Spend 15 minutes playing along with a recording. 

• Comp the chords
• Play the melody
• Play the melody and chords
  
• Steal licks

​Spend 15 minutes of one of the following activities. 

1. Practice the scales, chords, and arpeggios for the tune you will be jamming with. 
2. ​Transcriptions. “Stealing licks” or as Harry Pickins says, collect sounds.
3. Practice sight reading chords from the fake book.
4. ​Practice writing out the chords in the following ways. The photo below comes from a recent lesson. 

• Voice leading chords
• Sonny’s thumbs
• Rootless voicings
• Guide tones

     5. Spend 15 minutes listening and analyzing a recording and ask: “What is going on here? How many times do they play the form in any recording you are listening to?” What instruments do you hear? Is the music played swing or straight? From which era does the music come from or mimic? And so on. 

Have fun. 

​David

How to maintain your jazz repertoire.

I recently attended a Q&A with Lynn Seaton, bassist, and Regents Professor from North Texas State University. My question to him was on how he maintains his repertoire when jazz gigs are no longer 6 nights a week.

His answer.

1. I have a list of memorized pieces to work from.
2. At the end of every practice session, I play a 45 minute “set” from the list by playing with play along recordings of Jamie Aebersold or iReal pro phone app.
3. I cycle through this repertoire in a methodical way, by focusing on difficult tunes, not the simple tunes. I don't waste my time.
4. I consider a tune memorized when I can write out a chord chart from memory. 

​What a great answer. After he practices, he rehearses from his list. How simple is that?  My plan is to follow his lead for a year and see what happens. I'm going to use the list below as a goal for revitalizing my repertoire on the mallets. 

Happy practicing. 


David

Angela Hewitt shares her tactics, strategies, and stories on how she keeps her musical memory strong. It is interesting to note that musical conservatories, like the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, have developed curriculums that prepare the ground for developing and helping to maintain musical memory. 

1. Logical sequencing of material.
2. Repertoire that must be memorized.
3. Theoretical knowledge and application.
4. Foundational skills of techniques and etudes.
5. Historical knowledge
6. Aural skills.
7. Sightreading
8. Score study
9. Assessment

Link to the article: ‘Like sex and religion, we don’t like to talk about memory’: pianist Angela Hewitt on how she keeps hers in shape | Classical music | The Guardian

Piano Practice Guide


What should I practice to learn piano?

Here are some suggestions to help you learn piano:

1. Scales and Chords: Practice playing scales and chords regularly to build finger strength and dexterity.
2. Sheet Music: Start by learning to read sheet music and playing simple pieces. As you progress, gradually increase the difficulty of the pieces you play.
3. Theory: Study music theory to understand how different elements of music work together, such as harmony, melody, and rhythm.
4. Ear Training: Develop your ear by listening to music and trying to play what you hear by ear.
5. Repetition: Consistent practice is key to mastering any skill. Try to practice every day for at least 30 minutes.
6. Posture: Make sure to maintain proper posture while playing the piano to avoid strain and injury.
7. Find a teacher or mentor: Consider finding a local teacher or mentor to guide you and provide feedback on your playing.
8. Remember, learning an instrument takes time and patience. Stay motivated and enjoy the journey!

Once again good specific advice. 

David

A Royal Conservatory student, practicing piano,
Should aim for consistency, not just a one-time show.

First, warm up those fingers with scales and arpeggios,
Then move on to pieces, to let the music flow.

Technical studies like Hanon or Czerny,
Can help to build dexterity and avoid any injury.

Sight-reading and ear training, don't forget to include,
These skills are crucial and can't be misconstrued.

Challenging repertoire, should be in the mix,
To push your abilities, and you're playing to fix.

Lastly, review and refine, what you've learned so far,
Take your time, be patient, it will take you far.

So Royal Conservatory piano student, keep in mind,
Practice regularly, and you'll see yourself shine.

I may lose my mind. 

David

How should I practice piano?

