Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Musical evolution & more....

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Musical evolution & more....

Hope your life is filled with nice notes and some new musical activity.  I’ve been home writing and listening to music for some inspiration.Teaching a lot too, on Skype and in the studio.
 

 My philosophy about personal musical growth is that musicians should learn how to think, listen and talk about music. Likewise, I pass this on to my students of all ages. IT'S WORKING! If your in 5th grade or a Doctor studying jazz clarinet with me for fun. There's something we all have. It's this criteria: brain, ears, and voice. Naturally, these three are interrelated. If you think about music, then it follows that you can easily talk about it. Listening is the most important part. Without ears, music would not exist. If I had to pick the most valuable musical tool for shaping musical growth, it would be personal taste. Always visualize only favorable and beneficial situations.Music helps with this.Try to use positive words in your inner dialogues or when talking with others. Once a negative thought enters your mind, you have to be aware of it and endeavor to replace it with a constructive one.Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively and ignore negative thoughts.It does not matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. It may take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they do. 

Take it a step further Bob Dylan plays the same C7 chord that Pat Martino does. Same 4 notes, likewise when Sonny Rollins hits a D minor 7th, it's the same chord that Jeff Beck might play or Keith Jarrett. It's how YOU deliver it. Lots of cooks use tomatoes and basil you dig? Same deal.Keeping a open mind can create a path for a student. There's a big difference between Bud Powell and Duke Ellington. But they both have a message. Think about it.Personal musical taste expands infinitely. This allows for musical evolution. Just live it. Go for it. Play it. Write it. Above all, use your own personal, ever growing, musical taste. Hence, music is the real teacher. Share the music and propagate it as much as you can. As always,strive for tone and help your school music programs, in every way you can.
 

The Art Of The 4 bar phrase. Take this study below & play the phrases- hear the melodic shape of the 4 bars. Not just notes but the musical sentence or phrase. Look at my pencil marks in case you need. Do this for a week- 6 Times a day. No mistakes or do it over. Look at your transcriptions, you’ll hear a all new idea. To hear..is to see and visa versa. 



 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.

Always keep your focus on dreams and visions close dear reader, along with a larger picture of unconditional human faith. Your music will blossom- and results will be inspiring to you and others. 

See ya'll next week. This weeks blog is dedicated to Bob Feldman, saxophonist- actor-friend.
(1938-2018).    

~ Tim Price

This major seventh chord bebop line carries harmonic interest and a nice intervalic shape.

Listen to the line as you play it. Study the intervals, shape, and harmony of it. Then start to write some of your own major seventh lines based on mine.

Start with the part of the study at letter [A]. Try all tempos and use some phrasing you like.

Try all tempos and use some phrasing you like.

At letter [B] we employ the full range of the saxophone. You must get out your fingering charts and isolate the hard parts of the line until you get this. Hard work will pay off! The only way to play "off the horn" is to study it and put it to use on an idea like this. Take your time. - Click on the music to enlarge the page ok.

~Tim Price