Pepper,

I, like many others share your problem of lack of discipline. I believe you're correct that quality practice has far more effect on your improvement then playing. (although playing should be part of your practice too)

One thing I've done over the past few months is hold the playing as a 'reward' for completing my practice agenda. This at least gets me started working on the more tedious things I need to do. Some days I have more self control than others, but I usually at least get through my "daily grind" stuff.

On those days when I do complete everything, when I throw in a play-a-long, man I really have fun, because I'm guilt free!

 

"I practice playing. I don't practice practicing!"

(Says the master on his new DVD)

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the quote is by Joe Lovano!

"I practice playing. I don't practice practicing!"

(Says the master on his new DVD)

 

I guess I've got the same problem but once a musician told me that when you practice whether its long notes, chords or octaves etc. you are still playing, and when you realize that you are playing something and have the joy of it you'll improve and you'll see it right away... seems quite reasonable to me

 

I guess it all depends on your definition, but to me, practicing is something you do repetitively in order to improve your "chops". For example, let's say you want to learn minor pentatonics in all 12 keys. You might work on, say one key per day for a half hour or so, to get that sound really under your fingers. 12 days later you might go on to something else, etc. That, to me is practice.

Once you have the basic technique under your fingers, you might want to apply it to actual playing of tunes, inventing your own licks, etc.

My practice routines typically consist of both "practice" (long tones, scales, arpeggios, and so on), and "playing" tunes, and improvising.

Al

 

thanks for the replies.

i've made the conscious decision to really commit to a formal practice routine now. even if it's only half an hour or so a day, with some relaxed playing afterwards (as someone pointed out as a reward). this is a good approach, as your more tuned in and warmed up after the formal stuff, therefore your playing should be better.

i've been really getting into the long tones, and am finding you can approach doing them in a kind of meditave way - meaning that not only does your tone improve, but so should your mental clarity as well, which can be very positive to your overall playing.

roughly speaking from a 90 mins blow i'm doing :

30 mins long tones/octaves, with a focus on staying in tune.
15 mins chords/scales
15 mins on chord progressions, blues, standards etc
30 mins on tunes, reading and whatever i feel.

any thoughts on this as a routine ?

 

Can someone tell how I go about becoming disciplined in my approach to practicing.
This may sound a bit darft; but just knowing the problem doesn't mean you have the answer : :!:
ajc

 

AJ,
I think the best way is to begin each session by jotting down a short agenda of what it is that you want to work on for that session.

Try to be very specific, including the exercizes, books,etc. Also an approx. time for each.

Then the challenge is to stick to it. It's a lot easier to remain focused with a written plan, then to 'wing it'. IMHO

"Fail to plan, and you plan to fail"

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the quote is by Joe Lovano!

"I practice playing. I don't practice practicing!"

(Says the master on his new DVD)

Suppose that's why it took him so long to get noticed?

Don't get me wrong. He's a giant. But giants get a lot more respect on the way up if their talent is cultivated by dogged routine and not natural instinct. The methodical feel threatened by anyone who makes it look too easy.

Or am I reading too much into "not practicing practicing?"

 

I think that Lovano is talking about practicing 'musically', that is playing each scale or excersize with feeling, dynamics etc. Not just going through the motions so your fingers move faster.

I don't think he got to where he is with out shedding, like everyone else.

 

Definitely. I always try to add vibrato at the beginning and ends of my scales, play them with varying dynamics, perhaps very the pitch a bit on some notes if it's jazz, to give it that fluid tone effect. There are lots of things you can do. And always, especially in classical music, after you've learned the embellishments like vibrato, making your dynamics very extreme, how to vary your vibrato and make your tone more fluid, always apply them, even in the slow, rigorous practice to attain the technique of a piece. Because how you play it slowly, will be how you eventually play it to the necessary tempo, so you'd better make that slow practice very musical!

 

I think that Lovano is talking about practicing 'musically', that is playing each scale or excersize with feeling, dynamics etc. Not just going through the motions so your fingers move faster.

I don't think he got to where he is with out shedding, like everyone else.

Dam' straight. Nobody is born Joe Lovano!