To practice piano effectively, here are some steps you can follow:

1. Set clear goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your piano practice, whether it's to learn a specific piece, improve your technique, or develop your theory skills.
2. Warm up: Start with simple exercises to warm up your hands and get in the right mindset for practice.
3. Practice consistently: Make a schedule and stick to it. Consistency is key to making progress on the piano.
4. Focus on technique: Pay attention to your hand position, finger placement, and arm movements. Make sure you're using proper technique to prevent injury and improve your sound.
5. Use different resources: In addition to practicing with sheet music, use educational books, videos, and online resources to supplement your practice.
6. Pay attention to detail: Slow down and focus on individual phrases and sections, paying attention to details like dynamics and phrasing.
7. Review and reflect: Regularly review what you've learned and think about what you need to work on next. This will help you stay motivated and make steady progress.

Have fun: Finally, make sure to enjoy the process! Playing the piano should be a source of joy and fulfillment, not stress and frustration.

----------------------------

Not bad. However, recording yourself is missing. 

David

​The teacher practices Jazz
 
Last weekend I went to my first jazz jam with my Vibraphone aka my Malletkat GS Grand. We were a quartet of Tenor Sax/Flute, Vibes, Bass, and Drums. I survived with my dignity intact, but I’ve a few discoveries and confessions to share.

1. My skills on the piano are not necessarily transferable to the vibes.
2. My four-mallet chord playing will need further work.
3. I was unable to execute the solo lines I could hear in my head.

On the plus side, I knew all the tunes from years of playing and teaching jazz piano plus my jazz time and feel is strong.

Here is the practice regime I began to follow to improve my jazz experience.

Tune: Satin Doll by Ellington/Strayhorn

1. I practiced the melody, by ear, with the original recordings on YouTube. I discovered that after 45 years, that I’m dragging some notes. They are now corrected; I’m locked into the sax melody.  
2. I reviewed the piano licks played on the head by Duke Ellington.
3. I figured out bits of his piano solo.
4. I practiced all the broken chords like I instruct my students and I quickly discovered that this took a lot longer than I anticipated.
5. I practiced what I’ve learned by playing along on YouTube. 
6. I’m ready for another piece next week.  My goal is to learn a tune a week for 52 weeks. 
7. I'm continuing with my mallet study books to develop my manual skills. 

If I can help you with your jazz piano journey, call me. 

David

BTW: In the era of Ai content generation, a human wrote this blog. 

Super video demonstration but...

Let's consider the assumptions he is making about you the student/listener. 

1. You can play your instrument.
2. You have experience playing music in multiple keys. Though jazz is mostly in C, F, Bb, Eb, and Ab and related minor keys, he goes farther afield.
3. You can play jazz.
4. You can play by ear.
5. You are familiar with the seminal recordings he references.
6. You are familiar with the songs he is playing.
7. You understand musical rudiments, including key signatures, intervals, time signatures, transposition, cadences and much more. 
8. You have advanced solfege and piano skills so you can play bass lines and sing the melody over it.
9. You understand harmonic theory and are able execute chord progressions in time, with a beat, and use the appropriate jazz facial expressions.
10. You know of Ray Brown and his significance.
11. You understand following terms and their musical significance: melody, bass lines, transposition, diatonic, tonic, major 7th intervals, root-7 root-6 movement, Bebop shells 3rd and 7th, the tritone, 5ths, half-steps, interval inversions, 5 in the key of G, lineage of the tune (?), perfect 4ths, non-diatonic ii-Vs, half diminished, 3 of a key, original "changes", "Miles, " Ab7#11 chords, keys, closely related keys, major 3rds, major scales, circle of 5ths, root movements, ii-V of IV, bridge, "key of music."
12. In Peter’s defense, he offers practice suggestions around 9 minutes mark. 
13. On the other hand, as all Vloggers do, he downplays the complexity of what he is doing. Sigh.

What is my job?

