Saturday, August 25, 2007

Update week 34

Ok, here's an update of the last week of practicing. From now on I'm gonna try to post a detailed update every week to get it a little more organised.

Technique:
  • White note scales: Worked them up from 82 -> 86 bpm. It's getting better, sometimes I just hit the right notes without even paying attention to it...
  • Major scales: Worked from 95 -> 100 bpm
  • Major modes: worked from 89 -> 95 bpm
  • Melodic minor modes: I'm now playing 2 keys everyday at tempo 60 bpm. I play one key untill I can play all the degrees in one take through without making any mistakes.
  • Arpeggio's: I started also with playing all kinds of arpeggio's. I'm doing all arpeggio's in 12 keys and this takes about 15/20 minutes. I made 3 groups of exercises:
  1. Triads: maj, min, aug, dim -> playing it at tempo 80 bpm
  2. seventh chords basic: maj7, min7, min/maj7, dom, maj6, min6, halfdim., dim. -> playing them now at tempo 71 bpm
  3. seventh chords more difficult: maj7b5, maj7#5, dom7b5, dom7#5 -> now at tempo 61 bpm
note about technique:
I'm now playing about 1 hour of 'single' line technique each day. I'm not thinking about making music, but I feel that I really have to connect with the instrument fysically. It still feels that I sometimes can't be free to play stuff that I hear because of lack of technique. I'm really trying to structure this hour to build my technique gradually. I practice with metronome and when something feels comfortable I increase the tempo by 1 bpm. So this is hardly a difference, but I think this is the way to gradually increase my technique and speed.
I guess I'm gonna try to get some 4-mallet technique stuff going. I'm gonna think about how to structure that...

What else?
  • Preparing for gigs 25/26th of august
I have two nice gigs this weekend on a big festival in Amsterdam. One is with a brazilian/pop band. I actually play drums on this gig, but I wanted to learn the tunes by heart so I had to put some time into that this week
The other gig is on vibes with a funk/jazz group and they play all kinds of odd-meter stuff. 11/8, 7/8, 5/4 etc... Also not the standard 2-5-1 changes, so this is a challenge! I also learned that stuff by heart so this took a lot of practice time this week. I'll try to record the gig and post some audio on here.

Because of these gigs I didn't have a lot of time to practice other stuff, so that's a little disorganised at the moment... What I have been doing is:
  • Green Dolphin Etude: I played it a couple times through at tempo 65 bpm
  • Don't Get Around(only in original key):
  1. Played it monophonically
  2. comping melodically
  3. soloing
  4. recorded the two milt solo's (see links below)
  • Practiced soloing on Blue Bossa(I also started transcribing the milt solo on the album Big 3!)
  • Practiced I loves you porgy chord changes
The milt solos:
There is one thing that I think I should do more, but I still don't... PLAYING SONGS IN 12 KEYS!! This is still hard. It's easy for me to play only melody or only chords in 12 keys, but when I put that together I get lost and have to think hard and take it slow. This takes a lot of concentration and so takes a lot of energy... But I'll just go and DO IT!!

Next week I have a trio gig on wednesday, so that's gonna be nice. So after the weekend I will be working on that repertoire only! So from thursday I'll pick up the old practice stuff.

Let me know if you have questions and what you think!

cu

Tjaco

12 comments:

Tony said...

i'll be back and check this all out. have one of my online students from ireland here for the week. we're winding up tomorrow. so i'll come back and check out what you have up.

also i'm not getting notifications. but whatever i check.

