http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com Use transcription machines, wav file editors, etc. to aid your listening. Choose phrases to learn, loop them or slow them down to aid your listening. This is the way that you could use a transcription machine, or a wav file editor, or a tape recorder that... http://www.articlealley.com/article_578512_48.html 17th July 2008 Listening to music with your peers is an extremely valuable activity. When you listen to music with someone else, there are many benefits and things that you can learn. First of all, they can point things out in the music that you may not hear. And then, ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_578511_48.html 17th July 2008 This basically means that listening should be worked into your practice routine. Each day, for example, in your piano practice routine, twenty minutes could be spent on scale patterns, twenty minutes playing classical pieces and thirty minutes learning a ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_578510_48.html 17th July 2008 You want to connect your listening sessions to your other practice efforts. If your current practice sessions are dealing with dynamics then your listening sessions should also deal with dynamics. Choose your listening material based on what you’re curr... http://www.articlealley.com/article_578508_48.html 17th July 2008 If you’ve listened to or read my other courses, you’ve probably heard this concept of being purposeful, practicing and rehearsing with a purpose. The same thing applies to listening. It is good to have a reason and a purpose when sitting down to l... http://www.articlealley.com/article_578507_48.html 17th July 2008 This is a continuation of using technology; a stereo is part of that technology. And recorded music offers some options, that live music does not, to study music. You want to exploit those. Now live music is incredibly important but there’s a lot to ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_573976_48.html 10th July 2008 Now this is another exercise that I got from my teacher, Hal Crook. Jazz is a tradition and it’s a long tradition at this point, over a hundred years. And everything builds on everything else. You must study as much of the tradition as possible. You... http://www.articlealley.com/article_573973_48.html 10th July 2008 Much of learning music, musical progress, comes from repetition, and listening is no different. Repeated listening to the same phrase will slowly uncover more and more of the nuances and details to you. You want to take a phrase in music, a line, a melo... http://www.articlealley.com/article_573972_48.html 10th July 2008 Whenever you are listening to music, whenever you hear or see live music or when you are playing with your band for that matter, always assume that your ears could be more aware and sensitive and you could be hearing things more acutely. Listening, like ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_573971_48.html 10th July 2008 Now this kind of deals with your attitude about music, it has to do with cultivating a positive attitude about music and learning and other musicians and about life. There’s always something to learn from any music that you listen to. Always seek ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_573970_48.html 10th July 2008 An ounce of preparation… The more prepared you are when you begin your practice session, the more productive the session will be. By a lot! Be sure to have a plan and a purpose for your session. Know exactly what you hope to accomplish that day. Gather... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536888_48.html 14th May 2008 7 Tips for Succeeding At Jam Sessions In a previous lesson we talked about the importance of getting experience playing music with other people. Learning to play jazz doesn’t happened in the practice room alone, and local jam sessions are a great pla... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536887_48.html 14th May 2008 I’ve had many students over the years who complained of being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of learning to play jazz. There is so much to learn and it can be difficult to know where to start. There’s instrumental technique, theory, the fundamenta... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536886_48.html 14th May 2008 Choose a purpose for the group When putting a practice group together it is important to decide upon a purpose or focus for the band. What does everyone hope to get out of it? What areas of music will you focus on? The clearer the group is on this the mo... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536885_48.html 14th May 2008 Many up and coming jazz musicians get so caught up in learning their instrument that they forget to play music. They spend all their time in the ‘shed’ working on the techniques and concepts of jazz and never play music with people. That’ akin to a ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536883_48.html 14th May 2008 Are you stuck in the past? Are you afraid of ghosts? Listen, I’m the first person to tell you to check out the past, study the masters and dig deep into the tradition. But the only reason to do that is to use that experience and knowledge to springboard... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536882_48.html 14th May 2008 In our last lesson, we talked about the virtues of being the "worst"—i.e. the least experienced or knowledgeable—musician in a band. Playing with better musicians simply makes you better. Today, though, I want to take a look at the opposite situation:... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536881_48.html 14th May 2008 For aspiring monster jazz musicians, the best learning resources are not books, videos, the latest technology, or fancy new equipment. These can all be powerful tools, but your fastest and most effective growth will come from associating with accompl... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536006_48.html 13th May 2008 If you’re like me, you find it much easier to start projects than to finish them. Coming up with goals, brain-storming the individual steps of an action plan, and working out a schedule are all activities that seem to flow pretty naturally from my head,... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536005_48.html 13th May 2008 When many young (and not-so-young) musicians first gain some facility on their instruments, they often want to play all the time. The sheer joy of making their own music and sounding good on their ax is irresistible. They noodle constantly—before the so... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536004_48.html 13th May 2008 As an aspiring monster jazz musician, you’ve spent countless hours in the shed, working on various topics over the years. How do you measure your progress? How do you know when you’ve mastered your current topic and are ready to move on to the next? T... http://www.articlealley.com/article_536003_48.html 13th May 2008 Let’s face it, you didn’t get into music because your best friend told you about this hip new thing called “practicing scale patterns” or “ear training interval drills.” You got into music because you heard something that made you stop dead i... http://www.articlealley.com/article_532174_48.html 08th May 2008 The Great Paradox Young and less developed musicians always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere. They are certainly not happy where they are, but someday they will “arrive” and live happily ever after. They will become great players and then their ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_532173_48.html 08th May 2008 In the last lesson we talked about being on a mission. It’s your purpose for playing music. You might decide to change your mission in a year or in a week. But all of your musical energy right now is focused on fulfilling your mission. Now, let’s... http://www.articlealley.com/article_532169_48.html 08th May 2008 Play music like it’s your job. If you’re like most jazz musicians, you could sound better right away simply by adjusting your attitude and your “work” ethic. Now, I know you already have a great work ethic. You practice hard everyday for hours an... http://www.articlealley.com/article_532006_48.html 08th May 2008 In the last lesson of “21 Great Ways to Become a Monster Jazz Musician” we talked about musical values. We talked about how making choices based on our values will focus our musical efforts and ensure an individual and original sound and approach, the... http://www.articlealley.com/article_531969_48.html 08th May 2008 Expand your vision or keep your day job. Jazz leaders and pioneers have vision. They think about where they are going and what they want to accomplish. They have BIG plans for their music. They have “long-term perspective.” They think in terms of year... http://www.articlealley.com/article_531963_48.html 08th May 2008 Teaching other people is one of the best and most powerful ways to learn. By having to articulate and explain a subject, you clarify the subject in your own mind. You stumble upon new connections and analogies. You increase your depth of understanding and... http://www.articlealley.com/article_522271_48.html 25th April 2008 In the last lesson of “21 Great Ways to Become a Monster Jazz Musician” we talked about the importance of going “in both directions” at the same time—in other words, simultaneously creating your own original music while studying the tradition. T... http://www.articlealley.com/article_522130_48.html 25th April 2008 Your dreams, goals and musical aspirations are the most important things you have. They are what later become your life. In the big picture sense they are your life. They are your accomplishments and successes in the embryonic stages. They must be guarded... http://www.articlealley.com/article_520894_48.html 24th April 2008 Ok, once the hair on the back of your neck has gone down we can get started with the planning process. I don't know what it is about "planning" that gets so many of us creative types squirming in our seats. I've had monumental arguments with fellow bandma... http://www.articlealley.com/article_255085_48.html 20th January 2008