Makes me wonder what the difference is between practicing and shedding...maybe practing practicing vs. practicing playing. :wink:

 

I get the whole difference thing between practice and playing, and I think that's kind of retarded. I think of practice as what I do at home, by myself, and playing of what I do for performances and such. The big thing about practicing is that it is done everyday. Jim Mair once said that you should practice your sax only on the days you eat, brush your teeth, or shower. The question then arises of what to practice. I figure you should know what you need to do, scales, longtones, work on a piece for performance, or just turning on some Aebersold and jamming. Another thing Jim Mair told me was that you should practice the things that really need work on, not the piece that is nearly polished. Practice is measured on what you get accomplished, not how much time you spend practicing.

 

There is no question that anyone needs to practice in a "formal" way to accomplish the horn. In order to achieve an even tone throughout the horn one needs to practice scales. To develop intunation one needs to practice intervals and long tones. In order to interpret chords properly, a saxman needs to know the chords.
But each practice should include the noodling and play-along stuff. This is where one learns to play in a musical environment.

 

Doug Talley also said something that playing music isn't merely ability on the horn, but you also need to improve your theory, vocabulary, improv, and technique. With any of these lacking, the other 3 will be brought down.

 

I think Joe Lovano WAS born Joe Lovano. Or maybe Joseph.

 

Practice Routine

To me, any practice session is basically divided into thirds. The first third is spent on basics. Playing scales, long tones, intervals, etc. The second third is spent on stretching. That is taking areas where I am weak and working to improve them. And finally, the last third is spent on music. This could be divided further into learning new music and playing known music. All sessions should have some fun to go with the work.

For example, my daughter had a teacher that was well qualified. She had a PhD in music and would drill my daughter endlessly. After a year they had worked through several method books. However, never did she just put music out to play for fun. My daughter hated the lessons and always had a sense of foreboding when the lesson time was near.

Well, we switched teachers to a person with only a Master of Arts degree in classical music performance. This teacher works hard on the drills but also spends at least half of all lessons on music being played for fun.

My daughter likes jazz and swing music. So, even though the teacher is trained in classical music she took the time to learn and teach jazz, swing and ragtime styles to my daughter. My daughter loves these lessons and looks forward to them every week.

The difference is that there is always an element of fun in all lessons to help offset the hard work that goes with learning new techniques and stretching one's ability.

As for practice discipline, first TURN OFF THE TV! Then warm up on the basics. Before your session decide what you will work today and concentrate on that item in the stretch. Finally, reward yourself with fun playing!

 

Check out Jerry Coker's book "How to Practice Jazz." (I think that's what it is called... :?: )

 

If you look and listen to Lovano's DVD, it gets quite clear what he means by "I practice playing".

He takes a tune and improvises slowly and rubato on it, exploring chord tones and tensions that go with the changes, playing different guide lines through the changes, playing around the melody.

The idea is to get to a point you really and intuitively know the tune. Which is what you need in order to be sure of yourself - and to take chances while playing.

 

Can someone tell how I go about becoming disciplined in my approach to practicing.
This may sound a bit darft; but just knowing the problem doesn't mean you have the answer : :!:
ajc

In true improvisational style, I'm going to borrow from several posts to answer this. A ways back, someone recommended getting the Aebersold Jazz Handbook (it's free and a great resource). I have the same issue you have. I fully intend to work on theory stuff for the muscle memory, but I'm quickly distracted and just playing. What gets frustrating is my fingers won't keep up with my mind. What I found actually works to get me into the practicing is to focus, not on random chords or scales, but an actual song, from a chordal base. One of the things I got from the Aebersold book is the following (this pertains to a song):

1. Play the first 5 notes to each chord/scale
2. Play the triad
3. Play the entire scale from the root to the 9th and back down
4. Play the 7th chord up and down
5. Play the 9th chord up and down
6. Play the scale up to the 9th and come down the chord
7. Play the schord up to the 9th and then come back down the scale
8. Play the scale in thirds up and down

If you can follow this religiously (and I won't lie, it gets boring) you'll be amazed how much more quickly you acclimate yourself to the changes. I'd say start slow, but work to run through these steps at tempo. Then, your reward is playing the song afterward. Do this right and these steps take 20-30 minutes, then you can easily burn at least that on the tune. If you pick 3 tunes per day, you've got yourself a good solid 3-hour practice session, which ain't half bad.