I prepare students to understand and execute what he is talking about. The first thing we will do is assess your situation and then we'll draw up a logical plan. 

1. If needed, I will teach you to play your instrument. We will work through a solid canon of piano works that explore multiple keys. 
2. I will teach you to play jazz.
3. I will teach you to play by ear. Can you play jingle bells by ear? If so, great you are on your way. If not, I will help you get started. 
4. I will introduce you to 100+ years of jazz recordings. If your knowledge is a bit spotty, start here: The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World | Jazzwise and Double Time Top 100 Historically Significant Recordings article @ All About Jazz. It is important to note the absence of early jazz recordings on these listings. Jazz has a history spanning 3 centuries, but jazz education seems stuck in, at best, a 30-year period from 1945 to 65. The first list has a number a modern recordings from the last 40 years. 
5. I will help you get your theory together.
6. We will do solfege together. I use both moveable doh system and the number system. Solfege is widely taught in Europe, but unfortunately not so much in North America. 
7. We will study jazz harmony when you've got your theory together.
8. Ray Brown is an important bassist.
9. Working on steps one through nine will answer all the questions you may have from step 11 above.
10. I will teach you how to practice.
11. I will encourage you to get outside feedback and advice from other sources. 

Call me, 

David

BTW: in 2017, I studied with Peter Martin in Rome Italy. He's a great guy and a very skilled musician. When I grow up, I want to play piano like him. FYI.  I was in Rome studying jazz drumming with Greg Hutchinson. Greg played in Ray Brown’s last group. ​

How amateurs might up their game in rehearsals
 
Jazz jamming is fun. Sight reading tunes each week is ok, but it is often difficult for the ensemble to improve because there will not be enough week to week repetition. So, I’m putting forth these suggestions. 

1. Agree on ten tunes to start with. Vary the keys, tempos, and styles.
2. Discuss and agree beforehand on the tempi, introductions, and endings of each piece. Consider the role of dynamics when you play the head because too many amateur bands play mezzo forte tune after tune. Make a note of these deliberations in your parts so that the following week you can remember them. 
3. After the next rehearsal, replace the two strongest tunes with two new ones repeat step 2 and carry on. 

 
The idea is that with weekly repetition, improvements can be heard. Bonus: folks will know what to practice between “jams” while flipping over two pieces each week will keep it fresh. 
 
Have fun. 

Learning tunes from a fake book is the hard way to go about things. Here is the Bill McBernie method of jazz practice in which you play by ear to multiple recordings. 

I could recall the basic outline of the tune "A foggy day" from playing it years ago. That helped. (If you don't know the tune, you must listen until you can sing along.) Below are the recordings and the order in which I played them. Some were played numerous times as I recalled more of the melody and figured out the key. The song was played in the keys of F, C, Eb, and Bb. I played along on vibes, not piano. I focused only on the melody . As the practicing progressed, I began to recall and understand the chords.

Today I was playing it on the piano, from memory, with the chords. 

David

​Here is one profile of a successful student who thrives on boundaries, discipline, and competition.

Mei diligently practices the following activities:

• She listens daily to professional recordings of her pieces. She knows every part by heart!
• She diligently prioritizes her time so that she can practice her etudes, repertoire, theory, sight-reading, ear training, and technique.
• She uses the metronome when sight-reading and practicing her technique. She has learned to count aloud and play at the same time.
• She records herself regularly for quick feedback.
• She participates in recitals, competitions, and piano exams. Her friends do the same. In fact, she has made many of those friends at the competitions.
• She explores topics related to her studies on YouTube searching for alternative perspectives.
• She attends piano concerts.
• She has a favorite YouTube piano influencer.

​If I can help your Mei; please give me a call.

​David

One of my adult students was asking tonight for some help planning his practice time. He is preparing for his Grade 8 piano exam. He is an engineer, a spreadsheet kind of guy. I'm sympathetic. Here is what we discussed. 
 
