for a blues head or " Body and Soul"
would be echoing on the stand.
Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through on your best intentions no matter what.
The
pinnacle of self-discipline is when you reach the point that when you
make a conscious decision, it’s virtually guaranteed you’ll follow
through on it.Be it practicing your instrument, sticking with a
mouthpiece and putting the time in to learn to play it or just daily
goals and jobs.
Your discipline is one of many personal development tools available to
you. Of course it is not a panacea. Nevertheless, the problems which
self-discipline can solve are important, and while there are other ways
to solve these problems, self-discipline absolutely shreds them.
Self-discipline can empower you- imagine the results, if you say to
yourself ... I want to learn all my scales in 3eds...in every key at 120
on my metronome. Not have to...but want. That can be done sooner
than you think with discipline. So can application to study-reading a
new book to open new ideas on things. It can wipe out procrastination,
disorder, and ignorance. Within the domain of problems it can solve,
self-discipline is simply unmatched. Moreover, it becomes a powerful
teammate when combined with other tools like passion, goal-setting, and
planning.
Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger
you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become.
Think of the results- just for you.Confidence
before an audition! Confidence when picking up your horn to play in a
new setting- your primed and ready. Relaxed and confident! We all
possess different levels of self-discipline. Everyone has some — if you
can hold your breath a few seconds, you have some self-discipline. But
not everyone has developed their discipline to the same degree. Check it
out- it takes self-discipline to build self-discipline. Similarly, the
basic method to build self-discipline is to tackle challenges that you
can successfully accomplish but which are near your limit.
This doesn’t mean trying something and failing at it every day, you
must start with challenges that are within your current ability.
Old opportunities will dry up. New opportunities will begin to
appear.Your mind set does change- and so does your ability on whatever
you are working on with discipline. Invitations that once attracted you
will seem boring, while others will become interesting to you.People
will change how they relate to you. Some will become more distant while
others will zoom closer.Gigs will appear, you'll enjoy things more.
Things you used to merely dream about will begin to seem possible for
you. Celebrate your success!
~ Till next week...practice your long tones everyday- Tim Price
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Using your intuition and feelings when improvising is most important be
it at the most advanced level or just a basic beginner. To thoroughly
approach this as an art form and something that has deep meaning is most
important. The masters when they played, be it Johnny Dodds or Sidney
Bechet or Bud Powell on through the greats like Wayne Shorter or Charlie
Mariano all came from a very deep place. At times, this place is
something that you must go to in a natural way. Nothing cosmic about it,
it's almost like a trance. It's almost like when your telling someone a
story and you close your eyes and you're taking them somewhere with
you. Art Pepper wrote a song about this called "The Trip." Stan Getz
called this frame of mind the "alpha state."Whether its experienced in
dreams, altered states, or simply sitting in solitude, the artist must
be aware of the visionary realm. 
