PRACTICE
DISCIPLINES
In this unpredictable world of changing everything (computers,
synths, software, hardware, MIDI… you name it) I have observed
one stable thing: Those who know to study and practice progress
the fastest! Is it just sitting down at your instrument and jamming
or what? The answer is it should consist of determining what fundamentals
in your playing are weak and then developing a program to handle
them. A correct evaluation has to occur first in other words BEFORE
a workable solution can be applied. If you’re smart enough
to do this on your own then great. If not, then find someone who
can help you.
How many of you practice long hours and never seem to make any
real progress? Well you’re probably not practicing but simply
playing things you already know -- you know, just fooling around
and not really confronting your real weak points. This is actually
why some people need teachers and some don’t. Those who
don’t need teachers simply have a native ability (probably
past live talents but what do I know!?) to perceive their own
weak points, confront them and find solutions to them. In fact
I would go so far as to say that what we call genius talent here
on planet earth is simply our way of saying "that cat did
it!" Boy, did he do it! Wow! He’s a genius! Well yes
he did it…. But had you investigated further, you would
have found that it took a lot of hard work! This is true even
with cats who say they never studied. Maybe they never studied
formally with a teacher, but they did study by listening to records,
going to live gigs, reading books, and spending hours in front
of their instrument working things out. I don’t believe
we just do something incredible without some kind of practice
in the basics so… if you think you’re going to become
the next Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock or Gonzalo Rubalcaba overnight,
you’re in for a big letdown. And thinking this can lead
you of course because it’s very easy when you fail to introvert
and invalidate yourself and your creations. No, it actually takes
real conviction, real practice and real confront. Then when you
have attained your goals, it will seem of course easy to you because
you did the work. You’ve arrived and others might say "Wow,
that cat’s a genius!"
You have to blow off any and all consdierations you have about
time and how long it’s going to take. You have to be willing
for it to take as long as necessary. Worrying about time uses
up both mental and physical energy and might lead you to start
practicing glibly and compromising with your integrity. To the
degree your attention is on time, money, success, ego or anything
other than developing your ability, it’s off confronting
and practicing! On the other hand, if you put all your attention
and intention into achieving your goals, it may actually even
speed up the process for you.
Remember, an incredible song, performance, or whatever is just
perceived as incredible! No one cares how long it took to write
or prepare. The audience doesn’t say "Well, hey that
can’t be incredible. It took too long to create." All
they care about is it blew them away! The business world, the
bean counters on the other hand, are the ones concerned with these
matters of time and money and sales and the "hurry up and
be great" attitude. So don’t confuse the two universes…
the creative vs the business. Yes, they have to work together
but not initially at least not until it’s time to go to
market. It usually does take some time to create high abilities
and create good effects; but once you do, they are timeless!
Her are some specific tools for you to use while you practice:
Definitions:
Practice –The ability to learn the ability. All great musicians
whether they were formally taught or self taught have at some
point in their careers spent time practicing their art.
Prepractice – Practicing is different than playing. It’s
important therefore to set goals for each practice session. Before
practicing, always ask yourself "What am I going to practice
and why and what ability will I eventually attain?"
The Five Practice Tools:
1. Repetition - going over and over a musical phrase
or passage until you can do it flawlessly and effortlessly.
2. Tempo variation - slowing a difficult passage down
until you can effortlessly play it and then gradually speeding
it up until you have mastered it at the required tempo. I even
master the passage much faster than required as to have what I
call musical headroom.
3. Hands separately - Playing the phrase or passage in
each hand separately before you attempt to put your hands together.
This is only necessary of course if you are having difficulty
playing the passage with both hands.
4. Phrase compartmenting – isolating a problem
area in order to fully learn it. If you make a mistake in other
words and/or are having difficulty, don’t keep starting
over from the top hoping you’ll get it right this time.
Isolate exactly the area you are having difficulty with and practice
this area only using the other tools.
5. Outlining – Playing only the key notes of a
passage starting slow to fast and then once you master these target
notes adding the rest of the notes. By playing only the key notes
of a fast lick for example, the lick becomes much easier initially.
Once you master the key target notes, you can begin slowly adding
the other notes.
Now remember, these are tools. Sometimes you may only need to
apply one or two of them; sometimes a stubborn difficult passage
may need all of them. They are tools. Use them to help you attain
your goal. (For more on practice, see my first instructional video
The
Basics and my manual The
Contemporary Keyboardist)
Remember, practice is the ability to learn the ability!
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