Michael Brecker on what he practiced, how he practiced and who he listened to for inspiration. Noteables… Make up your own exercises. Avoid writing (reading) exercises in all keys. Instead, jot down the idea and manipulate it mentally. It’s important to develop the skill of moving things around in your mind, not relying on wrote […]
practicing
Track in a Day 01 – F#∆7/Fmb6/E∆9#11/Ebm9
The objective was simply to produce a backing track to practice along with. I got a bit carried away… DOWNLOAD Track in a Day 01 – F#∆7/Fmb6/E∆9#11/Ebm9 @ 120bpm Download more tracks
Practice like Pat Metheny
“I’m just going to take 5 minutes and warm up. I have to; we had a day off.” – Pat Metheny I love watching my musical idols warm up. It’s rare to come across. Maybe you’re attending a clinic and they warm up in front of you. Maybe you find that rare clip on YouTube. […]
Playing All the Time
I just had a great phone conversation with my old high school friend and saxophone mentor. We reminisced about how much playing we did back then: practicing early before school, listening–critically–to music during the 30 minute commute to school, scribbling out licks during history class to test out when we got to jazz band in […]
Practicing Sax in the Car
I learned this trick from one of my students. He lives in France and says he’s taken to practicing sax in the car while stuck in traffic on his daily commute! Last night I played a gig with some LA-based musicians and the music was demanding (of the funk, fusion, church type…in fact, the hardest […]