Tony said...

i get it now. i get comments, but i don't get new topics. like when you post a new topic. duh!

here's my 2 cents. the priority is to practice the solo now. in all the keys, and play it as well as you play that one. all 12. can you do it?

and playing tunes in other keys is incredibly important as well. don't underestimate the importance and power of doing those exercises.

so start posting the solo and the tune in different keys.

let me know what you think.
cu
tony

Tony said...

about playing stuff you hear and technique.

i would find it hard to believe that your ears are beyond your technical ability. i think something is wrong here with how you're thinking. i'm not saying don't practice technical stuff. i am saying that usually your ears are WAY behind your technique. that's not a judgement against you, it's just that with most people their ears are behind their technical ability.

focus and play when you're soloing. make sure your ears are in touch with your 'inside'. know what i mean? you're hearing a melody and i line inside and your ears are listening to the band and then you're translating what's in your head and then playing it.

i heard the milt solo. your 2 mallet technique is really good.

Tjaco Oostdijk said...

Hey Tony,

Wierd with the notification stuff...? Some message don't come through untill I moderate them and send them. Maybe I could use another mailinglist for the email notification? I'll see.
September is gonna be very busy!! That sucks, 'cause I'm not gonna be able to practice a lot... I didn't have any time last week.
But I'll work on Dont Get Around as much as I can and post the solo and the tune in all keys eventually, ok?

Tjaco Oostdijk said...

What do you think I should do when I don't have hours to practice? I mean, what should be my priority? I guess I should work on the stuff that's the most weak and the stuff that's gonna help me the most.
Do you think I should put my priority with playing solos and tunes in 12 keys and also transcribing and maybe doing the notes of the vibes ear training?
And when I have more time work on the scales... Or do you think I should also keep playing some technique every day, but maybe shorten the time I do that?

let me know.

cu

Tjaco

Tony said...

well when you're busy and not practicing a ton. listen a lot. that's a good time to check out more stuff.

next sing a lot. sing progressions, sing with aebersold cds while you're driving.

if you're gigging a lot, then when you practice do scales and stuff but also work on ideas and solos. narrow your list down. don't try and do too much (bet you knew all this already).

i think you should work up a new tune solo each week. or bi weekly. head, couple choruses of a solo then take it out.

but make sure you're still submitting something to me so that things keep going here. this way you're managing all this stuff and keeping your practicing going at some level.

it's so easy to get out of the routing and SO HARD to get back into it. the trick is to keep it going even if it's an hour a day.

what do you think?
cu
tony

Tjaco Oostdijk said...

Hey Tony,

I'm gigging a lot, but only on drums, so I guess I shouldn't only do technique stuff.
I'm gonna focus on a few things at a time. Today I tried something. I played Dont get around in F and did that for 3,5 hrs! That was actually ok to do. I did the two milt solos, some comping, the head(mel + chords) and played solo over the changes.
I'm gonna try to do a little less techniwue each day. So divide the different scales and exercises throughout the week, ok?
Maybe it's a good idea that you give me a tune to do each week, and give me a deadline? What do you think? Maybe it's nice to do a new tune. I'll keep doing the dont get around and record it in 12 keys also.

Let me know what you think.

cu

Tjaco

p.s. I'm posting the gig files shortly...

Tony said...

i think that's great spending 3 hours on one tune. you are getting INTO the tune. that's the shit!

work that solo in 12 keys and then let it go. move on.

how many keys are you through that solo? send me some chorus's or you soloing ALONE through the tune. monophonic, no chords. all i want to hear is simple melodies that are clearly outlining the harmony.

Tjaco Oostdijk said...

I'm Through a lot of keys on the 2 milt solos already. But I haven't recorded them. I'm gonna try to record it in all the keys at an easy tempo, ok? And I'll also play solo myself.

coming soon...

cu

Tjaco

Tony said...

that's it exactly. play it straight in all keys but slow. this is not about speed it's about reinforcing your ears and getting sounds in your head. or vocabulary.

in fact it would be great if you just went from one key to the next. make a modulation. do half steps or cycle of 4ths. actually both would be great!

Tjaco Oostdijk said...

Ok, tony,

I'll practice that and record the whole thing as soon as I can play it through. I'll do it slow. And I'll also record soloing over 12 keys and modulate after each chorus, ok?

cu

tjaco

Tony said...

yep! get to it.