[Keith Ridenhour]

Its always a mistake IMO to point just toward the activity that will (revolutionize) your playing rather than the small steps and time involved in making a signifacant change in anyones playing. If it were easy it wouldn't be as fun and as much a challenge as it is. The fun is working out the problems and making changes but only small ones over time. Its just not right to not add that you'll need 20 hours of consistant practice to do "this". You wont get it in a 6 minute video. Its like when you watch the workout videos. You see something that takes the person 4 minutes to demostrate but 6 weeks of steady work to get the benefit from K
I have gottten some good ideas from a Steve Neff, Randy Hunter, or Dave Pollack video. Or hopefully you get ideas on small things to work on in my videos. But its all about the work.
I"ll never forget a piano guy in junior college who I heard solo with the big band. He sounded like crap. Terrible when I first heard him. But over the course of the semester I was there he steadily kept sounding better and better. I learned that no matter where you start you can improve if you put in the time. He sounded much much better at the end of my time there. So off to practice K

 

[Keith Ridenhour]

I saw somethinhg on Facebook where someone was advertising revolutionizing your soloing in only 6 easy steps K

 

[10mfan]

It sounds like the old “Name that tune” show!

I can change your solo in 6 easy steps. I can change it in 5.
I can change your solo in 4 easy steps....

Go ahead, change that solo!

 

[John Kotches]

Certainly some of them are helpful tips, but as you rightly point out, it's a process.

I'm just starting down the journey of expanding beyond diatonic harmony to add a higher level of sophistication (for lack of a better word) to my improvising.

Triad pairs and enclosures aren't getting in overnight. Gotta get 'em under the fingers to work them in.

Sent from my LGUS997 using Tapatalk

 

[chilehed]

Seven. Minute. Abs!!

 

[10mfan]

Lmfao!!!

 

[rcpayne]

I don't know of any six easy steps, but it seems to me that the quickest way to progress is to learn how to listen to yourself. After all, isn't that what a good teacher is supposed to teach you?

 

[Nefertiti]

With my lessons and 10,000 hours of practice you can play the saxophone really really well! How's that?

 

[lostcircuits]

With my lessons and 10,000 hours of practice you can play the saxophone really really well! How's that?

how's that? Boring!

Steve, you should know that that is not the way to go, my suggestion is that you condense it down to a simple put in your ear plugs and press some random keys and then pretend you meant to do that ..

 

[pontius]

deleted

 

[Nefertiti]

how's that? Boring!

Steve, you should know that that is not the way to go, my suggestion is that you condense it down to a simple put in your ear plugs and press some random keys and then pretend you meant to do that ..

Haha! I had a guy contact me once on email and he was totally ticked off and seemed really aggressive. He basically accused me and every other jazz teacher of overcomplicating jazz education as a conspiracy to keep us teachers and players on the top level and students struggling on the bottom level. He said he wished there was some teacher out there that would just be honest and give the "secrets" that some of us know to others so that they could excel also. He was sick of having teachers tell him to practice and really believed there were these "secrets" that opened the doors to jazz enlightenment with little to know effort.

 

[Rogerrr]

This thread reminds me of something I read about nutrition fads. A Doctor said any time someone tells you ONE THING is either the only cause of all your problems or the single solution to all problems you should be very suspicious.

 

[lostcircuits]

Haha! I had a guy contact me once on email and he was totally ticked off and seemed really aggressive. He basically accused me and every other jazz teacher of overcomplicating jazz education as a conspiracy to keep us teachers and players on the top level and students struggling on the bottom level. He said he wished there was some teacher out there that would just be honest and give the "secrets" that some of us know to others so that they could excel also. He was sick of having teachers tell him to practice and really believed there were these "secrets" that opened the doors to jazz enlightenment with little to know effort.

I've met a few of those, and it's not just in music. My usual response is that genius is 5% talent and 95% hard work but that math often exceeds the intellectual capabilities of the recipient

 

[swperry1]

What’s your beef? Any monkey can watch a video. We all learn differently and even the most gimmicky of video tricks requires practice to work into your flow in real time. Lots of threads that amount to nothing but people telling others to get off their lawn around here lately.

 

[zapatista]

With my lessons and 10,000 hours of practice you can play the saxophone really really well! How's that?

Love it.

 

[Keith Ridenhour]

With my lessons and 10,000 hours of practice you can play the saxophone really really well! How's that?

Any good teacher will give you a next step and then encourage you as you take the time to learn /get it down. Playing sax is the same as learning to hit a baseball, do a math problem, whatever you want to learn. Steps in an order and then the time needed to "get " or master the step. I knew from the first time I heard Steve Play a solo on sonny with a piano player at casual gig that he had spent the time to really master a lot of little steps toward playing a sax.

. If there is a "secret" to playing its to take a small skill to a better/different level than you have previously and that takes time and energy. I'm still amazed when I spend more time on a diminshed or II V pattern and then by practicing that skill it somehow sped up my blues licks and improved my tone? WhO knew. Same thing on flute. I've really worked harder on Mix bop than I have in months and my playing is really better in my "test tube" of playing convalsecent gigs I do every week. They get to hear my "latest trick" and they love to be a part of my journey. Its all good. Do the work, dont do the work. Enjoy playing no matter what your situation. K

 

[dexdex]

Haha! I had a guy contact me once on email and he was totally ticked off and seemed really aggressive. He basically accused me and every other jazz teacher of overcomplicating jazz education as a conspiracy to keep us teachers and players on the top level and students struggling on the bottom level. He said he wished there was some teacher out there that would just be honest and give the "secrets" that some of us know to others so that they could excel also. He was sick of having teachers tell him to practice and really believed there were these "secrets" that opened the doors to jazz enlightenment with little to know effort.

Funny ! I'm teaching in a totally different area (supply chain), but hear similar reactions. Even though distributing goods doesn't require the 10'000 hours practice generally associated with musical instruments. Some of us out there need those conspiracies to stay alive.

 

[whaler]

The threads where guys try to find some player they think was a natural born genius and didn’t study or read music always irritate me.
No matter how many times they’ve read that Bird and Coltrane practiced 14 hours a day, or more, they still think they were just born with it.
Jazz is a language and the best way to learn a language is immersion.

 

[10mfan]

Oh yes!!!!
You got that right.