| Universal mind [message #190966] |
Di, 11 Januar 2005 02:32 |
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How to practice ?
Many guitar students who oder my lessons online or subscribe to Just Jazz
Guitar Mag. often write back to me and humbly ask how to practice. Here is
some food for THOUGHT :
Bill Evans makes the point that he was not a really fast learner compared to
some other players, however, he did learn
his musical materials (tunes, vocabulary, technique) in small doses. That
means---real
focused practicing with lots of repetition and recall, till the material
flows « effortlessly » from within without any obstacles.
Kenny Werner (in his book «Effortless Mastery») seems to adopt this same
philosophy. Personnally, the things that I play
MOST effortlesslessly and gracefully are the materials that I ingrained in
small amounts over extended periods of time (months, years).
This focused practicing should «eventually» lead to perfection -- that is,
complete effortless mastery of the music -- (tunes, vocabulary, and
technique)
sincerely,
--
Reno De Stefano, Ph.D.
Guitariste/Guitarist
Professeur agrégé/Associate Professor
Faculté de musique
Université de Montréal
http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/destefar
Tel : (514) 343-6111 (3026)
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| Re: Universal mind [message #190970 ] |
Di, 11 Januar 2005 03:41 |
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"Reno De Stefano" <destefano [at] videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:XXFEd.37071$SB6.1207401 [at] wagner.videotron.net...
> How to practice ?
>
> Many guitar students who oder my lessons online or subscribe to Just Jazz
> Guitar Mag. often write back to me and humbly ask how to practice. Here is
> some food for THOUGHT :
>
> Bill Evans makes the point that he was not a really fast learner compared
> to
> some other players, however, he did learn
> his musical materials (tunes, vocabulary, technique) in small doses. That
> means---real
> focused practicing with lots of repetition and recall, till the material
> flows « effortlessly » from within without any obstacles.
>
> Kenny Werner (in his book «Effortless Mastery») seems to adopt this same
> philosophy. Personnally, the things that I play
> MOST effortlesslessly and gracefully are the materials that I ingrained in
> small amounts over extended periods of time (months, years).
> This focused practicing should «eventually» lead to perfection -- that
> is,
> complete effortless mastery of the music -- (tunes, vocabulary, and
> technique)
>
> sincerely,
>
> --
> Reno De Stefano, Ph.D.
Reno: Thanks for your views.
What works best for most people is as you describe. I know it's the best
method for me. When I have new material to learn I work on it in a series of
brief sessions of as little as five minutes each. As I do this over the
course of two or three days the new material becomes deeply engrained faster
than any other way I have found.
Your mentioning Bill Evans and your subject header "Universal mind" got me
wondering. Do you [or anybody else reading this] know where I can get a
transcript of Evans' "Universal Mind" interview? I know it's available on
video but I'd really just like the text itself. I looked all over the net
and can't find it anyplace.
Thanks. ........joe
--
Visit me on the web www.joefinn.net
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| Re: Universal mind [message #191032 ] |
Di, 11 Januar 2005 06:35 |
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"Reno De Stefano" <destefano [at] videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:XXFEd.37071$SB6.1207401 [at] wagner.videotron.net...
> This focused practicing should «eventually» lead to perfection -- that
is,
> complete effortless mastery of the music -- (tunes, vocabulary, and
> technique)
That reminded me of a quote that hung on the wall of my childhood violin
teacher. "Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect"
Moods
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| Re: Universal mind [message #191892 ] |
Do, 13 Januar 2005 15:37 |
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I stopped practicing and studying jazz material for a few years because
I became so overwhelmed with material. I had "Effortless MAstery" and
read it a few times, but it did not click. I fell into most of the
traps that Werner was talking about. It took a really bad (rock) gig
and a long hard look at why I felt like I was going backwards that made
me re-evaluate my playing.
I came to the conclusions
-that I'm not going to learn anything if I'm flipping from book to
book without absorbing anyone concept.
-that I'm not in a race.
I re-read the book, found a teacher, set limits to how much I can
practice, and developed a focused, yet small practice schedule. I've
been working on Rhythm Changes for about 2 months now and specifically
have been learning Jimmy Raney's transcription from the Aebersold
series. at this rate, I could be on it for 6 months, but I am really
hoping that this will help my focus. If I find myself getting
distracted, I put down the guitar and walk away.
Hearing that it is a successful method of learning definitely keeps me
going.
-Jim
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| Re: Universal mind [message #192158 ] |
Fr, 14 Januar 2005 02:43 |
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JKaz wrote:
> I stopped practicing and studying jazz material for a few years because
> I became so overwhelmed with material. I had "Effortless MAstery" and
> read it a few times, but it did not click. I fell into most of the
> traps that Werner was talking about. It took a really bad (rock) gig
> and a long hard look at why I felt like I was going backwards that made
> me re-evaluate my playing.
> I came to the conclusions
> -that I'm not going to learn anything if I'm flipping from book to
> book without absorbing anyone concept.
> -that I'm not in a race.
> I re-read the book, found a teacher, set limits to how much I can
> practice, and developed a focused, yet small practice schedule. I've
> been working on Rhythm Changes for about 2 months now and specifically
> have been learning Jimmy Raney's transcription from the Aebersold
> series. at this rate, I could be on it for 6 months, but I am really
> hoping that this will help my focus. If I find myself getting
> distracted, I put down the guitar and walk away.
> Hearing that it is a successful method of learning definitely keeps me
> going.
>
> -Jim
>
Jim
when I was 19 (25 years ago) I spent about six months with Raney's "out
of nowhere" an hour a day from that same aebersold record. I learned how
to read music, how to play changes, how to swing, all from that lengthy
exercise. Sometimes when I listen to my playing all this time later I
realize I haven't come that far since then, I think its because that was
about the only time I was patient. Since then, I switch around between
methods and approaches, and things dont stick that long very often.
Paul K
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| Re: Universal mind [message #192344 ] |
Fr, 14 Januar 2005 15:25 |
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I'm approaching my mid-30's and I think I started to put this
ridiculous pressure of time on myself. For some reason, I felt like I
had to take this fast route and learn as much as possible very quickly
to "catch up." Now, I'm realizing that getting there is the fun and
doing it in smaller focused practices is more in line with my life
(have a day job) and my other musical interests. And what I do know
from that particular solo (Rhythm changes in Bb) I know.
I had a few lessons from Rick Stone and one of the things he kept on
drilling into me was "know what you know by rote." He referred me to
this book and told me to keep reading it until I get it. I fon't think
I've gotten all of it, but what I do feel rings true for me has helped
my playing tremendously.
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