[sandster]

Recently, a friend of mine let it be known that he was giving up playing, after 40 or more years as principal clarinet with a symphony and many years as an excellent alto and tenor player. His reason: no gigs so no pressure to stay in shape. He needs this pressure to keep playing.
In my case, I practice so I can live with the sound I’m producing, as well as the never ending need to be more creative in my soloing. I learned of this need years ago, doing a gig when I was out of shape and didn’t even have a good reed.
Now, I need to work to keep at least 3 out of 5 horns going. When I began, at 10 yrs. of age, my father insisted on my daily practice. I’m glad he did. Now, in my late, late years, I’m practicing more than ever. I’m lucky I have steady gigs and weekly jams to push me.
This could be a good discussion topic. Why do YOU practice? Or have I covered it? :blah5::blah5:

 

[pontius]

Seems like you more or less covered it.
When I think about visual Art, like say a painting, you can see the final layers of paint and some evidence of the process if you look closely. Some artists reveal more of their process than others it seems. Each painting embodies minutes, hours, days or years of practicing a craft.

With a musical performance, you don't get to see all the hours (or lack thereof) of practice that has gone into all that was expressed, but I think the audience senses it. I think we practice so we can attempt to perfect our expression and more clearly and with economy convey ideas and emotions. And share love.

 

[sandster]

Maybe I should’ve asked, “Would you practice if you did not have any gigs or sessions?”
Very good analogy re. Visual art, pontius.

 

[A Greene]

Honestly, I practice a lot with very few gigs these days. I enjoy the time alone in the ole’ basement working on my playing.

 

[lesacks]

At the other end of the spectrum; I practice because I've been trying, for the last 6 years, to grow the musical bits of my brain which atrophied over the previous 45 odd years. It's an end-in-itself. I'll probably never perform or such.

 

[sandster]

At the other end of the spectrum; I practice because I've been trying, for the last 6 years, to grow the musical bits of my brain which atrophied over the previous 45 odd years. It's an end-in-itself. I'll probably never perform or such.

Good point. Brain work!

 

[Airflyte]

At the other end of the spectrum; I practice because I've been trying, for the last 6 years, to grow the musical bits of my brain which atrophied over the previous 45 odd years. It's an end-in-itself. I'll probably never perform or such.

That's pretty much it right there. Drowns out my tinnitus as well.

 

[JimD]

I practice because it's what I do, it's part of who I am and I've been doing it for over 40 years, for the love of it rather than as work. I'm only looking to get better, closer to that ever receding horizon. I don't play for a living and I can understand why your friend feels like that after 40 years doing music as a job.

 

[beau barry]

I love performing and collaborating with other players. It's an amazing thing getting lost in the whirlwind of now. But my favorite thing is the work alone in the practice room. Going deeper within is my primary focus musically. That critical-solitude-searching space that comes from studying is like a magnet pulling me to focus on my weaknesses.The challenge is to be critical joyously (not always so easy).

 

[JL]

Maybe I should've asked, "Would you practice if you did not have any gigs or sessions?"

Absolutely! While it's true that I practice on a regular basis at least in part to stay in shape for the 3 to 4 hour gigs, that's not the main reason I practice. As JimD said above, playing the sax has become a part of me and I really can't lay off it for any length of time. IOW, I enjoy playing the horn, whether practicing or on the bandstand. So that's one reason; the other is in order to improve my technique, work on adding to my repertoire of tunes, learn more material and musical 'language', work on improvisation, and overall to improve my playing. There's always plenty of room for improvement (certainly in my case) and one thing I really like about music is there is an infinite amount to learn.

And playing the blues is cathartic...can't live without it.

 

[SuperAction80]

I get their point of "no gigs, no point". However, I practice to stay sane. It gives you an edge when push comes to shove too. Other than that, practice what you want to strive to be. Your gig chops will be there.

 

[whaler]

To try to keep my level where it is at least and always learning/relearning tunes.
I don’t need the youngsters around here taking my gigs because I’ve lost it.
I have to admit my focus ain’t what it used to be sometimes.

 

[liggy]

I practice before a gig. I practice to learn new songs and to play with different gear combinations. The day job is time consuming so I don’t have a ton of time to practice.

 

[mrpeebee]

I don't have a place to practice, but I play in a Big Band with a weekly rehearsal of 3 hours and about 5 tot 10 payed gigs per year.

Without that band I would probably not play (much) anymore, unless I would get more time and a good place to play privately (which is probably not to happen very soon).

 

[Reet McVouty]

I recently said to myself, what is the point in shedding new patterns, scales, arpeggios and such? At age 64 where am I going with this? How much time do I have left? As an amateur musician that has only played in community bands, jamming with people and the occasional jazz lab ensemble, I have had to put things in perspective of what my goals are at this point and what must be done to accomplish them.

My basic goal these days is to have fun playing music and expressing myself via the saxophone. I want to play the things I enjoy, so when I pick up my horn I have fun and before I know it two hours have gone by. For the most part I now spend my time playing along with backing tracks. I like the Hal-Leonard series as they have the extra track with another horn added which helps me sharpen my reading skills. I also still like playing out of the Klose' book as it's a workout for me but a lot of fun in the process.

So, I think that for everyone that practices their purpose always starts out the same. We want to sound better, have better technique, develop a better grasp on theory so we can play with others. But somewhere down the line we all come to a fork in the road and choices must be made. I choose, fun!

 

[bandmommy]

The material being chosen as of late by my community band director does not require me to practice.
Four rehearsals and I'm performance ready.
I need a challenge to get my butt in a practice chair.
Anything else is playing for fun, and fun playing is not practicing. ☺

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

I practice mostly to get in shape or maintain for a gig or gigs. The clarinet generally requires much more time to get the embouchure up to par. I like to say that the clarinet is a cruel mistress.

 

[Jazzoetry]

For me it's more of a discovery opportunity. I start by replaying known ideas, then discover ways to connect them to my latest ideas. So I practice connections. I love jazz language. I guess we can call it practice but at this stage the music plays me. I supply the "Wind and Rhythm" and see where the music takes me. It never gets old and neither does my musical appreciation. I practice so I can find new discoveries to write down and share.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Maybe I should've asked, "Would you practice if you did not have any gigs or sessions?"

Probably not. I practice (keyboard mainly) to learn new tunes, riffs, key parts for rehearsals or for the weekly jam. I rehearse with 4 different bands and I enjoy it. Having a list of tunes to work on is a motivator. If I didn't have tunes, bands, projects to work on I probably wouldn't play much at all by myself. Although, if I didn't have some rehearsal or gig to look forward to, I'd probably get antsy eventually and start to play on some of the many instruments I have around the house. But if I wasn't in any band, I'd start looking to be in one and I'd go to more jams. What's fun about music for me is playing with other musicians and playing for people - to dance or sing along or enjoy themselves however they want to. Playing by myself for myself is not nearly as rewarding as playing with and for other people. That's the motivator to get me to practice - to be able to put on a good performance of a tune and to play well with other musicians.

 

[swperry1]

I hate to practice, so even though I play a lot at times it’s tied pretty closely to how much I’m gigging and the amount of material I have to absorb. I live in a very seasonal area and in off-season when I’m not gigging a lot and can’t jump on a tour or source freelance work I trim it down to a maintenance routine and spend more time working up my electric bass chops...the completely different approach of thinking like a bass player has expanded my sax playing immensely.