Hey Tony, I checked out the site. You’re right it’s very interesting. There is a lot of good information and a lot of good ideas about practicing. There are also some useful tools. Anyone interested check out this link.

That’s exactly what I mean by “just use your ear”. By working on these II-V-I patterns you start to hear the changes underneath, at that point you don’t want to just “play by the numbers”. What I mean is you don’t want to be thinking “ok I’m going to use that lick that starts on the third of the II chord and ends on the seven of the V chord”, you just want to let your ear choose. I don’t know about envisioning the keyboard, but I think it’s great practice to work out some ideas on the piano. That way you can play the chords and hear the lick right over those chords. I would suggest not worrying about playing those complex runs and ending up exactly on the leading tone, just keep playing those leading tones through the changes and after a while you will be able to play anything in between and still land on that leading tone (in theory) ;-).

That’s great Greg. It sounds like you are doing everything right. I bought the video too and wasn’t terribly impressed either. The book is great I’ve read it three of four times and refer back to it from time to time. I agree totally about the telewebinars. There is so much to take from them. Check my blog, I’ve made three of them available. I couldn’t find the first and second ones anywhere. I was just listening to #3 & #4 today and really got some great tips on practicing.

It’s great that you are focusing on your breathing. I think that is the key. All meditation and yoga practices focus on the breath so I think it is the doorway into “the space”. Have you checked out Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now? He also talks about focusing on your breathing to enter the “now”.

Thanks for your comments.

Peter

According to Kenny Werner, it’s not the quantity of practice that counts, it’s the quality of practice. If you are focused, 5-minutes of practice can be very beneficial. Kenny tells a story in his book about preparing for a gig with the “road-warrior” Joe Lovano, by doing 5-minute sessions.

I think if you are having trouble getting yourself to practice, starting with 5-minute sessions in which you try to get into the “space” can be the answer. Once you have found this focused state where things just seem to flow, what you practice becomes less significant and you can make great progress just playing one note, if that what you choose to do.

Well, I never blow hard, just “push” it out with a little breath pressure. But merely opening the valve doesn’t drain it completely.

That’s true. You just do it. I’ve been jogging every day lately. It’s rare that I want to do it, but I always feel good after I finish.

There are lots of good online drum lessons available. The Vic Firth site has some really good teaching material.

Check out this series for snare playing and stick control (from Mark Wessels):
http://www.vicfirth.com/education/technique/wessels.html

This one is a fantastic series on brush technique (by Peter Erskine):
http://www.vicfirth.com/education/drumset/erskine.html

Hey Peter, Thanks for the offer. Mark Stoltze made some good recordings of those concerts as well. We are hoping to add a page in the future where people can go and listen to or download such things. Stay tuned.

I agree one-hundred percent! He’s awesome!

Okay, I know everyone on this site has a day job, and many of us run businesses too, and have families to interact with, dogs to walk, laundry to do, etc. So why do some of us keep good chops up, while others are less prone to maintaining a routine?

How do you discipline yourself to maintain a practice routine? I’m constantly tugged in one direction or another, getting home from work late in the evening, fixing dinner, cleaning up, spending time with my wife, traveling, working with my son on his classwork, you name it – and frequently find myself not picking up the horn for three (or even four!) days in a row. Then I’ll have a good week or two of consistency, but it never seems to last. As Peter says, it lasts for a good two weeks after JV, then dwindles off until two weeks before the next JV!