Music, art, love, business, raising a family, these don't work as a popularity contest, they are an endurance race. It takes daily sustained action to do anything well.
I've given up my rehearsal space which is a good thing. As a saxophone player the city of New York is a great practice space with 8 1/2 million potential viewers. I've traded up. My old space, I walked in and there was a pile of amps on the floor that looked like a trash heap. Couldn't do it anymore.
Tricky part is getting in front of people and practicing. I've always lived the 'musician as solitary creature' myth. Nonsense. Practicing in front of people for an hour is the equivalent of practicing in a box for 10. It's not difficult to master scales, arpeggios, learn tunes. it is difficult, at least for me, to connect with people.
I read a great article with Joe Lovano and Lou Donaldson in the Oregonian. They were both asked about practicing. Joe gave a beautiful though long answer about balance and spontaneity, Lou however, kinda nailed it. "Man, I'm trying to practice less so I can get worse on my horn, that way I can connect with the people better! All these kids coming out of these schools, get them on the bandstand back in the day and we'd throw them off before the chorus was over playing all that school jive!"
I dig that.
I admit since giving up my space I've fallen off the band wagon in my practice routine. Have hardly touched my horn though i have been writing and playing guitar. I start feeling wrong when I don't practice that horn, start getting irritable and resentful. I played for an hour and a half tonight, learned "Brilliant Corners" by Monk and right in this moment I feel serene again. I'm a better horn player than I was yesterday and better than I think I am overall. It's easy to lose touch with that and start beating myself up for not working. Just an hour can reset the batteries.
And by the way, right now Ike Quebec is THE MAN!!!!
Love, JB
I've given up my rehearsal space which is a good thing. As a saxophone player the city of New York is a great practice space with 8 1/2 million potential viewers. I've traded up. My old space, I walked in and there was a pile of amps on the floor that looked like a trash heap. Couldn't do it anymore.
Tricky part is getting in front of people and practicing. I've always lived the 'musician as solitary creature' myth. Nonsense. Practicing in front of people for an hour is the equivalent of practicing in a box for 10. It's not difficult to master scales, arpeggios, learn tunes. it is difficult, at least for me, to connect with people.
I read a great article with Joe Lovano and Lou Donaldson in the Oregonian. They were both asked about practicing. Joe gave a beautiful though long answer about balance and spontaneity, Lou however, kinda nailed it. "Man, I'm trying to practice less so I can get worse on my horn, that way I can connect with the people better! All these kids coming out of these schools, get them on the bandstand back in the day and we'd throw them off before the chorus was over playing all that school jive!"
I dig that.
I admit since giving up my space I've fallen off the band wagon in my practice routine. Have hardly touched my horn though i have been writing and playing guitar. I start feeling wrong when I don't practice that horn, start getting irritable and resentful. I played for an hour and a half tonight, learned "Brilliant Corners" by Monk and right in this moment I feel serene again. I'm a better horn player than I was yesterday and better than I think I am overall. It's easy to lose touch with that and start beating myself up for not working. Just an hour can reset the batteries.
And by the way, right now Ike Quebec is THE MAN!!!!
Love, JB
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