Warmup with sight reading. Use a metronome! Get into the zone.
 
Now start practicing
 
Technique with a 2-minute timer. Switch activities every 2 minutes = 15 minutes

• 1 scale
• 1 tonic chord played solid and broken
• V7 chord solid and broken
• I and V7 arpeggio

Practice one short section to perfection =15 minutes

Theory =10 minutes

Ear Training = 10 minutes

Review completed piece or pieces 10 minutes 

BOOM! one hour of accomplishment

This may work for you. 
​
David

Revised August 2022

1. Listening every day to the recordings, supplied with your books, prepares your ears for the task ahead. (Students often play a wrong note for an entire week, because they don't fully know how the music sounds.) As the Bugs Bunny Theme song “This is it” says, “We know every part by heart.”
2. Record yourself playing. Video is best. Play, watch, make notes on what did and didn't work. This helps you avoid mindless repetition, also known as grinding. 
3. Play your scales, chords, and arpeggios with a metronome. In modern music performance and production, the ability to play with a metronome is imperative. Try these suggestions if you are having difficulty: Use a comfortable tempo. Count aloud, starting with one note per click. Later, when you are comfortable, try two notes per click. Make a note of the tempo played by date. Incrementally increase the tempo.
4. Memorise your pieces and technique at your earliest convenience. In the theater, rehearsals get serious when the actors are “off the book.” 
5. Spend one-third of your time on theory, ear training, and sight reading. These are the pillars of musical understanding, interpretation, and memorization.

If I can help you, call me.
 
David 
Revised August 2022

In the 1921 teaching manual “Principles of Pianoforte Practice” by James Friskin, he asserts that most students “simply do not hear all the sounds they produce”. I concur. I'm sure Friskin would be amazed at the ease with which a student can now record their practicing for self-evaluation. 

Now the hard part, learning to love how we sound. I'll be honest, in the early days it will take a certain amount of fortitude. But push on in faith. You will be the first to hear the improvement and progress as you accumulate and listen to hundreds, even thousands of practice recordings. (In 13 years of playing drums I’ve 248 Gigs of mp3 recordings. It’s both humbling and gratifying to hear how one sounded a decade earlier, or even last year.)

If I can help you learn to practice effectively, call me.
​
David
Revised August 2022

What should I practice at the piano?
  
What to practice is the perennial question? Here are some of the thoughts gleaned from decades of personal practice and observing countless students. 

1. Know why you are practicing. What goals did the teacher outline in their notes for you? What did they indicate to work on? 
2. Know how to prepare for practice by getting your materials in order: music, metronome, pencil, audio recorder, ear buds, professional recordings of your work. 
3. Know what to practice. 
   Scales, chords, and arpeggios which are like doing pushups, once is never enough. 
   Sight reading skills facilitate quicker learning and bring more fun when just fooling around.  
   Ear training exercises, so that over time you can play what you hear in your head. 
   Repertoire is why we signed up in the first place. Work on problem spots first after listening to the recordings.
   Theory is often overlooked. This is unfortunate. Theory connects our hands, ear, head, and eyes to work together with some understanding. And theory facilitates communication with the teacher. 
   Etudes to develop our hands in specific techniques.   
4. Learn how to practice. If there is one overriding rule, it is this: Never play through a mistake. Stop and reason it out. Is the problem the notes, rhythm, fingering, dynamics, articulations, tempo? Consult your professional recording of the piece again for clues. Listen back to your own recording of the passage. What do you hear? 
5. Learn to thrive on practice. 

If I can help, call me. 
​
David 
revised August 2022

What is practice math? Kim practices 10 minutes a day and Rachel puts in 60 minutes a day.

Jazz is primarily about rhythm and articulations, those tricky bits that are impossible to notate. Harmony is like math, fun for many and much easier to get your head around for most than rhythm and articulation. Or so beginners believe. But when the moment of truth arrives at a jam session theory goes mostly out the window and instinct kicks in. Adam Maness explores this theme in his video "Why do I still suck". 

Jorge Mabarak, on Facebook, puts it well, theory is a tool. I propose that rhythm is the key. And ear training is the secret.

Here is a practice time breakdown that may work for you:

• Fifty percent of your time is spent improving your instrumental skills. Find a teacher. Put in the work. To paraphrase Wynton, "learn to play your d#%$@# instrument".
• Twenty-five percent of your time is working on ear training, which is transcriptions and memorizing tunes. How many tunes can you play from memory? Ten tunes would be a good start and realistic goal for most jazz beginners. Can you sing the melodies of the tunes you are trying to memorize? Can you sing the chord roots, in time and in pitch, of these tunes? Can you sing the arpeggiated 7th chords found in these tunes?
• Twenty percent of your time is spent jamming with at least one other musician. This is a key component of learning jazz. Jazz is a team sport. For instance, if you are a pianist, call a jazz guitar teacher, they have students who need to jam with others too. Set up a session. Don't be shy. As Adam Maness emphasizes "time for jazz swagger".
• Five percent jazz theory

 
If I can help, please call me. 

David
Revised September 2022

These ten activities will simplify the process of learning a new piece of music. 
​

1. Listen to a professional recording while following the score. It is much simpler to play a score when you know what it is supposed to sound like.   “How do I get the sound in my head out of these black dots” is much easier than, “I wonder what this sounds like?” Notice the deviations from the score that the professionals present. Mark in any nuances with dynamics and phrasing you might hear. The music is not fully represented by the notation.
2. Observe the fingering suggestions in your score. I would only change the fingering in the case of obvious error or small hands.
3. Practice slowly at first.
4. If the rhythms are difficult. Clap and count aloud those passages.
5. Explore the score further by marking the form and cadences. Notice how the professionals play the cadences. You will want to do the same. If this step is new to you call me, I can help.
6. Practice with dynamics from the first reading. That way you avoid having to relearn the piece later. In my experience as a piano examiner, under stress candidates will abandon the dynamic plan and resort to their pre-dynamic performance. I know this because I often had the teachers' score in front of me. Dynamics in the scores were brightly underlined, highlighted, and punctuated coast to coast. The more frantic and emphatic the marking was, the less chance the candidate would execute them.
7. Practice in small chunks. That is phrase by phrase, or if the passage is particularly difficult, measure by measure. Consider:
   1. Fingering
   2. The required movement to realize your artistic impression: slur gestures, arm weight, rotation, and so on.
   3. Dynamics
   4. Balance
   5. Flow
8. Record yourself. Many students will find this uncomfortable. I say fight the resistance. The feedback one gets from hearing immediately of your progress or lack thereof will save you years of wasted effort. 
9. Take breaks. My attention span is short, yours is likely to be short too. So, prepare several activities when practicing.
   1. Practice the scales and chords required for your piece.
   2. Listen some more to the recordings.
   3. Jump back in.

If I can help, call me.
 
David
Revised September 2022

1. Effective Practicing For Musician By Benny Greb. Practical steps with humorous stories. I love this book. 
2. The Musician's Way by Gerald Klickstein. For serious studious students with big ambitions. I love this book.
3. The Art Of Practicing by Madeline Bruser. A gentle holistic approach to playing music. 
4. Technique Of Percussion By George Lawrence Stone. Classic Old School. Stories back to the US Civil War Era to the 1960's. 
5. On Piano Playing by Gyorgy Sandor. A classic out of print book on specific piano techniques for advanced students and teachers. I've a well-worn copy.
6. The drummer's Lifeline by Peter Erskine and Dave Black. I usually avoid material with the words "quick fixes, hacks" etc. But I've made an exception for this fine book. 

David
Revised September 2022

​ 

1. Sight reading new material. Step outside your normal area of focus and explore some new corners of the Jazz and Classical worlds.
2. Work up a few short pieces to performance standard. Builds discipline and focus. 
3. Listen to music in a focused way by asking “what’s going on here?”
4. Read a book on music jazz appreciation.
5. Jam with friends.
6. Read a copy of Downbeat magazine and track down, on YouTube, the music and artists discussed. 
7. Start memorizing core repertoire: 
   1. C jam blues
   2. Autumn leaves
   3. Killer joe
   4. Blue bossa
   5. Satin doll
   6. Summertime 
   7. Mac the knife

 
See you in September.
 
David
Revised October 2022

Lockdown 2.0 Oh boy!
The article above supplies some great ideas to keep us practicing. I invite you to click the photo to read the article. 

​David

It is two months before the big date. What do you do? How do you practice?
​
Some thoughts:

1. Listen to great music, piano music, music in the style of your program. Over time you will begin to recognise the difference between good, great, and indifferent playing.
2. Practice technique using a metronome. If this is difficult; start by playing the scale in whole notes with the metronome playing in quarter notes. Count aloud. When this stabilises play in half notes, then quarter, and finally 8th notes. Counting aloud the entire time. This step may take some patient work over a week or two.
3. Listen to professional recordings of your program before practicing. You need the intimate familiarity of the music to the same degree we all know happy birthday. You want to easily know when an error occurs in practice.
4. Work daily on the sight-reading book exercise, pencil in hand, answering all questions. The text is the lesson.
5. If you ear testing is weak, use the online service. Codes are in inside the back cover of the sight reading book.
6. Self assess your progress by recording yourself playing your program. Note in the score on playback where the trouble bits are found. Start practicing there. Playing the pieces top to bottom before they are completed is a waste of time.
7. Do some more listening to great music.
8. Back to the theory book. The pillars of music learning are aural skills, sight-reading skills, and theory knowledge. Excelling in these 3 areas will build your confidence and put a bounce in your step.
9. Back to technique.
10. Finally, intersperse other pieces you enjoy playing into your practice time for 2 reasons. One, to remind yourself you really can play the piano. Two, playing time, clocking the hours. The 10,000-hour rule has been heavily criticized by folks more knowledgeable than me, but it still gives us a good benchmark. The steps above respond to those criticisms: Hours are fine, but how you spend your hours is more important.

​David

Listen to great music. A musical truism: "we are who we listen to".

Try this on your next new piece. 

1. Find a professional recording.
2. Listen a few times while watching the score.
3. With pencil in hand work out the fingering for both hands on nearly every note. You can skip repeated notes.
4. Now back to the recording. Listen to the 1st phrase, typically 2-4 measures. Using the fingering you wrote down. mimic what you heard. Make adjustments to match the expression of the professional. If you are playing jazz, make adjustments of the notation to match the recording. The recording is correct. Fakebooks are approximations. 
5. Continue to the end of the piece, painstakingly working out one phrase at a time. 
6. Next day start over. It will go quicker today.
7. As you go along, record your phrases and listen back. Are you shaping and articulating correctly. Don't worry about the tempo. That will come later. 

Have fun. 

David

How do I become a great pianist?

An honest question if a tiny bit naïve. If you are in a great hurry, it is going to be difficult. If you are looking for a “hack” or some shortcut, I don’t know any.

For centuries pianists have followed a standard set of proven practices.

1. Humility is good. Musical skill is earned through consistent effort and direct coaching.
2. Patience is required. Learning to play the piano is a physical skill. It takes time. Even though the ten-thousand-hour rule has been debunked, it is a good metaphor.
3. Listening to piano music. Through listening, aural and theory study, and reflection we raise our level of sophistication which is needed to play well. Student's listening experience is often as a music fan, not as a musician. We musicians listen with intent. Starting with the question, “what is going on here?”
4. Find a teacher who has travelled the road you aspire to experience.
5. Learn to practice. Become a student of practice. Read books, watch videos, read blogs, take courses on how to practice. 

I'm available to help and encourage you on your journey. Just call me. 

David